On 29 September 2026, the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) jointly organized a webinar titled “Towards Strengthening Agricultural Cooperatives in OIC and ECO Member Countries: Sharing Good Practices, Identifying Priority Actions, and Advancing Regional Cooperation.”
The webinar brought together representatives from ECO and OIC Member States, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan and Türkiye, to share national experiences, good practices and challenges, and discuss the role of agricultural cooperatives in supporting producers, strengthening agricultural value chains, improving market access and advancing regional cooperation.
Opening the webinar, Mr. Can Aygül, Director for Agriculture and Industry at the ECO Secretariat, highlighted the importance of economically viable and well-governed cooperatives in improving producers’ access to finance, technology and markets. He stressed that regional exchanges should go beyond knowledge-sharing and lead to concrete cooperation, joint initiatives and practical projects.
Dr. Memduh Ünal, Director of the Programs Department of IOFS, emphasized the importance of identifying successful cooperative models that can be adapted across countries and developed into practical projects, including in areas such as agricultural services, processing, storage, logistics and market access. The IOFS side also presented regional data, key challenges and opportunities for further cooperation on agricultural cooperatives.
The discussions highlighted the importance of the exchange of experiences among Member States and practical follow-up initiatives to strengthen agricultural cooperatives and their contribution to agricultural development and regional value chains.
