International Co-operative Agricultural Organization (ICAO), declared seven operational principles and adopted a resolution for seed sovereignty in the opening session of the 2019 General Assembly in Seoul.
The ICAO is the global representative of agricultural cooperatives. Founded in 1951, it’s one of the International Co-operative Alliances’ eight sectoral organizations.
The President of ICAO who doubles up as NACF Chairman Byeong-won Kim reiterated his commitment for the ICAO Oslo Declaration to improve the global farming environment for sustainable agriculture.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Byeong-won Kim said in the Assembly “farmers help secure food for 7.5 billion people. Cooperatives have an important role to protect & support farmers, provide them multifunctional services and in the process build an equal, fair and
sustainable society”, tweeted ICA A-P Regional Director Balu Iyer.
The occasion also saw felicitation of IFFCO Chairman B S Nakia by the ICAO President Byeong-won Kim. IFFCO MD tweeted “IFFCO going global. Chairman Shri B S Nakai felicitated by NACF Korea Chairman Mr Kim Byeong Won with Plaque of Merit at ICAO General Assembly in Seoul, Korea.
Jong-wook Lee, Secretary General, ICAO unveiled the 2019 Seoul Declaration at the General Assembly.
It bears recall that Kim Byeong-won will receive the Rochdale Pioneers Award from the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA). He will be awarded the prize during the ICA’s Global Conference and General Assembly to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, Oct. 16.
Kim is on the board of ICA and the president of the International Co-operative Agricultural Organization (ICAO). The ICA represents 312 institutions and 1 billion people from 109 countries.
