On June 27-29, 2007, China-Canada Agriculture Development Program (CCADP) held a workshop for local government officials on how to promote the development of farmer cooperatives (FA) in Wuchuan, a pilot county in Inner Mongolia. Officials are from six project provinces -- Xinjiang, Gansu, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia. County officials from the World Bank project in Gansu also joined the workshop. Mr. Tim Zachernuk, CCADP FA coordinator, was the facilitator of the workshop, while lecturers were Mr. Liu Denggao, former deputy director of General Station of Agricultural Economy under the Ministry of Agriculture, and Ms Yuan Peng, a research fellow of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This workshop was held just before the Law on Farmer Cooperatives came into force on July 1.

During the training, Mr. Zachernuk introduced CCADP’s experience in promoting the farmer cooperatives, especially in adapting international experience to China, four-step FA facilitation tool as well as the role of FA in improving farmers’ production and life. Ms. Yuan illustrated with examples on how local governments can promote the FA development. Mr. Liu interpreted the new law and introduced its background and the challenges in law enforcement. The training used the participatory method, allowing participants to discuss and share their experiences in FA development in different areas.

Participants also visited FAs in Wuchuan County and talked with FA leaders and members. They said they had learned a lot from the workshop and their future work would benefit from it.