The Cooperative Agriculture Network (CAN) is a cooperative think-tank of farmers and experts that incubate, facilitate and develop cooperatives in cannabis.
FAQ
According to the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) a cooperative is, “A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.”
The main difference for a co-op is that the ownership is a structure: one member, one vote. Co-ops seek not to maximize revenue, but rather to meet the needs of its members like access to markets, improved product quality, reduced costs of production, and increased quality of life.
CAN was developed over 2 years by local farmers and experts in cooperative development and marketing to support the development of farmer cooperatives in Humboldt County and beyond. Our programming is specifically tailored to small farms and includes intro workshops, an academy, and ongoing technical assistance to support your co-op's operations.
The CAN academy is custom-designed for small farms in Humboldt. The next session runs from February 9 to March 30 and is offered for FREE.
Yes! CAN can receive Trellis grants for cooperative technical assistance. Email us, we'll work with your needs and budget.
You'll get easy-to-implement training on:
● cooperative organizational structures
● facilitation
● group-decision making
● business plan development
● bylaws development