Exploring cooperative pathways to strengthen the U.S. Virgin Islands food system

In late August, NCBA CLUSA joined the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund and partners in the U.S. Virgin Islands to explore how cooperation and shared enterprise could help strengthen the territory's local food system.

Convened with the Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture and territorial partners, the August 26-28 stakeholder engagement in St. Croix brought together farmers, government agencies, retailers, processors, academic institutions, technical-assistance providers and cooperative stakeholders.

Over three days of discussions, interviews and field visits, participants identified opportunities for greater coordination across the food system and considered where cooperative approaches could help address shared economic needs.

A holistic look at the food system

One message emerged clearly from the conversations: strengthening local food production requires looking beyond the farm.

Participants described interconnected challenges ranging from the cost of labor and agricultural inputs to transportation, storage, processing, financing and market access. Increasing production alone will not address those challenges; farmers also need reliable pathways to move their products to buyers and consumers, along with the market information necessary to make sound business decisions.

But participants also identified significant strengths to build on. Existing farmer networks, local businesses, public institutions, technical-assistance organizations, processing initiatives and community relationships already form an important foundation for the territory's food system.

Rather than assuming new organizations or infrastructure are needed, the discussions pointed to an important first question: How can existing assets be better connected and coordinated?

Exploring where cooperation can create value

That question also shaped conversations about the potential role of cooperatives.

Instead of approaching cooperative formation as an end in itself, participants explored specific areas where working together could help farmers and other food-system businesses meet shared needs. Opportunities discussed included joint purchasing, aggregation and marketing, transportation, storage, processing, workforce services and business support.

The goal is not to prescribe a particular cooperative structure, but to identify where collaboration makes economic sense and then determine what structure best serves the people and businesses involved.

Field visits and interviews with farmers, retailers and other local businesses reinforced that approach. Participants heard about the importance of dependable supply, stronger communication between producers and buyers, realistic pricing, sound business planning and the relationships needed to sustain collective efforts over time.

Building from local priorities

As NCBA CLUSA and its partners build on the August engagement, potential next steps include strengthening farmer business capacity, improving access to market and production information, continuing to map existing resources and infrastructure, and testing focused forms of collaboration where stakeholders identify a clear need and opportunity.

Any future cooperative or shared-enterprise development will depend on local interest and leadership, economic feasibility and sustained participation.

For NCBA CLUSA and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, the visit offered an opportunity to share cooperative development experience while learning directly from the farmers, businesses and institutions that know the Virgin Islands food system best.

The conversations in St. Croix ultimately centered on a set of practical questions: Where can greater coordination create value? What can existing institutions and businesses accomplish together? And where might cooperative principles and structures help advance locally driven solutions?

The answers to those questions can help shape the next phase of collaboration-and identify practical ways cooperation can contribute to a stronger, more resilient Virgin Islands food system.