The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) invites its members, cooperative organisations and cooperative law experts to contribute to the public consultation on the draft UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD Legal Guide on Collaborative Legal Structures for Agricultural Enterprises.
The draft Legal Guide is the third instrument developed by the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). It follows the Legal Guide on Contract Farming, finalised in 2015, and the Legal Guide on Agricultural Land Investment Contracts, finalised in 2021.
Comprising five chapters, the draft Guide aims to support the increased participation of smallholders and agricultural micro, small and medium-sized enterprises—“agri-MSMEs”—in agrifood value chains. It provides an illustrative “menu” of legal options for collaboration in the agricultural sector, considering three principal categories both separately and comparatively: multiparty contracts, cooperatives and companies. It also examines digital platforms as organisational tools that may support collaboration through conventional legal structures.
The future Guide is intended particularly for those providing legal advice and capacity-building support to smallholders and agri-MSMEs, including professionals involved in drafting contracts and internal regulations.
The ICA has contributed to the development of the instrument. Professor Hagen Henry, Chair of the ICA Cooperative Law Committee, and Professor Cynthia Giagnocavo, Chair of the ICA Cooperative Research Committee, participated in the Working Group, while the ICA Global Office contributed to its deliberations and explored the ICA’s potential role in supporting the Guide’s future implementation. Read more about the ICA’s participation.
ICA members—particularly agricultural cooperative organisations, farmer and producer organisations, lawyers, researchers and practitioners—are encouraged to review the draft and provide comments. Feedback on whether the Guide adequately reflects the identity, legal characteristics and practical realities of agricultural cooperatives will be especially valuable.
Comments may be submitted to the UNIDROIT Secretariat at CLSAE-consultation@unidroit.org by 20 September 2026.
Access the draft Guide and complete consultation information.
For queries, contact Santosh Kumar at kumar@ica.coop
