CCMSA' s presentation

CCMSA (Central Agricultural Workers’ and Farmers’ Mutual Benefit Fund)

The successor of the agricultural mutuelles which developed in the second half of the nineteenth century, the agricultural workers’ and farmers’ mutual welfare fund, MSA (Mutualité sociale agricole), and its central fund, the CCMSA (Caisse centrale de Mutualité sociale agricole), have a number of distinctive features that set them apart from other French social welfare schemes.

A participatory approach

The agricultural scheme administers statutory and complementary social welfare for the entire agricultural sector (some 4 million people including farmers, agricultural workers and their families).

In statutory terms, the MSA is a decentralised institution with an elective base, representing the entire agricultural community. All beneficiaries, provided that they meet eligibility requirements, form the electorate which is divided into three electoral colleges:

• a 1st college comprising individual farmers,
• a 2nd college composed of salaried agricultural workers and farm businesses,
• a 3rd college comprising farm managers and employers in the agricultural sector.

Elections are held every five years, ensuring a genuine participatory approach to the management of the system. This unique form of social democracy is implemented on the ground by 21,000 representatives at the level of the cantons and communes and overseen by the 2,000 board members of the different funds.

A broad range of coverage

Unlike other French schemes which specialise in a limited number of risks, the MSA covers all aspects of social welfare:

• sickness and maternity,
• industrial injury,
• family benefits,
• old-age pensions.

They are thus “one-stop-shops” for health and welfare coverage in the agricultural sector. They also fill the role of URSSAF (the French social security contributions and benefits agency) in collecting the withholdings of their members.

Each year the agricultural scheme pays out about €26 million in benefits – a sum financed by contributors to the scheme as well as various other sources including tax revenues, the “compensation” mechanism (system of financial solidarity between schemes to offset demographic and economic disparities) and government subsidies.

In terms of organisational structure, the agricultural scheme operates through a decentralised network of around fifty MSA funds (covering one or more départements) and a central fund at national level, the CCMSA. Numerous local offices ensure that beneficiaries have access to proximity services.

The agricultural scheme employs about 19,000 salaried staff, including 2,000 social workers and 500 physicians.

A broad programme of social action

Apart from administering benefits, the agricultural scheme provides a broad range of health and social support, including financial assistance to individuals, social worker support for families and people in difficulty, and organisation of rural events and local social development initiatives. It also participates in the management of holiday villages, as well as centres and social services for the elderly and disabled.

The agricultural system is also quite distinctive in that it is the only social welfare scheme to handle occupational medicine and risk prevention “in-house”.

A tradition of international cooperation

The agricultural scheme’s international action is a vehicle for solidarity between farmers around the world. On the initiative of the local funds or the CCMSA, the latter participates in a range of cooperation and development aid programmes, often in partnership with other sustainable development players. These include the creation or modernisation of farmers’ social welfare schemes, and target among others the new European Union and EU candidate countries and countries of North and West Africa.