Farmer cooperatives in the food economy of Western Europe: an analysis from the Marketing point of view

This paper is concerned with an analysis of farmer cooperatives in Western Europe from the marketing point of view. The analysis is restricted to marketing and processing cooperatives. First some basic characteristics of farmer cooperatives are discussed from a systems point of view. Afterwards changes in the environment of farmer cooperatives are reviewed. Their impact on farmer cooperatives is analysed. Finally some hypotheses on future developments of West European cooperatives are presented. Our analysis suggests that West European cooperatives will become increasingly hybrid systems, being democratic in the general policy stage and hierarchical in the executive stag

The Effect of Human Resources on Capital of Worker Cooperative

There are several business problems which hampers sustainability of worker cooperatives in Indonesia. They have inadequate capital to support businesses run by cooperatives and the government provides insufficient support for the worker cooperatives. The problem under study is how human resources management affected the capital of worker cooperatives. The study used explanatory approach by employing a census to collect data from 11 existing worker cooperatives in the loading and unloading services in port cities across Java. The data collected was then analyzed with the Path Analysis. Research findings indicate that human resources practices of members, administrators, and managers were significant in affecting the capital of cooperatives simultaneously. However, when analyzed partially, influence of each variable was mixed. Partially, the human resource practices of members does not have a significant effect, while the administrators do have positive effect and the managers have negative effect. The administrator is considered the most important determinant of capital in cooperatives. Thus, it is recommended that worker cooperatives should pay attention to provide member educational and professional trainings and improve administrator quality in raising and making use of capital more efficiently. For further research, it is suggested to study the impact of human capital on other types of cooperatives

Farmer cooperatives in Mexico : case studies in Jalisco : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in AgriCommerce at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Farmer cooperatives are businesses owned and controlled by (and for) their members in order to create welfare and satisfaction beyond simple profitability. In developing countries, farmer cooperatives have been formed in rural areas in an effort to improve social integration, social equity, market and information transfer. Additionally, cooperatives have reduced the negative economic impact of market power and uncertainty through lower transaction costs, higher incomes and collective bargaining power. However in Mexico, cooperatives have faced an increasingly competitive and dynamic environment and have not adhered to the principles and values, such as solidarity, self-help and mutual aid, established by cooperative legislation. There is a lack of education, training and culture in relation to cooperatives. In addition, there is limited government support for financing, no stimulation for their creation and development and no public technical assistance. Despite this situation, in the state of Jalisco, there are successful consumer farmer cooperatives, whose main objective is to supply feed input (concentrates) to their members at the lowest possible cost. They have been able to achieve this by leveraging the collective bargaining power of members via the cooperative union. In order to identify factors for success in relation to the farmer cooperatives in Jalisco, a mixed methodology study was undertaken, using three case studies and a survey. Three farmer cooperatives in Los Altos, Jalisco were selected for the research: Pedro Ezqueda, Nutrimentos and Prolea. The results from the study showed that the following factors influence the success of farmer cooperatives in Jalisco: leadership; member knowledge and continuity; effective communication; member satisfaction; training; and government support. Additionally, challenges faced by these cooperatives include: poor understanding of cooperative principles among members; low enthusiasm for attending training; individualistic members with limited trust between them; lack of member commitment and participation in their cooperative; lack of young people joining the agriculture industry (including cooperatives); and no clear public policies regulating the agricultural sector. Despite these issues, farmer cooperatives have been successful within the challenging and dynamic environment in Mexico. Keyword: Jalisco, Mexico, farmer cooperatives, factors for succes

Consumer Cooperatives: An Alternative Institutional Model for Delivery of Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Services?

This paper describes the essential characteristics of consumer cooperatives engaged in the provision of basic services and discusses their applicability as a model for water supply and sanitation service provision in urban areas. 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 paper focuses on system-wide urban water supply cooperatives and it is thus not concerned with urban or peri-urban cooperatives that depend on either boreholes or bulk purchases of water from a utility for distribution, nor does it refer to rural water supply cooperatives that are generally small. After a general overview of cooperatives and a discussion of the main characteristics of utility cooperatives, the paper reviews the case of SAGUAPAC, a successful urban WSS cooperative in Bolivia, from which it draws some conclusions in the form of a preliminary assessment of cooperatives as a model for delivery of urban water supply and sanitation (WSS) services

Internationalization and Corporate Success - Empirical Evidence from the European Dairy Sector

Increasingly, cooperatives in the agribusiness are being confronted with the globalization of agri-food markets. Cooperatives adapt to this development by internationalizing their activities. This paper presents a method of measuring the degree of internationalization (DoI) and its application to European cooperatives in the dairy sector. Then, the financial performance of these cooperatives is measured by applying balance sheet analysis. The paper ends with a discussion of why German cooperatives are noticeably less internationalized and show weaker financial performance than their European competitors.globalization, dairy industry, cooperatives, degree of internationalization, corporate success, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,

Strengthening education, extension and training to accelerate climate resilience and low carbon development in the agriculture sector

The dynamic nature of climate and its impacts on agriculture is rendering most of the existing adaptation and coping strategies unsupportive in many regions. Recent studies on economic sectors (including agriculture) across institutions and 24 counties have established the following: a widened gap between skills possessed by youth and those required by the job market; inadequate technical skills and knowledge on climate change and climate-smart technologies by the extension service providers; climate change has not been adequately integrated into Kenya’s formal agricultural education, extension and training systems such as the Kenya School of Agriculture (KSA), Agricultural Technology Development Centres (ATDCs), Agricultural Training Centres (ATCs) and Agriculture Technical Vocational Education and Training (ATVET); the existing policies and strategies for capacity building for the agriculture sector have limited provisions for promoting climate resilient and low carbon development solutions. These calls for integration of climate change into the formal education, extension and training systems; equipping the training institutions to facilitate adoption of climate-smart innovations; capacity building of the extension service providers to enhance utilization and adaptation of the appropriate support agricultural technologies, innovations and climate-smart farming practices

Agricultural Cooperatives and Unions of Cooperatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Opportunities for Improvement

Given the breakup of Yugoslavia and the ensuing war, there has been massive changes in the agricultural structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In particular, the remade cooperatives and the unions of cooperatives that are supposed to serve them are struggling. This paper examines the needs of the agricultural cooperatives to be more successful and identifies what support will likely come from the unions of cooperatives and what must come from other sources. Data was obtained in three ways: 1) questionnaires to a large group of cooperatives, 2) focus groups with a smaller number of cooperatives, and 3) personal interviews with union of cooperatives representatives. The findings indicated that the unions of cooperatives are working on institutional issues such as registering and auditing cooperatives, and resolving land ownership conflicts. However, since the cooperatives are not familiar with the market economy, they also need help in business management, marketing, legal services, and organizational effectiveness. It is not likely that the unions will be able to help the cooperatives with these issues. New partners such as the Ministry of Agriculture, colleges of agriculture, or non-governmental organizations should be tasked with providing this educational support.Bosnia and Herzegovina, agricultural cooperatives, union of agricultural cooperatives, agricultural development, Agribusiness,

Political Economy : Variability and Consistency in the Development of Worker Owned Cooperatives

The relationship between worker cooperatives and their social and economic environment has sparked interest among the sociological community for the contradictions and harmony typical of these interactions. However, these studies do not examine how firm behavior varies and/or remains constant in different social conditions. With insights from economic sociology, neo-institutionalism, and social movements theory, the paper pursues this issue by answering the following question: how do worker cooperatives respond to different social conditions over time? Using interviews with members of eight worker cooperatives in a Midwestern metropolitan area, the author compares behavior in older and younger cooperatives to observe similarities and differences in their practices under different social conditions. The analysis demonstrates that differences in social support and market competition created variation among older and newer cooperatives. For instance, the decision to start worker-owned cooperatives reflected different political motivations that emerged from distinct socio-economic conditions. However, all firms eventually behaved like businesses because they framed economic activities as political activism, exposing them to fluctuations in the city’s political scene. As a result, these businesses created market niches, attract customers and competent workers, and copy other successful democratic enterprises to survive demographic fluctuations in the market

Women's Cooperatives and their Contribution to the Local Development of the North Aegean Region, Greece

In the last twenty years Greece has witnessed the emergence and establishment of women’s cooperatives, a form of productive agricultural cooperatives. This paper explores their importance and their contribution to local development. Evidence is presented for an island region, the North Aegean. Personal interviews, using structured questionnaires, were conducted with the chairwomen of all the region’s cooperatives in order to obtain an insight into their structure and dynamics. According to the findings of this study, women’s cooperatives are characterized by substantial potential on the one hand and by serious drawbacks on the other. The economic performance of the cooperatives is satisfactory, while the use of local resources and ‘know how’ contribute to the development of the region. Interpersonal problems, the inability of the cooperatives’ members to fully understand their new role as businesswomen and the small participation of rural women are the cooperatives’ major problems. The future of the women’s cooperatives is still unclear despite their 20 years of existence.women’s cooperatives, North Aegean, local development, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

The changing federated relationship between local and regional cooperatives

The evolution of the federated relationship between local and regional cooperatives is examined from the perspective of local cooperatives’ need for commodity-based farm supplies and regional cooperatives’ identity as food companies. Because locals want many competing bids for the supplies they purchase, they resist a strong and close affiliation with regional cooperatives, which then find themselves with excess capacity. Regionals have responded by instituting tighter bonds with selected local cooperatives operating as "internal supply networks," in exchange for certain benefits. This adaptation reduces the impact of divergent goals among regionals and locals within the federated system.Cooperatives, federation, networks, competition, regionalization., Agribusiness,