Comparative study of skills of business consultants in the development of production cooperatives

Abstract

Abstract: Cooperatives are described as democratically owned enterprises founded on the principles of democratic processes, self-help, sharing and collective ownership for mutual benefit. Ordinary members of a society can set up a cooperative. Cooperatives create sustainable livelihoods at a community level. Sustainability through cooperatives is due to the triple bottom line focus and design, which includes economic, ecological and social factors. This paper focuses on cooperatives in production sectors such as clothing, agriculture and agro-processing, and energy. The skills of business consultancies tasked with the responsibility to train and develop these cooperatives are compared by country. Three countries were identified for comparison in this study and they are Kenya, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Production cooperatives had been successful in Kenya and in the United Kingdom while South Africa has had generally a high failure rate of cooperatives at 88% in 2009. This paper uses a desk review approach in evaluating business consultancy training reports published by cooperative development authorities in all the countries. Areas of improvement for South Africa and countries struggling with cooperatives development are presented in the recommendations section. In conclusion limitations of this study are indicated and suggestions for future research are provided