Explore the vast range of titles available.

Studies have said a lot on co-operatives’ role in development but less have been documented about agricultural marketing co-operatives engaged in coffee marketing.The paper addresses the gap with study findings which assessed role of agricultural marketing co-operatives (AMCOS) in socioeconomic development and challenges they face in Moshi district council. A multiple case study design was adapted using 10 AMCOS where a total 80 respondents were involved and both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Primary quantitative and qualitative data were collected through self-questionnaire administration and Focus Group Discussion (FGDs), respectively and secondary data were collected through documentary review. Quantitative data were analysed using multiple response analysis while qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Theoretical ground of the paper based on Cook’s Life Cycle Model of Agricultural Co-operatives and Collective Action Theory. As for the results, despite challenges faced, AMCOS found to be viable organizations for socioeconomic development where they operate. They also contribute to Government revenues and finance operations of supporting institutions in coffee industry. We recommend on the need for; improved management, coffee quality, business diversification and change in the business model. In addition, AMCOS should improve; farming techniques, enhance provision of co-operative and agricultural education and training as well as forming joint enterprises. Hay muchos estudios sobre el papel de las cooperativas en el desarrollo, pero se ha documentado menos sobre las cooperativas de comercialización agrícola dedicadas a la venta del café. En este trabajo se exponen y analizan los resultados de un estudio en el que se ha evaluado el papel de las cooperativas de comercialización agrícola (AMCOS) en el desarrollo socioeconómico, así como los desafíos que enfrentan en el consejo del distrito de Moshi (Tanzania). Se diseñó un estudio de casos múltiples, a partir de 10 AMCOS, en el que participaron un total de 80 encuestados. Se recopilaron datos tanto cuantitativos como cualitativos primarios utilizando, respectivamente, autocuestionarios y Focus Group. Por su parte, los datos secundarios se obtuvieron mediante el análisis de documentos. Los datos cuantitativos se analizaron mediante el análisis de respuestas múltiples, mientras que los datos cualitativos se analizaron mediante el análisis de contenido temático. El fundamento teórico del documento se basó en el modelo del ciclo de vida de las cooperativas agrícolas y la teoría de la acción colectiva de Cook. En cuanto a los resultados, a pesar de los retos a los que se enfrentaba, las AMCOS consideraban que eran organizaciones viables para el desarrollo socioeconómico de los lugares en los que operaban. Además, contribuyen a los ingresos del Gobierno, así como a las operaciones financieras de las instituciones de apoyo a la industria del café. En cuanto a las recomendaciones se plantea la necesidad de mejorar la gestión, la calidad del café, la diversificación empresarial y cambiar el modelo de negocio. Por último, las AMCOS deberían mejorar las técnicas de cultivo, aumentar la oferta de educación y capacitación cooperativa y agrícola, así como la formación de empresas mixtas

Against the backdrop of promoting green, low-carbon, and high-quality development, this paper aims to promote efficient recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in rural China. In this paper, considering the integrated development of urban and rural areas and the standardization of industrial recycling system, under the joint action of the extension of producer responsibility and “dual regulation” of supply and marketing cooperatives, the evolutionary game model and system dynamics model of three-level recycling network of farmers, supply and marketing cooperatives and retailers are established. The mechanism of the participants to promote the recycling of WEEE in rural areas is discussed and the strategic choices and interactive relationships of various entities in the evolutionary process were used to analyze through the evolutionary game method. Meanwhile, using the theory of system dynamics, the main influencing factors of different evolution stages and the dynamic change process of the system are analyzed. The results show that: (1) supply and marketing cooperatives, retailers, and farmers can initially tend to participate in and supervise the recycling of WEEE; however, (2) they can finally achieve strong supervision, actively undertake and participate in the recycling and stabilization stable strategy of rural WEEE depends on their benefits and cost of expenditure expenditures are reasonable. (3) The strategic choice of supply and marketing cooperatives has the most significant impact on the strategic choice of retailers and the strategic choice of retailers has the most significant impact on the strategic choice of farmers.

PurposeThe objective of the study is to explore explanations for the capital structure compositions of farmer cooperatives, which have a unique equity structure with allocated equity as well as unallocated equity.Design/methodology/approachData came from a panel of US grain marketing and input supply cooperatives for the 2010–2020 period. The study is concerned with the proportions of debt, allocated equity and unallocated equity, which requires the application of a fractional multinomial panel model to ensure predictions fall within the observed data range (i.e. 0–1).FindingsLarger cooperatives have relatively high debt proportions. Diversification of the product portfolio has a positive effect on the debt proportion. Profitability is associated with higher debt proportions in input supply cooperatives and higher allocated equity proportions in grain marketing cooperatives. Over time, the proportion of unallocated equity increased. Overall, some results differ across grain marketing and input supply cooperatives.Practical implicationsIncreasing proportions of unallocated equity warrant a debate about the future value of ownership and governance by members of farmer cooperatives.Originality/valuePrevious empirical investigations of the capital structure compositions of cooperatives lacked a distinction between allocated and unallocated equity. Our results show that the proportions of the two equity accounts respond differently to given predictors. Furthermore, much of the prior empirical literature fails to separate cooperatives on the basis of economic activities (i.e. marketing, supply and mixed).

Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies (AMCOS) serve both business and association roles. While the association role emphasizes collective action, the business role focuses on generating surplus and maximizing member welfare. To sustain loyalty, AMCOS must ensure service quality. This study examines members’ perceptions of AMCOS service quality in rural Kaliua District, Tanzania, offering a unique perspective beyond financial cooperatives by integrating qualitative and quantitative insights. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with eight randomly selected AMCOS, involving 239 respondents. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaires and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The SERVQUAL model was used to assess service quality, with quantitative data analysed using descriptive statistics and paired samples t-tests, while thematic analysis was applied to qualitative data. Findings indicate that AMCOS service quality was unsatisfactory, with reliability as the most problematic dimension. Members’ expectations did not align with their perceptions. Compared to similar studies in Tanzania, service quality challenges were linked to inadequate funds, bureaucratic delays in delivering tobacco inputs, and unskilled board members and management. To improve service quality, AMCOS should allocate sufficient funds for regular governance training to enhance board and management competence. Additionally, the Tanzanian government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and the Registrar of Cooperatives, should revise mechanisms to ensure timely delivery of farm inputs to tobacco farmers.

PurposeThis study analyzes the long-term effect of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity on the profitability, efficiency and liquidity of the largest 500 farmer cooperatives in the United States.Design/methodology/approachSecondary data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are complemented with primary data collected from print media publications about M&A activity by US farmer cooperatives. The analysis is based on group comparisons of means and distributions to study the effect of M&A activity on financial performance.FindingsFarmer cooperatives with M&A activity generally have lower profitability, efficiency and liquidity than farmer cooperatives without M&A activity, both at the time of the merger or acquisition as well as afterward. Marketing cooperatives in particular perform worse following M&As. Also, the post-merger performance of farmer cooperatives with M&A activity is not affected by the profitability, efficiency or liquidity of the target.Originality/valueResearch on the post-merger performance of farmer cooperatives is both scarce and dated. This study analyzes the effect of M&A activity for a relatively large sample and a relatively long time period (2005–2020).

The performance of agricultural cooperatives depends on their business objectives, which are defined in different ways in the literature. We review the theoretical literature on the performance of agricultural marketing cooperatives. Studies can be divided into two classes, those that assume a single objective and those that assume multiple objectives. This classification integrates three views of the cooperatives: (a) vertical integration of firms, (b) independent enterprise, and (c) coalition of firms. Empirical studies on the financial performance of cooperatives are classified into two categories, studies based on the economic theory of the firm and studies that emphasize accounting techniques. Empirical studies have failed to address the cooperatives' objectives as represented by the theoretical literature on cooperative performance.

Purpose Using a recent rural farm household survey, the purpose of this paper is to investigate inclusiveness and effectiveness of agricultural cooperatives in Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a logit model to examine inclusiveness and an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model to evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural cooperatives. Findings The results show that agricultural cooperatives are less inclusive of land-poor and illiterate households. On the other hand, the estimated results indicate that cooperatives effectively improved agricultural performance and welfare of its member households – i.e. membership in cooperatives increases yield and income by 1.37 quintal/hectare and 1,804 birr, respectively. Moreover, the result shows that marketing cooperatives effectively increased marketed surplus of their members by 34 percent. Research limitations/implications The study has important implications regarding the ways to improve the effectiveness and/or inclusiveness of agricultural cooperatives. Originality/value While accounting for the collective behavior of cooperatives, this study uses multiple outcome variables in examining the effectiveness of cooperatives in Ethiopia. Furthermore, this paper employs the ESR model and accounts for potential problems in estimating impact using non-experimental data.

We present a literature review of the role played by agricultural cooperatives in influenc-ing farm sustainability. We first focus on the theoretical literature to highlight the various economicbehaviours of cooperatives. Then we investigate all three dimensions of sustainability in developingand developed countries. We aim at linking the empirical findings to the theoretical understandingof cooperatives, in particular members' heterogeneity. This paper shows that cooperatives playa non-negligible role in farm economic sustainability and in the adoption of environmentallyfriendly practices, suggesting that both public policies and private initiatives in cooperatives maybe complementary. As regards social sustainability, there are only a few studies existing on the roleof agricultural cooperatives. The trade-off between economic and environmental sustainability incooperatives would need to be further investigated.

Purpose A financial perspective of farmer cooperative performance is assumed by conceptualizing the cooperative as an independent firm. The purpose of this paper is to explore variability in the financial performance of the largest 1,000 US farmer cooperatives with emphasis on efficiency, productivity, and leverage. Design/methodology/approach Cooperative performance is analyzed by means of the extended DuPont identity, an accounting tool which decomposes return on equity into five ratios of efficiency, productivity, and leverage. The extended DuPont identity is applied empirically with quantile regression, which allows estimation of the statistical interrelationship of the DuPont components across the full response distribution. Findings Per the results, variability in the financial performance of US farmer cooperatives is for the most part associated with the operating profit margin, which confirms prior findings of cost inefficiency in the empirical literature. Therefore, US farmer cooperatives may improve financial performance by emphasizing sales and operating costs. Specifically, recommendations include placing emphasis on bargaining power, product differentiation, and scale economies. Supply cooperatives may also consider issuing non-qualified equity and securing long-term debt access as additional possibilities to improve financial performance. Originality/value The empirical application of the extended DuPont identity with quantile regression facilitates a novel investigation of cooperative performance by placing emphasis on the efficiency, productivity, and leverage of cooperatives with various degrees of performance.

Farmer-controlled cooperatives contribute significantly to the growth of the rice sector in the Philippines, the country’s most important agricultural sector. Despite ongoing financial support from various government agencies, many of the country’s rice cooperatives struggle to remain viable. Cooperative failure is often attributed to poor management, inadequate capital, and opportunistic side selling by members. However, a growing body of literature views these problems as symptoms of much more fundamental flaws in the institutional arrangements that characterize traditional cooperatives. Relationships between indicators of financial performance and institutional attributes observed in case studies of four Philippine rice farmer cooperatives were identified using hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of this analysis were interpreted against causal relationships predicted by the New Institutional Economics theory. Financial performance improves when cooperatives require their members to invest in proportion to their patronage, allow members to adjust their shareholding, and periodically redeem members’ shares. Other performance-enhancing institutional arrangements could be adopted if the Philippine Cooperative Code authorized directors to issue class B shares. The findings also highlight operational and governance practices that improve financial performance, which directors can and should apply.