Lokey, Kenneth R. (author / Director, Farm Bank Research and Information Service, Omaha, NE) and Director, Farm Bank Research and Information Service, Omaha, NE
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1977
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 49 Document Number: C00095
Gifford, Claude W. (author / Economics Editor, Farm Journal magazine)
Format:
Speech
Publication Date:
1963
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 71 Document Number: D10765
Notes:
Find this presentation in Document No. D10766. Claude W. Gifford Collection. Beyond his materials in the ACDC collection, the Claude W. Gifford Papers, 1919-2004, are deposited in the University of Illinois Archives. Serial Number 8/3/81. Locate finding aid at https://archives.library.illinois.edu/archon/, Pages 126-134 in Farmer Cooperative Service (August 1970), Cooperative bargaining: selections from the proceedings of the national conferences of Agricultural Bargaining Cooperatives. Service Report 113. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. Claude W. Gifford Collection.
Farmer Coopeative Service (author / U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
1970-08
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 71 Document Number: D10766
Notes:
Claude W. Gifford Collection. Beyond his materials in the ACDC collection, the Claude W. Gifford Papers, 1919-2004, are deposited in the University of Illinois Archives. Serial Number 8/3/81. Locate finding aid at https://archives.library.illinois.edu/archon/, Service Report 113, Farmer Cooperative Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 154 pages. Claude W. Gifford Collection.
22 pages, Smallholder farmers in developing countries encounter multiple barriers in access to inputs and technology, which prevent them from reaping the benefits from market participation. Women farmers face additional constraints due to gender norms that further limit their engagement in productive activities. While collective action has been shown to improve access to markets and economic outcomes for farmers overall, the evidence on the effects of cooperative membership for women smallholders remains limited. We investigate empirically the economic benefits of collective action for women farmers in the honey sector in Ethiopia. Relying on a rich data set on women honey producers, both cooperative members and non-members, we evaluate the effects of belonging to a cooperative on three outcome variables through coarsened exact matching and regression analysis. Our results indicate that cooperative membership significantly increases the market price and the production quantity and, while the average effect on the share of product marketed is statistically insignificant, significant differences emerge for women with given characteristics. These results are shown to be robust to a number of tests that address biases from selection on observables and unobservables. An analysis of the heterogeneous effects of household membership in multiple groups finds that membership of self-help groups or farmer associations amplifies the positive outcomes from belonging to a formal cooperative. Finally, qualitative findings derived from the same communities indicate self-reported improvements in agency and self-esteem among women members, thus reinforcing the importance of the quantitative findings.
21 pages, In this study we explain the concepts, determinants and imperatives of boundary in smallholder producers’ cooperatives both conceptually and empirically. The conceptual framework indicates the importance of the type of goods (being a club good or not) and range of activities that a cooperative provides to its members in defining a competitive boundary. Using unique organisational and market level data from Ethiopia, we then test empirically whether the observed (weak) performance of producers’ cooperatives in Africa is explained by their organisational boundary – the type and range of goods or services they provide to members. The empirical results confirm that the competitiveness of producers’ cooperatives is significantly correlated with the type and number of services – i.e. cooperatives that provide club goods and a limited range of services are found to be more competitive. The results also suggest that a considerable number of cooperatives in Ethiopia engage in markets where they do not have competitive advantage. Overall, we demonstrate the importance of properly defining a viable boundary – proper selection of services (or markets) and limiting the range of services – for improving the competitiveness of membership-based producer cooperatives in Africa.
Opio-Odongo, J.M.A. (author / Abmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.) and Abmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1980
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 52 Document Number: C00585
Phase 1, Argues that to bring small farmers into mainstream of agricultural development: a) innovative steps are needed to create dynamic institutions together with b) action to sustain enthusiasm and c) the revitalization of existing community organizations. Small holders need to be psychologically and socially viable if economic progress is to be made.
