Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa

Agricultural cooperatives in Africa tend to be community‐based organizations defined by principles of inclusion, voluntarism, democracy, equity, autonomy, mutuality and solidarity. This means that they generally operate in accordance with the principles endorsed by the International Cooperative Alli...

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Autores principales: Francesconi, Gian Nicola, Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: John Wiley & Sons 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146523
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author Francesconi, Gian Nicola
Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie
author_browse Francesconi, Gian Nicola
Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie
author_facet Francesconi, Gian Nicola
Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie
author_sort Francesconi, Gian Nicola
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agricultural cooperatives in Africa tend to be community‐based organizations defined by principles of inclusion, voluntarism, democracy, equity, autonomy, mutuality and solidarity. This means that they generally operate in accordance with the principles endorsed by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). However, only a few of these organizations are successful in commercializing the agricultural produce of their members. In this study, we argue that growth‐problems leading to commercial failure and organizational degeneration in these cooperatives can be attributed to a lack of managerial capital. Drawing on the literature and evidence from the field we set out key management solutions for counterbalancing cooperative principles in the context of rural Africa. These solutions were taught to the leaders and managers of 362 cooperatives at four training events held in Madagascar, Malawi and twice in Uganda. Using a production function for cognitive achievement and key informant interviews, we find that our training contributed to the adoption of the proposed solutions by some of the cooperatives. Using the Ugandan sub‐ sample, we estimate an OLS regression and a PSM model to show that the training translated into higher revenues per member generated through collective commercialization.
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spelling CGSpace1465232025-12-08T10:11:39Z Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa Francesconi, Gian Nicola Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie capacity development agricultural cooperatives management techniques commercialization rural areas Agricultural cooperatives in Africa tend to be community‐based organizations defined by principles of inclusion, voluntarism, democracy, equity, autonomy, mutuality and solidarity. This means that they generally operate in accordance with the principles endorsed by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). However, only a few of these organizations are successful in commercializing the agricultural produce of their members. In this study, we argue that growth‐problems leading to commercial failure and organizational degeneration in these cooperatives can be attributed to a lack of managerial capital. Drawing on the literature and evidence from the field we set out key management solutions for counterbalancing cooperative principles in the context of rural Africa. These solutions were taught to the leaders and managers of 362 cooperatives at four training events held in Madagascar, Malawi and twice in Uganda. Using a production function for cognitive achievement and key informant interviews, we find that our training contributed to the adoption of the proposed solutions by some of the cooperatives. Using the Ugandan sub‐ sample, we estimate an OLS regression and a PSM model to show that the training translated into higher revenues per member generated through collective commercialization. 2019-03 2024-06-21T09:07:22Z 2024-06-21T09:07:22Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146523 en Limited Access John Wiley & Sons Francesconi, Gian Nicola; and Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie. Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa. 2019. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics 90(1): 141-159. https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12218
spellingShingle capacity development
agricultural cooperatives
management techniques
commercialization
rural areas
Francesconi, Gian Nicola
Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie
Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa
title Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa
title_full Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa
title_fullStr Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa
title_full_unstemmed Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa
title_short Building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in Africa
title_sort building the managerial capital of agricultural cooperatives in africa
topic capacity development
agricultural cooperatives
management techniques
commercialization
rural areas
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146523
work_keys_str_mv AT francesconigiannicola buildingthemanagerialcapitalofagriculturalcooperativesinafrica
AT woutersefleurstephanie buildingthemanagerialcapitalofagriculturalcooperativesinafrica