The Agricultural Cooperative in Romania and Worldwide

Presently, it is commonly accepted that agriculture represents a significant sector in the Romanian economy due to its size and potential, but its development is still sluggish compared with its true potential. Considering this undisputable reality, our research aims to highlight that public investments in rural infrastructure, public services, training and education may provide to the small farmers the help they need in order to become competitive in an increasingly globalized market. For small farms, the establishment of associative forms may provide the necessary inputs and outputs (in terms of technology and financial solutions) for achieving sustainable growth. Our article also aims to assess the potential of microfinance solutions for small entrepreneurs (SMEs and microenterprises) in the rural areas. The microfinance may provide an integrated package of support services (financial counseling, consulting and design services). Currently, Romania has over 2.5 million subsistence farms (rural households) and 5.5 million persons who are financial excluded. Our research aims to underline that a solution for the development of the subsistence farms could be provided through the cooperative associations in terms of flows of agricultural raw materials and technological support for the processing and capitalization of the products.