IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i13p10354-d1183900.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Perceived Effectiveness of Agricultural Cooperatives by Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from a Micro-Level Survey in North-Eastern South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Paean Hugo Nyawo

    (Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Private Bag X 11283, Mbombela 1200, South Africa)

  • Oluwasogo David Olorunfemi

    (Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Private Bag X 11283, Mbombela 1200, South Africa)

Abstract

The importance of agricultural cooperatives and other community-based organizations in facilitating sustainable agricultural development in South Africa cannot be downplayed. The aim of the study was to analyse smallholder farmers’ perception of the effectiveness of agricultural cooperatives in rendering support services to their enterprise in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to elicit data from a sample of 120 smallholder farmers drawn from 150 farmers—members who were currently active members of agricultural cooperatives. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data that were analysed using descriptive statistics. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the socio-economic and institutional factors influencing the member farmers’ perception of cooperative effectiveness. The findings revealed that although agricultural cooperatives in the area rendered some level of support services to their members, the majority of the respondents perceived their cooperative as ineffective in rendering some key support services to them that could potentially improve their livelihoods. The results of inferential analysis indicate that factors such as farm size, level of education, household size, farming experience, major crop grown/animal reared, number of cooperative members, support services received index, and satisfaction of leadership processes were significant socioeconomic and institutional factors that influence respondent’s perception. The study recommended increased government public recognition and support for agricultural cooperatives development, increased resource base through more access to grant and donations, and improved linkages between cooperatives and extension agencies as a means of improving the effectiveness of agricultural cooperatives in the area.

Suggested Citation

  • Paean Hugo Nyawo & Oluwasogo David Olorunfemi, 2023. "Perceived Effectiveness of Agricultural Cooperatives by Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from a Micro-Level Survey in North-Eastern South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:10354-:d:1183900
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10354/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10354/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thembi Xaba & Nyankomo Marwa & Babita Mathur-Helm, 2018. "Efficiency and Profitability Analysis of Agricultural Cooperatives in Mpumalanga, South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(6), pages 1-10.
    2. Miguel Hernández-Espallardo & Narciso Arcas-Lario & Gustavo Marcos-Matás, 2013. "Farmers' satisfaction and intention to continue membership in agricultural marketing co-operatives: neoclassical versus transaction cost considerations," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 40(2), pages 239-260, March.
    3. Sebhatu, Kifle T. & Gezahegn, Tafesse W. & Berhanu, Tekeste & Maertens, Miet & Passel, Steven Van & D'Haese, Marijke, 2021. "Exploring variability across cooperatives: economic performance of agricultural cooperatives in northern Ethiopia," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 24(3), March.
    4. Enioluwa Jonathan Ijatuyi & Oladimeji Idowu Oladele & Oluremi Adenike Abiolu & Abiodun Olusola Omotayo, 2022. "Socioeconomic Determinants of Female Development in the Rural North West Province of South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Mfaniseni Wiseman Mbatha & Mfundo Mandla Masuku, 2018. "Small-Scale Agriculture as a Panacea in Enhancing South African Rural Economies," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(6), pages 33-41.
    6. Grashuis, Jasper & Cook, Michael Lee, 2019. "A structural equation model of cooperative member satisfaction and long-term commitment," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 22(2).
    7. Chibanda, M. & Ortmann, Gerald F. & Lyne, Michael C., 2009. "Institutional and governance factors influencing the performance of selected smallholder agricultural cooperatives in KwaZulu-Natal," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 48(3), pages 1-14, September.
    8. Dinesh Dhakal & David O’Brien & Peter Mueser, 2021. "Government Policy and Performance of Agricultural Cooperatives: A Case Study in Chitwan District, Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-20, November.
    9. Imami, Drini & Valentinov, Vladislav & Skreli, Engjell, 2021. "Food safety and value chain coordination in the context of a transition economy: The role of agricultural cooperatives," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 21-34.
    10. Abiodun Olusola Omotayo & Peter Tshepiso Ndhlovu & Seleke Christopher Tshwene & Kehinde Oluseyi Olagunju & Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu, 2021. "Determinants of Household Income and Willingness to Pay for Indigenous Plants in North West Province, South Africa: A Two-Stage Heckman Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Baiyegunhi, L.J.S. & Majokweni, Z.P. & Ferrer, S.R.D., 2019. "Impact of outsourced agricultural extension program on smallholder farmers’ net farm income in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-7.
    12. Sikhulumile Sinyolo & Maxwell Mudhara, 2018. "Collective action and rural poverty reduction: Empirical evidence from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 78-90, January.
    13. Manda, Julius & Khonje, Makaiko G. & Alene, Arega D. & Tufa, Adane H & Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Mutenje, Munyaradzi & Setimela, Peter & Manyong, Victor, 2020. "Does cooperative membership increase and accelerate agricultural technology adoption? Empirical evidence from Zambia," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Musa Hasen Ahmed & Hiwot Mekonnen Mesfin, 2017. "The impact of agricultural cooperatives membership on the wellbeing of smallholder farmers: empirical evidence from eastern Ethiopia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-20, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wanglin Ma & Hongyun Zheng & Peng Yuan, 2022. "Impacts of cooperative membership on banana yield and risk exposure: Insights from China," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 564-579, June.
    2. Kilombele, Happiness & Chegere, Martin & Feleke, Shiferaw & Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Cole, Steven M. & Manyong, Victor, 2021. "Intra-Group Heterogeneity Effects on Maize Technology Adoption, and Its Implications for Productivity and Household Welfare: The Case of Village Community BANK Groups in Tanzania," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315387, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Wanglin Ma & Hongyun Zheng & Yueji Zhu & Jianling Qi, 2022. "Effects of cooperative membership on financial performance of banana farmers in China: A heterogeneous analysis," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(1), pages 5-27, March.
    4. Theo Benos & Nikos Kalogeras & Martin Wetzels & Ko De Ruyter & Joost M. E. Pennings, 2018. "Harnessing a ‘Currency Matrix’ for Performance Measurement in Cooperatives: A Multi-Phased Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-38, December.
    5. Phakathi, S. & Sinyolo, S. & Fraser, G.C.C. & Marire, J., 2021. "Heterogeneous welfare effects of farmer groups in smallholder irrigation schemes in South Africa," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 16(1), March.
    6. Carlos Omar Trejo-Pech & Roselia Servín-Juárez & Álvaro Reyes-Duarte, 2023. "What sets cooperative farmers apart from non-cooperative farmers? A transaction cost economics analysis of coffee farmers in Mexico," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-24, December.
    7. Liyan Yu & Jerker Nilsson & Feng Zhan & Song Cheng, 2023. "Social Capital in Cooperative Memberships and Farmers’ Access to Bank Credit–Evidence from Fujian, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Dinesh Dhakal & David O’Brien & Peter Mueser, 2021. "Government Policy and Performance of Agricultural Cooperatives: A Case Study in Chitwan District, Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-20, November.
    9. Thembi Xaba & Nyankomo Marwa & Babita Mathur-Helm, 2018. "Efficiency and Profitability Analysis of Agricultural Cooperatives in Mpumalanga, South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(6), pages 1-10.
    10. Fuhong Zhang & Apurbo Sarkar & Hongyu Wang, 2021. "Does Internet and Information Technology Help Farmers to Maximize Profit: A Cross-Sectional Study of Apple Farmers in Shandong, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    11. Radosavljevic, Sonja & Haider, L. Jamila & Lade, Steven J. & Schlüter, Maja, 2021. "Implications of poverty traps across levels," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    12. Li, Fuduo & Zhang, Kangjie & Ren, Jing & Yin, Changbin & Zhang, Yang & Nie, Jun, 2021. "Driving mechanism for farmers to adopt improved agricultural systems in China: The case of rice-green manure crops rotation system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    13. Mei-Yin Kuan & Szu-Yung Wang & Jiun-Hao Wang, 2021. "Investigating the Association between Farmers’ Organizational Participation and Types of Agricultural Product Certifications: Empirical Evidence from a National Farm Households Survey in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    14. Nguyen Thi Nha Trang & Thanh-Thuy Nguyen & Hong V. Pham & Thi Thu Anh Cao & Thu Huong Trinh Thi & Javad Shahreki, 2022. "Impacts of Collaborative Partnership on the Performance of Cold Supply Chains of Agriculture and Foods: Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-28, May.
    15. Edvin Zhllima & Gentjan Mehmeti & Drini Imami, 2021. "Consumer Preferences for Cheese with Focus on Food Safety—A Segmentation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-12, November.
    16. Zheng, Hongyun & Ma, Wanglin & Wang, Fang & Li, Gucheng, 2021. "Does internet use improve technical efficiency of banana production in China? Evidence from a selectivity-corrected analysis," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    17. Iliriana Miftari & Rainer Haas & Oliver Meixner & Drini Imami & Ekrem Gjokaj, 2022. "Factors Influencing Consumer Attitudes towards Organic Food Products in a Transition Economy—Insights from Kosovo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    18. Jerzy Michalek & Pavel Ciaian & Jan Pokrivcak, 2018. "The impact of producer organisations on farm performance: A case study of large farms in Slovakia," JRC Research Reports JRC108059, Joint Research Centre.
    19. Yemane Asmelash Gebremariam & Joost Dessein & Beneberu Assefa Wondimagegnhu & Mark Breusers & Lutgart Lenaerts & Enyew Adgo & Zemen Ayalew & Amare Sewenet Minale & Jan Nyssen, 2021. "Determinants of Farmers’ Level of Interaction with Agricultural Extension Agencies in Northwest Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-24, March.
    20. Wanglin Ma & Sanghyun Hong & W. Robert Reed & Jianhua Duan & Phong Luu, 2023. "Yield effects of agricultural cooperative membership in developing countries: A meta‐analysis," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 761-780, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:10354-:d:1183900. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.