Producer organizations in the last 25 years: a bibliometric analysis and meta-review of the literature

Over the past few decades, producer organizations (POs) have garnered significant attention and policy support due to their potential for wealth creation and sustainable rural livelihoods. Research in this area typically focuses on the rural context, highlighting the services POs offer, their roles in market linkage activities, and their contribution to financial inclusion and rural growth. However, there is currently no comprehensive review of the literature that explores the organizational attributes of various collective forms and their role in sustainable development goals. We, therefore, conduct a meta-analysis of the literature based on bibliometrics to understand current research trends and identify existing gaps. We used Scopus as the bibliometric data source and focused on PO-related developments during 1998–2023 for our analysis. A total of 74 papers were found eligible for this meta-review. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were applied to extract papers based on inclusion criteria. Bibliometric analysis was performed using the VOSviewer tool. We discussed the findings based on the clusters generated in the co-citation study. Indeed, this research summarizes major structural reforms, market linkages by the POs, and the impact of membership on rural livelihood. A range of organizational attributes, including ownership, control, benefit, profit share, governance, autonomy, marketing, and liability factors of cooperatives and producer companies, have been analyzed and compared. We found that producer companies carry both the goodness of co-operative structure, i.e. credit access, training, bargaining ability, and other technical facilities and the vibrancy and efficacy of private companies. The role of POs in contract farming and value chain integration is extensively discussed in the selected literature. Using Cohen’s d, we further demonstrate that membership in a PO significantly enhances farmers’ bargaining power, market access, and credit acquisition compared to non-members. Based on our analysis, we conclude that POs have the potential to play a pivotal role in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030, which are critical for the development of emerging economies. However, this is the first attempt to investigate POs in such a holistic way using bibliometrics, to the best of the authors’ knowledge. These findings could be meaningful in shaping regional policy and expediting future investments to establish robust business ventures.