Cooperativism is an associative model that was born in the 18th century in England as an associated strategy, where a group of people joining joint efforts (capital), could form a company that allowed them to generate their own income.
This union called cooperativism, unlike other unions with commercial objectives, is based on principles, as detailed by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), such as free membership, that is, that people are free to enter or leave to join a cooperative. Likewise, the administration has democratic control, they are governed by statutes, the cooperative is committed to education; considers it important that associates are prepared to drive and be part of this business model. Another principle is the distribution of surpluses, that is, that the profits are distributed equally based on what is contributed by each member for the proper functioning of the cooperative. Likewise, integration and concern for the community are promoted, that is,engages with associates to improve their standard of living.
From my experience, the cooperative model for agricultural organizations is currently the most viable business partner model, because it allows people from the same agricultural subsector to come together and form a company with the same objective and the same strength.
For example, producers of organic bananas, or cocoa or coffee, or beans or guinea pigs; They come together and form a cooperative with the aim of working on the same vision of producing quality products and positioning themselves in the market, whether national or international.
Joining a cooperative requires a commitment from each of the people who want to join, because sometimes associates do not assume with responsibility that being part of an agricultural cooperative is for social and commercial integration. The cases that I observe most often consist in that the associate producers deliver their products without the quality requirements that the directors and management of the cooperative have established in the commercial contracts. They consider that it is not their responsibility. However, when you deliver your product, it will be part of a large batch or a large merchandise that your cooperative will present to the market and if it presents a failure, the commercial penalty will fall on the cooperative and not on the associated person who “failed” the lot or merchandise.
This implies that it is urgent to carry out awareness programs from the management and from the executives (Boards of Directors, Supervisory Boards, Education Committees) so that the member understands that being part of a cooperative does not only mean that they will find financial compensation. best on the market, they also have to cooperate with positioning their company in a quality market.
Also, another point that I can observe, is that the associates who assume the directive positions of the Councils and of the Committees, are not clear about their functions, causing that everything falls to the manager and that often decisions are centralized in a single person. I even remember a very genuine case, which insistently trained the managers of a banana cooperative on the importance of getting involved in the entire management of the cooperative because perhaps something could happen to the manager and anecdotally, the manager died unexpectedly. The managers were unaware of everything in its magnitude about the cooperative. In another case, I remember that the manager subtracted all the capital from the cooperative's accounts. I have seen this situation continuously.
In this sense, my bet is the strengthening of cooperatives by their governing bodies and also by associated persons, the importance of knowing their functions, rights and duties and of being actively involved in their operation.
For example, in the Alto Huallaga Valley with the Peru-USAID Cacao Alliance Program, where I exercise the role of business manager, advice has been provided to more than 8 agricultural cocoa cooperatives (APCCA, COPAIGOM, AUCACOOP, CAICAH, DIVISORIA, BOLSON INKA CUCHARA, CAI BELLA, COOP UCHIZA), so that they are solid organizations from their organizational social base and also in quality and commercial.
Cocoa Cooperatives in Peru
It is worth mentioning that of these cooperatives, 05 are led by women, and 6 are managed by young people (children of farmers). Among all these cooperatives there are 1,000 cocoa producers (30% are women), of which 600 produce organic cocoa with fine aroma. 02 cooperatives are positioned in the international quality market and 01 is the second largest producer of organic cocoa in Peru.
These valuable efforts of male and female farmers motivate other agricultural cooperatives to continue working with enthusiasm for this associative business model, but without distorting its conception as others seek to do so, creating cooperatives out of nowhere with 20 people who do not show commitment and responsibility.
