Development and Effectiveness of Agricultural Cooperatives: Case of Maize Producer Cooperatives (MPCs) in the Republic of Benin

Godfrid Erasme Ibikoule (), Jaehyeon Lee (), Barnabé Agalati and Raulston Gillette
Additional contact information
Godfrid Erasme Ibikoule: The United Graduate School of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, 1–21–4 Kōrimoto, Kagoshima 890-0059, Japan
Jaehyeon Lee: Laboratory of Farm Business Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, 1–21–24 Kōrimoto, Kagoshima 890-0059, Japan
Barnabé Agalati: Laboratory of Analysis and Research on Economic and Social Dynamics, University of Parakou, Parakou P.O. Box 123, Benin
Raulston Gillette: The United Graduate School of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, 1–21–4 Kōrimoto, Kagoshima 890-0059, Japan

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: In the Republic of Benin, the last decade has witnessed initiatives that resulted in a boom in agricultural cooperatives. However, many research outcomes indicated agricultural cooperatives’ poor performances and lack of sustainability. To understand why this is the case, this research uses a comparative case study approach to analyze maize producer cooperatives’ (MPCs) institutional environment and internal governance at different levels in two districts of Benin: Kandi and Djidja. Analysis showed that MPCs’ development follows different trajectories influenced by specific contexts and multiple factors. MPCs in the district of Djidja proved to be more effective than those in Kandi. In both cases, institutional factors—such as the government’s role, source of establishment initiative, political and administrative context, and support system—have greatly affected the current condition of MPCs. Moreover, the internal governance—mainly the structure of MPCs, the profile of leaders, the network, and the business—and notably joint-selling also contributed to the current situation of MPCs being either not operating, revived, or genuine, therefore implying different levels of effectiveness. The originality of this study lies in its qualitative approach, which provides a rigorous understanding of the MPCs’ development and effectiveness based on cooperative practitioners’ experiences.

Keywords: maize producer cooperatives (MPCs); institutional environment; organizational structure; network; effectiveness; Republic of Benin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/5/4480/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/5/4480/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:5:p:4480-:d:1085880

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().