The Key Role of Cooperatives in Sustainable Agriculture and Agrifood Security: Evidence from Greece

Stavros Kalogiannidis (), Simeon Karafolas and Fotios Chatzitheodoridis
Additional contact information
Stavros Kalogiannidis: Department of Business Administration, University of Western Macedonia, 51100 Grevena, Greece
Simeon Karafolas: Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Koila Kozanis, Greece

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-20

Abstract: This research investigated the role of agricultural cooperatives (ACs) in promoting sustainable agriculture and agrifood security, with a particular emphasis on Greece. A cross-sectional survey technique was employed, and data were collected from 400 farmers and professionals either employed by or associated with Greek agricultural cooperatives by administering an online questionnaire. A response rate of 96.5% was achieved. The study findings show that cooperative techniques bring about a positive shift in agrifood security and sustainable agriculture. Particularly, participants concurred that resource sharing among cooperative members increases farm productiveness and sustainability by 94.2% while improving access to credit and financial support by 91.5%. Moreover, 84.3% agreed that access to up-to-date information enhances the practice of sustainable agriculture, and 95.1% agreed that collective bargaining through cooperatives increases the prices of agricultural commodities. Regarding the application of advanced technologies in cooperative practices, 96.7% of the participants acknowledged that it improved farm efficiency. The cooperative model demonstrates how agricultural expansion may be achieved by collective bargaining, information sharing, resource sharing, and technological integration, while also considerably improving agrifood security and sustainability. These findings highlight the crucial importance of cooperatives in increasing the level of agricultural production, ensuring sustainability, and improving agrifood security in Greece.

Keywords: agriculture cooperatives; sustainable agriculture; resource sharing; information sharing; agrifood security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7202/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7202/ (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:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7202-:d:1461338

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 ().