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This article addresses two main scientific questions. First, it examines the relationship between smallholder households' membership in dairy cooperatives and their resilience to food insecurity, measured by the Food Consumption Score, in the context of the Souss Valley. Second, using binary logistic regression, it analyzes how various socio-economic factors influence the likelihood of cooperative membership. It assesses how these determinants affect cooperative participation and identifies the underlying mechanisms of this effect. The study reveals that over 60% of smallholders are not members, while members own four times more livestock than non-members. Increased distance from milk collection centers significantly reduces membership. Non-agricultural income and migrant remittances substantially increase the likelihood of membership, while access to irrigation water, though beneficial, has a minimal effect. The availability of household labor quadruples the chances of membership, whereas access to credit, large land areas and extension visits do not significantly impact membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gandhian notion of Sarvodaya was introduced to establish 'village swaraj' to reconstruct rural India. The principles of Sarvodaya are pointed towards the upliftment and development of all aspects of an individual and help towards rural development. This paper attempts to study how village swaraj and the principles of Sarvodaya are reflected in the values that a dairy cooperative society, the Sitajakhala Dugdha Utpadak Samabai Samiti Limited (SJDUSS), has been generating in Assam. The paper also explores the relevance of Gandhian Sarvodaya in the cooperative society in contemporary times, which is conserved as a means by which peasant cultivators can help each other improve their position. It also enquires whether this could be an alternative way to nurture a nation at the grassroots level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored smallholder dairy production and cattle welfare in Eastern Uganda using mixed methods evaluation approaches. A focus group of 17 members performed a SWOT analysis of local farms, identifying strengths like available land, forage, and community support but weaknesses including disease, parasites, and lack of technologies. Field assessments of 12 farms using a modified Welfare Quality® protocol revealed 25% had inadequate body condition; 33% lacked adequate water access; 50% provided comfortable housing; and 42% had animals with health issues. Six recommendations were formulated to address needs via training, veterinary services access, data systems, finance, milk market development, and pasture improvements. Though struggling with resource constraints and animal health, eastern Uganda's favorable climate and community present opportunities to enhance productivity and welfare with targeted actions like skills development and access to technologies. However, external inputs require alignment with smallholder realities. Findings detail current conditions while highlighting local perspectives to guide appropriate innovations sensitive to economic limitations and values-based motives. Collaborating with producers to incrementally elevate management can improve livelihoods and animal well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia is the property of Wydawnictwo SGGW and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explored smallholder dairy production and cattle welfare in Eastern Uganda using mixed methods evaluation approaches. A focus group of 17 members performed a SWOT analysis of local farms, identifying strengths like available land, forage, and community support but weaknesses including disease, parasites, and lack of technologies. Field assessments of 12 farms using a modified Welfare Quality® protocol revealed 25% had inadequate body condition; 33% lacked adequate water access; 50% provided comfortable housing; and 42% had animals with health issues. Six recommendations were formulated to address needs via training, veterinary services access, data systems, finance, milk market development, and pasture improvements. Though struggling with resource constraints and animal health, eastern Uganda’s favorable climate and community present opportunities to enhance productivity and welfare with targeted actions like skills development and access to technologies. However, external inputs require alignment with smallholder realities. Findings detail current conditions while highlighting local perspectives to guide appropriate innovations sensitive to economic limitations and values-based motives. Collaborating with producers to incrementally elevate management can improve livelihoods and animal well-being.

This article’s aim is an attempt to identify the scope and ways of implementing content marketing on the websites of dairy companies. To achieve the stated objective, 15 dairy company websites were analysed using the content analysis method. It was observed that the companies surveyed use content marketing in different ways on their company websites, with the aim of distributing attractive content designed to persuade the customer to act accordingly. Companies are recognising the increasing role of content marketing and the opportunities for its implementation on the company website. However, there is great potential to intensify activities in this area.

The sustainable development of cooperatives is essential to agricultural sustainability and is determined mainly by cooperation longevity. The risk sharing and benefit distribution mechanisms are important governance arrangements that affect cooperation longevity in member-heterogeneous cooperatives. However, the relationship between cooperatives’ risk sharing and benefit distribution arrangements and cooperation longevity is not well understood. To address this research gap, we provide a conceptual framework to illustrate the relationship between risk sharing, benefit distribution, contract form and cooperation longevity. By conducting 23 interviews with three dairy cooperatives in China using a multiple-case-study method, we find that cooperation longevity is influenced by the alignment of the combination of risk sharing and benefit distribution for cooperatives and their members. Following the principles of risk-benefit equivalence and strategy-risk preference matching, we discuss four scenarios of match or mismatch of combinations of risk sharing and benefit distribution. We suggest that the government needs to strengthen risk mitigation capabilities for cooperatives and members, and to help them to build an effective risk sharing and benefit distribution arrangement to achieve sustainable development.

Cooperatives are organisations owned and operated by individuals or groups that come together for mutual benefit including pooling of resources for the purchase of inputs and marketing of products. Marketing of milk is through dairy cooperatives where the milk collection centres are mandated to help integrating smallholder farmers into competitive markets. The study investigated governance structures of five smallholder dairy schemes purposively selected based on their agroecological regions in Zimbabwe. The aim of the study was to explore how the governing boards conduct their business, particularly marketing milk, and how this affects allocation of resources (milk production and deliveries to milk centres) by smallholder farmers. Qualitative data were collected using focus group discussions with 20 dairy cooperative members from each milk collection centre. Key informant interviews were conducted with chairpersons, management committee members, and dairy value chain stakeholders such as dairy associations and processors. The SWOT analysis technique was employed to identify governance structures highlighting major strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats as a gateway to isolating strategies for enhancing centre performance. An analysis of implications of the governance structures on resource allocation decision by farmers was also performed. So focus is on how boards are discharging mandate such as marketing on behalf of farmers, price setting and negotiations, trainings, and accountability to members. Such factors if executed well will see farmers increasing milk production and deliveries to MCC yielding positive results in income and profits. The study results show that poor governance mainly caused by incompetent boards and management committees was the major factor affecting performance. Other findings were that if good governance factors were in place, then cooperatives became proficient leading to their growth. Thus, cooperatives must adopt business models based on private sector partnerships to maximise on expertise and technical support. The schemes ought to take advantage of existing opportunities, especially policies that mitigate threats and improve product diversity, value addition, and effective pricing strategies. To achieve these milestones, capacity building roadmaps ought to identify competent and efficient boards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to present and assess the development of the concept of social responsibility in dairy co-operatives in Poland. Nowadays, the development of enterprises with adequate impact on the natural environment is an element of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in which three goals must be reconciled: economic, environmental and social. More and more good practices, often innovative, are appearing, which shape the competitive advantage of Polish companies on the market. The subject of the study were co-operatives in the dairy sector. The questionnaire was implemented in enterprises involved in milk purchasing and processing, which in 2020 achieved revenues from the sales of products at a level of at least PLN 15 million. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and areas of its implementation in selected dairy co-operatives have been indicated. A list of elements and areas considered important in the approach to sustainable development was presented. It was found that not all the surveyed enterprises implemented all the elements recognised as components of Corporate Social Responsibility to the same extent. In all the studied cooperatives, safety standards, the high quality of products, transport and logistics were indicated as the most significant in the area considered important in the approach to sustainable development. On the other hand, the activities undertaken within the framework of corporate social responsibility in most of the studied cooperatives concerned the use of fair market practices and activities for the benefit of local communities. The research also showed that the approach to CSR was not influenced by the size of the enterprise, measured by the value of product sales.

The article discusses competition issues in the fluid milk industry in Eastern America and discusses antitrust litigations in the industry. It discusses antitrust lawsuits filed against Dean Food (Dean) and Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) by dairy farmers in the southeast and northeast America; the law suits were settled where both companies did not admit to any wrong doing; and discussed role of the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Purpose: Extant literature indicates that people use existing social networks for various collective activities as there is a cost involved to create and maintain separate networks for different activities. The authors build on the relational sociology framework and test this assertion in by examining a dairy cooperative society, which is a community organization. We hypothesize that the cooperative members are likely to use existing social networks to operationalize their cooperative (dairy-related matters) and other social and personal relations. This study tests the hypothesis by studying information sharing relations among the dairy cooperative members in two different social networks: the dairy information network and social information network. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses social network analysis to analyze relational data. Findings: The study finds that the members of the dairy cooperative maintain both information sharing networks separately and that each network has different control and efficiency mechanisms. Originality/value: The findings contradict the assertions of existing literature and establish that people ensure their business relations remain separated from their social relations to avoid the possibility of social conflicts affecting their business activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development of cooperatives is essential to agricultural sustainability and is determined mainly by cooperation longevity. The risk sharing and benefit distribution mechanisms are important governance arrangements that affect cooperation longevity in member-heterogeneous cooperatives. However, the relationship between cooperatives' risk sharing and benefit distribution arrangements and cooperation longevity is not well understood. To address this research gap, we provide a conceptual framework to illustrate the relationship between risk sharing, benefit distribution, contract form and cooperation longevity. By conducting 23 interviews with three dairy cooperatives in China using a multiple-case-study method, we find that cooperation longevity is influenced by the alignment of the combination of risk sharing and benefit distribution for cooperatives and their members. Following the principles of risk-benefit equivalence and strategy-risk preference matching, we discuss four scenarios of match or mismatch of combinations of risk sharing and benefit distribution. We suggest that the government needs to strengthen risk mitigation capabilities for cooperatives and members, and to help them to build an effective risk sharing and benefit distribution arrangement to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The objective of this article is to assess the determinants of the technical efficiency of dairy processing firms in Southern Brazil while accounting for their different organizational forms, namely cooperatives and investor-owned firms. The data from 243 milk processors in southern Brazil, including firm structure, management capacity, and organizational choice of dairies, were analyzed. A production frontier is specified to estimate technical efficiency and identify its potential driving sources. Bayesian techniques are used to estimate the model. An average efficiency of 77% indicates that the actual output is 23% below its potential, which implies that output could, on average, be increased by approximately 31.6%, under ceteris paribus conditions. Economies of scale were also detected. The analysis reveals that the management capacity within companies is the main determinant of efficiency. Idle capacities of processing plants are an important source of inefficiencies and cooperatives are more efficient than investor-owned firms, despite their transaction costs potentially being higher and the five vaguely defined property rights inherent to the traditional cooperatives which they must overcome. Knowledge about the cooperatives’ objectives other than profit maximization would provide a more realistic comparison against investor-owned firms. This study assessed the determinants of the efficiency levels of dairy processing companies in an emerging economy using a unique own dataset with data collected at a plant level. Based on the results, manifold managerial and political implications have been derived that can benefit the dairy industry of developing and emerging economies.

Dairy cooperatives should have a significant impact in the future in terms of regenerating rural life. The pressing need in the Cooperative sector in the era of liberalized environments is to seize every opportunity available for the country. Diary co-operatives mainly from cattle production played a vital role in our country's economy in the previous era and will do so in years to come. This study aims to assess the impact of dairy cooperatives on milk producers' revenues in the Gicumbi district of Rwanda. The total sample involved in this research was 974, from four cow milk producers, namely Bukure MCC-Cooperative d'Elevage Moderne de Bukure (COOPEMOBU), Koperative Zamuka Mworozi (KOZAMGI) and Borozi Twisungane Kabuga-Nyamiyaga and Giramata, which form the cooperative union of Ihuza Aborozi ba Kijyambere Bafatanyinje (IAKIB). The total sample size to be taken from three cooperatives and other recorded local farmers supplying their milk to the nearest Milk Collection Centres, as preselected, is 260 milk producers, including 187 participants and 73 non-participants of dairy cooperatives. The study used a descriptive survey design, encompassing three cooperatives and other dairy producers not members of cooperatives from Gicumbi district. Descriptive statistics, t-test, Standard Deviation, means, frequency and percentages, as well as a Propensity Score Matching model were used to analyse the results of the study. The study findings show that the average total gross revenue was 551,113 Rwandan francs for these farmers, while the mean difference between dairy cooperative participants and non-participants ranged from 50,146 Rwandan francs to 168,145 Rwandan francs as program impact. This is an indication that participants in dairy cooperatives gain more compared to their factual group. The study recommends that small holder dairy producers should be supported to enable them to produce surplus milk for markets and reduce local milking cow numbers by replacing them with crossbred cows. It is recommended that governments should also strengthen milk processing cooperatives and improve their infrastructure facilities to reduce the transportation cost for small-scale dairy producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the research was to identify and assess the dynamic and static dimension of the financial security of dairy cooperatives in the area of liquidity. Cooperatives with a higher equity value than average and with a cash flow statement were purposively selected. The final research sample included 20 dairy cooperatives. The research period covered the period from 2017 to 2019. Statistically speaking, dairy cooperatives are generally financially secure as a result of the specific nature of their business, which is geared towards benefiting their members – milk suppliers – through timely payments for raw material delivered. Most of the entities studied were characterised by over-liquidity in static terms, which should be assessed favourably from the perspective of the cooperative form of management. In dynamic terms, however, not all entities were characterised by favourable values of cash productivity ratios. Static liquidity measures do not provide a complete and transparent picture of the financial security of dairy cooperatives and should be considered both static and dynamic. Only an interpretation of the two dimensions of liquidity indicators will allow an effective interpretation of this issue in relation to dairy cooperatives. Moreover, when assessing liquidity, account should be taken of the specificities of cooperative management activities, where static measures in this area are above literature standards, while dynamic liquidity measures do not always reach satisfactory volumes.

The present study aimed at assessing the women empowerment through women dairy cooperatives in Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka. The sample comprised of 240 rural women including 100 respondents from women dairy cooperatives (WDCs), 100 from general dairy cooperatives (GDCs) and 40 from private sellers (PSs). women's empowerment in livestock index (WELI) tool was used in assessing the empowerment of women in agriculture with a special focus on livestock sector. The WELI was found to be 0.64, 0.54 and 0.51 for WDCs, GDC's and PS's, respectively, indicating a positive impact of WDCs on empowerment of rural women. Decisions related to nutrition and agricultural operations were found to be the important dimensions. Control and use of income dimension were found to be contributing least in the case of WDC's and GDC's i.e., 14.06 and 11.85 per cent, respectively, whereas access to and control over resources (11.96 per cent) is least in the case of PS's. PS's access to training, information and group participation was lower compared to that of women involved in cooperatives. The herd size categories were shown to be positively associated with the WELI. The study concluded that there is a need for bringing more rural women under WDCs to increase their social participation and empowering them and also for strengthening the existing policies of encouraging rural women for self-employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists is the property of Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of the research is to present the theoretical and practical aspects of determining the unit cost of producing dairy products in what is defined as a "typical" dairy cooperative. The Euclideanand urban distance method was used to determine a typical object with n = 88 dairy cooperatives – the following set of variables was defined, which are common to all cooperatives and reflect the sizeand specificity of cooperative units on the milk market in Poland. The selected cooperative provides a procedure for calculating the unit costs of dairy products on the basis of a detailed case study. Thefull cost account used in cooperatives does not provide cost information for management decisions.Indirect cost accounting using contractual factors does not provide reliable cost data. An important issue in determining the coefficients is the adoption of a measure which reflects the actualrelationship between cost and cost carrier, a product which, in the case of dairy products, may be difficult. It would be appropriate to attempt to introduce a variable cost account in dairy cooperativesin order to avoid the contractual assignment of indirect costs to products. The main problem highlighted by the authors is the lack of an adequate information system for the cost accounting indairy cooperatives. The implementation of such solutions would allow managers of a dairy cooperative to make appropriate (short-term) decisions in terms of developing an assortmentstructure based on data e.g. on profitability at the level of individual products.

The objective of this article is to assess the determinants of the technical efficiency of dairy processing firms in Southern Brazil while accounting for their different organizational forms, namely cooperatives and investor-owned firms. The data from 243 milk processors in southern Brazil, including firm structure, management capacity, and organizational choice of dairies, were analyzed. A production frontier is specified to estimate technical efficiency and identify its potential driving sources. Bayesian techniques are used to estimate the model. An average efficiency of 77% indicates that the actual output is 23% below its potential, which implies that output could, on average, be increased by approximately 31.6%, under ceteris paribus conditions. Economies of scale were also detected. The analysis reveals that the management capacity within companies is the main determinant of efficiency. Idle capacities of processing plants are an important source of inefficiencies and cooperatives are more efficient than investor-owned firms, despite their transaction costs potentially being higher and the five vaguely defined property rights inherent to the traditional cooperatives which they must overcome. Knowledge about the cooperatives' objectives other than profit maximization would provide a more realistic comparison against investor-owned firms. This study assessed the determinants of the efficiency levels of dairy processing companies in an emerging economy using a unique own dataset with data collected at a plant level. Based on the results, manifold managerial and political implications have been derived that can benefit the dairy industry of developing and emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Logistics plays an important role in various fields. In this case agriculture is not an exception. The discussed branch of agriculture in this article is dairy farming. The importance of logistics in dairy sector is undeniable. The main participants in dairy sector are milk producers, dairy cooperatives and milk processing plants. The main challenges related to raw milk transportation in dairy cooperatives and the possibilities to solve them are presented in this article. It is important to identify the main challenges in raw milk transportation and find ways to solve problems that arise in order to avoid losses of raw milk and ensure a more efficient path of raw milk from milk producers to the finished production. The authors of the article present a theoretical model of raw milk transportation in dairy cooperatives improvement, in the presented model not only the problematic aspects in raw milk transportation are pointed out, but also possible technological and innovative solutions are provided. After applying a questionnaire survey and a semi-structured interview, the results of an empirical research, that confirmed the existence of challenges in raw milk transportation identified in the theoretical part, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists is the property of Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Drawing on an analysis of the Walloon dairy sector, this paper aims at bringing novel insights on the coexistence issue in agrifood transition studies. Whereas most studies explore the coexistence of farm models, our study focuses on value chains, in particular on cooperatives. In the Walloon Region, new dairy cooperatives emerged, as substitute or as complement to the incumbent vertically integrated dairy cooperatives. This paper focuses on the coexistence of dairy cooperative models as enabler of transition toward product diversification. Dairy cooperatives are hybrid actors: economic agents on the market on the one hand, structure of collective agency on the other hand. Williamson's framework of New Institutional Economics acknowledges that the allocation of resources by cooperatives depends on governance processes and on the wider institutional context in which the cooperatives evolve. Within the broader frame of the Multi-Level Perspective, this approach allows to consider the socio-technical coherence in which the cooperatives evolve, the effects of this coherence on their pathways of development, and the complementarity of the cooperative models. This qualitative analysis builds on semi-directed interviews with actors of the Walloon dairy sector. The results outline distinctions between the new cooperative models and mainstream dairy cooperatives in market approach, definition of milk quality, distribution of added value, governance, and interactions with partners. Both models evolve within a distinct socio-technical coherence, holding, in the case of the mainstream dairy cooperatives, lock-ins to diversification related to the relationship with the farmer-members and the milk they produce in the industrial vertically integrated model. The new cooperative models circumvent these lock-ins through de-integration and externalization of initiatives, remuneration, and risk. They allow specific groups of actors—still related or unrelated to the mainstream dairy cooperative—to explore new market pathways in accordance with their potential, and to mutually agree on criteria qualifying milk. This research draws the picture of a possible reconfiguration of the dairy landscape toward a more diversified ecosystem of actors and invites to consider structures of governance in collective action as a cornerstone issue, because of their significant role in terms of enablement, coexistence, and complementarity throughout the transition process.

Copyright of Ekonomika APK is the property of Economy of Argo-Industrial Complex and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article aimed to study current issues of financing of Ukrainian dairy service cooperatives. In particular, the authors' purpose was to gain a better understanding of capital components of agricultural dairy cooperatives in Ukraine, their funding options, and to propose the policy recommendations for supporting cooperatives as prospective means for agricultural development in Ukraine. The study found that currently, the main financing sources for Ukrainian dairy service cooperatives are members' payments, grants, and rented assets as credits are almost inaccessible for smallholder farmers. The survey showed that members, managers, and presidents of studies cooperatives think that the basic issues for the financing of Ukrainian dairy cooperatives are expensive credit capital, lack of the liquidity of cooperatives' funds, and limited access to better education about cooperative finances for both members and administration groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates select financial security indicators from groups of dairy cooperatives, and examines the relationship between the net working capital ratio and these indicators, in order to illustrate the strength of the relationship between pursued strategies and financial security. Most of the surveyed entities pursued a conservative strategy in the area of working capital management. The greatest relation between the share of net working capital in current assets and financial security ratios was found in the case of financial liquidity (according to the literature and the author's expectations), where this relation was close to unity. A negative strength in the relationship was noted between the ratio of working capital share in current assets and trading in inventories in days in all groups of cooperatives, regardless of the working capital strategy applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural women substantially contribute to agricultural production and development in South Asia, and farmer cooperatives have been promoted to empower them. However, there is limited evidence regarding the effects of cooperative membership on women. In this paper, we evaluate impacts of membership in women-only and mixed-gender cooperatives in South India on women's intra-household decision-making power, using data of 313 female milk producers. Propensity score matching and a two-step control function approach are employed to account for selection bias due to observed and unobserved factors. We find that membership in either women-only or mixed-gender cooperatives has a positive impact on intra-household decision-making power. In particular, members of mixed-gender cooperatives gain significantly more power over decisions regarding dairy production, compared to members of women-only cooperatives. We conclude that women-only cooperatives are not more effective for women's empowerment than mixed-gender cooperatives. However, because women have limited access to mixed-gender cooperatives, women-only cooperatives are generally more accessible for the majority of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk production is a socio-economically relevant activity for many small-scale family farms in southern Brazil. The objective of this study was to analyse their production and marketing strategies. A questionnaire was administered to 199 farm households in Rio Grande do Sul State to collect information on farm assets and activities, and particularly on the contribution of milk sale to farm income. Through categorical principal component analysis and two-step clustering, farmers were classified into three types: farmers selling only milk (M); farmers selling cash crops and milk (CM); farmers selling cash crops and surplus milk (Cm). Cattle herd (heads) and size of pasture land were larger on M farms (114 ±71.9; 51 ±49.4 ha) than on CM (31 ±13.4; 9 ±8.9 ha) and Cm (12 ±7.5; 5 ±8.1 ha) farms. Livestock husbandry contributed 71, 59 and 16 % to family income on M, CM and Cm farms, respectively. Daily milk production of the individual cow depended on the area cultivated with fodder maize (ha per cow; p ≤ 0.001), on sale of milk to cooperatives or to private companies (p ≤ 0.01), on summer pasture area (ha per cow; p = 0.001) and on daily amount of concentrates offered (kg per cow; p ≤ 0.01). These results indicate that the area available for fodder cultivation is a key factor for milk production on small-scale dairy farms in southern Brazil, while concentrate feeding plays a less important role even for highly market-oriented farms. This must be accounted for when exploring options for strengthening the regional small-scale milk production, in which dairy cooperatives do play an important role.

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Dairy cooperatives bestow upon farmers the virtues of controlling a large supply quantity of a relatively scarce product, that is, milk (e.g., higher bargaining power, fixed cost sharing, etc.). However, the cooperative structure also encourages individual farmers to free‐ride (i.e., provide low‐quality milk in the hope that other farmers provide good‐quality milk). The question arises: How can the benefits of a cooperative be retained, while eliminating free‐riding, especially when individual inspection costs are high? We examine this question from the perspective of a social planner, who wishes to achieve the simultaneous goals of quantity efficiency, quality efficiency, and minimal testing. The basic challenge in this quest is that of countering an endogenous value function associated with a coalition of farmers. This value function emerges from the joint interaction of three forces: (i) an individual farmer's payment‐maximizing behavior, (ii) the testing policies employed by the cooperative, and (iii) the manner in which the revenue earned by a coalition is shared among the farmers (allocation rule). A novel allocation rule—that exploits individual incentives to guide the collective behavior of the farmers and thereby the value–function endogeneity—is proposed that achieves the planner's goals in the presence of these forces. A modification to this allocation rule is made to address the goals of practicality, e.g., the presence of low‐income farmers and unintended variation in the quality of a farmer's output. We examine our interventions in the light of sample data from actual dairy cooperatives to demonstrate the viability of our proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are important actors in smallholder farmer milk production. Therefore, female input in the dairy cooperatives is essential to dairy development in emerging economies. Within dairy value chains, however, their contributions are often not formally acknowledged or rewarded. This article contributes to filling this gap by adopting a multileveled institutional perspective to explore the case of dairy development in the Pangalengan mixed-sex dairy cooperative on West Java, Indonesia. The objective is to add evidence from the dairy development practice in Indonesia to the current agenda for gender and development as well as identify pathways for future research on dairy development that will help it do better in practice. Central to the exploration is a discussion of formal and informal institutions as part of the dynamics of the inequality regimes in dairy cooperatives. Evidence from dairy development practices in the Pangalengan cooperative shows, among others, distinct differences between the participation of male and female target groups in dairy development extension, as well as farm size- and resource-related trends in 'masculinization' and 'feminization' of the smallholder farmer household. The conclusions contribute to debates on more resilient, thus sustainable working relations in food chains, women's empowerment, gender equality and social justice in agriculture as well as cooperative studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to determine the roleof dairy cooperatives which are a crucial factor in reducinglosses of dairy products at the distribution stage of the dairyproduction chain in the Lubelskie voivodeship. The researchwas conducted on local data provided by one of the largestPolish supermarket chains. In the Lubelskie voivodeship,dairy products are manufactured in 18 plants, including 14dairy cooperative members. Basic dairy products are mainlysupplied by local dairies, especially by dairy cooperatives.Operators based outside the Lubelskie voivodeship supplythe majority of processed milk products. The greatest productlosses are related to products supplied by dairies based outsidethe voivodeship. The main cause of dairy product loss in thesupply chain was product expiry. On average, the largest shareof expired products (excluding desserts) was noted for goodssupplied by dairies based outside the voivodeship. As regardsmost products supplied from outside the voivodeship, theirshare in losses exceeds their share in sales (by a few or up toseveral dozen percent). The retail chain covered by this studymainly relies on a wide range of basic local dairy productsoffered by Lublin dairies, especially including dairy cooperatives.These suppliers continue to be an important link in theregional dairy chain.

The article describes the use of international best practices in the formation of agrarian policy in the dairy-grocery subcomplex. The tendency of the world market of milk and dairy products: enlargement of dairy corporations, improving the quality of dairy products, the development of transport infrastructure, ensuring a balance of interests of the dairy market, the introduction of innovative technologies for dairy farms, the development of co-operation, support for marketing activities, the development of the market of organic milk products. In modern conditions for the effective implementation of the agrarian policy of the country is overdue improvement of the following factors: the monitoring of the global milk market; development of transport infrastructure; government regulation of milk and milk products market participants; development of cooperation and integration between milk producers, processors and marketing structures.

This study conducted a Logit pattern in order to investigate and estimate the performance of dairy cooperatives as well as analyzing the activity levels of dairy farmers of Aq-qala Township. Required data and information for this study is obtained by simple random sampling method via giving questionnaire to 120 dairy Farmers. Results showed that the performance of cooperatives on collecting milk at an appropriate time and location, providing appropriate artificial insemination, giving credit facilities in order to increase Livestock production and offering subsidies for each kilogram of milk were significant and had a positive effect on dairy farmers production level. Better supervision, providing advanced facilities and equipment, regular supervision by governmental workers and providing financial support by cooperatives can have a significant difference both in livestock and milk production. Cooperatives should do a regular condition and situational analysis of rural communities. This task will definitely play a significant role in a better quality of dairy products produced by dairy farmers and also improve their economic situation.

Copyright of Scientific Journal European Policies, Finance & Marketing / Polityki Europejskie, Finanse & Marketing is the property of Wydawnictwo SGGW and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Scientific Journal European Policies, Finance & Marketing / Polityki Europejskie, Finanse & Marketing is the property of Wydawnictwo SGGW and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Marketing cooperatives in developing and transition countries face challenges when they aim to strengthen their competitiveness. One of these challenges relates to improving the quality of the products delivered by their members. Another challenge relates to the financial sustainability of the cooperative, as cooperatives have to choose between paying out a surplus to members and retaining it in the organisation. As these problems are not specific to one organisation, and public policies often affect the scope for individual cooperatives, we explore how the institutional environment helps in reducing those challenges. We present a case study of the Moroccan dairy industry, exploring how the institutional environment has affected the development and performance of dairy cooperatives. The methods used were in-depth semistructured interviews within six dairy cooperatives. Findings point to the weak coordination between the main value chain actors. We also found a lack of financial instruments to facilitate investments in adequate quality assurance equipment and capacity development programs. Finally, we found a perceived lack of support from state policies vis-as-vis smallholders and their cooperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Proceedings of Ostroh Academy National University Series, Economics is the property of National University of Ostroh Academy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)