Cooperative–shareholder relations in agricultural cooperatives in Turkey

Abstract

The most important agricultural cooperative types in Turkey are Agricultural Credit Cooperatives (ACCs), Agricultural Sales Cooperatives (ASCs), and Agricultural Development Cooperatives (ADCs). Despite their apparent growth in number, agricultural cooperatives have made only a limited impact on economic, social, and industrial development of the country and democratization of the agricultural sector and the community. The reasons for these pertain to some basic problem areas such as finance, integration, training and research, administration, legislation, and auditing [Mülayim, Z. G. (2003). Kooperatifçilik, Yetkin Yayınları. Ankara]. To further explore these problem areas, this paper focuses on cooperative–shareholder relations in three major types of cooperatives in Turkey. According to the survey results, ADCs have emerged as the most prominent type of cooperative in terms of their members’ participation into cooperative activities. The research results suggest that all members of ADCs were actively engaged in trading with their cooperatives, whereas 90% of members in ASCs and 80% in ACCs were trading with their cooperatives. When the three types of cooperatives are compared to each other with respect to members’ perception of democratic administration, relations with the state organs, awareness of cooperative principles, and frequency of visits to cooperatives, ADCs are in a favourable position compared to ACCs and ASCs. The same situation is also valid for economic relations and interest in financial matters. ACCs come first in supplying farm inputs and they are followed by ASCs.