Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices in Coffee Producer Farmers’ Cooperative Unions: The Case of Bench-Maji, Kaffa, and Sheka Zones, South Western Ethiopia

Abstract

The seventh ICA principle of "concern for community" clearly urges the cooperatives to carry out sustainable community development activities. Even though the cooperatives are serving the community directly or indirectly, their sight to the concept Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not clearly considered by their members, academicians, and the government. The objective of this study was to assess the corporate social responsibility practices performed by Coffee Producer Farmers’ Cooperative Unions at the study area. In this study primary and secondary data source were used. The size of respondents was 395 members of Cooperative Society and 50 Government officials. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. The finding shows that there are job creation, supply of agricultural input, and expansion of coffee processing industry for serving both members and non-members, whereas drawback on the awareness creation to the community, participation of community in planning, implementing, and evaluating community projects, inconsistent allocation of community fund, and financial statements at unions’ offices for CSR budget. Therefore, management of the unions should participate the community during planning, implementing, and evaluating socially responsible projects, cooperative social responsibility practices should be thoroughly supervised and supported by the government, cooperatives from their annual surplus should allocate community fund, both GOs and NGOs working on sustainable development activity at the area must work with cooperatives, and Cooperatives have to maintain separate book of account to record financial activities of cooperative social responsibility practices.