Development of Rural Cooperation as a Basic Element of Their Sustainable Development

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this work is to assess the impact of cooperation on sustainable rural development. At the same time, the part of the cooperative movement that relates to consumer cooperation is studied with special attention to the formation and development of agricultural consumer cooperation. Sustainable rural development should be seen as a result of the sustainable development of all economic entities operating in the territory, especially small forms of land and household management. Without denying the need to take into account the economic, social and environmental aspects of development in sustainable development, the research uses a methodology to analyze the positive impact of cooperation on the main groups of factors on which the level of sustainability of rural development depends. A comparative analysis of comparative statistical materials characterizing some factors that increase the sustainability of rural development in Finland (as a country with developed agricultural cooperation) and Russia, which takes only the first steps towards the revival of its cooperative system, is used as a justification for the conclusions and recommendations. The results of the study suggest that small forms of rural farming combined on the basis of cooperation are subject to cyclical fluctuations in the economy and face the same global economic, environmental, demographic and social problems as uncooperated entities. However, the impact of these negative processes is significantly weakened by exploiting the potential of cooperation. An interim result of the research is that the enlargement of the cooperative system, its vertical integration and access to global markets can lead on the one hand to an increase in the influence of the cooperative and its integration into the global system of economic relations, but also to a decrease in the ability to take into account the interests of its members in economic decision-making.KeywordsCooperationSustainable developmentAgricultural productionRural areasEcologyJEL CodesO1Q1J0