The Impact of International Cooperation on Rural Producer Organizations: Case Study of a Dairy Association in Bolivia

Abstract

Bolivia is one of the largest developing countries in South America that has been received the aid from the international cooperation since the seventies. Many programmes and projects were implemented across the territories of the country in the aim to reduce the poverty. However, the experiences claim that despite of some important results obtained, the international cooperation is one of the main actors responsible for the external dependence on the territories and their commitment to build up a sustainable model of rural development that can overcome the problem of poverty fails. At the same time, it is demonstrated that the most successful experiences of local producers’ organizations are heavily depended on the external aid showing the economical fragility on local organizations to face the market competence without the external aid. This research, based on Samaritan’s dilemma behaviour in the powerful organization, tries to answer how the rural producer organization performance is influenced by international cooperation? This investigation focuses on the analysis of the patterns of interactions of both organizations. The case study considers a dairy farming association in the country that was funded for almost 15 years and their economical sustainability remains vulnerable despite the efforts bring to make the organization competitive. The main results remark that the unequal distribution of power in both organizations is one of the factors that cause the strong influence of the international cooperation on rural producers’ organizations, and consequently the international cooperation is co-responsible in the external dependence on the local organization, as well as, to be responsible of the influence on the cultural factors in the community.