Operational efficiency of agricultural cooperatives in developing countries

This book which is based on personal experiences in organizing and advising cooperatives and counselling government departments in developing regions in southern Europe, Africa, and the Near East, and derived from a series of lectures given at the Universities of Darmstadt and Marburg since 1961 aims to introduce a new approach to the study and evaluation of cooperative activities in developing countries. In view of some disappointing experiences with agricultural cooperatives in such countries, the author attempts to discover the reasons for the lack of success, to identify the prerequisites needed, and to indicate suitable methods and techniques to be applied for successful operations. Written at the request of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations for presentation to the Open World Conference on the Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Economic and Social Development at Rome in 1972, the book surveys the overall problems of organization and management in agricultural cooperatives. In this respect it will be useful to cooperative managers and board members at all levels, to department officers, and to cooperative experts participating in interna tional and bilateral technical assistance programmes.