Cooperatives as a Catalyst for Sustainability

The following sections are included:

• Dedication
• About the Editors
• About the Contributors
• Contents

The motto that motivates people to form cooperatives is all for one and one for all. It is primarily dependent on the ownership and control of the cooperative’s members, with each person having one vote. A cooperative society is a memberowned business formed for the economic and social growth of any sector in a country. Considering their competency and practical utility, cooperatives are constitutionally recognised as an important economic sector in emerging and developing countries. As a result, every year, on 6 November, Bangladesh commemorates National Cooperative Day. This chapter illustrates that despite the ups and downs in Bangladesh’s, India’s, and Pakistan’s economies, cooperatives are continuously growing and contributing to these nation’s socio-economic growth. Through this study, academic scholars, students, cooperative members, administrators, government officials, and other stakeholders can learn about the socio-economic impact of cooperative societies by witnessing those in South Asia’s standouts: Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The authors acquired all of the data for this study from secondary sources, including government websites, journal publications, newspapers, research community groups, blogs, and social media. After collecting data, the authors narrowed them down and combined them in a usable format to deliver the most relevant data and knowledge for the subject area.

Sustainable development goals aim to address various global challenges by 2030. This chapter aims to explore the role of cooperatives in reaching the sustainable development goals. This chapter discusses the history of cooperatives, their classification, formation, and role in reaching the sustainable development goals. Adopting and incorporating sustainable development goals into the core objectives of the cooperatives will lead to sustainability.

Cooperatives have been given much-needed attention now by the Indian government through forming a separate Ministry of Cooperation. However, a lot has to be done before taking pride in the same. This chapter emphasises on the cooperative model to promote local institution-building in the post-COVID-19 era. Influenced by the institutional theory, the chapter discusses the gaps at the ground level and also provides suggestions to strengthen the cooperative sector in the country. A case is discussed from the successful dairy cooperatives in India that played a significant role in times of the COVID-19 crisis. The findings of the case discuss the interventions of the cooperatives in generating awareness towards safety, solidarity, accountability, providing stability, maintaining the value chain, securing finances, and supporting community welfare even during the time of the pandemic. Through this, the chapter highlights the cooperatives’ abilities in generating inclusive development in the country even during the time of crisis. This chapter is based on the primary information collected through a qualitative research method that includes in-depth interviews with the cooperative members.

The world has accepted cooperatives as alternative business models for socio-economic development. Asian and especially Indian cooperatives have seen significant success in cooperative sector. Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) is one of the oldest workers’ cooperative sustained profitably for 90 years through its participative and direct democracy process and approach in decision-making and day-to-day activities. Despite challenges such as poor infrastructure, skilled personnel, administrative concerns of being a democratic organisation which other cooperatives are trying to address, the success of ULCCS is inspiring and enlightening for other cooperatives. This chapter presents the history of ULCCS, its organisational structure, and functioning.

The concept of a cooperative society is not new. It is almost a global concept that exists in all countries. In a country like India, cooperatives play a very important role. Cooperative societies operate in every country on the planet and are represented in every industry, including agriculture, food, finance, and healthcare. The cooperative society is founded to protect the interests of the weaker sections of the population. It is a non-profit organisation whose primary goal is the wellbeing of its members. The cooperative society is based on the idea of mutual aid and welfare. As a result, the principle of service dominates its operations. If there is a surplus, it is dispersed to the members as a dividend in accordance with the society’s bye-laws. Cooperatives have been around in India for over a century. Their presence is substantial, with over a lakh grassroots cooperatives. Despite considerable increases in rural outreach and coverage of small and marginal farmers made by cooperatives, their financial health has been a source of worry. This research aims to learn more about the elements that influence cooperatives’ financial health as measured by their recovery performance. Knowing about classification of cooperatives gives a clear knowledge about the cooperative societies, and in this chapter, a very clear understanding of the types of cooperative societies in India is recorded.

The Kerala model of cooperatives has won international attention for its achievement in building sustainable models. Collective actions have been facilitated by the people to build up a socially, economically, and environmentally feasible society. The credit sector has built up considerable financial assistance and support for the people to sustain their livelihood. Driven by the need for detailed examination, this study highlights the cases of three cooperative banks, namely Kodiyathoor Service Co-operative Bank, Kizhathadiyoor Service Co-operative Bank, and Peringandur Service Co-operative Bank, which have built a sustainable model in the cooperative sector. This study is based on primary and secondary data collected to understand the process and practices in cooperatives. This study is also a contribution towards a cooperative model for sustainable growth in banks.

The first kibbutzim were established in the early 1900s as communes of utopian socialism based on economic, social, and political equalities among the members. They were conceived as rural communities, wholly engaged in agriculture, without employing outside labour. All property was owned collectively, and all members received the same wage independent of their work. Leadership positions were rotated every three years, and any decision affecting the kibbutz had to be discussed by the general assembly. Meals were eaten together in a communal dining hall, and education stressed altruistic, socialist and Zionist values. By 1950, two years after the establishment of the state of Israel, approximately 67,000 Israelis, or 7.5% of the country’s population, resided in kibbutzim. Kibbutzim played a key role in Israel’s agricultural development and in its defence and political leadership. Early kibbutzim were often positioned strategically along borders and outlying areas to defend the country. Many top politicians and military and industry leaders, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, were from kibbutzim. Industry was introduced in the 1920s, and by the 1960s, its income surpassed that of agriculture. In the 1980s, a financial crisis brought most kibbutzim to near bankruptcy. Kibbutzim had borrowed heavily to expand housing and industry, and with changes in political leadership and government policies, they could not repay the loans. Large numbers of skilled people left and many changes were made. In the “renewed kibbutz”, privatisation was implemented and members started earning salaries based on their positions, with many members working outside the kibbutz. Industries were sold in part and only 49% remained in sole ownership by the kibbutz. Outside people were brought in to manage industries, with the most qualified people hired for key positions. Kibbutz houses were rented and land was sold to non-kibbutz members to build homes. By demonstrating flexibility, kibbutzim managed to survive the financial crisis. By 2008, there were more people joining the kibbutz than leaving it, a trend continuing today in the renewed kibbutz. About 15% of the kibbutzim maintain equal sharing among members.

The dairy sector is undergoing huge changes in the present times. On the one hand, consumers are demanding wider choices of milk and milk products, and on the other, the dairy industry at the grassroot level is standing at a threshold between two generations, where the newer generation would take up dairying as a livelihood when it sees in it profit and promises of a better life. In India, dairying, as a small/medium-scale enterprise, has been instrumental in bringing socio-economic change by ensuring year-round income, self-employment options, enhancing nutrition status, and providing platform for developing leadership and managerial skills. However, in many areas, milk producers still face challenges of getting timely and quality input services.

The backbone of this highly complex industry is the milk producer. It is important to encourage young dairy entrepreneurs who could take up dairying as a profession and command a better life for self as well as facilitate growth for the society at large. The smart entrepreneurs can provide innovative and cost-effective solutions in a decentralised value chain. This can be an alternative to currently functional centralised value chain. It can be achieved by establishing a system to identify, groom, and handhold the aspirants in ventures in well-researched and localised business propositions which are cost-effective, efficient. An enterprise cannot be just perceived as an income-generation activity. It is far more-reaching than just earning money. The dairy entrepreneurship needs to thrive as an ecosystem where an individual or a group can play important roles in various units of the system and support each other in backward and forward linkages with innovations and services in breeding, feed and fodder, use of ICT in the value chain, tools and implementations, and decentralised quality-complied dairy product manufacturing. The enterprises, especially social enterprises, are vehicles of change where the social entrepreneurs can lead the society by taking the development process in their own hands and not depending merely on benefactors.

Cooperative banks are the lifeline of a developing economy like India. In order to serve the best interests of society, the cooperative banking sector must be sound otherwise, the very rationale behind their creation will be lost. However, in India, many cooperative banks have failed to deliver the desired results. Failure has questioned the functioning of these banks in general. Many a times, various cooperative banks have failed to pay depositors. There are a number of reasons behind their dismal performance.

In this chapter, the reasons for the failure of urban cooperative banks (UCBs) have been studied, and an effort has been made to find out the measures undertaken to prevent failures of cooperative banks, including UCBs, and protect the depositors.

Fisheries is one of the key elements in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) declared by the United Nations General Assembly and presumed to be achievable by 2030. Though this sector has been placed as the 14th agenda of the sustainable goals, other core elements. such as no poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and well-being (SDG 3), gender equity (SDG 5), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), and climate action (SDG 13) are also connected with fisheries in one way or another. Where there is water, there is fish. From another viewpoint, fisheries are more than a food source — they have major impacts on livelihood of populace and natural resource management of a country. As fish is under the clutches of the informal sector, co-management through cooperatives, which has an impressive impact in today’s business ecosystem, cannot be ruled out. Southeast Asian countries are known for their natural resources that attract tourists either for their ornamental fisheries, coral reefs, mangrove plants, or beautiful islands. In this context, the roles of cooperatives are very much pertinent to managing the ecosystem in a responsible way, through which the ultimate stakeholders and their sustainability can be preserved.

In terms of the performance of cooperatives, accessibility to loan in microenterprise cooperative societies have led to sustainable performance. The study aims to bring out the factors impacting accessibility to loan, which has implications on sustainable performance. The study reveals the indicators for the sustainable performance of cooperatives concerning Microenterprise Cooperative Society in Orissa. This society provides loans and training to rural women so that they can sustain their performance. The society comprises around 13,000 rural women. The study aims to develop a model and empirically validate the model for sustaining the performance of cooperatives. A sample size of 105 respondents has been taken to test the model. WarpPLS has been used to test the model. The study discusses the indicators that have a positive effect on performance. The study provides a clear understanding of the triple bottom line performance of cooperatives. The chapter tries to assess the impact of accessibility on the triple bottom line performance of cooperatives. Cooperatives have been evaluated for their social as well as economic performance but triple bottom line performance was largely ignored in the literature.

Green entrepreneurship aims at addressing environmental or social problems through the implementation of innovative entrepreneurial ideas. One such approach to green entrepreneurship is to explore and implement innovative practices for sustainable waste management. This chapter aims to carry out an in-depth study on the green entrepreneurship of converting wastes into renewable energy for sustainable development. The chapter follows a case study approach to explore rural management practices for the reuse of wastes through the adoption of improved technologies.

This chapter describes alternative innovative practices and approaches of sustainable waste management drawn from a case study conducted at Thikekarwadi Gram Panchayat at Pune District in Maharashtra and explores the inherent economic benefits on the adoption of such approaches by the rural populace. The study is beneficial for the green transformation of waste and sustaining the environment.

Primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACSs) are the bases of cooperative credit structure in India. The cooperative credit structure functioning in Maharashtra state has three tiers. The main function of the PACSs is to provide short- and medium-term credit to its members. PACSs play a vital role in the socio-economic development of its members. Finance is the key to all types of activities. The efficient management of any society depends on the efficient management of finance. PACSs being financial intermediaries provide financial service with the objective of growth and profit. In the era of globalisation, PACSs face a different type of challenge which raises questions about the viability and sustainability of PACSs. A low resource base has been a major constraint in the effective functioning of PACSs. Financial stability has a direct bearing on the deposit mobilisation and overdue reduction. Limited resources result in low business activity. Limited resources, an increase in nonperforming asset, low recovery, overdue, lack of finance and lack of diversification have affected the viability of primary agricultural societies. Besides providing agriculture credit, some PACSs in Pune District are engaged in diversified activities. The PACSs that have diversified their business are more viable and sustain better than non-diversified societies. This chapter reports the viability analysis of selected PACSs in the Pune District. Multi-stage sampling technique was used. The primary and secondary data were mixed together. Primary data were collected with the help of specially designed schedules by conducting interviews, and secondary data were collected from different published sources and annual reports of PACSs. The study concludes that, as a result of the diversification, Talegoan Dhamdhere PACS in Shirur Block is potentially viable as compared to the Bhairawnath Kasarsai PACS in Mulshi Block of Pune District.

The following section is included:

• Index