Alternative agrifood systems and the economic sustainability of farmers' cooperatives: The Chinese experience

• Main Authors: HU, Zhanping, ZHANG, Qian Forrest
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: alternative food networks; China; cooperatives; smallholder agriculture; sustainable agrifood system; vertical integration; Agribusiness; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Asian Studies
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3961
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Most registered farmers' cooperatives in China are de facto private enterprises; whilemany bring economic gains to farmers, they do not function as cooperatives. Amongthe small minority that started as authentic cooperatives, however, most struggled toprovide economic benefits to members, unable to achieve economic sustainability.The failure of true farmers' cooperatives in China has been widely studied; the successof the few that did become economically sustainable, however, remains poorlyunderstood. Using a sample of 70 farmers' cooperatives across the country and comparingthree “extreme cases”—cooperatives that are both authentic and economicallysuccessful—with the rest, this study argues that participation in alternative agrifoodsystems is the key to their success. In the Chinese context, smallholders are deeplyintegrated into the conventional agrifood system and have gained technology andmarket access through the mediation of private enterprises and public institutions,leaving little space for cooperatives. Only in alternative agrifood systems, which prioritizeproduct quality and authenticity and value closer relationships between producersand consumers, do cooperatives, as a unique governance institution based ontrust, have advantages. Our case analysis shows how cooperatives brought smallholderseconomic gains and achieved economic sustainability through shifting to ecologicallysustainable farming and building alternative distributive networks. Thisfinding adds a new dimension to our understanding of the relationship betweensmallholder cooperatives and sustainable development: in capitalist agrifood systems,ecologically sustainable agrifood alternatives provide the basis for cooperatives'social and economic sustainability.