Farmer Cooperatives and the Limits of Agricultural Reform in Rural Hubei

Wilmsen, Brooke; Rogers, Sarah; Duan, Yuefang; Wang, Ju-Han Zoe

doi:10.1086/722258

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Despite the absence of tangible benefits, 28% of households retained their FC membership. This retention appears to be driven more by village politics than economic considerations, aligning with findings in the literature (Wilmsen et al, 2023). The importance of maintaining personal relationships with village elite (such as Mr Yin) emerges as a significant factor in rural China, influencing members to refrain from withdrawing despite the lack of anticipated economic benefits.…”

Section: Dysfunctional and Fake Fcs In Southwest Chinasupporting

confidence: 87%

“…However, as farmers have the capacity to withdraw from the cooperative or ignore it altogether, the risks of its operations, even its irregular activities, are minimal to smallholder farmers. Cooperatives such as those in Xicun are in a sense 'innocuous', as they can be bypassed by smallholder farmers as seen in Wilmsen et al (2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We explore the FCs that were initiated in response to government policy and incentives and by NGOs. Unlike most research on China's cooperatives that are focused on the eastern and central regions (such as Ito et al, 2012; Ma and Abdulai, 2016; Wilmsen et al, 2023), this study aims to enhance the understanding of how China's frontier is responding to the rise of FCs. We argue that regardless of their operation and persistence, FCs can provide significant benefits to smallholder livelihoods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Farmers’ cooperatives in Southwest China: Beyond the dichotomies of failure/success and (in) authenticity?

Wang,

He,

Wilmsen

2023

Outlook Agric

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China has provided strong policy support for Farmers’ Cooperatives (FCs) in a bid to achieve its agricultural ambitions; however, scholars are divided on their contribution. Based upon three in-depth case studies, we interrogate the simple dichotomies used to describe FCs in China – authentic/inauthentic and failed/successful – arguing that FCs can have beneficial implications for smallholder livelihoods regardless of their organisation, operation and viability. Our research finds that local leadership and smallholder-led initiatives are more important than the authenticity and success of local FCs. We therefore call for a more nuanced understanding of the value of FCs and propose that resources should be diverted to other smallholder-led avenues to sustain China's rural development.

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Section: Dysfunctional and Fake Fcs In Southwest Chinasupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Farmers’ cooperatives in Southwest China: Beyond the dichotomies of failure/success and (in) authenticity?

Wang,

He,

Wilmsen

2023

Outlook Agric

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“…This is a very difficult question to answer empirically. The politics of land and compensation have certainly been extensively discussed (McDonald, 2006) as have the after-effects of the Dam as property relations in rural China continue to be renegotiated (Rogers et al, 2021; Wilmsen, 2016; Wilmsen et al, 2023), but the questions arise for us – where is the starting point in identifying and examining interactivity, where is the end point, and should we be making distinctions between interrelated processes that are central versus peripheral?…”

Section: Complex Temporalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting ‘rupture’ to work at the Three Gorges Dam

Wilmsen

Rogers

2023

Dialogues in Human Geography

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This provocative article by Sango Mahanty and co-authors proposes rupture as a temporally and spatially expansive view of change and one that encompasses intersections with other crises. In our commentary we put rupture to work as an analytic, thinking through the dynamics of China's massive Three Gorges Dam as a rupture episode with far-reaching disruption to everyday lives and hydrological and socio-economic systems. Through our consideration of the complex temporalities, spatial and material relationships, and generative sociopolitical potential of the Three Gorges Dam, we see value in the authors’ expansive view of change that looks well beyond the boundaries of ‘the project’. Practically speaking; however, we see the need to put some boundaries around our analysis, or the scope of rupture is potentially endless.

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“…Hence, cooperatives have been postulated to be beneficial to farmers in the marketing of agricultural products (Bernard et al., 2008; Narrod et al., 2009, Ma et al., 2022), with the potential to increase higher prices for their produce (Fischer & Qaim, 2012; Wollni & Zeller, 2007). However, it is imperative to note that the efficacy of cooperatives in managing market access for farmers can be context‐specific (Bernard et al., 2008; Wollni & Brümmer, 2012; Wilmsen et al., 2023). Accordingly, this study seeks to evaluate the role of cooperatives and their impact on the income of goat producers in Nepal, with a view to assessing their feasibility as a viable marketing channel.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of cooperative membership on market performance of Nepali goat farmers

Neupane

Paudel

2023

Ann Public Coop Econ

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In developing countries, agricultural cooperatives are increasingly used by farmers as a mechanism to gain market power in input and output markets. To assess the impact of cooperative membership on market channel selection and pricing outcomes, we conducted a survey of 661 Nepali goat farmers in 2019–20 and applied an endogenous switching probit model to analyze the data. Our findings indicate that cooperative membership had a significant and positive influence on farmers choosing cooperatives as their market channel. Additionally, farmers who sold their goats through cooperatives received significantly higher prices than those who sold through local markets or to goat collectors. We also observed that farmers who had access to price information were able to obtain better prices for their goats. Overall, our study highlights the potential benefits of promoting cooperative membership and marketing through cooperatives, as these efforts can help farmers improve the returns on their agricultural investments.

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Farmer Cooperatives and the Limits of Agricultural Reform in Rural Hubei

Cited by 10 publications

References 41 publications

Farmers’ cooperatives in Southwest China: Beyond the dichotomies of failure/success and (in) authenticity?

Farmers’ cooperatives in Southwest China: Beyond the dichotomies of failure/success and (in) authenticity?

Putting ‘rupture’ to work at the Three Gorges Dam

Impact of cooperative membership on market performance of Nepali goat farmers

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