Institutional Factors Affecting the Performance of Farmer Companies in Sri Lanka

Rosairo, H. S. R.; Lyne, Mike; Martin, Sarah J.; Moore, Karen

doi:10.17660/actahortic.2011.895.31

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Farmer-owned companies can be considered as an ideal rural socio-economic unit if suitable institutional arrangements are in place for the sustainability of the company (Rosairo et al, 2012). Export production villages that bring producers of a certain value added product into one company, is a rural development concept introduced in Sri Lanka (Kulatunga, 1993) but without much success (Rosairo et al, 2010). One factor attributed to this situation was the selection of members.…”

Section: Conclusion and Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study on entrepreneurial attitudes of upcountry vegetable farmers in Sri Lanka

Rosairo

Potts

2016

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies

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YesPurpose\ud – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the entrepreneurial attitudes of upcountry vegetable farmers in Sri Lanka with respect to the characteristics of innovation, opportunity seeking and risk taking and considers their implications for rural development efforts.\ud \ud Design/methodology/approach\ud – The study was carried out in the hilly areas of the Badulla district in the Uva Province of Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected through a survey using a researcher-administered questionnaire as the data collection instrument and the individual farmer as the unit of analysis.\ud \ud Findings\ud – Most vegetable farmers in the upcountry areas were found to be attitudinally entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial attitudes were determined more by educational background and farming experience than age, gender, extent of farmland, type of farming and ownership of farmland. Farming experience related positively with innovation, opportunity seeking and risk taking, but farmers’ educational background showed no significant association with innovation.\ud \ud Research limitations/implications\ud – It is suggested that farmer-owned companies with appropriate institutional arrangements could reduce transaction costs for buyers, and introduce accessible rural finance schemes to enhance provision of assets and technology. Such a rural setting would gain from initiatives on marketing alternatives and entrepreneurial skill development. Future research could benefit from analysis of the financial and social performance and entrepreneurial skills of vegetable farmers.\ud \ud Originality/value\ud – The entrepreneurial attitude of farmers is an under-researched area of study particularly in the Sri Lanka context. Rural development initiatives could target entrepreneurial farmers based on these criteria to achieve maximum production impact. However care needs to be taken to consider the potential distributive impact of such targeting on farmers regarded as non-entrepreneurial.This publication would not have been possible without the funding provided by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) under its academic fellowship programme. Assistance provided by Ellie Fixter (ACU, London) and Max Wellingham (British Council, Manchester) is sincerely appreciated.The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 23 May 2018

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Section: Conclusion and Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study on entrepreneurial attitudes of upcountry vegetable farmers in Sri Lanka

Rosairo

Potts

2016

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies

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“…FC performance was compromised by the absence of well-defined and regularly observed procedures to develop and implement new strategies, and by inadequate or inappropriate management skills (Rosairo, 2010). Many of the FCs are devoid of proper business plans (Table 1) and even if available, they are outdated and not periodically revised.…”

Section: Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The governance structure of a FC (farmer company) is composed of a BOD (board of directors) and executive managers. The normal practice is to elect the BOD through a secret ballot at the annual general meeting, however, it has been found that flaws in the electoral procedures have affected the anonymity of shareholders in appointing directors (Rosairo, 2010). In externally facilitated FCs, the undue influence of the appointed members of the BOD on the decision-making process has undermined the confidence of shareholders in the FCs.…”

Section: Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…FCs have failed to identify the needs and aspirations of the farming community; instead many activities are organized at the beset of the facilitating agencies or few powerful board members (Esham, 2006; Senanayake, 2004). This has been further aggravated by lack of forums to express shareholder’s views while formulating company policies and business strategies (Esham and Usami, 2007; Rosairo, 2010). Of the cases studied, even the annual general meetings of two farmer companies were not held on schedule (Table 1).…”

Section: Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the support of various government agencies, the FCs were set up in different parts of the country, mostly in the irrigation schemes. By 2008, there were 92 registered FCs in Sri Lanka (Rosairo, 2010). Although, theoretically, the concept of farmer companies looked promising, in practice they have failed to deliver what was expected of them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Farmer Companies in Sri Lanka: Lessons from Agricultural Cooperatives in Japan

Esham

Kobayashi

2013

Millennial Asia

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It is widely accepted that farmer-based organizations are vital for empowering and improving small farmers’ access to markets. However, farmer-based organizations have not always been successful as it is the case with farmer companies in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this article is to examine some of these issues and propose solutions drawing from long-accumulated experiences of Japanese agricultural cooperatives. The article is based on review of scholarly literature, secondary data and discussions with stakeholders of farmer companies in Sri Lanka and agricultural cooperatives in Japan. This article highlights some important lessons related to structure, governance, collective action and integrated service provision valuable for strengthening farmer companies in Sri Lanka and farmer-based organizations in other countries. Based on these lessons, a federated model is proposed to overcome some of the issues impeding the performance of farmer companies in Sri Lanka.

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Embracing Entrepreneurship in Sri Lankan Agribusiness Research: A Review and a Research Agenda

Kodithuwakku

Weerakoon

2020

Agricultural Research for Sustainable Food Systems in Sri Lanka

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Institutional Factors Affecting the Performance of Farmer Companies in Sri Lanka

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

A study on entrepreneurial attitudes of upcountry vegetable farmers in Sri Lanka

A study on entrepreneurial attitudes of upcountry vegetable farmers in Sri Lanka

Farmer Companies in Sri Lanka: Lessons from Agricultural Cooperatives in Japan

Embracing Entrepreneurship in Sri Lankan Agribusiness Research: A Review and a Research Agenda

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