Cooperative Governance in Ethiopia: A Case of Two Cooperatives in Amhara National Regional State (ANRS)
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Date
2010-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
DenlOcrafic 111enlber contro/lIlld lIlIt0l10fllOliS alltl indep endent cooperative principles lire
tile tlVO ICA designed principles, specifically developed to address tile governance
cooperative. According 10 'hese principles, Cooperatives are me/tiber-governed economic
and .., 'ocia/ organizations. Cooperatives as denwcrafic and autonomous organizations (Ire
expecl(!(/Io ensure Inefllher-goveJ'I1(1l1ce in their association anti operatiol1 decision.
De,"pile their principles, nonetheless, ill Ethiopia, ill the previolls l'egiJnes, the association
lind husine.'I.\' operation (~f cooperatives were not decided by th ei,. 11Ienlbers. Today, ill
COlltrtlJ )1 to 'he previolls goVeJ'lU1Iellts, ill principle, cooperatives are recognized (IS 11Ielllbergoverlled
denlOcratic and lIutonomous organizations.
//0 wever, sillce mell1b ers and tlIe populatioll at large was acc llst()fl1ed to governmentgoverlled
cooperatives in the past, lind the nwve towards nlelllber-goverlled cooperatives
that are capable to cOll1plete IIIld survive in the Iibel'{lted market is a recent phenomenon, it
"eems that no considel'{lble effort has been directed to analyze the governance of
cooperative,l' in tile face of the ji-ee market economy in Ethiopia. Ha ving this in mind, this
ClIse .l'tU((1' i" conducted mainly with the objective of analyzing the go vema lice (!f
cooperative.l' in Etlliopia lVitll a specific reference to Ankerka Vegetable Producers'
Prim III)' Cooperative Society (A VPPCS) and Tigle Ferie MuflipulJ)(Jse Farmers' Service
Prim III)' Cooperative Society (TFMFSPCS) in Soutll Wollo Administrative Zone (SWAZ),
Amha .. a National Regional State (ANRS), Ethiopia. To this end, two specific research
questiol1s lire jJosed. First, what are tlIe f acilitators of coop erative governance ill the
.,-tlldietl couperatives? Secolld, what are the cOllstraillts faced ill tlIe governallce of the
cooperative.,-covered in the stul(J'?
Selecting purposely A VPPCS and TFMFSPCS, the study adopted a case study method. Key
in/ill"lllant illterview, focus group discussion and observation method (J[ data collection are
employed to gatller both prillllll)' and secondary data.
The findings of tile case study revealed that, lIlI10ng others, to realize member-govem ed
cooperative,'; besides issuing supportive national legislation, still strong effort is expected
ji'om the go venunent to prevellt local government illtervention lind to strength ell the
organizational capacity of CPBs; the businesses (!f coopel'{ltives should be localized;
lIIembers ,I'luJl/ld participate actively in the economic amI decision affairs; and
representatives and etnployees of cooperatives must be Il1etnbel'ship-accolilltable.
Rendering denullu/-oriented education alld training, setting 1I1enlher-sllllred and locally.\
pec~fic busine.H- tlcflvtftes, IIl1d Cooperation ltIllong coop eratives are the main
l'ecolJlJllendationslorwtlrded by the researcher to enSllre 111elnher-govel'l1ed cooperatives.
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Keywords
Cooperative Governance in Ethiopia