Abstract

This research project is concerned with the role and place of the cooperative-type institution in the socioeconomic development of Burkina Faso. It aims to identify the fundamental causes of numerous failures registered to date and the best formulae for success. It also aims to assess the potential role of cooperatives in the future development of the country. The study will cover five regions and will concentrate on three types of rural cooperative institutions: village groups, agricultural cooperatives, and savings and credit banks. The project has a training component that includes courses, training in Canada for researchers and support missions offered by experts in the field.

Post-Project Summary

Researchers produced a descriptive analysis of cooperatives, how they were created, their structure and operation, and their economic, social and organizational performance. The descriptive analysis led to the development of a synthesized indicator to measure overall performance as compared with that of an ideal cooperative. The indicator of "cooperative intensity" suggested that agro-pastoral cooperatives came closest to the theoretical ideal, with savings and credit cooperatives in second place, followed by village associations. However, the intensity level in the institutions studied was around 50% of the ideal. Causal links were sought between the performance of cooperatives and the nature of each organization, the area of activity, the geoclimatic and socioeconomic environment, the method of collection and distribution, the source of the idea (only 27.5% of the cooperatives studied were set up by the members themselves), and the heterogeneity of the membership. In some cases, the form of cooperative or similar organization was not the most important explanatory factor. The most important factors were the environment in which it operated, its relationship with its market, and the kind of activity it engaged in. Research for this project produced a doctoral thesis in economics, 13 master's dissertations, 10 DEA (post-master's) dissertations, 4 working documents and 3 articles published in the periodical CEDRES - Études and elsewhere. Fairly close contacts were maintained with the Alliance coopérative internationale in Abidjan, and the Ministère de l'action cooperative paysanne, which is responsible for peasant cooperatives in Burkina Faso.

Recipient Institution(s)