UDC 338.436
DOI: 10.36871/ek.up.p.r.2024.04.02.005

Authors

Yulia N. Kovalenko,
Russian University of Economics named after G. V. Plekhanov, Moscow, Russia
Andrey V. Ulez’ko,
Research Institute of Economics and Organization of Agro-Industrial Complex of the Central Chernozem Region – Branch of Voronezh Federal Agricultural Scientific Centre named after V. V. Dokuchaev, Voronezh, Russia

Abstract

In the context of this study, cooperation is considered as a form of joint activity of subjects (usually individuals) with the aim of realizing common interests. The main factors limiting the possibilities for the development of agricultural cooperation include: low level of social and economic trust of the rural population in each other, loss of trust in the cooperative ideology and the priority of private interests, lack of positive examples of the development of cooperation, high level of regression and disunity of rural communities, sporadic and fragmentation of the agricultural cooperation system, low level of financial capabilities of potential cooperators, limited sources of financing investment and operating activities, limited government support funds, low level of investment attractiveness of cooperative associations, shortage of qualified personnel, the need to ensure certain standards of product quality and its compliance with established requirements, etc. It is concluded that the potential for the development of cooperation in the agricultural sector is determined by the significant number of small businesses - potential cooperators, the ability of cooperation to increase the stability of social ties in rural communities and the effectiveness of economic interactions of rural economic entities, the ability of small commodity producers to function successfully in those market niches which are not attractive to large businesses, the possibility of cooperation to create conditions for increasing the level of income of participants in cooperative associations, the possibility of cooperation to saturate local markets in rural areas with high-quality food products and essential goods, the transition to a cluster model of development of agro-industrial integration, which involves easier entry into the cluster system of cooperative small commodity producers, etc.

Keywords

cooperation, cooperative interactions, forms of cooperation, agri-food complex, agricultural cooperation, intersubjective interactions.