Analysis of partnerships between agricultural cooperatives and development actors: A national survey in Saudi Arabia

PLoS One. 2022 Jun 24;17(6):e0270574. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270574. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

The partnerships between agricultural cooperatives and development actors play a critical role in meeting development challenges and building cooperative sustainability. The objective of this study was to analyze the key characteristics of engagements established between agricultural cooperatives and other actors and determine their success level. An analytical framework was developed to highlight nine areas, namely partnership configuration, stakeholders, objectives of the partnerships, partnership types, partnership stages, communication methods, achieved outcomes, partnership evaluation, and partnership sustainability. The targets were all agricultural cooperatives building associations with other actors between 2016 and 2020 in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the study covered 69 partnerships founded by 32 agricultural cooperatives. The results revealed that the cooperatives involved in partnerships essentially provide farming inputs and equipment for their stakeholders and capacity building and training purposes. The public sector was the leading actor that collaborated with agricultural cooperatives in inter-sector partnerships. The findings also showed that 55.1% of the partnerships were "strategic partnerships" in cases of both independent value formation and integrative partnerships. By focusing on mapping the partnerships, this study presents beneficial information for policy-makers working on how agricultural cooperatives dealt with the other actors and the lessons gathered to build future sustainability collaborations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Administrative Personnel
  • Agriculture
  • Capacity Building*
  • Humans
  • Public Sector*
  • Saudi Arabia

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Researchers Supporting Program, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia (RSP/2022-443). The funders of this research had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.