PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Contributing to the growing interest in understanding the impact of farmer cooperatives on rural household welfare, we add new empirical evidence to the current literature and debate. In particular, this study investigates the impact of farmer cooperatives on sales per hectare of land and crop diversification, which have been largely overlooked. We apply the Propensity Score Matching method to the Cambodia Inter-Censal Agricultural Survey 2019, with its large sample size of 16,000 small-scale producers. Additionally, we perform a robustness check to ensure our findings are unbiased. Results indicate that Cambodian farmers perceive the cooperatives as a risk-sharing mechanism or knowledge-sharing platform that provides technical know-how to cope with natural calamities. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) outputs show a significantly positive impact of participating in the cooperatives on sales and the crop diversification index. This study thus advocates increasing technical support and implementing policies by the government to help cooperatives thrive and expand.

• Abebaw, D., Fentie, Y., & Kassa, B. (2010). The impact of a food security program on household food consumption in Northwestern Ethiopia: A matching estimator approach. Food Policy, 35(4), 286-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.01.002

• Abebaw, D., & Haile, M. G. (2013). The impact of cooperatives on agricultural technology adoption: Empirical evidence from Ethiopia. Food Policy, 38(1), 82-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2012.10.003

• Ainembabazi, J. H., van Asten, P., Vanlauwe, B., Ouma, E., Blomme, G., Birachi, E. A., Nguezet, P. M. D., Mignouna, D. B., & Manyong, V. M. (2017). Improving the speed of adoption of agricultural technologies and farm performance through farmer groups: Evidence from the Great Lakes region of Africa. Agricultural Economics, 48(2), 241-259. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12329

• Barrett, C. B. (2008). Smallholder market participation: Concepts and evidence from eastern and southern Africa. Food Policy, 33(4), 299-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2007.10.005

• Bernard, T., Taffesse, A. S., & Gabre-Madhin, E. (2008). Impact of cooperatives on smallholders’ commercialization behavior: Evidence from Ethiopia. Agricultural Economics, 39(2), 147-161. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00324.x

• Bizikova, L., Nkonya, E., Minah, M., Hanisch, M., Turaga, R. M. R., Speranza, C. I., Karthikeyan, M., Tang, L., Ghezzi-Kopel, K., Kelly, J., Celestin, A. C., & Timmers, B. (2020). A scoping review of the contributions of farmers’ organizations to smallholder agriculture. Nature Food, 1(10), 620-630. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-00164-x

• Booth, D., & Golooba-Mutebi, F. (2014). Policy for agriculture and horticulture in Rwanda: A different political economy? Development Policy Review, 32(s2), s173-s196. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12081

• Caliendo, M., & Kopenig, S. (2008). Some practical guidance for the implementation of propensity score matching. Journal of Economic Surveys, 22(1), 31-72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2007.00527.x

• Candemir, A., Duvaleix, S., & Latruffe, L. (2021). Agricultural cooperatives and farm sustainability: A literature review. Journal of Economic Surveys, 35(4), 1118-1144. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12417

• Cerulli, G. (2015). Econometric evaluation of socio-economic programs: Theory and applications. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46405-2

• Chagwiza, C., Muradian, R., & Ruben, R. (2016). Cooperative membership and dairy performance among smallholders in Ethiopia. Food Policy, 59, 165-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.01.008

• Cunningham, S. (2021). Causal inference: The mixtape. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300255881

• Fischer, E., & Qaim, M. (2012). Linking smallholders to markets: Determinants and impacts of farmer collective action in Kenya. World Development, 40(6), 1255-1268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.11.018

• Grashuis, J., & Magnier, A. (2018). Product differentiation by marketing and processing cooperatives: A choice experiment with cheese and cereal products. Agribusiness, 34(4), 813-830. https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21551

• Grashuis, J., & Su, Y. (2019). A review of the empirical literature on farmer cooperatives: performance, ownership, and governance, finance, and member attitude. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 90(1), 77-102. https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12205

• Halvorsen, R., & Palmquist, R. B. (1980). The interpretation of dummy variables in semilogarithmis equations. The American Economic Review, 70(3), 474-475.

• Heckman, J. J., Ichimura, H., & Todd, P. E. (1997). Matching as an Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from evaluating a job training programme. The Review of Economic Studies, 64(4), 605-654. https://doi.org/10.2307/2971733

• Heckman, J. J., Ichimura, H., & Todd, P. E. (1998). Matching as an econometric evaluation estimator. The Review of Economic Studies, 65(2), 261-294. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-937X.00044

• Imbens, G. W., & Wooldridge, J. M. (2009). Recent developments in the econometrics of program evaluation. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(1), 5-86. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.47.1.5

• Ito, J., Bao, Z., & Su, Q. (2012). Distributional effects of agricultural cooperatives in China: Exclusion of smallholders and potential gains on participation. Food Policy, 37(6), 700-709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2012.07.009

• Khandker, S. R., Koolwal, G. B., & Samad, H. A. (2010). Handbook on impact evaluation: Quantitative methods and practices. World Bank Publications. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-8028-4

• Lang, R., & Novy, A. (2014). Cooperative housing and social cohesion: The Role of linking social capital. European Planning Studies, 22(8), 1744-1764. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2013.800025

• Li, Y., Qin, X., Sullivan, A., Chi, G., Lu, Z., Pan, W., & Liu, Y. (2023). Collective action improves elite-driven governance in rural development within China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 600. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02089-9

• Ma, W., & Abdulai, A. (2016). Does cooperative membership improve household welfare? Evidence from apple farmers in China. Food Policy, 58, 94-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.12.002

• Ma, W., & Zhu, Z. (2020). A note: Reducing cropland abandonment in China – Do agricultural cooperatives play a role? Journal of Agricultural Economics, 71(3), 929-935. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12375

• Malvido Perez Carletti, A., Hanisch, M., Rommel, J., & Fulton, M. (2018). Farm gate prices for non-varietal wine in Argentina: A multilevel comparison of the prices paid by cooperatives and investor-oriented firms. Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, 16(1), 20160036. https://doi.org/10.1515/jafio-2016-0036

• Marchetta, F., & Sim, S. (2021). The effect of parental migration on the schooling of children left behind in rural Cambodia. World Development, 146, 105593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105593

• Mhembwe, S., & Dube, E. (2017). The role of cooperatives in sustaining the livelihoods of rural communities: The case of rural cooperatives in Shurugwi District, Zimbabwe. Jamba (Potchefstroom, South Africa), 9(1), a341. https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v9i1.341

• Moscatelli, S., Gamboni, M., Dernini, S., Capone, R., Bilali, H. E., Bottalico, F., Debs, P., & Cardone, G. (2017). Exploring the socio-cultural sustainability of traditional and typical agro-food products: Case study of Apulia Region, South-eastern Italy. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 5(1), 6-14.

• Mzyece, A., & Ng’ombe, J. N. (2021). Crop diversification improves technical efficiency and reduces income variability in Northern Ghana. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 5, 100162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2021.100162

• National Institute of Statistics. (2013). Cambodia inter-censal population survey, 2013: Sex and age structure. Ministry of Planning, Cambodia.

• National Institute of Statistics. (2017). Cambodia socio-economic survey 2017. Ministry of Planning.

• National Institute of Statistics. (2019). Cambodia inter-censal agriculture survey 2019 ( CIAS19 ) Final Report. NIS.

• Ofori, E., Sampson, G. S., & Vipham, J. (2019). The effects of agricultural cooperatives on smallholder livelihoods and agricultural performance in Cambodia. Natural Resources Forum, 43(4), 218-229. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-8947.12180

• Olagunju, K. O., Ogunniyi, A. I., Oyetunde-Usman, Z., Omotayo, A. O., & Awotide, B. A. (2021). Does agricultural cooperative membership impact technical efficiency of maize production in Nigeria: An analysis correcting for biases from observed and unobserved attributes. PLOS ONE, 16(1), e0245426. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245426

• Ortega, D. L., Bro, A. S., Clay, D. C., Lopez, M. C., Tuyisenge, E., Church, R. A., & Bizoza, A. R. (2019). Cooperative membership and coffee productivity in Rwanda’s specialty coffee sector. Food Security, 11(4), 967-979. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00952-9

• Ostrom, E. (2009). A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science, 325(5939), 419-422. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1172133

• Pennerstorfer, D., & Weiss, C. R. (2013). Product quality in the agri-food chain: Do cooperatives offer high-quality wine? European Review of Agricultural Economics, 40(1), 143-162. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbs008

• Reardon, T., Echeverria, R., Berdegué, J., Minten, B., Liverpool-Tasie, S., Tschirley, D., & Zilberman, D. (2019). Rapid transformation of food systems in developing regions: Highlighting the role of agricultural research & innovations. Agricultural Systems, 172(1), 47-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.01.022

• Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. Free Press.

• Rosenbaum, P. aul R., & Rubin, D. B. (1985). Constructing a control group using multivariate matched sampling methods that incorporate the propensity score. The American Statistician, 39(1), 33-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.1985.10479383

• Schneiberg, M., King, M., & Smith, T. (2008). Social movements and organizational form: Cooperative alternatives to corporations in the American insurance, dairy, and grain industries. American Sociological Review, 73(4), 635-667. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240807300406

• Sianesi, B. (2004). An evaluation of the Swedish system of active labor market programs in the 1990s. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 86(1), 133-155. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465304323023723

• Theng, V., Keo, S., Nou, K., Sum, S., & Khiev, P. (2014). Impact of farmer organisations on food security: The case of rural Cambodia (No. No 95). Phnom Penh.

• Wollni, M., & Brümmer, B. (2012). Productive efficiency of specialty and conventional coffee farmers in Costa Rica: Accounting for technological heterogeneity and self-selection. Food Policy, 37(1), 67-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2011.11.004

• Wollni, M., & Zeller, M. (2007). Do farmers benefit from participating in specialty markets and cooperatives? The case of coffee marketing in Costa Rica1. Agricultural Economics, 37(2-3), 243-248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2007.00270.x

• World Bank. (2015). Cambodian Agriculture in Transition: Opportunities and Risks (No. 96308-KH). World Bank.

• Wossen, T., Abdoulaye, T., Alene, A., Haile, M. G., Feleke, S., Olanrewaju, A., & Manyong, V. (2017). Impacts of extension access and cooperative membership on technology adoption and household welfare. Journal of Rural Studies, 54, 223-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.06.022

• Zhang, S., Sun, Z., Ma, W., & Valentinov, V. (2020). The effect of cooperative membership on agricultural technology adoption in Sichuan, China. China Economic Review, 62, 101334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2019.101334

• Zhu, X., & Wang, G. (2024). Impact of agricultural cooperatives on farmers’ collective action: A study based on the socio-ecological system framework. Agriculture, 14(1), 96. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14010096