Recently increasing consumers’ demand towards quality and safety of food products as well as the desire for cultural identification have generated the demand for higher quality and higher status agricultural products, but have also created the market for value added products that carry a...

The cooperative sector is an indispensable and integral part of the global economy; includes cooperatives ranging from small-scale to multi-million dollar businesses in all sectors of the economy, count over 800 million members and provide 100 million jobs – which is 20 percent more than...

This paper consists of three parts. The first part outlines the characteristics of NGCs, defines their activities, and explains differences from traditional cooperatives. It also discusses advantages that NGCs have in promoting the development of local rural communities. The second part analyses...