An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Rural Women's Cooperatives: The Case of Adana

Abstract

Women are among the socio-economically disadvantaged groups often marginalized in society. Women's cooperatives play a crucial role in fostering economic empowerment and social inclusion. Supported by public institutions, these cooperatives have become more prominent and operate under two distinct frameworks: Women's Enterprise Production and Enterprise Cooperatives, established by urban women under the Ministry of Trade, and Agricultural Development Cooperatives, formed by rural women under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. These two models differ significantly in terms of regulations, training, access to socio-economic opportunities, economic competence, and marketing prospects—often to the disadvantage of rural cooperatives. These disparities stem largely from the fragmented approaches of internal stakeholders (founding partners and members of cooperatives) and external stakeholders, including the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, municipalities, governorships, national and international NGOs, and universities. Despite the involvement of numerous institutions and individuals, the absence of organic collaboration or a unified umbrella organization hampers the effectiveness of well-intentioned efforts. Most initiatives fail to produce tangible outcomes, often reduced to mere exchanges of ideas, as stakeholders tend to view the issues through the narrow lens of their respective domains. In this context. This study seeks to evaluate the sustainability of rural women's cooperatives in Adana, specifically those operating as Agricultural Development Cooperatives under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Drawing on the interview with cooperative presidents and partners and observations from national and international workshops and scientific meetings on women's cooperatives held in Adana, the study investigates the roles and dynamics of both internal and external stakeholders.
The significant results and possible recommendations of the study can be summarized as follows: Firstly, when compared to other women’s cooperatives established under the Ministry of Trade, rural women’s cooperatives hold a more disadvantageous position, especially in terms of women’s technical, economic, and socio-cultural support they receive. The most important indicator of this is that rural women’s cooperatives are backed by the guidance of the public institutions rather than supported at the grasroot level. While the technical and economic support provided by the public institutions is important, the lack of long-term perspective attentive to rural women’s cooperatives hinders the empowerment of rural women entrepreneurship. What is important here in terms of rural development is that the cooperatives/initiatives provide women with a sustainable socio-economic life. This can only be achieved not only by establishing the cooperatives but also by ensuring that women receive regular training and long-term consultancy services until the cooperatives reach a point where they can sustain themselves. In this context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry can adopt an positive discrimination targeting at rural women’s cooperatives and can view itself not only as the technical support mechanism but also as the primary institution enabling them to achieve success.