Old Truths
Relearned in the Ukraine
January 28, 1999
In the fall of 1998, I traveled in the Ukraine visiting universities, farms and agribusinesses. The subject of cooperatives arose several times; however, I did not find much enthusiasm for cooperatives. Part of the reason was the association of the word cooperative with the collective and state farms of the old system. However, it was not the only reason. Near the end of my stay, I had a chance to speak with an older farmer who had started his private farming operation in 1989. There were about 100 private farmers in his area and the need for a marketing cooperative was great. He identified the critical issue which prevented the formation of a cooperative; "We don't trust each other, someone might take advantage." Trust!!, not economics, market conditions, competition, lack of capital, leadership or anything else, was the barrier. As he stated, trust is an absolute necessity in order to form and operate a cooperative. Another person, in describing the problems of a California cooperative, gave a similar rationale when asked about the future of the cooperative. He said the financial problems were serious, but the suspicion and lack of trust is now the most serious problem.
The second lesson learned was that a portion of individual control and freedom must be given up to form or participate in a cooperative. The private farmers who broke away from the collective or state farms were very reluctant to give up their recently won individual freedom to any form of collective action. These are old truths concerning cooperatives, but for me at least, had been hidden by the recent emphasis on feasibility studies, business plans, return on investment and leadership. It took a conversation with a pioneering and perceptive Ukrainian farmer to bring these basic truths back to their proper place of importance in the formation of cooperatives.
Submitted by Bill Nelson, Director, Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives, North Dakota State University