PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of agricultural cooperative membership on potato production and technical efficiency.Design/methodology/approachA combination of propensity score matching technique and sample selection stochastic frontier framework that addresses potential selection bias due to observable and unobservable attributes is used to estimate the effect of participation between cooperative members and non-members. Using a stochastic meta-frontier approach, the technical efficiency of farmers was estimated and compared.FindingsThe empirical results show that the effect of participation in agricultural cooperatives is associated with increased yield and technical efficiency. A comparison of group-specific frontiers indicates that cooperative members perform better than non-members. Cooperative membership decisions is significantly associated with household and farm characteristics (e.g. education, participation in off-farm work, total farmland, distance to market and geographic location).Practical implicationsThe findings of this study demonstrate that cooperative organisations can be an important tool to enhance the productivity and efficiency of smallholder farmers. Successful cooperative models together with training programs designed to enlighten farmers on the importance and tangible benefits of collective action should be used to enlarge participation in cooperative organisations. In addition, governments and development agencies should implement targeted investment and capacity building programs related to irrigation management, gender-sensitive awareness and development of the internal institutional mechanisms in cooperatives for the transfer of knowledge and mutual learning so that all members benefit from cooperatives.Originality/valueDespite the pervasive evidence of the impact of cooperatives on productivity and technical efficiency in the Asian region, this study is probably the first attempt in the crop sector in Mongolia. It provides a rigorous empirical analysis of the impact of agricultural cooperative membership on potato production and technical efficiency through a counterfactual design.

Indigenous peoples worldwide struggle for control over land and natural resources against encroachment of state interests, external development and commercial pressures such as agribusiness, dams, logging and mining. Their battle to protect land and natural resources is at the same time the struggle to preserve indigenous culture and traditions often inextricably linked to the land itself. The Philippine Indigenous Peoples Rights Act recognizes the indigenous peoples' rights to their ancestral lands and domains and offers a way of improving their land tenure security. The article employs case study design to illustrate the implementation gap between the rights of indigenous peoples in law and practice and the role different stakeholders play in securing indigenous peoples' land tenure and dealing with palm oil agribusiness and mining industries' interests in ancestral domains on the case of Higaonon tribe in Misamis Oriental province, Mindanao. The methodology for data collection was focus group discussions and key informant interviews with representatives of tribal leaders and members, non-government organizations and government bodies. Our results indicate that conflicting laws and mandates of various government bodies and lack of coordination between them, as well as lack of resources and political will to implement the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act are important factors behind slow issuance of ancestral domain titles. At the same time, we show that significant factor in the land tenure insecurity of indigenous peoples is disunity within the tribe and conflicting interests of its members and clans used by companies to further enhance their business interests.

This study examines the impact of financial institutions, especially rural banks on rural farmers. It analyses the role rural banks play in agricultural development and food security of the Birim South District in the Eastern Region of Ghana.The aim of the research was to (1) evaluate the rationale of the introduction of rural banks in Ghana and their impact on the rural folks (especially farmers) (2) establish a link between rural banking and food security (3) understand constraints farmers face in their dealings with the bank. And to analyze the various ways the rural bank impact on the lives of the farmers.Questionnaires and interviews were used to elicit responses from 220 clients (mostly farmers) of the South Birim Rural Bank Ltd.The paper demonstrates that the rural bank has a positive impact on the people in terms of giving them something to fall on when times are hard translating into poverty alleviation and food security as well as financial advisory services.

Team leadership plays a crucial role in the management of agricultural cooperatives, especially in post‐Soviet countries where farmers keep bad experiences from the collectivization of their farms. The main objective of the research was to investigate how important the role of leadership is in the process of establishing, initial sustaining of cooperation and members’ commitment among small farmers in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Leadership was analysed from multiple perspectives using an explanatory sequential mixed approach involving quantitative and qualitative methods. We interviewed 293 cooperative leaders and members. The partial least squares structural equation model was used to examine the relationship between multiple constructs and variables. We concluded that leaders do differ in some of their characteristics from other members. They are the most active in the group, influencing all major decisions, playing a crucial role in trust‐building and group cohesion. Their skills and leadership style are significantly important for members’ commitment to the group's success. However, the dominance of group founders and lack of understanding of cooperative principles among members indicate some emerging challenges to the cooperatives’ sustainability and efficiency, and it is necessary to focus on the progressive professionalization and capacity building of leaders while maintaining a transformational leadership style.

Using local provincial authorities, the government of Zambia has demonstrated renewed interest in cooperatives as a means of reaching smallholder farmers in rural areas. There exists, however, the problem of high heterogeneity within cooperatives regarding members' commitment, with many passive members holding only formal membership and having a minimal understanding of the cooperative's principles and benefits. The main objective of this study was to analyse how varying levels of members' commitment determine their economic benefits. We selected a total of 215 rice farmers (72 active and 143 passive members) from two rice-dominant districts and used the propensity score matching technique and endogenous treatment regression model for the analysis. The study results show that educational level, distance to the cooperative, members' perception about trust and acceptance, and value of the investment in the cooperative have a considerable influence on member commitment. The results further indicate that actively committed members of the cooperative achieve much more economic benefits than passive members.

Providing scholarships has become an integral part of the global higher education and so has research on its impacts. This article examines the tertiary scholarship scheme of the Czech government for providing scholarships to students from the global South as a part of its development cooperation programme with a double goal. Firstly, it examines the programme's development effectiveness from the perspective of migration studies, and secondly, it investigates the underlying motivation factors which influence the students' decisions on where they will stay after their studies. A survey among students and graduates of the scheme was triangulated with quantitative data obtained from official sources. The results show a mean values of 45 percent for brain gain, meaning that almost half of the graduates do return back home after their studies, yet this situation is aggravated by a significant share of brain waste. The major factors that influence students' migration decisions were established to be economic factors, the utility of the studies and the ease or difficulty with which they can find jobs in their home countries.

Fair Trade is one of the leading systems of the Corporate Social Responsibility and a price stabilization mechanism for producers in developing countries. It is being practiced by more and more Czech importers and manufactures of the tropical agricultural commodities. Coff ee represents the highest market share. However, a higher fi nal retail price functions as a strong inhibitor of the dynamic market growth. Th e article uses the linear static model applied to various consumer-perceived factors infl uencing the retail price of the conventional, organic and Fair Trade coff ee available in the Czech Republic. Th e quantitative research is supported by the questionnaire for the analysis of the attitude of regular Fair Trade buyers towards the perceived quality and price expectations of the Fair Trade coff ee. Even after the stratifi cation of the coff ee market into low and high market products and brands, the Fair Trade quality shows a very strong infl uence on the fi nal retail price. Th e effi ciency of Fair Trade expressed in terms of the ratio of the price premium paid by the consumer and the price premium received by the producer is in the current stage of the Fair Trade market questionable.

Land grabbing is a serious issue in IJAPS, Vol. 14, No. 1, 165-189, 2018 Land Concessions on Rural Communities 166The roads and houses in the relocation sites are poorly built. There are limited water sources in the relocation villages, and the water does not meet the national standards for drinking water. Although some families did find jobs with the investment project, they were concerned about its long-term prospects.