Model of Secondary and Tertiary Cooperatives as Support of the Primary Cooperative

This paper describes the various cooperatives - primary, secondary and tertiary - in accordance with the Essential Triangle of Production (ETP). It also indicates several approaches to the formation of secondary and tertiary cooperatives and shows the different steps of cooperative development on all its levels.

The paper explores the three aspects of the ETP:

• Credit - sources of agricultural credit available with the farmer:
  • Brokers and middlemen - high interest rates;
  • Farmers' credit and savings cooperative - low interest rates but limited volume;
  • Multi-purpose cooperative.
• Inputs - sources of inputs available with the farmer:
  • Through payment of counter-value in agricultural produce;
  • Multi-purpose agricultural cooperative;
  • National cooperative federation;
  • Ministry of Agriculture;
  • Private businesses.
• Marketing - available methods of marketing for a farmer to sell his produce:
  • Marketing through intermediaries;
  • Marketing cooperatives owned by the producers;
  • Direct contact between the marketing cooperative owned by the farmers and the consumer cooperative owned by the consumers.

The paper, thus, examines cooperative development in detail by taking a closer look at various types of cooperatives - credit, surplus, marketing, and consumption.