25

Problems and constraints of the agricultural cooperative action

The Land Center for Human Rights issued its report on "Problems and constraints of the agricultural cooperative action", which is issue No. (25) in the of civil society series issued by the LCHR. The report aims to address the problems of the Egyptian cooperative movement through its six parts.
The first part reviews the history of the movement since 1908 through the issuing of the first law for agricultural cooperation firms in 1923 and the issuance of Law No. 23 of 1927, which was designed to organize the cooperative movement. The report shows how the Egyptian legislator organized agricultural credit since 1931 and the various developments that happened in the cooperative movement and agricultural credit system since the issuance of Law No. 317 of 1956, governing the work of cooperatives associations so far.
The second part shows the role of cooperatives in the face of international changes and the importance of developing the cooperative movement to confront the fluctuations and changes of the markets, particularly after the application of the free market policies and the withdrawal of the State from productive activities leaving the market and the economy to multi-national companies to enable farmers to protect their rights, develop their abilities, improve their living conditions, and protect agricultural resources.
In its third part the report addresses the role of agricultural cooperatives in the face of local changes, especially after the state canceled the subsides, the distribution of production requirements and the marketing of crops; reduced the role of the public sector; and expelled hundreds of thousands of farmers from their leased land and from the membership of agricultural associations, which lead to an organizational vacancy in the countryside that needs a legislative intervention and requires raising the awareness of farmers and strengthening their trade union organizations in addition to supporting cooperatives and the economic organizations of farmers after the high economic risks of agriculture in Egypt.
The fourth part reviews the most important features of the weakness of agricultural cooperatives, both on its absence from fulfilling its role in rural and agricultural development, because of the restrictions on their activities, or because of the unavailability of human and material resources to them. The fourth part reviews the reasons for this weakness which is related to the restrictions in the political and legal framework governing their work, the administrative interventions and trusteeship polices imposed on agricultural associations, or because of the absence of democracy and independence in the boards of directors of cooperatives.
The fifth part shows that there are a lot of strength points that can be strengthened to develop the capacity of the cooperative movement to play its role in the progress of the Egyptian countryside, such as the importance of the agricultural production in the national economy and how it provides food for the citizens, the expertise and resources of the cooperative union and the agricultural associations, and the constitutional protections guaranteed to cooperatives that allow citizens to establish and develop cooperative organizations.
The last part of the report shows that the cooperative movement requires an alternative political, legal and organizational framework so that farmers can work independently through it from the state organs, especially in light of the liberalization of markets, in order to enable farmers to rely on their abilities and capabilities in addition to promoting and developing them to work with maximum efficiency to face the bestiality of the market, on the condition that these cooperatives be managed in a democratic way and that the State supports these entities, so that they may be able to fulfill their role in improving agriculture, providing food, and improving the conditions of farmers in participation and development of cooperatives. The cooperatives also need to develop human resources through training a new generation of cooperative farmers who can offer services and care for farmers.
The report shows the mechanisms that can be followed by the rural civil society for the implementation of these goals and for achieving rural progress and for protecting the rights of farmers to organize and to safe agriculture and a dignified life.