Cooperatives and Producer Companies

Overview

Cooperatives, also known as Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), play a vital role in the promotion and preservation of interests of small producers and marginal farmers who are otherwise unorganised and unable to realise good value for their produce.

Drawing on the empirical evidence from the field, this IIMBx MOOC Cooperatives and Producer Companies provides the learners with a comprehensive understanding of the importance of FPOs to a nation; the processes of setting up a sustainable and profitable FPO; and offers guidance on scaling an FPO. In this three-week long course, the learners will also be introduced to the basic principles of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).

Prof. Trilochan Sastry

Course Instructor
Decision Sciences
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)

Course Details

3 weeks

3 - 4 hrs per week

Course Syllabus

Week 1 - Introduction

 

  • Overview
  • Defining a Cooperative
  • Cooperative Principles
  • What is not a Cooperative?
  • A Conversation
  • Cooperatives outside India
  • Why do we need Cooperatives?
Week 2 - Forming Cooperatives

 

  • Introduction to Forming Cooperatives
  • Role of NGOs
  • Challenges faced by NGOs
  • Pool and Sell Model of Forming Cooperatives
  • Quality Assessment of the Produce
  • Promoting Agency and the Cooperative
Week 3 - Promoting Cooperatives

 

  • Initial Operations for Promoting Cooperatives
  • Financing a Cooperative
  • Suggestions for a Better Functioning Cooperative
  • Mistakes to be Avoided for a Better Functioning Cooperative
  • Marketing and Organizational Framework for a Cooperative
  • Pool, Process, Store and Sell Model
  • The Way Forward

By the end of this MOOC you will be able to:

  • Define a cooperative
  • Illustrate how cooperatives can be set up successfully
  • Analyse why Indian cooperatives have not done well in general
  • Discuss how the cooperative situation in India can be changed
  • Illustrate on financing the genuine FPOs.

Policy makers, Executives in financial institutions and banks, students pursuing post graduate and anyone who is actually promoting new cooperatives.