Geography

Japan's agricultural cooperative (JA) system operates under the Agricultural Cooperatives Act, forming a three-tier structure of national, prefectural and municipal organisations; primary cooperatives become members of higher-tier bodies through capital contributions, and the higher tiers provide organisational, business and management guidance. According to the source material, Japan then had about 703 primary agricultural cooperatives with roughly 9.69 million members, covering almost the entire farming population; their operations spanned farm guidance, produce distribution, credit, mutual insurance and daily-life services. JA once carried out public-policy functions such as compulsory grain purchasing, rice-planting adjustment and the disbursement of agricultural support funds and policy loans, and lowered distribution costs through wholesale produce markets, processing and packaging, cold-chain logistics and direct sales through urban supermarkets.

Korea's agricultural cooperative system is built around the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) and township-level primary cooperatives, with the federation maintaining branch offices at the city/county level that guide, coordinate and support primary cooperatives. According to the source material, Korea then had about 1,163 primary cooperatives with roughly 2.45 million members, covering almost the entire farming population; the federation comprised three main business lines — economic, financial and educational/support — serving produce distribution, rural finance and training respectively. The cooperatives once served as a key vehicle for rural-development policies such as the Saemaul (New Village) Movement, and played an organising role in wholesale produce markets, production-area distribution centres and metropolitan produce-distribution centres that reduced the number of intermediary links.

Vietnam's cooperative movement has a long history: cooperative ideas were introduced in the 1920s, early handicraft cooperatives appeared in 1952, and the 1996 Cooperative Law redefined the concept, organisational system and operating model of cooperatives. According to the source material, new types of cooperatives developed rapidly after 1996, reaching about 17,900 across all types by June 2008, of which roughly 8,553 were agricultural cooperatives; cooperatives were active in agriculture, handicrafts, fisheries, transport, commerce and credit. Vietnam built a guidance system for cooperatives from the central government down to provinces and districts; the cooperative sector concentrates a large workforce and plays a significant role in rural production and living services, the implementation of local economic and social projects, microcredit, handicrafts and transport.

Myanmar's cooperative movement dates back to around 1903 and entered a new phase of development following the 1992 Cooperative Law. According to the source material, the country then had about 13,920 primary cooperatives and 569 federations at various levels, spanning integrated rural cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives, savings and credit cooperatives, consumer cooperatives and industrial cooperatives, with integrated rural cooperatives the most numerous. The Central Cooperative Society, as the highest-level national federation, was responsible for promoting the sustainable development of cooperatives, international cooperation, education and training, financial support and small-scale financial services, and community development; a cooperative bank provided financial services to the cooperative system, with microcredit an important source of funding for primary cooperatives.

Nepal's cooperative movement began around 1956, when early cooperatives were linked to disaster resettlement and savings-and-credit services; after the 1992 revision of the Cooperative Act, cooperatives of all types and at all levels developed rapidly. According to the source material, Nepal then had about 11,454 cooperatives of various types with roughly 1.19 million members; among primary cooperatives, savings-and-credit cooperatives, multipurpose cooperatives, dairy cooperatives and agricultural cooperatives accounted for the largest shares. The National Cooperative Federation was tasked with promoting cooperative principles, training and education, capacity building, project support and channelling cooperatives' concerns to government, and used development plans to advance the economic and social role of cooperatives in agriculture, small enterprise and the wider public.

Bulgaria's cooperative system centres on the Central Cooperative Union as a key hub; the business cases covered in the source material include a joint procurement and logistics centre, cooperative department stores, cooperative supermarkets and a cooperative bottled-mineral-water company. According to the relevant material, Bulgarian cooperatives operated around 800 chain supermarkets and sought to expand the influence of the consumer-cooperative network through unified procurement, distribution and cross-border trade. As an EU member state's cooperative organisation, Bulgaria's cooperatives also engaged in joint procurement and logistics cooperation with cooperatives in Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with the potential to connect the Bulgarian market to a common Eastern European market.

The Israeli kibbutz is an integrated cooperative form combining production, consumption, housing, education and elderly care, emphasising collective ownership, voluntary mutual aid, equality and democratic management. According to the source material, Israel's kibbutz movement formed a three-tier structure of primary kibbutzim, regional federations and a national federation: about 267 primary kibbutzim were responsible for agricultural production and members' daily life, 8 regional federations provided value-added services such as produce processing, marketing and tourism, and the national federation coordinated cross-regional engineering projects, investment and resources. After the 1990s, some kibbutzim introduced reforms such as differentiated wages, nominal charges and partial housing property rights without abandoning cooperative principles, producing a hybrid model combining cooperative and shareholding elements.

Poland's cooperative movement has more than 150 years of history, concentrated early on in dairy, purchasing-and-marketing and credit cooperatives, and experienced significant disruption during the transition period. According to the source material, Poland then had more than 13,000 cooperatives across roughly 15 types — agricultural, dairy, financial, insurance, consumer, worker, student and others — serving more than 8 million members; dairy cooperatives were particularly strong, holding more than 50% of the domestic market. In recent years, Poland has also developed social-service cooperatives that provide economic and social support to unemployed young people and other disadvantaged groups.

Finland's cooperative system has a high degree of penetration: according to the source material, the country then had more than 4,300 cooperatives with more than 4 million members; more than 80% of adults belonged to at least one cooperative, and more than 75% of households belonged to a consumer cooperative. Cooperatives hold an important position in the food supply chain, with high market shares in dairy products, meat products and general merchandise, and significant influence in banking and insurance, timber processing, agricultural machinery and livestock breeding. The source material also notes that Finnish agricultural cooperatives play a leading role in shaping produce standards, helping to strengthen consumer confidence in domestic agricultural products.

Sweden's cooperative movement has a long history, with cooperatives appearing as early as the mid-19th century and a national cooperative organisation established in the late 19th century; the movement covers food, apparel, daily necessities, agricultural production, banking and insurance, housing construction, bioenergy and tourism services. According to the source material, the KF consumer cooperative is one of Sweden's major retail organisations, with turnover equivalent to about 21.5% of the Swedish retail market. The material also shows that Sweden's cooperative system emphasises staying close to local members' needs, with agricultural, banking and insurance cooperatives providing production services, loans and insurance support to farms through localised operations.

Peru's cooperative sector has a fairly long history, with roots that can be traced to cooperative-economy thinking from the era of indigenous Andean societies. According to the source material, Peru's Congress enacted cooperative legislation and encouraged cooperative development in the 1960s, after which cooperatives went through a period of strong growth; from the 1980s onward, economic and social factors made development more difficult for a time. Around 2012, the role and influence of Peruvian cooperatives was gradually strengthening, the government was paying closer attention to cooperative affairs, and work was under way on a 2012-2016 cooperative development plan. At the time, the country's cooperatives had close to 1 million members and played a role in promoting employment and raising farmers' incomes.

Colombia enacted its Cooperative Law in 1988, and cooperatives there span agriculture, finance, transport, healthcare, insurance, education and other sectors. According to the source material, Colombia then had close to 10,000 cooperatives of various types with more than 5 million members — about 12% of the total population — with more than 30% of the population benefiting directly or indirectly; cooperatives contributed more than 6% to the economy and held significant shares in healthcare, transport, agriculture, finance, microcredit, health insurance and coffee production. The organisational system comprised three tiers — a national cooperative federation, regional and sectoral cooperative organisations, and primary cooperatives — supported by relatively strict regulatory procedures for mutual finance.

Costa Rica's cooperatives span agriculture, finance and other sectors; according to the source material, more than 10% of the population were cooperative members, and cooperatives operated under the ethos of "people helping people, for a better life." Agricultural and financial cooperatives are particularly well developed in the country, with export-oriented trade potential in dairy products, coffee, beef and palm oil. The national cooperative landscape described in the source material also includes cases such as large dairy cooperatives and labour-finance institutions, reflecting the comprehensive role cooperatives play in household consumption, agricultural processing, financial services and international trade.

Turkey's cooperative movement has hosted global conferences and related forums of the International Cooperative Alliance, demonstrating its organisational capacity in regional and global cooperative affairs. The source material also notes that organisations such as Turkey's consumer-cooperative federation and its fruit-cooperative federation have a practical track record in urban consumption, produce trade and food-processing cooperation; the fruit-cooperative federation, in particular, has pursued cooperation around the trade and processing of specialty produce such as figs, reflecting Turkey's potential in agricultural-product exports and value-chain collaboration.