Agriculture Cooperatives Assessment, in Puli Khumri District of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan A Research project submitted to Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Science part of Wageningen UR, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Masters Degree in Agriculture Production Chain Management, Specialization in Horticulture Production Chain By Hamdullah Tokhi September, 2011 Wageningen The Netherlands ©Copyright Hamdullah Tokhi 2011. All rights reserved. Permission to Use In presenting this research project in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree, I agree that the Library of Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this research project in any manner, in whole or part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by Larenstein Director of Research department. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this research project or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my research project. Request for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this research project in whole or parts should be addressed to: Director of Research University of Applied Science Van Hall Larenstein Part of Wageningen UR Forum Building102 Droevendaalsesteeg 2 6708 PB, Wageningen The Netherlands PO Box: 411 Tel: +31 31 7486230 Fax: +31 31 7484884 ii Acknowledgement First of all I express my sincere gratitude to my parents, brothers and all my family members who encouraged and financed me not only when I am far away from home but throughout my life especially to study for this master’s degree. It is the prayers of my parents that I am successful in all of my endeavors. Several people have helped me in due course and writing of this thesis. First of all I would like to present my heartfelt appreciation to my thesis supervisor Mr. Geert Houwers for his productive remarks and advice throughout the writing process of this research. I specially thank my course coordinator Dr. Tracey Campbell and other lecturers in Horticulture Production Chain course for their valuable lectures, providing me the new knowledge and encouragements during whole period of my study. I would like express my deep gratitude to Mr. Mohammad Aslam and Mr. Jalal-Ul-Din Hamidi (FAO- Baghlan province, Afghanistan) and M.Anwar Manager of Agriculture Cooperative Department in Baghlan province, for their full cooperation and support during collection of research data in the field. My sincere gratitude goes to the Royal Dutch Government and People of The Netherlands for financing my study and part of my fieldwork. I also would like to thank individuals who helped me in one way or another during the research process from the beginning till the end. My sincere gratitude also goes to my respondents for their time and their kind co-operation in collecting the relevant data material. Above all I would like to thank the ALMIGHTY Allah for his help and grace in all my endeavors. Thank you all. iii Table of Contents Permission to Use ............................................................................................... ii Acknowledgement ............................................................................................. iii Abbreviation ...................................................................................................... vii Abstract ............................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Afghanistan .............................................................................................. 1 1.2 FAO/SFLP in Baghlan province ............................................................... 2 1.2.1 Goal ......................................................................................................... 2 1.2.2 Component 1 ........................................................................................... 2 1.2.3 Component 2 ........................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Problem Statement .................................................................. 3 1.4 Research Objective ................................................................................. 3 1.5 Research Questions ................................................................................ 3 Chapter 2 Literature review ................................................................................ 4 2.1 Farmers Organisation .............................................................................. 4 2.1.1 Types of Farmers’ Organizations ............................................................. 4 2.1.2 Structure of Farmers Organisation ........................................................... 5 2.2 Agriculture Cooperative ........................................................................... 6 2.2.1 Principles of Agriculture Cooperative ....................................................... 6 2.2.2 Agriculture Cooperative Functions ........................................................... 7 2.2.3 Conditions of Membership in Agriculture Cooperative ............................. 7 2.3 Role of Agriculture Cooperative in Agriculture Sector .............................. 7 2.4 Role of Agriculture Cooperative in Chain Development ........................... 8 2.4.1 Access to Market & Finance .................................................................... 8 2.5 Factors Influence Agriculture Cooperative ............................................... 9 2.6 Successful Factors for Agriculture Cooperative Development ............... 10 2.7 The role of External Supporter ............................................................... 10 Chapter 3 Methodology .................................................................................... 11 3.1 Description of Study Area ...................................................................... 11 3.2 Methodology .......................................................................................... 12 3.2.1 Literature Review ................................................................................... 12 3.2.2 Sample Selection ................................................................................... 12 3.2.3 Interview ................................................................................................ 13 3.2.4 Survey.................................................................................................... 13 3.2.5 Research Framework ............................................................................ 13 3.2.6 Conceptual Framework ....................................................................... 14 iv 3.2.7 Analysis of the Data ............................................................................... 15 Chapter 4 Results ............................................................................................. 16 4.1 General Profile of Agriculture Cooperatives ........................................... 16 4.1.1 Education level ...................................................................................... 16 4.1.2 Farming system ..................................................................................... 18 4.1.3 Land size ............................................................................................... 18 4.2 Objective of Agriculture Cooperatives .................................................... 18 4.3 Leadership and Management .................................................................. 20 4.3.1 Criteria for selection of managing board ................................................ 20 4.3.2 Election for managing board .................................................................. 21 4.3.3 Activity Plan ........................................................................................... 21 4.3.4 Agriculture Cooperative Activities .......................................................... 21 4.3.5 Membership criteria .............................................................................. 22 4.3.6 Participation of Members ....................................................................... 22 4.4 Access to Agriculture Inputs .................................................................. 23 4.5 Access to Training ................................................................................ 24 4.6 Marketing Status .................................................................................... 25 4.6.1 Market Channel ..................................................................................... 26 4.7 Problem Faced Agri coops ..................................................................... 28 4.8 Supporting Organisation Role ................................................................ 29 Chapter 5 Discussion ....................................................................................... 32 5.1 General Information ............................................................................... 32 5.2 Agriculture Cooperative ......................................................................... 32 5.3 Leadership and Management ...............................................................