Farming cooperatives can get a bad environmental rap, but they can also be a force for good

By Stefan Korber, Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

It might have surprised some people when the United Nations made 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives and praised the “significant role cooperatives play in advancing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals”.

Because cooperatives certainly have their critics. Economically, cooperative principles such as democratic ownership and governance are sometimes linked to inefficiency, low competitiveness and conservative decision-making.

Environmentally,…

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