The cooperative system from Sweden agriculture: main features and evolution

Abstract

The agricultural cooperative system from the countries with a market economy displayed from the very beginning a large diversity, according to the specificity of agriculture, level of economic development, local traditions and market development. As a result of a deep economic need, the Swedish agricultural cooperative system appeared at the end of the XIX-th century, borrowing a great part of the Danish model. The first cooperatives set up in the Swedish agriculture were those from the animal breeding sector, as a consequence of the development of the export of agri-food products to England: dairies, cooperatives for eggs trading, slaughter houses–cooperatives. Afterwards appeared new sectors of activity in the sphere of agricultural cooperative system, therefore cooperatives in the plants, forestry and agricultural credit sectors have been set up. The majority of the Swedish agricultural cooperatives were focused on a unique activity, fact that determined the farmers to take part to 4-5 cooperatives from different agricultural sub-sectors. In time took place a process of cooperative merging and concentration, fact that determined the severe reduction of their number, in the same time with the turnover increase. The most part of the agricultural production is harvested, processed and traded by cooperatives, in the case of milk processing and trading, the market share being higher than 95%. Like in the majority of Western states, the structure of the Swedish cooperative system took a pyramidal shape, being organized on 3 levels. The Swedish agricultural cooperatives take benefit from a specific law, and the minimum number of members necessary to set up a cooperative is 3. In the decision making process, the principle "one person – one vote" as well as "the proportional vote" are applied. The unique 100% Swedish cooperative that is with significant international presence is Lantmännen supply cooperative. The majority of farmers who breed dairy cows are members of the largest dairy-cooperative in Scandinavia – Arla Food, formed in the year 2000 by the merging of the Swedish dairy cooperative Arla with the Danish MD Food cooperative with the same profile.