What problems does the sustainable development of farmers' cooperatives face?
Preface: Chinese farmers form or join cooperatives, to a large extent, not in pursuit of some ideal, but because an organization like a cooperative can meet the needs of its members and safeguard and advance their economic interests. But the prevalence of cooperatives with a strong utilitarian flavor is bound to affect the healthy and sustainable development of cooperatives.
In recent years, China's specialized farmers' cooperatives have developed rapidly. According to statistics from the end of February 2014, the number of registered specialized farmers' cooperatives nationwide had reached 1,038,800, with 78.29 million farming households joining as members, driving the number of participating households to 30.1% of all farming households nationwide. But at present the development of China's specialized farmers' cooperatives shows characteristics of heterogeneity and diversity, with uneven levels. How can specialized farmers' cooperatives and various other types of farmers' cooperatives be urged to follow the basic principles of cooperatives and develop in a healthy and sustainable way? The following issues may need attention.
1. The foundation for the sustainable development of specialized farmers' cooperatives comes from the cultivation of cooperative ideals, values and humanistic spirit
The core values upheld by cooperative members are: self-help, democracy, equality, fairness and solidarity, and collectivism is the philosophical foundation of cooperatives. The core of the basic principles of cooperatives is that members hold ownership of cooperative assets, control over cooperative activities, and the right to benefit from cooperative earnings. The practice of the cooperative movement in countries around the world has proven that the development of farmers' cooperatives is a product of the market economy, but their healthy and sustainable development by no means depends only on economic factors; it is closely related to the awakening of farmers' democratic consciousness and the development of the humanistic spirit. Cooperatives have their own unique cooperative culture, and wherever cooperatives operate successfully in the world, they inevitably have their humanistic foundation. The mechanisms of political democracy and economic democracy and the humanistic foundation embedded in cooperatives are where cooperatives' vitality fundamentally lies. The principle of democratic control in cooperatives is precisely about cultivating members' awareness of participation and democracy. In democratic control, what matters is not the decision but the process of decision-making, in which there is discussion and the clash of various views, finally reaching consensus and forming a decision. This process is formed through democratic participation and the development of civil society, and it is a long process of development; this is the building of cooperative culture. Without this building, even if a cooperative develops, it will become distorted, lose its flavor, or even die prematurely. For example, the cooperative movement in Denmark began to develop rapidly in the second half of the 19th century, and a series of changes in social conditions during this period played a positive role in the development of cooperatives. Among them, the establishment of farmers' adult folk high schools was an important factor. These schools provided education to adults, but many farmers' sons also attended evening schools; they not only learned specific knowledge but also focused on dialogue and discussion of historical and social issues and actively participated in democratic decision-making. They realized that they had to be responsible for their own future destiny, and in this way the humanistic foundation of the Danish cooperative movement was laid. An American cooperative scholar once said: if the humanistic foundation and educational ideals are lacking, a successful cooperative can only last for one and a half generations; the first generation of founders can still hold on, but the second generation cannot sustain it, and it will either dissolve or transform into an ordinary market economy organization.
Chinese farmers form or join cooperatives, to a large extent, not in pursuit of some ideal, but because an organization like a cooperative can meet the needs of its members and safeguard and advance their economic interests. But the prevalence of cooperatives with such a strong utilitarian flavor is bound to affect the healthy and sustainable development of cooperatives. Some cooperative chairmen feel very troubled, saying: "Dealing with farmers is very troublesome; farmers can only make money, can only make more money, can only share the sunshine, and cannot share the wind and rain. If you have no core competitiveness and cannot let them make more money, they will not play with you." Whether China's farmers' cooperatives can develop sustainably depends on the development of farmers' democratic consciousness, the awakening of the humanistic spirit, and the persistent pursuit of cooperative ideals. To a large extent, this is also closely related to the development and improvement of grassroots democracy in rural areas. Cooperatives are great schools of democracy; here farmers learn political democracy and economic democracy and cultivate shared values. This is the most precious wealth and also the foundation for the sustainable development of cooperatives. China has the soil for cooperative development, but only under an institutional environment in which our country's economic democracy and political democracy continuously develop and grow can cooperatives truly develop healthily, rather than developing into alienated cooperatives full of pragmatism.
2. The sustainable development of China's farmers' cooperatives requires theoretical innovation, legal revision and the emergence of cooperative entrepreneurs
Looking back at the development history of the modern international cooperative movement over more than a hundred years, it can be seen that the basic principles of cooperatives are in a process of constant development, revision and improvement. Even for principles that have already been affirmed, the cooperative theory community still holds different views, and cooperative movements in various countries also have different practices. Against the backdrop of globalization, Chinese cooperative theorists should proceed from China's basic national conditions and, as socioeconomic life changes, carry out theoretical innovation and interpretation of the basic principles and technical details of cooperatives that accord with China's specific national conditions, striving to create a Chinese school of cooperative theory.
Although China's Law on Specialized Farmers' Cooperatives has already provided for the basic principles, membership composition, organizational structure and legal liability of cooperatives, the law is still a law of the period of social transformation. Under the guidance of correct theory, it should be constantly revised and improved with changes in the situation and the development of cooperatives, providing a legal basis for exploration in the institutional arrangements of cooperatives.
The founding and development of cooperatives requires not only pioneers and thinkers with a spirit of dedication and lofty ideals, but also cooperative entrepreneurs who are good at management. The institutional framework itself cannot create achievements; performance still has to be realized by people. To promote the development of the cooperative cause, a group of practitioners of the cooperative movement who are full of dedication and skilled in market competition is needed. Cooperative leaders must possess both cooperative spirit and entrepreneurial spirit; they must have cooperative ideals and also be able to adapt to market competition, which is what is commonly called "good people" plus "capable people." Without excellent cooperative entrepreneurs, there can be no successful and sustainably developing cooperatives. Whether it is possible to cultivate a group of cooperative entrepreneurs, enhance the quality of the cooperative entrepreneur community, and guide them to form a community of shared interests with farming households, thereby laying the talent foundation for the next step of healthy and sustainable development of China's farmers' cooperatives.