Sustainability of agricultural cooperatives: a case study of four moroccan dairy cooperatives

For several decades Moroccan agricultural cooperatives have been faced with a radical change in their environment, as well as changes in agricultural policy. The aim of this article is to explore the explanatory factors for the sustainability of dairy agricultural cooperatives in an imprecise environment. To do this, an approach based on the exploratory study of four dairy cooperatives is mobilized. The data were collected by semi-structured interviews with cooperative managers and stakeholders from the four dairy cooperatives, observations during field visits, and collection of archive data. The results show that the financial situation, resilience, and dynamic capacities of a cooperative are necessary conditions for its sustainability. These conditions can help support the cooperative society in another sector of agriculture in Morocco, such as, honey and citrus. Therefore, action is needed to strengthen sustainable agricultural cooperatives in all sectors in Morocco. This work contributes to research on sustainability by extending it to a particular form of organization, namely dairy cooperatives, which are different from companies belonging to traditional or entrepreneurial investors.