Why Asian Pacific cooperative models matter?
Abstract Asia Pacific cooperatives were created under strong Western influence brought about by colonialism, immigration, and learning from advanced models. They, however, evolved quite differently under the prevailing political and socio-economic circumstances. Largely protected from competition by licenses and trade restrictions and supported by subsidies and tax concessions, they had accepted stringent government control except for the British Dominions. Now, they are in the process of transforming into more independent and autonomous organizations to fulfill their objective of serving their member’s needs, rather than the public good. In addition, there are a variety of self-help groups or pre-co-ops that may grow into more formal cooperatives. Currently, Japanese agricultural cooperatives are ranked at the highest positions in the World Co-operative Monitor, while consumer cooperatives have 71% of the membership of the European counterpart. Indian Amul dairy cooperatives serve small farmers to market milk, while the Fonterra group became the largest exporter in New Zealand. Asia Pacific cooperatives had a predominant share of membership, that is, 57% of the ICA affiliates in 1998, while their share in the number of larger co-ops in the World Cooperative Monitor was only 14.9% in 2010. However, given the growing population and the high growth rate in the past decades, and since it is forecast that the Asian economy will occupy 50% of the world’s GDP in 2050, they have great potential to become the mainstream of the global cooperative movement, if they can grow in parallel with the whole economy. This chapter starts with an overview of the vast diversity of the Asia Pacific region. Then it provides an overview of Asian Pacific cooperatives and describes the emerging, unique models both at the organizational level and the inter-cooperation level. Finally, it calls for studies to identify Asian Pacific cooperative models.