The factors that led to the collapse of agricultural co-operatives in Sekhukhune District of the Limpopo Province

Abstract

Agricultural co-operatives have an extremely high failure rate in South Africa. This has created a loss of co-operative financing support from development institutions in the country. Co-operatives are one of the driving tools to job creation and economic growth in rural communities, it is thus unfortunate and alarming if these co-operatives are failing to drive such developmental change in society. It is thus imperative to investigate the factors that led to the collapse and failure of these co-operatives. This study was conducted in the Sekhukhune district of the Limpopo province. The aim of the study was to investigate the factors that led to the collapse and failure of agricultural co-operatives within the area. Twenty eight participants participated in the study. Within the 28, co-operative members, co-operative executives and mentors were provided with questionnaires which were used to asses the factors that may have led to the collapse and failure of the co-operatives, a quantitative research approach was used to collect and analyse data. One of the major findings was that conflicts are a major source of collapse of co-operatives. A number of other factors were derived from the findings, such findings are stipulated in full within the research document