Agricultural cooperatives and socio-economic development

Agriculture is a fundamental tool for sustainable development and poverty reduction. Yet small-scale farmers still face many problems. These include very high transaction costs low bargaining power in the input and output market. This problematic situation is particularly noticeable in Africa where 80% of the population relies on agriculture for their livelihoods. Agriculture-based growth is a proven factor in poverty reduction (AfDB/ADF 2010). The same situation hinders the socio-economic development of BURUNDI with the agricultural sector contributing 90% of poverty reduction (SP/REFES-BURUNDI 2016). To face such challenges farmers prefer to form various types of producer organisations in both developing and developed countries.