Membership of dairy cooperatives: Determining factors and impacts on the food resilience of small farmers in the Souss Valley in the Central-South of Morocco

Abstract

The fundamental scientific challenges of this research are twofold. Firstly, it assesses the association between the membership of smallholder farming households in dairy cooperatives and their ability to strengthen their resilience to food insecurity, as measured by the Food Consumption Score, in the context of the Souss valley. Subsequently, through the use of a binary logistic regression model, this study analyzes the influence of various socio-economic factors on the probability of joining these cooperatives. The aim is to determine the main factors influencing this participation and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Our results show that over 60% of smallholders are not members of cooperatives, while those who are members own on average four times more livestock than non-members. Remoteness from milk collection centers significantly reduces the probability of membership, while off-farm income and financial transfers from migrants substantially increase this probability. Although access to irrigation water is beneficial, its effect remains limited. In addition, labor availability quadruples the likelihood of membership, while access to credit and land size show no significant effect, and agricultural extension visits do not appear to have any measurable impact.

Keywords: Dairy cooperatives - Food security - Smallholder farmers - Souss Valley

JEL Classification: O13

Paper type: Empirical Research