Cooperative Responses to Land Conversion and Financial Sustainability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58547/w6kj4r43Keywords:
Agricultural Land Conversion, Cooperative Responses, Financial Sustainability, Agricultural Cooperatives, KenyaAbstract
Agricultural land conversion (ALC) increasingly threatens the economic viability of agricultural cooperatives by reducing arable land, weakening production capacity, and diminishing member participation. This study examines how cooperatives respond to ALC and how these responses shape financial sustainability through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and meta-analysis. The review draws on a dataset of 52 peer-reviewed studies published between 2004 and 2023, which together constitute the empirical foundation for the analysis. Using a structured protocol, the study synthesizes global evidence on strategic responses and estimates their aggregated effects through a random-effects meta-analytical model. The findings reveal six dominant response categories: diversification of activities, intensification of production, value-chain integration, technological innovation, land consolidation, and policy advocacy. Technological innovation demonstrates the strongest positive association with income stability (β = 0.465, p < 0.001), while diversification emerges as the most widely adopted strategy across contexts. Regional patterns are also evident: cooperatives in Africa rely more heavily on diversification and member-capacity strengthening, whereas those in Asia, Europe, and North America tend to emphasize technological upgrading, vertical integration, and land-use regulation. These patterns underscore the contextual nature of adaptation under land-use pressure. Overall, the study finds that all six strategies positively influence financial sustainability, though their relative effectiveness depends on local institutional, ecological, and policy conditions. The meta-analysis further highlights the central role of institutional capacity and governance quality in enhancing the success of cooperative adaptation, even where land pressures are severe. The study concludes that agricultural cooperatives are not merely reactive to land conversion but active agents capable of deploying strategic responses that reinforce long-term financial sustainability. Strengthening innovation capacity, promoting context-appropriate diversification, and improving institutional support systems are therefore critical for safeguarding cooperative viability in rapidly transforming landscapes.
References
Alves, E., Souza, G. D. S., & Rocha, D. D. P. (2017). Changes in agricultural land use and agricultural productivity in Brazil. Revista de Economia e Agronegócio, 15(3), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.25070/rea.v15i3.428
Azadi, H., Ho, P., & Hasfiati, L. (2011). Agricultural land conversion drivers: A comparison between less developed, developing and developed countries. Land Degradation & Development, 22(6), 596–604. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.1037
Arksey, H., & O’Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557032000119616
Bijman, J., Muradian, R., & Schuurman, J. (Eds.). (2016). Cooperatives, economic democratization and rural development. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781784719388
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P., & Rothstein, H. R. (2021). Introduction to meta-analysis (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Cooper, H., Hedges, L. V., & Valentine, J. C. (Eds.). (2019). The handbook of research synthesis and meta-analysis (3rd ed.). Russell Sage Foundation.
Darnhofer, I. (2014). Resilience and why it matters for farm management. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 41(3), 461–484. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbu012
FAO. (2021). The state of the world's land and water resources for food and agriculture – Systems at breaking point. FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7654en
Fischer, E., & Qaim, M. (2012). Linking smallholders to markets: Determinants and impacts of farmer collective action in Kenya. World Development, 40(6), 1255–1268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.11.018
Geng, L., Yan, S., Lu, Q., Liang, X., Li, Y., & Xue, Y. (2023). A rural land share cooperative system for alleviating the small, scattered, and weak dilemma in agricultural development: Cases from China. Agriculture, 13(9), 1675. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091675
Giagnocavo, C., Galdeano-Gómez, E., & Pérez-Mesa, J. C. (2018). Cooperative longevity and sustainable development in a family farming system. Sustainability, 10(7), 2198. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072198
Grashuis, J. (2018). Joint ownership by farmers and investors in the agri-food industry: An exploratory study. Agricultural and Food Economics, 6(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-018-0118-0
Grashuis, J., & Su, Y. (2019). A review of the empirical literature on farmer cooperatives. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 90(1), 77–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12205
Huang, Z., Fu, Y., Liang, Q., Song, Y., & Xu, X. (2015). The efficiency of agricultural marketing cooperatives in China’s Zhejiang province. Managerial and Decision Economics, 36(1), 64–76. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.2589
Jayne, T. S., Chamberlin, J., & Headey, D. D. (2014). Land pressures, the evolution of farming systems, and development strategies in Africa. Food Policy, 48, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.05.014
Manji, A. (2020). The struggle for land and justice in Kenya. James Currey.
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PLOS Medicine, 6(7), e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097
Mulinge, W., Gicheru, P., Murithi, F., Maingi, P., Kihiu, E., Kirui, O. K., & Mirzabaev, A. (2016). Economics of land degradation and improvement in Kenya. In E. Nkonya, A. Mirzabaev, & J. von Braun (Eds.), Economics of land degradation and improvement (pp. 471–498). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19168-3_16
Munn, Z., Peters, M. D., Stern, C., Tufanaru, C., McArthur, A., & Aromataris, E. (2018). Systematic or scoping review? BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(1), 143. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0611-x
Mwangi, I. K., & Kariuki, S. (2015). Factors determining adoption of new agricultural technology. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 6(5), 208–216.
Nyandimo, D. O., Onyango, C. M., & Mbithi, D. M. (2020). Effectiveness of land control boards in regulating agricultural land subdivision in Kenya. African Journal of Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, 3(2), 60–75. https://doi.org/10.48346/IMIST.PRS M/ajlp-gs-v3i2.20996
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Qian, W., Wang, D., & Zheng, L. (2018). The impact of migration on agricultural restructuring in China. Journal of Rural Studies, 59, 36–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.07.024
Skog, K. L., & Steinnes, M. (2016). How centrality and urban sprawl impact farmland conversion in Norway. Land Use Policy, 59, 185–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.08.035
Sterne, J. A., Sutton, A. J., Ioannidis, J. P., Terrin, N., Jones, D. R., Lau, J., …Higgins, J. P. (2011). Recommendations for examining funnel plot asymmetry. BMJ, 343, d4002. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4002
Tefera, D. A., Bijman, J., & Slingerland, M. A. (2017). Agricultural co-operatives in Ethiopia. Journal of International Development, 29(4), 431–453. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3240
Tran, T. A., James, H., & Pittock, J. (2019). Social learning through rural communities of practice. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 23,100341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.11.002
Trebbin, A. (2014). Linking small farmers to modern retail. Food Policy, 45, 35–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.12.007
Viechtbauer, W. (2010). Conducting meta-analyses in R with the meta for package. Journal of Statistical Software, 36(3), 1–48. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v036.i03
Wouterse, F., & Francesconi, G. N. (2016). Organisational health and performance in Africa. Journal of Rural Studies, 43, 159–171. https://doi.org/10.3920/jcns2016.x002
Xu, Y., Tang, H., Wang, B., & Chen, J. (2020). Effects of land-use change on ecosystem service value in Jiangxi Province. Land Use Policy, 99,105004. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-5103-2
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mary Njoki MBUGUA, Prof. Wycliffe Oboka, PhD, Dr. Wambu Charles K.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Papers published in AJCDT Journal must be the original work of the author/s that has not been published previously in any manner. Authors retain the copyright of the published papers.
