Evaluation of common cooperative relationships and the performance analysis of livestock cooperatives in Western Mediterranean region

Agriculture has a different status on country economies, thus it is necessary for ensuring the country's continuous economic growth and development. One of the most important factors for achieving sustainable economic, social and technical success of the agricultural sector is the gathering of producers by the cooperatives. Cooperatives are beneficial to producers; provide them the advantages of more affordable input, as well as the wider networking and higher pricing in product marketing. In addition, they increase the competitive power which producers cannot achieve on their own, thereby ensure that producers have more decision power in related markets. In Turkey agricultural cooperatives are based on a long time ago. It is difficult to say that cooperatives are active at the desired level even if the number of cooperatives and the producers seems high. Cooperatives, even though they are nonprofit organizations, need to make profit in terms of continuity, being beneficial to the partners and meeting the cooperative expenses against the changing market conditions and increasing competition. To achieve this goal, the cooperatives must be managed successfully, their relations must be established properly and they must use their resources effectively. This study aims to measure the performance of cooperatives, to determine their activities and to reveal common relations among them in area of the Western Mediterranean Region, Turkey. The main material of the study was the data obtained by conducting a mutual survey with the partners and managers of the milk collection cooperatives in the Western Mediterranean Region. Within the scope of the study, 312 questionnaires were conducted, including the co-operative chairman of 100 cooperatives operating in Antalya, Burdur and Isparta and 212 co-partners of these cooperatives. In the survey, the assets of the cooperatives were revealed, the cooperatives income and expense tables and the balances were established and their activities were determined. In addition, the perspectives- the knowledge levels of the managers and partners were measured. By the factor analysis, perceptions and the factors that could be a criteria for the success of cooperatives was revealed. Finally the cooperative problems and the reasons were revealed.