Identifying obstacles to the establishment and development of rural cooperatives in Gilan province

Introduction

The experience of developed countries shows that cooperatives are the best organizations that have managed to provide the means for the gathering of scattered and disparate forces, at the same time talented and motivated. On the other hand, extensive researches have proven that cooperatives can contribute to rural development by increasing the efficiency of resources, facilitating the access of villagers to wider markets, forming the clamp of the value chain and the participation of all sections of villagers, including women, to achieve sustainable rural livelihoods and resilience. Cooperatives are considered to be the most organized rural institution, and its main operators are the people living in the village as a spontaneous and independent institution from the government sector, and as a people's institution, they play a large role in the comprehensive development of villages. Rural cooperatives are people's institutions that, while having the characteristics of an economic unit, also have social values and norms and can reflect the group efforts of the members of the cooperative to achieve common goals and development. According to the stated necessity, the present research seeks to identify the obstacles to the establishment and development of rural cooperatives in Gilan province.

Methodology

At first, the basic method was used to discover the obstacles to the creation and development of rural cooperatives and their pathology. In this study, according to the research problem, the interview technique (face-to-face, virtual and telephone) has been used in order to collect data. The statistical population, beneficiaries of rural cooperatives (academic experts, experts of cooperative offices, members of rural cooperatives, villagers) were selected by snowball sampling method and theoretical saturation was achieved by conducting interviews with 120 beneficiaries. Finally, the data collected from the interviews with the above-mentioned four groups were entered into the Maxqda software and were carefully reviewed several times. Next, in order to use the past research, a qualitative method based on the seven-step meta-combination method of Sandelowski, Voils and Barroso was used.

Results

In open coding, sentences or concepts related to obstacles were extracted and coded in the form of 410 items, of course, after combining the same codes, a total of 261 codes with different frequencies were identified; Therefore, similar concepts were coded in the form of identical codes. The results of the review of the relevant data in the form of open coding and the results of the open coding were categorized based on thematic inclusion and broad classes were developed and presented in the form of axial coding. The result indicated that the five core categories of awareness, laws, socio-cultural, economic and managerial institutions are the most important obstacles to the development of rural cooperatives in Gilan province.



Discussion

Examining the texts from the interview with the sample community in the Max Kyuda software revealed that one of the most important issues mentioned is the economic topic, which has broad categories such as facilities, price, inflation, marketing, advertising, branding, etc.

Among the other issues mentioned by the experts is the social core category, which is categorized into 9 broad categories. The most important issue in the social and cultural field is the discussion of cooperation.

But at the top of all the listed obstacles, there is an institutional and management obstacle that has been the concern of many experts and a large number of codes and broad categories are included in this nuclear category. Improper management and planning at the macro level and the micro level have been emphasized by experts. In line with the mentioned problems, there is also the discussion of laws and regulations, the most important of which are the rapid changes in the laws, the difficult process of granting licenses. Under this core category, we can mention two laws that can hinder the creation and development of rural cooperatives.

Despite all these obstacles, it is necessary to have a complete understanding of village cooperatives to be used as a basis for planning. This issue is also one of the weaknesses of rural cooperatives. Unfortunately, there is no consultation, awareness, training and information about cooperatives, their benefits, legal processes, etc. in the country. The absence of this field, in addition to the weakness in the researches related to rural cooperatives, both in the fundamental and applied aspects, has caused rural cooperatives to remain at a very weak level in the macro economy of the country.

Conclusion

The results obtained show that the five core categories of awareness, laws, socio-cultural, economic and managerial institutions are the most important obstacles to the creation and development of rural cooperatives in Gilan province. In the institutional-management category, the most important issue is proper planning at different levels. The existence of a tasteful, showy and slogan-like view of the development of cooperatives has caused a proper development for cooperatives in the whole country and of course in Gilan province. The presence of centralized planning and the lack of real participation of people in decision-making and decision-making are the reasons for the non-implementation of the plans due to their non-compliance with the social realities of the villages of Gilan province. In the economic category, as mentioned, one of the most important issues is the banking facility, which many beneficiaries pointed out that the villagers do not benefit from. It is necessary to mention that, of course, the use of these facilities is necessary for the villagers and it is their right, but during the interviews, especially with the members of the cooperatives and the villagers, this issue was repeatedly mentioned as the only advantage of the cooperatives. In such a way that many cooperatives see cooperative, work and social welfare offices as a bank that should pay their loans quickly and without problems. From this issue, the entanglement of the same categories can be inferred; Because if there is proper awareness and training and real planning and management at all levels, the benefits of cooperatives should grow in all aspects and benefit the villagers, not just the aspect of obtaining facilities.