What do agricultural cooperatives enhance for their members?

Agricultural cooperatives enhance collective marketing and resource sharing for their members by allowing them to pool their resources and knowledge to improve their product offerings and market reach. Members benefit from economies of scale that come from working together rather than individually. This collaboration can lead to better pricing strategies, improved access to larger markets, and shared resources such as equipment, storage facilities, and expertise. By promoting a collective effort, cooperatives help farmers to compete more effectively against larger agricultural businesses and to sustain their livelihoods in a more cooperative environment.

In contrast, profit-sharing only focuses on individual profits without the element of collaboration that cooperatives embody. Individual competition emphasizes working against one another, which is counter to the cooperative spirit. Self-sufficiency in farming practices may be beneficial, but cooperatives primarily thrive on leveraging shared resources and collective efforts to enhance productivity and market presence.