Le role de la cooperation dans le developpment rural

Abstract

The late emergence and the development of cooperatives in Greece
are linked to the economic social and political evolution of the coun­
try. This is owing to the economic under development and the feudal
nature of production relations which were still prevailing in the
agrarian economy many decades after the country become indepen­
dent. The necessary conditions for the cooperative movement to
develop only appeared when feudal relations in agriculture were
abolished and land was distributed to the peasants.
Though it spread in the post-war period, the cooperative move­
ment is behind the times both in its organization and functioning, as
well as in its operations, mainly because of the anachronistic legisla
tion on cooperatives, the interventions of public services, the lack of
economic help and assistance from the State and the absence of
capital and training.
Especially with' the entry of Greece into the Common Market,
cooperatives can play today an important role in helping to
reorganize agriculture and adjust it to the EEC requirements, in­
crease the agricultural income, reduce under employment and rural
depopulation. It can also take part in the cultural development of
villages and the general development of the countryside.