A successful co-operative movement has been shown to be one of the ways of transforming subsistence-orientated agriculture into commercial agriculture. It should not be inferred from this that the formation of agricultural co-operatives alone will achieve the goals of agricultural development. However, they may act as catalysts in the process of agricultural development. The co-operative movement in the national states of Southern Africa has not yet, with some rare exceptions, played a significant role in the upgrading of agricultural performance. The aim of this paper is to provide a framework for the upgrading of the performance of the co-operative movement in agriculture in the less developed national states. Proposals are made as to - (a) the functional role of the co-operatives in agricultural development; and (b) the institutionalisation of co-operative action in the national states.