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Abstract
In the last twenty years Greece has witnessed the emergence and
establishment of women’s cooperatives, a form of productive agricultural
cooperatives. This paper explores their importance and their contribution to
local development. Evidence is presented for an island region, the North
Aegean. Personal interviews, using structured questionnaires, were
conducted with the chairwomen of all the region’s cooperatives in order to
obtain an insight into their structure and dynamics. According to the findings
of this study, women’s cooperatives are characterized by substantial
potential on the one hand and by serious drawbacks on the other. The
economic performance of the cooperatives is satisfactory, while the use of
local resources and ‘know how’ contribute to the development of the region.
Interpersonal problems, the inability of the cooperatives’ members to fully
understand their new role as businesswomen and the small participation of
rural women are the cooperatives’ major problems. The future of the
women’s cooperatives is still unclear despite their 20 years of existence.