Pitfalls of External Institutional Facilitation of Farmer Organizations: Insights from Farmer Companies in Sri Lanka

IF 1.3 Q1 AREA STUDIES

Millennial Asia Pub Date : 2021-11-25 DOI:10.1177/09763996211060772

H. S. R. Rosairo, M. Esham

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Farmer companies (FCs) were a form of farmer-owned firms established in Sri Lanka during the mid-1990s. These have been facilitated by state institutions. Maximization of returns through commercial agriculture has been the main objective of FCs. However, no FCs were operating by the year 2010. This article explains that the institutional facilitation is a strong ingredient in the establishment of FCs in Sri Lanka. This article explainfs how the institutional and governance arrangements of FCs were influenced by the facilitating institutions during the institutional facilitation. It also suggests that institutional facilitation affected the performance of FCs. Six failed FCs were studied. Strategic facilitation was responsible for the performance and sustainability of FCs while operative facilitation provided the basis for direction and operations. Results indicate that poor performance and failure of FCs were due to institutional facilitation that has introduced weak institutional and governance arrangements. There was non-shareholder influence on the Boards of Directors; geographically restricted shareholding; democratic voting rights; and shareholder rights not linked to equity or patronage. Governance problems included voting by the raise of hand; managers not reporting to the Boards directly; shareholders did not elect all the directors. Institutional facilitation of FCs in Sri Lanka has been done by the state facilitating institutions. They have been excessively authoritative on their respective FCs. Therefore, changing the label from cooperatives to companies would not result in better performance. Some recommendations are that facilitating institutions empower FCs through capacity-building; participatory approach in facilitation; remove the geographical restriction in shareholding; install variable shareholding; build capacity of managerial staff; use secret ballots at voting, and practice proportional voting. Understanding the role of facilitating institutions and the dynamics of facilitation would be useful to promote farmer collectives in smallholder farmer dominant developing countries.

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农民组织外部制度便利的陷阱:来自斯里兰卡农民公司的见解

农民公司是20世纪90年代中期在斯里兰卡成立的一种农民所有的公司。这些都得到了国家机构的推动。通过商业农业实现回报最大化一直是FCs的主要目标。然而，到2010年，没有FC在运营。这篇文章解释说，机构便利化是斯里兰卡设立功能委员会的一个重要因素。本文阐述了在制度便利化过程中，便利化制度对功能界别的制度安排和治理安排的影响。它还表明，制度便利化影响了功能界别的表现。研究了六个失败的FC。战略便利化负责职能部门的绩效和可持续性，而业务便利化则为指导和运作提供了基础。结果表明，职能部门的绩效不佳和失败是由于制度便利化导致了薄弱的制度和治理安排。董事会受到非股东影响；地域限制持股；民主投票权；以及与股权或赞助无关的股东权利。治理问题包括举手表决；不直接向董事会报告的管理人员；股东们并没有选出所有的董事。斯里兰卡FCs的机构便利化是由国家便利化机构完成的。他们对各自的功能界别过于权威。因此，将标签从合作社改为公司不会带来更好的业绩。一些建议是，促进机构通过能力建设赋予功能界别权力；参与式便利化方法；取消持股的地域限制；设置可变持股；建设管理人员的能力；在投票时使用无记名投票，并实行比例投票。了解便利机构的作用和便利化的动态将有助于促进以小农为主的发展中国家的农民集体。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Millennial Asia AREA STUDIES-

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

12.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Millennial Asia: An International Journal of Asian Studies is a multidisciplinary, refereed biannual journal of the Association of Asia Scholars (AAS)–an association of the alumni of the Asian Scholarship Foundation (ASF). It aims to encourage multifaceted, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research on Asia, in order to understand its fast changing context as a growth pole of global economy. By providing a forum for Asian scholars situated globally, it promotes dialogue between the global academic community, civil society and policy makers on Asian issues. The journal examines Asia on a regional and comparative basis, emphasizing patterns and tendencies that go beyond national borders and are globally relevant. Modern and contemporary Asia has witnessed dynamic transformations in cultures, societies, economies and political institutions, among others. It confronts issues of collective identity formation, ecological crisis, rapid economic change and resurgence of religion and communal identifies while embracing globalization. An analysis of past experiences can help produce a deeper understanding of contemporary change. In particular, the journal is interested in locating contemporary changes within a historical perspective, through the use of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches. This way, it hopes to promote comparative studies involving Asia’s various regions. The journal brings out both thematic and general issues and the thrust areas are: Asian integration, Asian economies, sociology, culture, politics, governance, security, development issues, arts and literature and any other such issue as the editorial board may deem fit. The core fields include development encompassing agriculture, industry, regional trade, social sectors like health and education and development policy across the region and in specific countries in a comparative perspective.