The role of agricultural cooperatives and producers’ organizations in improving food and nutrition security

According to FAO, there are 805 million undernourished people in the world, and although this number overall has shrunk substantially in the last decades, food poverty continues to be concentrated in some specific countries and regions of the world. Starting from the analysis of the different policy approaches to the issue of food nutrition and security, it is argued in this works that territorial approaches based on capacity building, social innovation and the development of rural institutions are probably the best answer to the growing need of reducing food poverty. The focus here is on rural institutions, among which in particular the agricultural cooperatives, that, in rural territories, are commonly subject to a trade-off between economic efficacy and social inclusion. An analysis of the empirical literature concludes that, notwithstanding the trade-off, agricultural cooperatives can be effective also when they are socially inclusive and that inclusiveness approach best serves the objective of contrasting food poverty.