スウェーデン農協組織の形成と再編

From State to Market: Reorganization of Swedish Farmers Co-operatives

Tanaka Hideki

広島大学農業水産経済研究

Agricultural and fisheries economics of Hiroshima University

Swedish farmers' cooperatives started during the 1880s and have formed a strong nationwide organization. They have a central organization, the Federation of Swedish Farmers, and 16 different branches, each of which has its own national organization. The central organization have been mainly involved with representing the entire farm sector vis-à-vis the goverment. Each of the major cooperative branch organizations is modelled on federative principles comprised of regional and local cooperatives which join together in a national branch organization.

In order to negociate and cooperate with the goverment, Swedish farmers cooperatives had have the centralistic structure. An extensive system of cooperation between state and the farm sector had become institutionalised, and the central organization had been regarded as a representative of the farmers.

The starting point of what we may label the 'socio-corporate' cooperatives was the 1930s. Cooperative organization had been seen as a practical device to improve an inefficient market system and the situation of a poor farm sector. Farmer cooperatives had gained political legitimacy by state. In 1930, the Federation of Swedish Farmers Cooperatives was reorganized into SAL ( later SL 1940, and LRF 1971), and the major national branches affiliated with the SAL have been modelled. The farmer cooperatives, after its reorganization, the SAL came to play an extremely significant role in the national economy. The high degree of organization affiliation and the dominating market shares made it possible both to gain a constant and reliable grasp of food supply and to introduce the negociation system for agricultural prices between farm sector and the goverment, that has prevailed since then.

1990 become a turning point, because the Swedish Parliament decided on a new agricultural policy which include the abolition of all internal market regulations. Sweden also did apply for membership in the EC in 1991. EC membership meant to open the Swedish markets for imports of agricultural products.

In order to adapt to new circumstances, most of the cooperatives did cut costs and introduce the way of cost efficiency. A number of mergers have taken place and plants have been shut down. The number of emplyees in the cooperatives have been failed, especially in the central and national organizations. The centralistic organiztion is regarded as a non-rational structure under the deregulation and functions of both the central and national organizations are reduced. Thus, the centralistic structure of the farmers cooperatives is destructing and reorganizing into another one based on more market-oriented cooperatives.

Agriculture [ 610 ]

jpn

広島大学生物生産学部食糧管理学講座

[ISSN] 0918-6913

[NCID] AN1001835X