Social Innovation and Women’s Agricultural Cooperatives: Applying Social Change Theory

Abstract

In most investments, businesses, or even organizations, results and their value are calculated in terms of profit and economic terms. But what if you have to calculate the value and work of a social enterprise? What is that thin line that separates one business from another? The way to evaluate the efficiency of a business includes the social contribution and the social footprint of the business. Is it possible for a successful farmer cooperative that wants to increase its activity to remain as a social enterprise, or must it change its legal form? In an agricultural cooperative that shows remarkable success, how aligned are the opinions of the members with the vision of the cooperative and to what extent do the cooperative’s vision and its reason to exist change? The above questions were the reasons behind why this study was carried out and the realization of the primary research presented in this article. The research presented herein is based on qualitative research tools, and this study involved carrying out a case study of a women’s agricultural cooperative in Agios Antonios, a village in the prefecture of Thessaloniki, Northern Greece.

Keywords

• women’s cooperatives
• social effect
• economic benefit