A co-operative federation or secondary co-operative is a co-operative in which all members are, in turn, co-operatives. Historically, co-operative federations have predominantly come in the form of co-operative wholesale societies and co-operative unions. Gide, Charles; as translated from French by the Co-operative Reference Library, Dublin, ''Consumers' Co-operative Societies'', Manchester: The Co-operative Union Limited, 1921, p. 122, Co-operative federations are a means through which co-operatives can fulfill the sixth Co-operative Principle, co-operation among co-operatives. The International Co-operative Alliance notes that ''“Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.”''

Retail

According to co-operative economist

Charles Gide Charles Gide (; 1847–1932) was a French economist and historian of economic thought. He was a professor at the University of Bordeaux, at Montpellier, at Université de Paris and finally at Collège de France. His nephew was the author André G ...

, the aim of a

co-operative wholesale society A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...

, which is owned by retail consumer co-operatives, is to arrange "bulk purchases, and, if possible, organise production". The best historical examples of this were the English and Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Societies, which were the forerunners to the modern

Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-operative Group has over ...

Co-operative union

A second common form of co-operative federation is a co-operative union, whose objective (according to Gide) is “to develop the spirit of solidarity among societies and... in a word, to exercise the functions of a government whose authority, it is needless to say, is purely moral.” Co-operatives UK and the International Co-operative Alliance are examples of such arrangements.

Banking

* Austria's

Raiffeisen Zentralbank Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich A.G. was the central institution of the Raiffeisen Banking Group Austria (RBG). The central bank was merged with its subsidiary Raiffeisen Bank International in 2017. It functions as the group centre for the ...

is a cooperative bank with many branches in eastern Europe. * Germany's Volksbanken or Raiffeisenbank are cooperative banks. * France's Crédit Agricole is a multi-tiered network of primary and secondary co-operatives and hybrid co-operatives. * In the UK, The Co-operative Bank is a joint-stock

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

and

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

, whose stock is wholly owned by

The Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-operative Group has over ...

, a hybrid primary and secondary co-operative. * In the US,

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provisi ...

s co-operatively own payment networks and

financial adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

s. * In South Korea,

National Agricultural Cooperative Federation The South Korean National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (initialized as NH (in Korean, derived from NongHyup) or NACF) was established in 1961 to enhance the social and economic status of its membership and to promote a balanced developmen ...

is a multi-purpose agricultural cooperatives' federation. * Mexico
Caja Popular Mexicana
a, Loan and savings cooperative with more than 1.8 million members.

Agriculture

Regional

agricultural co-operative An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperativ ...

s, such as

Land O'Lakes Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an American member-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills, Minnesota, United States, focusing on the dairy industry. The cooperative has 1,959 direct producer-members, 751 ...

and the former

Farmland Industries Farmland Industries was the largest agricultural cooperative in North America when it eventually sold all of its assets in 2002–04. During its 74-year history, Farmland served its farmer membership as a diversified, integrated organization, pla ...

, are co-operative federations owned by local farmers' co-operatives. Like the Co-operative Group (above), Land O'Lakes is actually a hybrid of a primary and secondary co-operative.

Co-operative party

In some countries with strong co-operative sectors, such as the UK, co-operatives have organized parliamentary political parties to represent their interests. The British

Co-operative Party The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fair ...

is an example of such an arrangement.

Other uses

Co-operatives whose member owners are businesses, such as

retailers' co-operative A retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. A r ...

s, are sometimes called ''secondary co-operatives'', even when their members are not themselves co-operatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooperative Federation