COOPERATIVE ORGANIZATION AS A FACTOR OF COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY IN CROATIAN AGRICULTURE

Low competitiveness and poor positioning of Croatian agriculture on the EU market is the consequence of a number of constraints such as possession of a small and fragmented land parcels, undeveloped market infrastructure, low technological level of production, etc. In such circumstances, one of the basic prerequisites for increasing the competitiveness of domestic agriculture is production and marketing organizing family farms. Numerous experience in the EU and around the world show that cooperatives operate as a successful business model of the farmers’ organizations and contribute to their competitiveness in the global food market and strengthening the bargaining power in the food supply chains. According to available data we describe the institutional and normative support of the current situation in Croatian cooperatives in agriculture sector and compare it with the agricultural cooperatives in selected EU member states. An analysis showed the marginal contribution of cooperatives in the production, purchase and turnover of agricultural products in Croatia. Cooperative legislation in Croatia is regulated by EU standards, but the financial and institutional support is insufficient for the incentive development of agricultural cooperatives. In order to raise the competitiveness of Croatian agriculture there should be transparent promotion of cooperatives as a successful business model organization of family farms.