Are partnerships in nonprofit organizations being governed for sustainability? A partnering life cycle assessment

A Framework for Quantifying the Strength of Partnerships between Agricultural Cooperatives and Development Actors: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia

The issue of the agricultural cooperatives' sustainability in developing their businesses is gaining increasing prominence. Building partnerships between development actors and agricultural cooperatives has been considered an effective strategy for supporting financial capital and addressing sustainability issues collectively. Therefore, this study aimed to address the features and strengths of 33 partnerships established between the Beekeeping Cooperative Association in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia, and other actors between 2016 and 2021. The analysis of the collaborations was based on six criteria: motivations, partnership planning, outputs, governance practices, outcomes, and sustainability of a partnership. Furthermore, we developed a weighted scoring model to control variable selection and submit the strength of each partnership. The findings indicated that most collaborations (45.5%) were signed with the private sector. Furthermore, the honey value chain development was the most frequent reason (69.7%) attracting the partners to engage in the partnerships. Some of the most critical environmental objectives targeted by the partnerships examined were enhancing bee habitat by the diversification of pasture species, management to increase the flowering period, and proper grazing management. All partners achieved their individual goals jointly in 54.5% of the partnerships analyzed. In terms of a partnership's strength, the findings also revealed that only three partnerships (9.1%) were characterized as strong partnerships. This study provides a better understanding of how agricultural cooperatives collaborate with other actors and a basis for assessing the strength of the partnerships. Such information is crucial for developing relevant policies to encourage cooperatives to engage in future sustainability partnerships.

Analysis of partnerships between agricultural cooperatives and development actors: A national survey in Saudi Arabia

The partnerships between agricultural cooperatives and development actors play a critical role in meeting development challenges and building cooperative sustainability. The objective of this study was to analyze the key characteristics of engagements established between agricultural cooperatives and other actors and determine their success level. An analytical framework was developed to highlight nine areas, namely partnership configuration, stakeholders, objectives of the partnerships, partnership types, partnership stages, communication methods, achieved outcomes, partnership evaluation, and partnership sustainability. The targets were all agricultural cooperatives building associations with other actors between 2016 and 2020 in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the study covered 69 partnerships founded by 32 agricultural cooperatives. The results revealed that the cooperatives involved in partnerships essentially provide farming inputs and equipment for their stakeholders and capacity building and training purposes. The public sector was the leading actor that collaborated with agricultural cooperatives in inter-sector partnerships. The findings also showed that 55.1% of the partnerships were “strategic partnerships” in cases of both independent value formation and integrative partnerships. By focusing on mapping the partnerships, this study presents beneficial information for policy-makers working on how agricultural cooperatives dealt with the other actors and the lessons gathered to build future sustainability collaborations.