Co-ops Key to Food Security: India’s Dairy Model Leads

According to an analysis by Reuters, cooperatives are emerging as essential to global food security and sustainable agrifood systems. The article highlights that during the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives, numerous global examples underscored how member-owned structures deliver resilience, fairness and scalability. In India, the dairy cooperative model through Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul) is a flagship case: it handles more than 26 million litres of milk daily and is owned by 3.6 million producers, many with just one or two animals.

The piece argues cooperatives align social, economic and environmental goals — a contrast to purely shareholder-driven business models — yet they still face hurdles: restricted access to capital, regulatory mis-classification and scaling limitations. For India’s dairy sector, the lesson is clear: strengthening cooperative infrastructure (finance, governance, market links) may be just as important as boosting production volumes.

Here are three key policy recommendations from the Reuters feature titled “Why cooperatives hold the key to future food security” (Oct 28, 2025) and how they map to the Indian dairy sector:

Recommendation 1: Strengthen financial access & regulatory recognition

The article notes that cooperatives globally struggle with “limited access to capital” and “regulatory disadvantages” compared to investor-owned firms. India dairy implication: Enable dairy co-ops to access debt/equity instruments (e.g., cooperative bond markets), simplify their regulatory status (so they aren’t taxed/regulated like private firms), and establish dedicated financing schemes for cooperative infrastructure (milk collection, cold-chain, value-addition).

Recommendation 2: Integrate multi-stakeholder governance & sustainability

The piece highlights that cooperatives “involve multiple stakeholders – growers, processors, distributors, retailers – and engage deeper than shareholder models.” India dairy implication: Promote governance frameworks in dairy co-ops where farmer-members participate in strategy, invest in sustainability (clean energy, waste reduction) and share in long-term value rather than just short-term milk price parity.

Recommendation 3: Policy and legal reforms to unlock full potential

The article argues that unlocking the cooperative movement’s potential requires “supportive policies, legislation and financial incentives,” citing global initiatives such as CM50 and Coop Exchange. India dairy implication: The government should consider a “National Dairy Cooperative Act” or amendment that grants co-ops special status, enforces parity in procurement practices, provides tax/incentive benefits for co-op-owned processing value-chains, and integrates co-ops into national food-security strategy rather than treating them as fragmented farm bodies.

 

Source : Dairynews7x7 Oct 29th 2025 Read full story here Reuters