An agricultural cooperative is a member-owned and democratically controlled organization established by agricultural producers to collectively manage economic activities, provide services, and improve members’ access to resources, markets, and agricultural inputs. It is based on voluntary membership, member participation, and the distribution of economic benefits among members, with governance structures in which decision-making rights are generally linked to membership rather than capital ownership alone ^[1]. Unlike investor-owned agricultural enterprises, cooperatives are organized primarily to serve the economic interests of their members through collective ownership, democratic governance, and coordinated economic activities ^[2]. Agricultural cooperatives may operate in areas such as input procurement, production coordination, processing, marketing, credit provision, and other agricultural services that support members’ farming activities ^[3]. Within agricultural economics and policy contexts, agricultural cooperatives represent institutional arrangements that coordinate farmers’ resources, reduce transaction constraints, and facilitate participation in agricultural markets and value chains ^[4].