History of Cooperatives

History of the cooperative

movement
The history of the cooperative
movement concerns the origins and
history of cooperatives. Although
cooperative arrangements, such as
mutual insurance, and principles of
cooperation existed long before, the
cooperative movement began with the
application of cooperative principles to
business organization.

Beginnings
The cooperative movement began in
Europe in the 19th century, primarily in
Britain and France.

Robert Owen
4 May 1771 17
November 1858) was
a social reformer and
one of the founders of
socialism and the
cooperative movemen
t
.

Robert Owen (17711858)

Robert Owen (17711858) is considered the father of the

cooperative movement.
A Welshman who made his fortune in the cotton trade, Owen
believed in putting his workers in a good environment with access to
education for themselves and their children.
These ideas were put into effect successfully in the cotton mills of
New Lanark, Scotland.
It was here that the first co-operative store was opened. Spurred on
by the success of this, he had the idea of forming "villages of cooperation" where workers would drag themselves out of poverty by
growing their own food, making their own clothes and ultimately
becoming self-governing. He tried to form such communities in
Orbiston in Scotland and in New Harmony, Indiana in the
United States of America, but both communities failed.

History of Cooperatives in the

Philippines

Travel in Europe
A Filipinos traveling in Europe during the
later part of the 19th century must have
been impressed with the success of a new
economic movement in effecting a gradual
metamorphosis of the economic and
social life of the people ion those countries

 It was this group of Filipinos who were in

close in contact with the new economic
movement in Europe. Two names worthy
of note were Dr. Jose P. Rizal and
Teodoro Sandiko.

Rizal

Rizal, after his side trip to Sandakan, Borneo in 1892, requested

Governor Despujol that he and some relatives and friends be
permitted to move to that place and found a colony under the
cooperative plan of Robert Owen.
Instead, he was arrested for treason and banished to Dapitan,
Zamboanga del Norte.
In Dapitan, Rizal had his ideas in cooperation partially fulfilled.
He put up a school for the poor community on a purely cooperative
basis.
He also established a cooperative store with the help of his pupils.
One noteworthy group organized by Rizal was the La Sociedad de
los Abacaleros (Society of Abaca Producers).
This functioned for only one year.
Rizal returned the members share capital without any loss.

Teodoro Sandiko
In his travels in Europe, must have had a close
contact with the cooperative movement in
Germany where he came across with the
Raiffeisen movement.
He was very much impressed by this type of
cooperative and he looked forward for an
opportunity to have it introduced here in the
Philippines.
As destiny might have its choice, Sandiko had
his chance when he was appointed one of the
early governors when Civil Government, under
the Americans, was established.

The Rural Credit Law.

Teodoro Sandiko, then governor of
Bulacan, prepared a bill patterned after
the Raiffeisen type of credit union and had
Rep. Albert Barreto of Zambales sponsor
the bill in the lower House of Congress

The Rural Credit Law.

The principal aim of this bill was to
protect and develop the agricultural
interest of the country.
When the Barreto sponsored bill was
presented it readily obtained unanimous
approval on January 20, 1908.
The Philippine Commission however,
turned it down.

 Undaunted by this defeat the sponsors of the bill

again put it through in the Second Philippine
Legislature.
This time it was sponsored in the Lower House
by Rep. Rafael Corpuz who succeeded Rep.
Barreto from Zambales.
The bill was ably presented in both Houses and it
was finally passed into law on February 11,
1914 and became Act 2508.
When this Act was finally made into law, Gov.
Sandiko earned a title of Father of Cooperation
in this country.

Rural Credit Law

The administration was entrusted to the
Bureau of Agriculture.
The first rural credit association that was
organized under this Law was the
Agricultural Credit Cooperative
Association of Cabanatuan, Nueva
Ecija.
It was formed on October 18.1916.

 With this initial organization farmers in the

different provinces were organized.
At the end of 1926 there were 544 rural credit
cooperatives organized in the 42 provinces and
by 1930 there were 571 associations formed all
over the country.
In 1935, however, about 90% of these
cooperatives were inactive with no funds left in
their treasury.
The experiment on rural financing, through
cooperatives was a failure.

Research the following:

Marketing Cooperatives in the Philippines
Agricultural Credit and Cooperative
Financing Administration (ACCFA) in the
Philippines

Project :Cooperative Profile

Executive Summary
Slogan
Vision
Mission
Core Values
Products and Services
Membership
Organizational Structure/ Officers
Main Office
Branches