A credit union is a type of cooperative. Learn why people confuse the two, how they relate, and what actually sets a credit union apart from other co-ops.

Cooperative vs Mutual: Differences

Co-ops and mutuals are both member-owned, but they differ in how members take part, how surplus is shared and which sectors each one dominates.

Cooperative Types

Ripe red cranberries growing on the vine at a bog run by Ocean Spray, a grower-owned agricultural marketing cooperative

Brands That Are Cooperatives

Is Ocean Spray a cooperative? Land O'Lakes? Cabot? See which US brands are owned by farmers or members, with the co-op behind each and its source.

An aerial view of the Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery plant in Wisconsin, a dairy farmers' cooperative

Capper-Volstead Act Explained

The 1922 Capper-Volstead Act lets farmers join together to process and market what they grow. See who qualifies, the limits, and the Clayton Act contrast.

How to Join a Farm Cooperative

To join a farm co-op you usually apply, sign an agreement and pay a fee or buy stock. See the steps, voting, delivery commitments and how equity is repaid.

Per-Unit Capital Retains for Farmers

A per-unit capital retain is a set amount a farmer co-op holds back per unit sold. See how it differs from a patronage refund, and its tax treatment.

How to Start a Consumer Cooperative

Start a member-owned consumer co-op step by step: feasibility, membership shares, legal structure, bylaws, financing, patronage refunds and launch.

How to Start a Marketing Co-op

Pool producer output, build a shared brand, set delivery commitments and pooling, finance the business and register in the US, UK or Canada.

How to Start a Farm Cooperative

Start a farmer-owned co-op step by step: feasibility, membership, the USDA framework, Capper-Volstead context, marketing pools, bylaws and financing.

A row of tall concrete grain silos at a Premier Cooperative grain elevator on the American plains

Agricultural Cooperative Examples

Real farmer-owned cooperatives from Europe, Oceania and South Asia, including Arla, Fonterra, Amul and FrieslandCampina, plus a link to the US list.

Agricultural Cooperatives: How They Work

How a farmer-owned cooperative buys, sells or processes for its members and returns the surplus as patronage. Types, pay, US figures and how to join.

A blue COOP consumer cooperative supermarket beside a railway station in Hirosaki, Japan

Consumer Cooperatives Explained

Businesses owned by the people who buy from them. See how consumer co-ops work, from REI and Park Slope Food Coop to credit unions and insurance mutuals.

Cooperative Mergers: Why and How

Why farm co-ops, credit unions and retail co-ops merge, what changes and what stays the same, and the democratic member vote that a merger requires.

The Cabot Creamery visitor center in Vermont, a farmer-owned dairy cooperative, with its red gabled roof and signage

Dairy Cooperatives: Largest US Co-ops

A dairy cooperative is a farmer-owned business that pools and sells members' milk. See the largest US dairy co-ops by revenue and how milk pay works.

The Ulladulla fishermen's cooperative on the harbour in New South Wales, Australia

Fisheries Cooperatives Explained

How fishing cooperatives let fishermen pool equipment, reach markets and negotiate better prices, and why fishermen form them around the world.

The storefront of Outpost Natural Foods Co-op, a member-owned grocery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Food Cooperatives: How They Work

Grocery stores and buying clubs owned by the people who shop there. See what joining costs at Park Slope and Willy Street, and how to start a buying club.

Marketing Cooperatives Explained

How farmers and producers pool resources to brand, sell and distribute together, with Ocean Spray, Sunkist and Blue Diamond as examples, and the economics.

Rural electric cooperative power lines and poles carrying electricity through the Kentucky countryside

Rural Cooperatives Explained

Rural co-ops supply electricity, credit, farm inputs and housing in underserved areas. See how they work, who they serve, and why they matter.

Energy Cooperatives

Capital Credits at Electric Co-ops

Capital credits are your share of an electric co-op's yearly margin. See allocation vs retirement, a worked example, tax basics and unclaimed-credit laws.

Electric Membership Corporation (EMC)

An EMC is a member-owned electric co-op organised under a state EMC law, mainly in Georgia and North Carolina. See how EMCs work and the largest by size.

Largest Electric Cooperatives in the US

Pedernales Electric Cooperative in Texas is the largest US electric co-op by customers. See the top 20 by customers and the top 10 by sales.

Touchstone Energy Cooperatives

Touchstone Energy is a national brand and network of electric co-ops, not a power company. See who runs it, what members get and what it means for bills.

How to Start an Electric Co-op

Territory and capital realities, choosing a distribution, G&T or community-energy model, regulatory franchises, RUS financing and member governance.

The headquarters of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Arlington, Virginia

Electric Cooperatives Explained

Member-owned power utilities: how electric co-ops work, their Rural Electrification Act roots, how capital credits are paid, and how they differ from IOUs.

Line crews working on power lines for the East Kentucky Power Cooperative, a rural electric cooperative

Energy Cooperatives Explained

Member-owned groups that generate, distribute or buy electricity: electric co-ops, solar co-ops and wind co-ops, and how to find and join one near you.

Generation and Transmission Co-ops

G&T co-ops generate and transmit wholesale power to the distribution co-ops that serve rural America. See how they work, who they are and their challenges.

Finance & Operations

How to Join a Credit Union

How fields of membership work, how to find a credit union you qualify for, open your account, and what you get as a member-owner. A practical guide.

How to Join a Food Cooperative

Shop without joining or become a member-owner: equity shares, working-member discounts and how patronage refunds work at a food co-op. A clear guide.

How to Join a Housing Cooperative

Buying a share versus a condo deed, board interviews and approval, share loans, monthly carrying charges and equity models, explained step by step.

Cooperative Dividends Explained

Co-op dividends mean patronage refunds and surplus payouts. See how they differ from corporate dividends, how Subchapter T works, and real examples.

Cooperative Finance: Raising Capital

How cooperatives raise money without outside shareholders: member equity, retained earnings, bonds and CDFI lending, and the limits they run into.

Cooperative Taxation by Country

Co-ops are not automatically tax-exempt. See how Subchapter T, Section 80P, RA 9520 and patronage refund rules work in the US, India and the Philippines.

Loans for Cooperatives

How co-ops get capital: member shares, bank loans, USDA programs, NABARD, CoBank and impact investors, with what each source suits best and its limits.

Financial Cooperatives

How to Start a Credit Union

Define a field of membership, build the organizing group and business plan, file the NCUA or state charter application, then arrange insurance and capital.

A Raiffeisenbank branch in Schnaittach, Germany, part of the original cooperative banking movement

Banking Cooperatives Explained

Credit unions, cooperative banks and SACCOs are owned by their members. See how each works, how they differ from commercial banks, and who they serve.

A modern Windsor Family Credit Union branch in Kingsville, Ontario, Canada

Credit Cooperatives Explained

Credit cooperatives are member-owned lenders that offer savings and loans at fairer rates than commercial banks. See how they work and where they operate.

The facade of a Taiwan Cooperative Bank branch in Taipei

Financial Cooperatives Explained

Credit unions, cooperative banks, SACCOs, building societies and microfinance co-ops: how each one works, who owns it, and how they differ from banks.

Fundamentals & History

Characteristics of Cooperatives

What sets a cooperative apart from a corporation, partnership or NGO, with examples from Amul, Mondragon and REI: who owns it, controls it and benefits.

Features of Cooperatives, Explained

The structural features that define a cooperative: voluntary membership, democratic control, limited return on capital and service at cost, set against private firms.

Functions of Cooperatives

The economic and social roles co-ops play: supply, marketing, credit, processing, distribution, employment, insurance and community development.

Importance of Cooperatives

Why co-ops matter for food security, rural development and financial inclusion, and how much economic weight cooperatives carry worldwide today.

Governance & Law

Cooperative vs Nonprofit Compared

Co-ops and nonprofits get mixed up, but they differ in ownership, who benefits from surplus and tax treatment. Compare them to pick the right structure.

Cooperative Membership and How to Join

What you get and what you owe as a member: voting rights, a share of surplus and a say in decisions, in return for capital and active participation.

Cooperative Society: Meaning and Types

What a cooperative society is, the types, and how registration works in India, the Philippines and Kenya. A guide to forming one under Commonwealth law.

Cooperative vs Corporation

A cooperative is owned by its members and serves their needs; a corporation is owned by shareholders. Compare control, profit, taxes and capital.

Cooperatives in Argentina

How Argentina's cooperative sector works: ACA, La Serenísima and FAECYS lead agriculture, dairy and worker-owned enterprises, plus the laws behind them.

A coffee-buying point of the Cooperativa de Caficultores del Occidente de Antioquia at Sopetrán, Colombia — a whitewashed building with a green dado, its tiled porch carrying the coffee cooperative's sign reading 'Punto de Servicio de Compras de Café' above the open doorway

Cooperatives in Colombia

The coffee Federation (FNC/Juan Valdez), Coomeva and Colanta define Colombia's mature cooperative economy. See the sectors, law and major examples.

Cooperatives in Ghana

Cocoa farmer societies under COCOBOD, oil palm co-ops, the Cooperatives Decree 1968 and the GACC apex body: how Ghana's cooperatives work for smallholders.

The village cooperative office of Koperasi Desa Merah Putih at Singasari in Jonggol district, West Java, Indonesia — a bright green single-storey building with a pink-trimmed gable and a banner across it naming the cooperative, motorbikes parked on the forecourt

Cooperatives in Indonesia

Koperasi Simpan Pinjam (savings and credit) and agricultural co-ops sit at the centre of rural life in Indonesia. See the sectors, law and examples.

The Kuantan branch of Bank Persatuan in Malaysia — the glass shopfront of the co-operative bank Koperasi Bank Persatuan Malaysia Berhad, its red-and-white signboard with the cooperative's diamond emblem above the entrance and a 'Selamat Datang' welcome on the doors

Cooperatives in Malaysia: ANGKASA

ANGKASA, Bank Rakyat and Koperasi Tentera lead a sector tied to Bumiputera economic policy. See how Malaysian co-ops are regulated, and their sectors.

Members of Caja Popular Mexicana, Mexico's cooperative savings bank, at the 2023 ordinary general assembly of the Cerritos branch in Orizaba, Veracruz — rows of members holding printed branch reports in a cinema hall while the board sits at a green-clothed table beneath a screen reading 'La cooperativa la hacemos todos'

Cooperatives in Mexico

Mexican cooperative law, ejido land reform and examples like Tosepan Titataniske, an indigenous cooperative: how co-ops work in Mexico and who they serve.

The brick-and-glass headquarters of Agrifirm, a Dutch farmers' agricultural and horticultural cooperative, at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands — a modern two-storey office with twin clad towers, the Agrifirm flag and sign at the entrance across a landscaped forecourt

Cooperatives in the Netherlands

Rabobank and FrieslandCampina, two of the world's largest co-ops, grew from Dutch farm cooperatives. See the law and the agricultural tradition.

The former premises of the North Auckland Farmers' Co-operative and the Farmers' Cooperative Auctioneering Company at Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand — a large cream-rendered early-20th-century warehouse building with tall multi-pane windows wrapping the street corner

Cooperatives in New Zealand

Fonterra, the world's largest dairy exporter, sits at the centre of New Zealand's co-op economy. See how NZ cooperative law and its main examples work.

The gated entrance of the Canal View Co-operative Housing Society in Lahore, Pakistan — a wide overhead signboard reading 'Canal View Co-operative Housing Society' spanning the road above ornamental black railings and a landscaped median

Cooperatives in Pakistan

Agricultural credit cooperatives, PACO and cotton societies have shaped rural Pakistan since the colonial era. See the sectors, law and examples.

Cooperatives in Sweden

Lantmännen, KF supermarkets and worker co-ops: how Swedish cooperatives are organised, which sectors they hold and the laws that govern them.

The 1939 headquarters of the Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union at Moshi, Tanzania — a pale Art Deco building with the coffee cooperative union's name and the date moulded in relief across its curved parapet, above an arcaded veranda now housing the Union Coffee café

Cooperatives in Tanzania

KNCU (Kilimanjaro coffee), cotton and cashew cooperatives under the Cooperatives Act 2013: how Tanzanian co-ops have served smallholders since 1925.

The office of the Mueang Rayong Agricultural Cooperative Ltd in Rayong, Thailand — a modern pale-green building with the cooperative's name in green Thai lettering across its wide canopy, a glass front behind gold columns, clipped topiary in the forecourt and a balloon arch over the entrance

Cooperatives in Thailand

Agricultural cooperatives, the Dairy Farming Promotion Organisation and rice co-ops shape Thailand's rural economy. See the sectors, law and examples.

The directors and staff of the Buchach District Union of Cooperatives in western Ukraine, photographed in 1934 — a formal black-and-white group portrait of fifteen cooperators in suits, fourteen of them named in the Commons record and one unidentified, seven seated in front including one woman, eight standing behind, against a pale wall

Cooperatives in Ukraine

How Ukrainian co-ops are rebuilding after the Soviet kolkhoz era, and how post-2014 reforms boosted farm, dairy and credit cooperatives across the country.

How to Register a Cooperative

Register a cooperative in the Philippines, India, Kenya, the USA or the UK: legal requirements, documents, fees and common mistakes to avoid.

Reference

The Seward Park Housing Cooperative towers on Manhattan's Lower East Side, seen across the East River

HO-6 Insurance for Co-op Owners

Co-op owners usually need an HO-6 policy next to the building's master policy. See who covers what, what your board can require, and how to compare quotes.

Credit Unions for Federal Employees

Federal employees can join a credit union through an agency, Defense Department link, region or family. See what five credit unions say about who can join.

Credit Unions for Nurses

Nurses usually join a credit union through a hospital employer, a nurses' association or a local charter. See what four credit unions say about joining.

Credit Unions for Teachers

Credit unions for teachers usually serve school employees in one state or a few counties. See what SchoolsFirst, Oklahoma Educators and 1st Ed say.

Credit Unions for Veterans

Veterans can join credit unions built for the military community, and so can many family members. See what Navy Federal and Service Credit Union say.

Examples of Cooperatives in the US

Real US cooperatives by type: farm co-ops like CHS and Land O'Lakes, credit unions like Navy Federal, food, electric and worker co-ops, each with a source.

Farm Credit System Explained

The Farm Credit System is a nationwide network of borrower-owned cooperative lenders for agriculture. See its banks, regulator, borrower stock, patronage.

How to Start a Food Buying Club

Steps, suppliers that sell to clubs, and the legal checks to make before you take anyone's money: how households pool orders to meet supplier minimums.

Largest Cooperatives in the US

CHS Inc. is the largest US cooperative by revenue, ahead of Dairy Farmers of America and Land O'Lakes. See the top 25 from the NCB Co-op 100 by industry.

Largest Credit Unions in the US

Navy Federal Credit Union is the largest US credit union by assets and members. See the top 25 by assets, the top 10 by members and how to read them.

Mutual Insurance Company Explained

A mutual insurer is owned by its policyholders, not shareholders. See how mutuals share surplus, how they differ from stock insurers, and demutualisation.

NCUSIF: Credit Union Share Insurance

NCUSIF insures money in federally insured credit unions up to $250,000. See what is covered, how to check yours, and the trust change on Dec 1, 2026.

Cooperative Bylaws Explained

Bylaws turn the cooperative principles into binding rules. See what they contain, how they differ from articles of incorporation, and how to draft them.

Purchasing Cooperatives Explained

How independent businesses buy together to compete with chains, with Ace Hardware as an example, and how a purchasing co-op differs from a GPO.

Telephone and Broadband Co-ops

How rural telephone co-ops brought phone service, and now fiber broadband, to areas chains skipped: their REA roots, NTCA and USDA RUS roles.

Why Cooperatives Fail (and Survive)

Co-ops survive their first five years at higher rates than most firms. So why do they fail when they do? The real causes, told plainly and without spin.

Start a Multi-Stakeholder Co-op

Define member classes, design class-based governance and board seats, choose a solidarity co-op legal form and finance the launch, step by step.

How to Start a Platform Co-op

Validate the model, choose worker or multi-stakeholder governance, build the tech, structure equity and finance a member-owned digital platform.

Cooperative Capital and Equity

Membership shares, retained earnings, indivisible reserves and limits on outside investors: how cooperatives build and keep their equity base.

Cooperative Development Guide

How new cooperatives are formed, from the 7-step process and feasibility study to founding documents, and the groups that help new co-ops get started.

Cooperative Education and Training

Formal training programs, university courses, ICA learning frameworks and development resources for people who work in or want to build cooperatives.

Federated Cooperatives: FCL and More

How a federation works as a co-op of co-ops, with Federated Co-operatives Limited in Saskatoon as the example, plus federations in other countries.

International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)

What the ICA does as the global apex body for cooperatives: its role, who its members are, how it is run, and its history since its founding in 1895.

Multi-Stakeholder Cooperatives

Workers, consumers, investors and community members as co-owners: the 4P model, UK and European examples, and how they differ from single-class co-ops.

Patronage Refunds Explained

A patronage refund returns co-op surplus to members by how much they use it. See how it is calculated, how the 20% cash rule works, and IRS treatment.

Platform Cooperatives Explained

Stocksy, Up&Go, Resonate and Driver's Seat give workers and users ownership of digital platforms, in contrast to the Uber and Airbnb gig economy model.

School Cooperatives Explained

Schools governed democratically by parents, teachers or students: how school co-ops work, real examples, and how to start one in your own community.

Secondary Cooperatives Explained

Co-ops whose members are other co-ops: how federations, apex bodies and unions work, with CHS Inc. and state credit union leagues as examples.

Solidarity Cooperatives Explained

The Quebec solidarity cooperative (coopérative de solidarité): multiple member classes, examples from Canada and Italy, and how governance works.

Specialised Cooperatives

Co-op Board Approval Process

How co-op board approval works: the usual stages, what the Fair Housing Act and New York law bar boards from weighing, and what to do if turned down.

Co-op Share Loan vs Mortgage

A co-op mortgage is usually a share loan secured by your shares and lease, not real property. See how it differs and what a UCC filing does.

Flip Tax in a Co-op: Rates and Examples

A flip tax is a transfer fee a co-op charges when shares are sold. See the three common formulas with worked examples, who pays and how to find your rate.

HDFC Co-op: Rules and How to Buy

An HDFC co-op is a New York City cooperative formed under the Housing Development Fund Corporation law, with income and resale limits. How to buy one.

Limited-Equity Co-ops: Resale Caps

A limited-equity co-op caps the price you can sell your share for, so the home stays affordable. See the cap formulas, who sets them, and a worked price.

Mitchell-Lama Co-op: How to Apply

A Mitchell-Lama co-op is a New York limited-equity cooperative built under a state housing program. See co-op vs rental, waiting lists, buying and leaving.

Proprietary Lease vs a Deed

A proprietary lease gives a co-op shareholder the right to live in one apartment. See what it covers, how sublets work, and what default means.

Pros and Cons of Co-op Living

Owning a co-op apartment: board approval, the shared mortgage, financing, flip tax, building-wide risk and the IRC 216 deduction with its conditions.

Resident-Owned Communities (ROCs)

A resident-owned community is a manufactured home park its homeowners buy together as a co-op. See how ownership, votes, financing and sale laws work.

Senior Housing Cooperatives

A senior housing co-op is a resident-owned building with age rules. See the federal 55+ and 62+ rules, how share price and charges work, and where to look.

What Is a Co-op Apartment?

A co-op apartment is a home you occupy through shares in a building-owning corporation and a proprietary lease, not a deed. Approval, fees and resale.

How to Start a Housing Cooperative

Start a housing co-op step by step: feasibility, the co-op corporation, share structure, blanket mortgage financing, bylaws, member approval and launch.

Health Insurance Co-ops Today

Only a few ACA CO-OP health plans still operate. See a status table of the plans, why most closed, and how other kinds of health cooperatives work.

Homeschool Co-ops: How to Find One

Homeschool co-ops are groups of families who share teaching and resources. See how they work, the main types, how to find one nearby and how to start one.

Co-op vs Condo: Differences Explained

A co-op gives you shares and a lease in a corporation; a condo gives you title to your unit. Compare financing, board approval, costs, subletting, resale.

Housing Cooperatives Explained

How co-op housing works: residents collectively own the building. See market-rate versus limited-equity co-ops and how housing co-ops compare worldwide.

Worker Cooperatives

Cooperative Home Care Associates

CHCA is a worker-owned home care agency in New York. See how it began, how members buy in and vote, and how its union and training programs work.

Cooperative Lenders: Who Lends

The banks, funds and public programs that say they finance co-ops. See what each lends for, the ranges they publish, and how to approach them.

Employee-Owned Company: ESOP, EOT, Co-op

An employee-owned company is owned wholly or partly by its workers. Compare ESOPs, ownership trusts and worker co-ops on tax, cost and control.

Sell Your Business to Employees

Four ways to sell to your staff: ESOP, worker co-op, employee ownership trust or direct sale, plus SBA 7(a), Section 1042 and a roadmap tool.

How to Start a Worker Cooperative

Feasibility, legal structure, bylaws, member equity, registration, financing and the ESOP comparison, step by step, with US legal and tax sources cited.

Taxi Cooperatives Explained

Driver-owned transportation companies run democratically. See how Denver Green Taxi, the Eva app and other taxi co-ops operate and differ from Uber.

The historic workers' cooperative housing at Crespi d'Adda, a model industrial village in Italy

Worker Cooperative Examples

Real worker cooperatives worldwide, from Mondragon to small Bay Area bakeries: names, sectors, and what makes each one notable. Six continents.

Worker Co-op vs Employee-Owned

Worker co-ops and ESOPs both give employees a stake but differ sharply in governance, control and structure. See how Mondragon and Publix compare.

The central headquarters of the Mondragon Corporation, the world's largest worker cooperative, in the Basque Country of Spain

Worker Cooperatives Explained

Businesses owned and run by their employees: how worker co-ops operate and are governed, with Mondragon and Arizmendi as examples, and why members stay.

By Country

Cooperatives in Australia

CBH Group, Norco and the Cooperatives National Law: a guide to Australian cooperatives, their sectors, and the demutualisation wave that reshaped them.

Cooperative members in matching white shirts and red caps carry a wide banner through Dhaka for Bangladesh's 45th National Cooperative Day in November 2016, the Bengali lettering across it reading 'Cooperative Rally'

Cooperatives in Bangladesh

The Comilla Model, BRDB, Grameen Bank, Milk Vita and the Cooperative Societies Act 2001: how cooperatives work in Bangladesh and what they cover.

The long tiled-roof premises of Cooperativa Mista Agro-Pecuária Witmarsum at Colônia Witmarsum in Paraná, southern Brazil — the cooperative's name lettered along the brick facade above its member supermarket and produce market, with grain silos and elevator towers rising behind the roofline

Cooperatives in Brazil

Latin America's largest cooperative economy: OCB, Sicoob, Unimed and COOXUPÉ, plus the sectors and the law that shape Brazilian cooperatives.

A historic wooden Saskatchewan Cooperative grain elevator on the Canadian prairie

Cooperatives in Canada

Why Canada has so many co-op members per person: FCL, Desjardins, the prairie wheat pools and credit unions, plus provincial law and sector data.

Cooperatives in Ethiopia

How Ethiopian cooperatives underpin the coffee and farm export economy: unions, SACCOs, the Federal Cooperative Agency, and the laws that govern them.

The village cheese cooperative at Mouthe in the Doubs — a white farmhouse-style building with a red tiled roof, 'COOPERATIVE DE FROMAGERIE' spelled across its gable in red lettering, with the commune's stone war memorial standing on the corner in front of it

Cooperatives in France

Crédit Agricole, E.Leclerc, Limagrain and the SCOP worker co-ops: how French cooperatives are organised, what they cover and the law behind them.

A branch of Konsum Leipzig eG, a German consumer cooperative, on Trinitatisplatz

Cooperatives in Germany

From Raiffeisen banking to Edeka retail: German Genossenschaften explained, with the cooperative law, the main sectors and the DGRV federation.

The Amul dairy cooperative processing plant at Anand, Gujarat, at dusk — tall stainless-steel pasteurised-milk silos beside the concrete processing building, with milk tanker trucks lined up at the loading bay

Cooperatives in India

AMUL, IFFCO, PACS and the Ministry of Cooperation: how the world's largest cooperative movement by membership is organised, funded and governed.

Cooperatives in Italy

Legacoop, Emilia-Romagna's co-op economy, Coop Italia, Unipol and social cooperatives: how Italian cooperatives work and where they dominate.

A branch building of the Tottori Chuo Agricultural Cooperative (JA) in Japan

Cooperatives in Japan: JA, JCCU, Law

How Japan's cooperative system works: JA farm co-ops, JCCU consumer co-ops, the cooperative laws and sector data. See who runs what and how members join.

An aerial view of Co-operative House on Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi — the headquarters tower of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, the bank majority-owned by Kenya's cooperative movement — its dark glass curtain wall and pale stone flank rising above the city's railway yards, matatu stage and rooftops

Cooperatives in Kenya: SACCOs, Law

How Kenya's co-ops work: SACCOs, coffee, tea and dairy societies and their weight in the economy, plus the laws and regulator behind them. Sector data.

A woman's hands at the Marjana women's cooperative in Morocco cracking argan nuts open with a smooth round stone against a flat anvil stone, the shelled kernels heaped on a cloth beside a woven palm basket

Cooperatives in Morocco

Argan oil women's cooperatives, COPAG dairy and artisan co-ops: how ODCO regulates Moroccan cooperatives under Law 112-12 and Plan Maroc Vert.

A dairy farmer in Chitwan District, Nepal, tips the evening milking from an aluminium pail into churns for collection by his local dairy cooperative, standing on the veranda of his house beside a shuttered window

Cooperatives in Nepal

NEFSCUN, SACCOs, tea cooperatives and the Cooperative Act 2074: how Nepal's cooperatives work, and what the 2021 to 2023 cooperative crisis changed.

The cooperative house at Gbedu village in Oyo State, Nigeria — a weathered single-storey building with a rusting pantile roof, its signboard reading 'GBEDU Cooperative Cocoa Sale Society Ltd., registered in 1937 in Nigeria', seen through the branches of a young tree

Cooperatives in Nigeria

West Africa's largest cooperative sector: Nigerian cooperative law, NACCRDB, and the agricultural and financial co-ops, with history from 1935.

A booth for the Tuban Blessed Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative from Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, at a Philippine crafts fair — a member sits behind a display of the cooperative's handwoven buri-palm handbags and purses

Cooperatives in the Philippines

History, law and key sectors of Philippine cooperatives: how the CDA registers them under RA 9520, and where co-ops are strongest across the islands.

Members of the Amahoro women's cooperative in rural Rwanda haul a long net through a pond at the edge of a banana plantation, one woman waist-deep at the far bank and children watching from the grass

Cooperatives in Rwanda

Umurenge SACCOs, the RCA and coffee cooperatives: how cooperatives drive Rwanda's recovery and Vision 2050, and the government programme behind them.

The white gabled headquarters building of KWV at Paarl in the Western Cape — KWV was formed in 1918 as the Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging, a co-operative of South African wine growers — seen down a paved path between two pergolas of trained vines and beds of white roses, a sculpted pediment above its carved wooden doors

Cooperatives in South Africa

The Cooperatives Act, DTIC programs, agricultural co-ops and stokvels, plus why so many registered South African co-ops are dormant or fail.

Cooperatives in Spain

Mondragon, Eroski and Dcoop: how Spanish cooperatives work, the law behind them and the Basque model that made Mondragon the most studied worker co-op.

The historic stone offices of the Aspatria Agricultural Co-operative Society in Cumbria, England

Cooperatives in the UK

The birthplace of the modern co-op movement: UK cooperative law, sectors and key organisations, from the Rochdale Pioneers of 1844 to today.

Cooperatives in the United States

US co-ops by sector: credit unions, electric co-ops, agricultural giants, housing and worker-owned businesses, with the UWCC census membership data.

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Cooperative vs Credit Union