2009-082 Samen werken aan samenwerking - Lei

possibility to offer products and services that have a 'plus'. Exclusive product
characteristics make this even more simple. Moreover, such products and easily
approachable activities - such as open days ('Come and visit our greenhouse')
- improve the public acceptance of the agricultural sector.
Common grounds with SMEs
The developments in pertinent SMEs generally link well with those in the agricultural
sector, which means that firms can strengthen each other. There are many
opportunities for creating added value (or additional added value) of products
(food, flowers, raw materials) as well as of the countryside (recreation, nature &
water management services, et cetera).
Cooperation between SMEs and the agricultural sectors offer opportunities
to 1) organise new activities in a professional way, 2) better utilise the countryside
(e.g. for recreation) and 3) benefit from each others' networks, customers
and expertise.
The willingness to cooperate increases in situations of more intense contacts
with consumers and through conditions that require creative solutions, for
example, a lack of land in horticultural regions. The form of a partnership partly
depends on the sector and the related factors. Cooperatives for purchase and
sales, partnerships and joint ventures fit in a situation of globalisation and liberalisation
and/or cost reduction. When the focus is on added value, firms, cooperatives
and producers' organisations can play a role. A more small-scale,
informal form (e.g. a temporary network or project) is opted for to open up new
markets.
Cooperation between agriculture and SMEs until now
Since 1877 cooperation in the agricultural sector has mainly taken the form of
cooperatives that focus on combining the purchase (including loans), processing
and sale of products. Cooperatives can transfer the advantages of large-scale
operations to small-scale operating members.
The first producer organisations in greenhouse horticulture were established
at the beginning of the 1990s, in response to changing market conditions and
changes in the cooperative auctions that were desired but did not occur. Most
agricultural and horticultural entrepreneurs are still members of one or more
cooperatives or producer organisations.
Agricultural cooperatives are increasing in size and decreasing in number,
and are looking more and more like private companies. Agricultural and horticul-
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