GLOBALISATION PROCESSES AND CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

The article deals with the operation of co-operatives in the food and agricultural sector in the conditions of ongoing globalisation and integration. The authors discuss the processes of globalisation, its concepts, characteristic features and results and they, next, concentrate their attention on the thesis that integration in the food and agricultural sector (in the form of co-operatives) is crucial for its protection against the discriminating market mechanism (of world prices) which limits the food self-sufficiency and profitability at the national level. The article ends in conclusions and suggestions for the Polish co-operative sector. The authors prove that co-operatives create a chance for a greater effectiveness of the allocation mechanism, which may be advantageous to both the producers of agricultural goods (in the form of higher purchasing prices) and intermediaries and processing firms (chances to minimize transaction costs).