Analysis of the Governance Models Applied in Agricultural Primary Cooperatives: The Case of Ilu Galan District, West Shawa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Prompted by increased concern about cooperative governance, the study was conducted to analyze the governance architecture, the governance models applied and the factors determining the choice of the application of the models using data obtained from 114(99 male and 15 female) respondents from four  of Primary Agricultural cooperatives in Ilu Galan District. The study focuses on the governance architecture, six governance models (Democratic, Compliance, Partnership, Cooptation, Stakeholder and Rubber Stamp) and determining factors thematically organized in to seven themes: Teaming, leadership, Conflict of interest, Unnecessary intervention, legal, governance and education/training. The data analysis was made using descriptive statistics: percentage of frequency, weighted mean, standard deviation and ranking methods. The results identified that primary Agricultural cooperatives in the District have the poorly adapted governance architecture which cannot clearly show the governance framework or the four pillars (accountability, transparency, predictability and participation) and strategic leadership activities (the vision, mission, objectives and activities to be achieved in their plan and bylaw). The cooperatives hardly apply the principles of cooperatives in general and that of governance models in particular. Democratic, Co-optation, Rubber Stamp Models were the top three models that Primary Agricultural Cooperatives were implementing in the District. The data analyzed show that almost all the members of the cooperatives were confused with word “model†as a result of which governance related factors, lack of awareness/education/training, Teaming   and strategic leadership factors were the first four important factors in influencing the choice of the application of Cooperative Governance Model to Primary Agricultural Cooperatives in the District.  Therefore, the prescriptions for the cure also lie in bringing about improvement in these factors