Understanding the role of co-operatives in enhancing food security in East Africa

Abstract Policymakers and non-government organizations (NGOs) are increasingly looking to democratically governed co-operatives to address food insecurity. We provide what is, to our knowledge, a first-ever scoping review of scholarly literature published between 2000 and 2023 that considers the link between co-operatives and food security on the African continent, with emphasis on East Africa where food insecurity is most acute. Our PRISMA-guided review identified 13 studies that touch on food security after exploring the economic effects of co-operatives. We identify only five studies proposing a direct association between co-operatives and food security based on an empirical strategy connecting the outcome of food security to a dummy variable representing membership in a co-operative. We conclude that the mechanisms connecting co-operative to food security are under-explored. We also observe that while the literature allows us to infer that co-operatives can help address food availability and food access -- two of the four core dimensions of food security -- the link to food utilization (nutrition) and stability is much less clear. Our scoping review further suggests that scholars need to consider how social norms shape the household distribution of available and accessed food, and how co-operatives, as part economic and part social entities, might influence those norms. We conclude by outlining the mechanisms that could provide a richer understanding of how co-operatives shape the components of food security and by setting out some research questions that, if answered, could provide a more solid basis for future policy and NGO interventions.