When cooperation is conditional: Trust, competition, and collective marketing in Ugandan coffee innovation platforms

Innovation platforms connect farmers with markets and support actors, but participation does not necessarily guarantee compliance with collective marketing arrangements.This qualitative study examined how members of coffee innovation platforms in eastern Uganda understood cooperation, competition, obligation, and trust, as well as the conditions they associated with sustained or weakened collective action.The analysis drew on 48 in-depth individual interviews conducted across 11 platforms in Kapchorwa, Manafwa, and Namisindwa districts.Sixteen prompts adapted from the horizontal and vertical individualism-collectivism framework were used as elicitation tools, with each prompt followed by an open-ended probe.Data were analyzed using a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic approach.Four recurring themes emerged: market access and services, collective verification, the dual role of competition, and conditional compliance with group decisions.The interviews indicated a pattern of conditional collectivism: cooperation was valued when collective arrangements were perceived as credible, timely, and beneficial, but support weakened when processes were slow, opaque, risky, or less rewarding than individual alternatives.The findings support extension facilitation focused on transparent verification, market learning, credible procedures, and careful management of competition, without assuming that participation alone produces collective commitment.