Comparative analysis, business modality with focus of popular and solidarity economy, rural production associations

Abstract

Even though academia has advanced in conceptualization and there are policies on organizational forms with a solidarity economy approach, in the practice of rural environments, the behavior is heterogeneous in relation to the will for its impulse. There is not yet a clear systematization that contributes to the identification of regularities of this process. The objective of this work is to show the reality of two agricultural territories through a comparative analysis of the evolution of productive associations in the parishes of El Valle and San Joaquín, Cuenca canton, Ecuador. The characteristics of them are that the agricultural production is family and the surplus is destined for sale. The techniques applied for the collection of primary information were interviews with community actors and surveys of members, based on the use of the empirical method; the induction-deduction and historical-logical method that supports the theoretical-methodological analysis has been used. No details were obtained on the variables studied, but the findings obtained allow us to infer that, in El Valle, there is a greater level of organization in the performance of the productive associations and the integration of actors in comparison with the San Joaquin parish. However, the economic rates of the latter show better results, they have a direct sales channel, organized in the form of a distributor cooperative that is basically supplied by individual producers from other cities, therefore, it is an opportunity that the associations miss. The assumption about the irregularities present in the application of policies to promote this type of associations is corroborated.