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This study investigates the role of policy support in addressing barriers to effective small-scale cooperative farming in South African municipality, with a focus on identifying potential solutions to improve the success rate of agricultural co-operatives in the uMhlathuze local municipality. Despite their potential, agricultural co-operatives face significant challenges, with studies indicating an alarming failure of 88% in the country. This high failure rate underscores the need to understand how policy support can address the shortcomings hindering the success of agricultural co-operatives. The high failure rate of agricultural co-operatives in South Africa highlights a critical gap in policy support, necessitating an exploration of how policy interventions can mitigate challenges and enhance the viability of co-operative small-scale farming. The research adopts a secondary data collection method and thematic data analysis. Findings indicate that a combination of lack of member commitment, insufficient training and capacity building and financial constraints are a result of inadequate policy support; policies are not effectively addressing co-ops needs. The study recommends that policymakers should revise and tailor existing policies to better address the unique needs and challenges of small-scale farming co-operatives, enhancing their viability and sustainability.

The purpose of the study was to assess the influence of marketing innovation on the performance of coffee cooperatives in Kenya. A descriptive research design was applied. The target population of this study was 525 coffee cooperative societies in Kenya registered with the Commissioner for Cooperatives and licensed by AFFA (Coffee Directorate) as of 30th of October 2016. The sample size was 227 respondents. Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data from the selected respondents. The results revealed that marketing innovation and performance are positive and significantly related (?=0.674, p=0.001). This implied that significant changes in product design and packaging led to a positive change in the performance of coffee cooperatives. The study affirms that to improve performance by targeting the customers, constant improvements in how the company promotes its new products to capture the attention of new customers is a key aspect to be considered. The study recommends the management employ skills in developing clear operating procedures to run the business successfully, coordinate different areas of the business to achieve results and the ability and design jobs to suit staff capabilities and interests.