2026 Prodanović, Radivoj Vapa, Jelena Đurić, Katarina Lukač – Bulatović, Mirjana https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:10011 Abstract: Agricultural cooperatives represent a crucial business model for sustainable agricultural production. Historically, interest in cooperatives peaks during periods of macroeconomic uncertainty, when their intrinsic organizational advantages are rediscovered. Following the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, cooperatives have demonstrated remarkable resilience, proving that their structural model is vital for local and global supply chain sustainability. The aim of this paper is to empirically analyze the economic and social motives driving farmers to join agricultural cooperatives in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Utilizing a combined qualitative and quantitative approach, data were collected via an online survey from February to December 2022, resulting in a representative sample of 209 active agricultural holdings. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The empirical findings reveal that from an economic perspective, the primary motivators are the securing of a stable market channel, enhanced investment opportunities, improved negotiating power, and access to cheaper inputs amid recent supply chain shocks. Socially, membership is driven by an increased sense of business security, proximity of operations, access to targeted training activities, and international networking opportunities. Understanding these diversified socio-economic drivers allows for the formulation of targeted institutional strategies to valorize cooperative membership, thereby fostering long-term sustainable agricultural development and regional productivity. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Economic and Social Motives of Cooperative Membership for Sustainable Agricultural Development Keywords: Agricultural cooperatives; economic motives; social motives, sustainable agricultural development. info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal of Agronomy, Technology and Engineering Management volume: 9 number: 3 startpage: 2059 endpage: 2068 eng application/pdf 716907 bytes