Establishing Agricultural Student's Cooperatives: Weaknesses and Strengths; Opportunities and Threats

The main purpose of this study was to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of agricultural student’s cooperatives by using a Delphi Technique in three rounds. The population consisted of experts and experienced people (N=40) regarding student’s cooperatives in Kermanshah Province. Based on results, reducing student’s fear of practical work, increasing learning persistence, strengthen ability to work together, self-confidence, self-esteem and risk taking, and increasing the spirit of cooperation and participation among students are the main strengths of establishing students cooperatives. Lack of credit, lack of appropriate tools and machinery, lack of balance between theory and practice in agricultural courses, official’s unwillingness to provide students the essential tools and machineries, and lack of protective laws for student’s cooperatives, were known as the weaknesses for agricultural student cooperatives. Existence of work and production spirit in society, government efforts for agricultural development and national production, and use of influence in correspondence with other organizations were the most important opportunities and finally inappropriate attitudes toward cooperative in genral and student’s cooperatives particularly, burecracy of administrative conditions, lack of initial capital, disaffiliation between agricultural college and agricultural sector, existence of theoretically oriented thinking among managers, officials and even faculty members, not to belive to student´s capabilities, and lack of support of banks and governmental agencies from such student organizations, were approved as final threats facing the organization and development of agricultural student’s cooperatives.