Rural poverty and the role of agricultural cooperatives in overcoming it: world experience of the USA, EU and developing countries

Issue № 7, 2026, article № 12, pages 124-132

Section: ABROAD

Language: Russian

Original language title: СЕЛЬСКАЯ БЕДНОСТЬ И РОЛЬ СЕЛЬСКОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННЫХ КООПЕРАТИВОВ В ЕЁ ПРЕОДОЛЕНИИ: МИРОВОЙ ОПЫТ США, ЕС И РАЗВИВАЮЩИХСЯ СТРАН

Keywords: USDA, EUROSTAT, RURAL POVERTY, AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES, AGRARIAN POLICY, INCOME INEQUALITY, USA, EU, FAO, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Abstract: The article presents a comparative analysis of rural poverty in the United States, the European Union and developing countries, focusing on the role of agricultural cooperatives as an instrument for poverty alleviation. The empirical base draws on data from USDA (2024), Eurostat (2024), FAO (2024) and the World Bank. The findings show that in 2023 the rural poverty rate in the United States stood at 13.6% versus 10.7% in urban areas; in the EU 93.3 million people (21.0 % of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion; globally, around 700 million people live below the extreme poverty line, the majority of them rural residents of developing countries. The urban–rural poverty gap is a persistent structural phenomenon, reproduced through the interaction of demographic decline, educational and infrastructural deficits, financial exclusion and price volatility in agricultural markets. Agricultural cooperatives reduce poverty through several complementary channels: employment creation and income redistribution, expanded access to credit, rural infrastructure development (including energy), improved access to healthcare and education. The anti-poverty effect of cooperatives materialises under conditions of adequate legal frameworks, systematic state support and a sufficient level of social trust within rural communities. The Chinese experience – reducing the number of rural poor from 99 to 16.6 million over six years (2012–2018) – is examined as an example of embedding the cooperative model into a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy that simultaneously develops infrastructure, digital platforms and social protection.

Authors: Egorov Vladimir Georgievich, Inshakov Andrei Alekseevich, Samokhina Ekaterina Aleksandrovna, Poglid Dana Viktorovna