The problem of trust, non-transparency, and dysfunctionality has been ascribed to the character and
the nature of the agricultural cooperative system in Namibia. Perhaps the true characterisation of the
problem is not known with certainty albeit, the concern about the role of the institution, government
intervention and member laxity. Further insight from the institutional economics suggests that
organisational behaviour has a much larger role to play. Using a survey of 340 livestock farmers in six
regions of the Southern Communal Areas of Namibia and adopting a logistic probability outcome
model, the study examines the relevance of agricultural cooperatives with regards to the extent
members are willing to participate with due cognisance to these concerns. The result shows that the
probability that a farmer will join a cooperative is 29.5%. Education and technical constraints such as
lack of adequate market information and training negatively affect willingness to participate.
Participation is region specific, the odds of participation increases by 65, 91 and 14% if they are from
Hardap, Kunene South/Erongo and Omaheke respectively. Increases in farm credit increase the odds of
participation by 34%. The study also found that younger and inexperienced farmers are more likely to
join cooperatives than older and experienced ones. The results highlight a general lack of knowledge
about the cooperative system which calls for the strengthening of the policy framework to incorporate
the concerns raised by new institutional economics.