Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe provide examples in this book of the problems and progress of the cooperative movement in Africa. The studies presented here were the major contributions to a seminar for African and European scholars specializing in examining the development of cooperatives.
Certain themes reoccur: the relationships between the cooperatives and the state, the influence of the national economy on the local cooperatives, the pros and cons of the producer cooperatives. The tone is now very much against direct state control. Other themes are new: the role of women in cooperatives, a cautious view of external assistance to central bodies, and the need for self-help groups.