Appropriate leadership and a well-formed business plan are necessary prerequisites for a farmer cooperative to manage a profitable business: (Groupements d’Intérêt Economique, or GIEs) struggled with their ability to provide a convincing value to farmers to sell their olives to the GIEs (upstream), they struggled to access markets in which to consistently sell their olive oil (downstream), both of which were exacerbated by struggles with working capital and debt servicing.
Lesson Learned