Social and Economic Determinants of Beekeepers’ Membership in Agricultural Cooperatives in Al-Baha Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Abstract

Agricultural cooperatives are widely regarded as engines of rural development, yet their role in advancing the economic, social, and environmental pillars of sustainability within specialized subsectors such as beekeeping remains empirically underexplored, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. This study examines the social and economic determinants of beekeepers’ membership in agricultural cooperatives in the Al-Baha region of Saudi Arabia, home to roughly 70% of the Kingdom’s beekeeping activity. Data were collected from 200 beekeepers through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, and the Mann–Whitney U test. Only 21% of respondents were cooperative members. While age, family size, experience, hive holding size, harvest frequency, and marketing-practice adoption were all significantly correlated with membership, regression analysis showed that only years of experience, hive holding size, and adoption of marketing practices remained significant predictors when considered jointly, explaining 30.8% of the variance in membership status (R2 = 0.308). Mann–Whitney tests further revealed that members differed significantly from non-members in family labor contribution, access to financing, ownership of a marketing shop, and access to extension services, with shop ownership showing the largest effect size (r = 0.497). These findings indicate that cooperative membership is driven primarily by commercial experience and institutional connectedness rather than demographic characteristics, carrying direct implications for income diversification, rural resilience, and the sustainability agenda under Saudi Vision 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals 2, 5, 8, and 15.