El desarrollo rural y la economía social en el estado Mérida, Venezuela. PRODECOP: cuna de experiencias exitosas

As part of the International Investigation project Rural Development and the Social Economy in South American countries, Spain and Portugal, a study has been carried out by the Catholic University of Ávila in Spain regarding Rural Development and the Social Economy in the State of Mérida in Venezuela. The first part presents the general courses of action taken with regard to Social Development by the National Government and by the most important organisations in charge of establishing national and state policies. In the second part, we describe the Project for the Development of Poor Rural Communities (PRODECOP) as the origin of successful experiences of rural development, not only in the state of Mérida, but also nationwide. Finally, we draw a number of conclusions and put forward a proposal that we hope will contribute to the sustainable development of cooperatives and agricultural credit banks set up and instructed by PRODECOP.