From Cooperative Membership to Smallholder Welfare:

This study examines how cooperative membership is associated with smallholder welfare through the mediating roles of perceived cooperative support and green technology adoption in Bali, Indonesia.Drawing on institutional support, sustainable livelihood, and technology adoption perspectives, agricultural cooperatives are positioned as local support systems that may help smallholders access resources, reduce vulnerability, and adopt sustainable farming practices.A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 420 smallholder farmers in Gianyar, Tabanan, and Bangli.Respondents included cooperative members and non-members actively engaged in agricultural production.Cooperative membership was measured as a binary variable, whereas perceived cooperative support, self-reported green technology adoption and smallholder welfare were measured using five-point Likert-scale indicators.Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling with bootstrapping to assess direct and indirect relationships.The results showed that cooperative membership was positively associated with perceived cooperative support, green technology adoption, and smallholder welfare.Perceived cooperative support positively predicted green technology adoption and smallholder welfare, while green technology adoption was positively related to smallholder welfare.The model explained 49.4% of the variance in smallholder welfare, 41.1% in green technology adoption, and 16.2% in perceived cooperative support.Mediation analysis confirmed that perceived cooperative support and green technology adoption sequentially mediated the relationship between cooperative membership and smallholder welfare.These findings suggest that cooperatives contribute to welfare not merely through formal membership, but through support services that help farmers translate institutional assistance into sustainable farming practices in Bali and similar rural settings, and locally strengthen livelihood capacity among smallholder farming households.