Cooperative formation and development is the most important set of activities for CCD since its inception. Every individual farmers joining CCD is trained in the process of scouting as well as engaging with local villages to form cooperatives.

This process begins and runs up from six months to a year before the first procurement transaction from the village. It involves the process of meeting key decision makers in the village and convincing them on the benefits of forming a cooperative. This could also include inviting peer beneficiaries from neighbouring villages, who will act as spokesmen for the same.

At the end of an informal engagements with many of the key decision makers in the village, a village meeting is commenced at a convenient place, where interested farmers are invited. The idea of the cooperative and its functions is mooted. Post optioning general consensus, series of intensive meetings are held to ensure, that the cooperatives are aware of the challenges of creating a successful working cooperative.

• Cooperative formation meetings (in villages that do not have cooperatives)
• Business training for office bearers in each new cooperative
• Cooperative review meetings (monthly, held in all villages)
• Business refresher for office bearers and training for any new office bearers in each cooperative
• Meetings to mobilise deposits from members (working capital)
• Review of procurement, processing and sales
• On time review and deciding prices to sell (for commodities involving no processing, and using a pool and sell strategy like soybean, red-gram and cotton)