Underexplored 
and 
barely 
known, 
the 
Malawian 
co-operative 
movement 
has 
experienced 
serious
challenges 
since 
its 
inception 
in 
1946. 
Rural 
co-operatives 
in 
the 
country 
have 
endured 
crises 
and 
yet
they 
are 
thriving 
in 
adverse 
circumstances. 
In 
this 
article 
we 
asked 
to 
what 
extent 
and 
in 
what 
ways 
rural
Malawian 
co-operatives 
are 
resilient 
social 
and 
economic 
organisations? 
In 
the 
absence 
of 
a 
consolidated
body 
of 
literature 
on 
‘co-operative 
resilience’ 
we 
address 
this 
question 
by 
(1) 
reviewing 
the 
existing
literature 
on 
co-operatives 
and 
identifying 
key 
factors 
that 
appear 
to 
be 
conducive 
to 
resilience 
and 
(2)
by 
analysing 
extensive 
ﬁeld 
data 
on 
four 
of 
the 
biggest 
co-operatives 
Unions 
in 
Malawi 
and 
establishing
how 
they 
have 
coped 
with 
challenges. 
The 
ﬁeld-based 
data 
and 
our 
literature 
ﬁndings 
shed 
new 
insights
into 
the 
nature 
of 
resilience. 
Co-operative 
resilience 
is 
a 
long 
term 
processes, 
one 
based 
on 
reﬂexivity 
and
interactions 
between 
members, 
leaders 
and 
national 
and 
international 
organisations. 
Resilient 
strategies
developed 
by 
rural 
Malawian 
co-operatives 
are 
also 
outlined 
and 
explored