臺灣原住民部落合作事業的限制與可能：以信義鄉為例

The Limits and Possibilities of Taiwan Indigenous ribal Cooperatives: A Case Study of Sinyi Township

本文旨在探討臺灣部落合作事業的發展與限制，為了達此目的，本文採用訪談法針對信義鄉4位合作事業負責人與4位部落小農進行質性資料的蒐集及分析。研究發現，山地原鄉許多部落本著族人通力合作精神籌組社區合作事業協助部落小農運銷農產品，以期增進農戶的經濟收益及活絡社區參與，進而達到社區資源共享和促成部落邁向自主發展之境。但礙於部落合作事業的資金短缺、人力缺乏、經營技術不足及族人參與度低，加上外在產經環境變遷、盤商激烈競爭和屢屢天災造成交通阻斷等因素的影響，使得多數原住民部落合作事業面臨慘澹經營的窘境。循此，本文依研究所得結果提出幾項建議與省思：1. 政府應摒除「扶強棄弱」心態，積極強化部落合作組織的發展計畫；2. 增進原民會權能積極培力部落合作組織；3. 成立原住民銀行協助部落族人籌措創業資金；4. 以產學合作模式提升部落合作事業經營能力。

The purpose of this research is to explore the development and limitations of Taiwanese tribal cooperatives; the interview technique was used to collect and analyze qualitative data from four cooperative leaders and four tribal farmers of Sinyi Township. Research results show that many indigenous tribes in mountainous areas organized community cooperatives with tribal team-spirit to assist tribal farmers to sell their crops and agricultural products, to increase revenues for farmers, and to boost community involvement, with community resource sharing and tribal self sufficiency as the final goal. However, the odds and challenges that the majority of tribes would encounter during cooperative business process includes: insufficient funding, human resource shortages, lack of operating skills, and low involvement of tribe members, together with changes in the industrial environment, furious competition with other distributors, and transportation blockages caused by prevalent natural disasters. All of above contribute to the hardship of tribal cooperatives operation. In conclusion, the arguments and suggestions of this research are as follows: (1) Urging the government to play an active role in strengthening tribal cooperatives instead of helping the strong and neglecting the weak; (2) Increasing the ability of the Council of Indigenous Peoples to empower tribal cooperatives; (3) Establishing Indigenous Banks to assist tribe members to obtain the funds needed for business startups; (4) Utilizing industry-university collaboration as a strategy to enhance the skills of operating tribal cooperatives.