ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the evolution of the A1 Mahwit Development Cooperative from its origin in local public service organizations up to August 1978. It explores the history of the cooperative movement and its role in the social organizations of A1 Mahwit town and its surrounding region. The chapter examines the relationship of the A1 Mahwit Cooperative to the central Government in the context of national development goals. It describes the history of the institution and its activities, focuses on the patterns of new social and economic analyses the problems faced by the Cooperative and its future prospects. The Coordinating Council also acts as a court of appeals and as a mediator between cooperative officials and the citizens who take an active part in local development projects. In permitting automobiles and trucks to carry people and goods into the highlands Yemen, the road has irrevocably changed the region's social and economic character.
