Toward a reassessment of the role of co-operative enterprises as a tool for fighting poverty both from the academic community and the international organisations, the paper aims at contributing to the understanding of the added value of the co-operative form of business especially in a people-centred development setting. In particular, in applying the human development and capability approach to co-operative economics and therefore by linking co-operatives to the concept of well-being, the paper contributes to shifting the co-operative thinking beyond the homo oeconomicus rational choice perspective bringing it closer to the reason why people adhere to collective livelihood strategies, thus providing greater insight for policies and practice.