Getting the best out of a cooperative society

As people engaged in the same economic activity there are common problems that confront you and which you can best solve when you join efforts together. Farmers are often confronted with such problems as finding good and reliable markets for their commodities.

As individual farmers sometimes lack money to buy inputs like good seeds, fertilisers, herbicides, some tools like wheelbarrows or spray pumps and many other such items. As individuals they are often exploited by middlemen who buy their commodities at discouragingly low prices.

Yet these are problems that they can mitigate by coming together as farmers and producers of the same commodities, put their heads together, and pool resources in order to overcome the huddles and promote their social and economic welfare as members of one big registered group.

Economies of scale
When smallholder producers of maize or coffee in an area such as a sub-county put their harvest together as members of a cooperative society, they are more likely to enjoy economies of large scale production and marketing which often leads to good profits for individual farmers.

We have examples such as Kabonera Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society in Rakai District and Kibinge Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society in Bukomansimbi District which today sell their coffee directly to overseas buyers at competitive high prices. Because they want to meet the high quality standards that the buyers demand, the member farmers ensure that they take good care of their crop right from the field, during harvesting, and throughout the postharvest process.

Every individual farmer’s coffee is marked and weighed and his or her money is credited on their bank accounts. Cooperative societies protect member farmers from exploitation by middlemen who buy their products at low prices only to sell them exorbitantly themselves and to enjoy profits.

Cooperative societies reduce the costs of marketing because they have large storage facilities, more efficient transport, and they reap economies of scale. Some cooperative societies invest in construction of commercial buildings for rent and distribute the profits among members.

Cooperative societies create skilled employment opportunities since they need clerks, accountants, store keepers, managers, security guards, cleaners, and drivers. They are an excellent target for community development training programmes. As members they regularly hold meetings and organisations such as Naads, and Operation Wealth Creation and promoters of trendy agricultural equipment like water pumps know where to find them to give them extra training. Health programmes organisers such as family planning, HIV testing, Immunisation programmes and others usually use cooperative societies’ leaders in rural communities to mobilise people to attend the events. They help member farmers to live a better life through improved household incomes.

They often invite experts to give them training in such farming skills like rain water harvesting, construction of energy saving stoves, value addition, book keeping, soil conservation, zero grazing, and other skills.

Cooperative societies offer an opportunity for members to learn about good leadership.