Focus on Uganda Part 2: Kigayaza Youth Association making moves for its future as a co-operative

Kigayaza Youth Association is a farmers group based in Kigayaza Village in Kayunga District, in the Central Region of Uganda. Established in 2004, it has been under the wing of Uganda Co-operative Alliance (UCA) in the last five years and has been undergoing the process of moving from an association to become a co-operative. This has been underpinned through a series of sensitisation and training meetings provided by UCA through its Youth Economic Empowerment through Cooperatives (YEECO) programme. It now has over 100 members who are all farmers mainly aged between 25 – 30 years old.

When I asked members about the benefits of being a member of a co-operative, several were cited. They said that being in a co-operative has enabled them to access opportunities, such as building networks with other organisations that then provide them with training, or seeds or information on farming. They also talk about the skills and knowledge they have acquired, including information on new farming methods, in particular which crop to grow and when. However, the skill that was seen as most important was record keeping. Members say they can now keep a track of their farming activities; how many seeds they plant, cost of inputs and then the price they get for their products. This enables them to analyse whether they have made a profit or loss and in turn which crops are better for them to invest their time and energy into. Godfrey Kungu, a member of the co-operative, says record keeping has helped him improve his profits and as a result he has been able to expand his pineapple farm.

He says the extra income has also enabled him to improve his family home and buy a motorbike, which he uses as a taxi, bringing in further income.

Yesterday, Kigayaza Youth Association held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the Chair Geoffrey Bwayo presented his report on activities for the year and members voted in the new executive board. The floor was opened for members to comment and discuss the Chair’s report. One area of wide agreement was that they would register as a co-operative. They have limited resources, but despite this members agreed unanimously that in the next financial year they would find the money to pay the fees to register as a co-operative. They agreed that this would enable them to access benefits in terms of training but that they also want to be officially recognised as a co-operative and all that being a co-operative stands for. The election of the new board was truly a democratic process; members were asked to nominate other members for board positions and the nominated then gave a short campaign speech. They were then asked to leave the room and the votes were cast by a raising of the hand.

One of the other activities the Chair shared in his report was the recent establishment of a students’ group within Kigayaza Youth Association. The Board called all the local students for a meeting and informed them about the basics of a co-operative. Following this, the students discussed what activities they could establish and elected their own board and they decided that their ‘mission’ was ‘To identify, promote and encourage students to involve them in activities that generate income which can be used to fund their education’. Initially, they have decided to do a piggery project supported by the Kigayaza Youth Association, who will give them one of their pigs. They will also start making jewelry from recycled paper as a local leader at the AGM has offered to come and give them some training in this area. They will be able to sell the pigs locally but would love to be able to find an international market for the beads – so if there are any student co-operatives in the UK that would be interested in selling the beads in their own co-operatives please get in contact with me.

The Chair had been inspired to establish a student co-operative after his experience at the youth and co-operatives conference in Lesotho in December 2009 where he had met youth from student co-operatives from both the UK and the Lesotho. It was great to see such a positive spin off from the Lesotho Conference and really get a feel for what international co-operation can achieve. When the Chair announced the establishment of the student co-operative in Kigayaza at the AGM, a local councillor who was attending the AGM said he thought that student co-operatives were such a good idea he was going to encourage their set up in the other schools that he is responsible for.

Kigayaza Youth Association (soon to be co-operative) still faces challenges. It is difficult to recruit female members, to mobilize some members and find resources further the co-operative. In particular, it needs money to build a store which will better equip it to combine (bulk) their crops and wait for a better price and also buy a mill for its maize crop, which would enable it to add value to maize by milling and packaging it. That said, Kigayaza has a strong leadership and motivated members, many of whom know and are committed to their co-operative being independent, democratic and autonomous and running according to the co-op principles which I believe bodes well for their future and provides a good foundation from which to solve their challenges.