Archive for category: Eastern

Kampala, Uganda: A government program to give out free agricultural inputs including hand-held hoes will lead to laziness, says the Chairman West Nile Seed Multiplication Cooperative Society Uzelle Adam Mohammad during the Coop360 Leaders’ Orientation programme spearheaded by The Uhuru Institute for Social development last week at Kyoto spiritual Center Namugongo.

While the government argues that the plan will lessen the financial burden on the largely peasant farmers across the country, Uzelle said giving free inputs will encourage laziness among farmers.

He says the government should instead provide cheap credit to help farmers acquire heavy-duty agricultural machinery and input for commercial farming.

He was speaking at the Coop360 Leaders’ Orientation programme spearheaded by The Uhuru Institute for Social Development last week at Kyoto Spiritual Center, Namugongo.

“The government must stop offering cheap inputs like hand-held hoes that cannot improve the welfare of farmers but rather undermine efforts to mechanize the agricultural sector,” said Uzelle.

Adding, “We (farmers) have become beggars; we always wait for free things from the government, which is wrong,” Uzelle decried, “today, these hand hoes are being delivered by the president, is that one really normal? Something you can buy for just Shs10,000?” he questioned.

The government, in a bid to promote agricultural productivity, has provided support to smallholder farmers through the distribution of seedlings, ox-plough, hand-held hoes, and other farm inputs.

Relatedly, the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja at the 9th Joint Agricultural Sector Review (JASAR) held in Kampala last month revealed that the ministry would acquire and distribute 162 tractors, 200 lower mechanization equipment and 130 solar pumps.

This is in addition to 284 tractors and two earth moving equipment already procured by the government to be offered to farmers with the aim of, “unlocking systematic constraints affecting smallholder farmers,” Ssempijja said.

Several farmer groups have in the past called on the government to make available affordable credit for acquiring machinery. They also want the government to improve on monitoring of programs like Operation Wealth Creation to boost agricultural productivity.

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Housing is one of the essential needs of man. But because the mortgage sub-sector is not virile, building a house can take a decade or two for some while for others, it could be longer. OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE writes on how a cooperative society can assist not only individuals but also organisations to build their homes or estates.

A cooperative is an association of people to achieve a common goal through contributions.

One strategy deployed by the average Nigerian in becoming a landlord is through joining a credible cooperative society – thrift and credit.

The purposes of cooperatives are diverse. However, generally, they tend to serve their members better.

Organisations have found it convenient to encourage their members to form cooperative societies. Blue chip companies, such as Shell, Chevron, and Nigerian National Petroleum Corportation (NNPC), have cooperative societies.

Others are professionals groups, such as Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and their counterparts in insurance, banks, higher institutions. They have thriving cooperatives, which own upscale estates, which in most cases, participants wouldn’t have been able to build individually and these dot the cities, especially new areas.

Prime Assets Housing Cooperative Society Managing Director Mr. Gbadebo Adejana said cooperatives create an umbrella for people.

He said it is more prominent in the informal sector where artisans and others join one for the sake of necessity, knowing that it is the only way they can muster strength to access credit to buy land.

After passing the hurdle of purchase and ownership of land through the cooperative, a member will thereafter, access more funds to start its development and pay at by instalments, he explained.

According to him, cooperative associations have the advantage of accessing loans and can bulk purchase building materials, such as cement, iron rods, paints, roofing sheets and locks and keys.

He added that manufacturers prefer to deal with cooperatives when the issue of credit arises.

On the objectives of his cooperative, he said it assists people to access funds to build their houses. Others are providing people the opportunity to buy properties and reconstruct them for their use, providing a 10-20 year micro-mortgage scheme for members, including real estate and other investment opportunities, for members.

Adejana continued: “For Prime Assets Housing Cooperative Society to deliver on their promises and better serve members, we partner reputable individuals and organisations, particularly, micro-finance banks, developers, mortgage institutions, building material manufacturers, suppliers, professionals in the building industry and related government establishments and agencies.”

For Festus Onibanjo, chairman, Fesdap Properties, owners of “Be a landlord today’ Cooperative Society, the core mandate of his cooperative is to provide a well-researched and negotiated clusters of landed properties for his members can buy.

He said: “We also assist in developing them into mini-estates and providing other services as may be required. For example, access to mortgage facilities below the market rate building materials, etc. We provide opportunities for members to borrow for growth in their business operations through their well-structured and professional managed thrift in association with participating micro-finance banks.”

A cooperative expert, Mr Salako Idris said companies should encourage their workers to form cooperative societies, adding that it not only remove financial burdens from them, but that it also enable the companies to concentrate on their mandate.

He said virile cooperative cooperatives provide members the platform to borrow money.

According to him, the country’s housing gap cannot be bridged by the government only and that there was the need for private sector support, especially from the cooperative societies. ( Source / The Nation)

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