Nagenda was spot on about the good old days of cooperatives
Jun 21, 2011
Ah, now I must confess that I enjoy reading John Nagenda’s One Man’s Week for the pure succulence of his literary gymnastics. But something in the last column on June 18 went beyond that—he wrote about cooperatives—and here is why I wish I could raise a glass of Scotch to the man himself (un
Ah, now I must confess that I enjoy reading John Nagenda’s One Man’s Week for the pure succulence of his literary gymnastics. But something in the last column on June 18 went beyond that—he wrote about cooperatives—and here is why I wish I could raise a glass of Scotch to the man himself (unfortunately I do not partake of the learned whisky).
Quite simply, Nagenda hit the nail on the head by suggesting that agriculture is where the money is. What is more, Uganda and the rest of Africa would raise the standard of living while feeding the world’s hungry by returning to the days of cooperatives when farmers pooled labour and resources for the common purpose of bigger, better and quality harvest.
With the Western world’s insatiable hunger for fruits and vegetables, Uganda could supply some of the best fruits ever placed on the global market. I would even suggest that there is no sweeter pineapple, banana or orange than those from around found in south central Uganda. We are not even talking of the many varieties of mangoes, avocadoes, passion fruit, guava, and the list goes on.
One of the areas that I have spoken about, and which I am convinced will benefit from cooperative farming is organic farming, the insistence on using non-genetically modified (non-GMO) crops to expand our share of world market, and actually fill the gap of the growing need for wholesome food unadulterated through genetic modifications, or other artificial methods that leave consumers wary of what they are putting in their mouths.
This is the fastest growing market today in North America and Europe mainly because consumers are demanding to know what is in their food.
Certified organic food products fetch very high prices precisely because the consumers are told what went into the making of the food. There is currently no law in North America compelling producers of genetically modified food to declare whether the food is modified, and how it was modified.
Indeed, the smart money has quickly figured out that there will never be total acceptance of genetically modified food, and that there will always be a segment of society ready to shell out the big money to buy certified organic products. One of the world largest organic cooperative is the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) which in 2003 rejected attempts to introduce GMO wheat in western Canada, and used the fact that it is organic to get the best deal for its members.
Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. Farmers pool their crops with the CWB, and in return are guaranteed a certain price for their products regardless of the fluctuation of the world commodity prices.
The CWB meanwhile finds new market for the farmers’ produce, negotiate prices and undertake the latest cutting-edge research in how to ensure the delivery of the highest quality produce.
Today, throughout the developing world, there are cooperatives for different agriculture produces ensuring that farmers get fair prices for their crops. There is, for example, the Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative which represents almost 63,000 Ghanaian small scale cocoa producers and ensures that they get a fair shake in the marketplace.
Meanwhile the Heiveld Cooperative Limited in the Cape in South Africa, and with just 56 members produces some of the finest rooibos tea marketed all over the world including Canada and the US where it is now found in every supermarket.
There are pineapple and banana cooperatives in tiny Costa Rica that return good profits for members by pooling large investment into packaging, quality control and export of their products to global markets.
The reality which Nagenda is talking about is simply that small Uganda farmers cannot hope to make it on their own. The world needs a fairly steady supply of good quality food produce, and the cooperative pools together resources to buy the initial capital investments, spend some money researching the market and the packaging of produce needed for a consistent supply of market.
I like to think about the day when I can stroll to the nearest grocery store in Newmarket to buy a dozen fingers of Super Sweet Organic Uganda banana or the organic Miracle Matooke that tastes as if it has just been harvested from the tree.
These dreams are possible when Uganda farmers begin to define themselves not as poor farmers waiting to be rescued by western-pushed genetically modified crops, but as already endowed with some of the best crops there are, and what is needed is the sharpening of the approach on how to produce these crops in consistently large quantity while maintaining consistent quality.
Cooperatives will allow them not only to decide what is best for their future growth into the world market, but to make those decisions when they are informed, not what some middleman or scientists with a pronounced agenda says makes sense.
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca
Quite simply, Nagenda hit the nail on the head by suggesting that agriculture is where the money is. What is more, Uganda and the rest of Africa would raise the standard of living while feeding the world’s hungry by returning to the days of cooperatives when farmers pooled labour and resources for the common purpose of bigger, better and quality harvest.
With the Western world’s insatiable hunger for fruits and vegetables, Uganda could supply some of the best fruits ever placed on the global market. I would even suggest that there is no sweeter pineapple, banana or orange than those from around found in south central Uganda. We are not even talking of the many varieties of mangoes, avocadoes, passion fruit, guava, and the list goes on.
One of the areas that I have spoken about, and which I am convinced will benefit from cooperative farming is organic farming, the insistence on using non-genetically modified (non-GMO) crops to expand our share of world market, and actually fill the gap of the growing need for wholesome food unadulterated through genetic modifications, or other artificial methods that leave consumers wary of what they are putting in their mouths.
This is the fastest growing market today in North America and Europe mainly because consumers are demanding to know what is in their food.
Certified organic food products fetch very high prices precisely because the consumers are told what went into the making of the food. There is currently no law in North America compelling producers of genetically modified food to declare whether the food is modified, and how it was modified.
Indeed, the smart money has quickly figured out that there will never be total acceptance of genetically modified food, and that there will always be a segment of society ready to shell out the big money to buy certified organic products. One of the world largest organic cooperative is the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) which in 2003 rejected attempts to introduce GMO wheat in western Canada, and used the fact that it is organic to get the best deal for its members.
Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. Farmers pool their crops with the CWB, and in return are guaranteed a certain price for their products regardless of the fluctuation of the world commodity prices.
The CWB meanwhile finds new market for the farmers’ produce, negotiate prices and undertake the latest cutting-edge research in how to ensure the delivery of the highest quality produce.
Today, throughout the developing world, there are cooperatives for different agriculture produces ensuring that farmers get fair prices for their crops. There is, for example, the Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative which represents almost 63,000 Ghanaian small scale cocoa producers and ensures that they get a fair shake in the marketplace.
Meanwhile the Heiveld Cooperative Limited in the Cape in South Africa, and with just 56 members produces some of the finest rooibos tea marketed all over the world including Canada and the US where it is now found in every supermarket.
There are pineapple and banana cooperatives in tiny Costa Rica that return good profits for members by pooling large investment into packaging, quality control and export of their products to global markets.
The reality which Nagenda is talking about is simply that small Uganda farmers cannot hope to make it on their own. The world needs a fairly steady supply of good quality food produce, and the cooperative pools together resources to buy the initial capital investments, spend some money researching the market and the packaging of produce needed for a consistent supply of market.
I like to think about the day when I can stroll to the nearest grocery store in Newmarket to buy a dozen fingers of Super Sweet Organic Uganda banana or the organic Miracle Matooke that tastes as if it has just been harvested from the tree.
These dreams are possible when Uganda farmers begin to define themselves not as poor farmers waiting to be rescued by western-pushed genetically modified crops, but as already endowed with some of the best crops there are, and what is needed is the sharpening of the approach on how to produce these crops in consistently large quantity while maintaining consistent quality.
Cooperatives will allow them not only to decide what is best for their future growth into the world market, but to make those decisions when they are informed, not what some middleman or scientists with a pronounced agenda says makes sense.
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca