MBALE CITY, December 8, 2025 — Agriterra has concluded a five-day comprehensive good governance training programme for cooperative leaders at Rosewood Hotel in Mbale City, aimed at building trust, strengthening leadership, accountability, and sustainability within cooperatives across Eastern Uganda.
Held from December 1-5, 2025, the training brought together chairpersons, secretaries, treasurers, and board members of various cooperatives. The training workshop focused on improving management practices, enhancing financial discipline, and fostering long-term planning to enable cooperatives to better serve their members.
The sessions were facilitated by Resty Kagoya, a Cooperative Advisor at Agriterra, and Crescent Mugisha, also a Cooperative Advisor with the global organisation. The two guided participants through practical lessons on governance systems, leadership roles and responsibilities, internal controls, and ethical leadership.
Participants were introduced to the five pillars of good governance: governance structure, governance health checks, risk management, human resources management, and a planning and strategy approach. These were described as the foundations for strong, transparent, and resilient cooperative institutions.
Speaking during the training, Mugisha urged cooperative leaders to treat their organisations as if their livelihoods depended on them, emphasising the need for discipline, care, and integrity. He warned that many cooperatives fail due to poor leadership, corruption, and a lack of accountability.
“Leadership in a cooperative is a responsibility. It is not about titles. You must consider this cooperative as your own business. When you manage it well, it grows. When you neglect it, it collapses and members suffer,” Mugisha said.
In her remarks, Kayoga stressed the importance of teamwork, transparency, and member participation in decision-making. She encouraged leaders to communicate regularly with their members and to ensure that financial information is openly shared to promote trust and openness.
“A cooperative belongs to the members. Leaders are only caretakers. When you practise openness and listen to members, trust grows, and the organisation becomes stronger,” Kayoga said.
During interactive sessions, participants shared their experiences, challenges, and lessons from managing cooperative societies. Common issues raised included poor record-keeping, low member participation, leadership gaps, internal conflicts, and limited access to finance.
Shahid Mwanga Shaid of Wagagai Coffee Farmers SACCO pledged to take the lessons learned back to his organisation and implement key reforms. He promised to present the succession plans and governance structures developed during the training to their upcoming Annual General Meeting [AGM].
“We have seen situations where the whole executive committee is removed at once, which destabilises the SACCO,” he said. “We want to introduce succession planning so that leadership transitions are smooth and the institutions remain stable.”
Roger Bali Bali from Busiu Cooperative Society praised Agriterra for introducing the FORT Project [Farmer Organisation for Rural Transformation], which he said would open doors to learning and growth through exchange visits.
“This project will help us visit cooperatives that perform better than us. We shall learn best practices and bring back new ideas to improve our own organisations,” Bali Bali noted.
In his closing remarks, Gupta Bahadar Banjara, FORT Project Manager, urged cooperatives to translate the training into tangible action. He challenged leaders to return to their communities and implement strong governance systems.
“Knowledge alone is not enough. You must use what you learned to develop your cooperatives. Your members should see the difference in how you manage resources and make decisions,” Banjara said.
He further encouraged cooperatives to diversify their income sources while remaining compliant with government regulations and standards set by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, the Uganda Revenue Authority, and the Uganda Warehouse Receipts Authority.
Banjara promised continued technical and institutional support to cooperatives that demonstrate clear commitment and progress towards achieving their five-year growth plans, trajectories, and key milestones.
The training concluded with participants committing to improving governance practices, strengthening transparency, and promoting accountability within their organisations. Many described the workshop as timely and practical, noting that it had equipped them with skills to revive struggling cooperatives and reinforce those already performing well.
The Project Manager added that the FORT Project, implemented by Agriterra in partnership with the Uganda Cooperative Alliance [UCA], is set to transform the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across Uganda by strengthening farmer organisations and improving access to sustainable agricultural services.
The five-year initiative aims to reach 200,000 smallholder farmers while building the capacity of 60 SACCOs, 60 producer cooperatives, and 180 farmer organisations. The project focuses on promoting good governance, financial inclusion, market access, and climate-resilient agricultural practices among rural farming communities.
The programme is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Wageningen University contributing global expertise in agricultural research and value chain strengthening.
Overall, the experts said, good governance in cooperatives builds trust, ensures accountability, and enhances performance by promoting transparency, fairness, and member participation. It supports efficient resource use, better decision-making, and sustainable growth aligned with members’ needs. It also safeguards members’ rights, encourages ethical behaviour, and strengthens a cooperative’s ability to serve its community effectively.
Agriterra, founded by the Dutch agricultural sector, is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening farmer organisations.
https://thecooperator.news/agriterra-and-senegal-sign-five-year-deal-to-boost-cooperative-farming/
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