LIRA, December 5, 2024 – Farmers in Lango Sub-region have been advised to join Lira Diocese Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited if they are to improve their farming and maximise profits from the enterprise.
The call was made days ago by Lira Diocese Bishop, Rt. Rev. Sanctus Lino Wanok while addressing Community-Based Animators at Lira Caritas Office in Barogole, Lira City West Division.
Lira Diocese Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society was formed in 2019 to economically empower Christian families so that they are able to meet basic needs such as food, medical care, school fees, and clothing among others.
Bishiop Wanok stressed the importance of joining the cooperative by farmers, saying it will market their produce and enable them get more money.
“If we don’t come together and work as a cooperative, we will not benefit much from farming. I brought Lira Diocese Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited for you. You only need to group yourselves and register with the cooperative and then we shall be able to transact our produce even across the world, because we shall be able to access the market easily if we are in groups,” said Wanok.
Wanok added this would also limit the operations of the middlemen who always buy from farmers at low prices.
“Those moving with the lorries in the villages are the ones spoiling businesses for farmers and they are living us in poverty. We have to convince our people and form ourselves into groups and do away with the middlemen, then we shall reap big from our sweat,” he said.
On his part, Fredrick Doi, a board Member of Lira Diocese Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited said that a person can only develop faster if they are registered with an active cooperative or group.
“The state of living in this world is embedded under cooperatives, companies, associations, if you are under any institution that is not functional, then you don’t have any safety. We have a cooperative here and there are over 800,000 Catholics, if they all come together, we can control the whole of Northern Uganda,” Doi said.
Initially the cooperative had 30, but now it has a total of 230 members
Meanwhile Patrick Abal, the Chairperson of the cooperative was optimistic that the number of members could increase by the end of the year 2024.
“Anytime from now, we are going to be hitting 700, and by the end of this year 2024, we may hit even 1,000 membership because we have provisions that enable any institution, group, associations and others to join,” Abal said.
At the moment the cooperative is dealing in poultry farming, lending out money, planting of crops such as sorghum and selling the produce to the institutions.
Dorcus Alum, the Principal Agricultural Officer Lira district expressed that farmers are easily helped when they are in groups. “It is therefore good for the farmers to form themselves into groups,” Alum said.
https://thecooperator.news/bou-urged-to-establish-currency-centre-in-lira-city/
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