MASINDI – Members of Kigya United Farmers Cooperative Society Limited in Kigumba Sub County, Kiryandongo district have commended The Uhuru Institute for Social Development for helping them continue with their activities amidst Covid19 pandemic which has hampered many activities in different organization’s.
Appearing on Kings Radio in Masindi district on Thursday, Tomanya Tom, the cooperative chairperson said they’re able to conduct all their activities scientifically noting that The Uhuru Institute For Social Institute (TUI) supported them with enough gadgets to use and work is moving on smoothly.
Two months back The Uhuru Institute For Social Development handed over equipment like a desk top computer, all in one printer, an Uninterrupted Power Supply [UPS] and a router for internet.
The equipment was delivered by the Chief Executive Officer[CEO] of The Uhuru institute, Leonard Okello while government was handing over Kigumba Community Grain Store [KCGS] worth Shs 250 million to the cooperative which is hosted at Kizibu Trading Centre [KTC] in Kigumba Sub County, Kiryandongo district.
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“The purpose of this grant is to enable cooperatives on the Coop360 network to embrace digital solutions in order to mitigate the effects of Covid-19, as well as to improve their business performances and also to ease communication and proper record keeping,” noted Okello.
Tomanya explained that the equipment they got has eased their communication and also, they have been able to learn the use of technology while doing different activities for the cooperatives.
“We are now able to communicate with everyone wherever he or she is across the world. Our partnership with The Uhuru Institute has significantly improved our communication. I pray that this partnership continues. With the availability of these gadgets we couldn’t sit back and see business in the cooperatives not moving,” explained Tomanya.
He also said that they are also able to get partners from different parts of the country on top of helping them to get market for their products.
“I also want to thank our partners like the Self-Help Africa for giving each member a mask and sanitizers. This has helped us a lot to combat the spread of Covid19,” he added.
Otai Samuel, the Liaison Associate for Kigya Cooperative said Covid19 has made them innovative and adopt the use of technology while communicating to the members since gatherings are unacceptable during this lockdown.
“These gadgets have helped us to be innovative. Even right now I am conducting this talk show while at home. There’s no need to move from one place to another when you can use technology to move things forward. I am optimistic that our marketing strategy is also going to improve,” he said.
He also said that they are encountering challenges like members not being conversant with technology saying that this is a big setback.
“There’s need for trainings on how members can use technology. This is so necessary amongst our members,” he explained.
Otai and Tomanya had a talk show on Kings Radio via zoom as one way of celebrating the cooperative week. They also used the opportunity to explain to members how the cooperative is surviving in such hard times.
Kigya United Farmers Cooperative started in 2011 as a Village Saving and Lending Association (VSLA) with 40 members and in 2013 it was registered as a Community Based Organization (CBO) and in 2018 they got a vision and registered as a cooperative.
Their major goal was to promote collective bulking, start up an agro-in-put shop, increased membership, capacity building for members among others. Currently the cooperative has over 300 members.
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