Locals appeal for govt support to revive cooperative society
SOROTI, January 19, 2024 – The residents of Omugenya Parish , Awalwal Sub-county in Soroti district are appealing to government to provide them with financial support so that they can revive their Omugenya Cooperative Society Limited.
Richard Oriada, a cotton farmer said reviving the cooperative will help farmers earn more income since middlemen will be bypassed as the cooperative markets the farmers produce collectively.
He said Omugenya Cooperative Society played an important role in educating the children of the members, adding that if revived it would continue with this role, which is one of the seven principles of cooperatives. “The cooperative was beneficial to the locals in educating their children, we need it revived,” he said.
Oriada who owns one and half acres of cotton said traders are offering Shs 1,700 a kilo, yet, he continued, if Omugenya Cooperative Society was active, farmers would be getting better prices for their produce. “Poverty still prevails among people because of lack of a cooperative that would fight for them in terms of marketing their produce,” he said.
Rafael Etocu, another resident of Awalwal requested government to intervene and support them by reviving the cooperative.
Tom Julius Ekudo, the Member of Parliament for Gweri County, urged the locals to engage in income generating activities in order to boost their household incomes. “The only way we can improve our livelihoods is to unite as farmers through cooperatives and engage in commercial production,” he added.
Ekudo said cooperatives have power to bargain for better prices of products compared to individual farmers who are always cheated by the middlemen who unfairly earn higher profits than the farmers.
He also vowed to offer help so that Omugenya Cooperative Society becomes active again ,adding that people should go back to cooperative unions for marketing of their produce.
https://thecooperator.news/nigerian-cooperative-urged-to-invest-in-power-generation/
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