PADER– Elders in Pader district are concerned that the youth there are reluctant to join traditional producer cooperative societies, even as the young people are supposed to be the future leaders of the once powerful community organisations.
Cooperative leaders who talked to this reporter say that most of the youth in Pader district are naïve when it comes to cooperatives, adding that the youth are more interested in joining saving and credit cooperative organisations [SACCOs] which give faster loans.
Acholi- bur Cooperative Union Chairperson, Lazarus Alext Ocii says only a handful of the youth in the district are into traditional producer cooperatives.
Elders in the district are aware that the youth can play an important role in strengthening the cooperative movement by developing creative skills for the growth of co-operative organisation, as they are young and dynamic, burning with new ideas such as the development and use of technology.
“We, the elders, have limited knowledge when it comes to technology. We were hoping that the youth would lead us to use technology in running the cooperatives. This is a big challenge for us,’’ Ocii said, adding that there is no reason why the youth should shun cooperatives that were instrumental in the education of their parents.
Ocii says efforts to recruit young people into cooperatives have not yielded much since many prefer to have quick financial results, the reason they join SACCOs.
Ocii is also perturbed that most of the children of the cooperators in the district have shunned cooperatives yet they are supposed to follow in the footsteps of their parents/ elders.
However, one of the youth in the district, Louis Okello, 28, says: The long war in the region affected the activities of the cooperatives and many of us grew up without experiencing the activities of cooperatives. This is why we are not interested in them [cooperatives].
He said most youth in the district think cooperatives are for older persons.
Pader district commercial officer, Alfred Abaloker said much as the youth are reluctant to join producer cooperatives, cooperatives have benefited from government programmes like Operation Wealth Creation [OWC] National Agricultural Advisory Services [NAADS].
“Our youth are just lazy when it comes to activities that are geared towards development. They only opt for quick loans that they even don’t utilise well to create wealth,’’ he said
“During our community engagements, we always advise them on the benefits of becoming cooperators so that as the older persons phase out, they can take charge.”
Pader has ten active cooperatives and some have been able to tap into government programmes of value addition and agricultural mechanisation.
Henry Komakech, manager East Acholi Cooperative Union [EACU], says they are on the ground reviving non-operational cooperatives and also bringing new members on board.
“Youth are advised on the benefits of cooperatives of which some can be linked to financial institutions for financial support while others can get experts to train on enterprises of their choice but it’s only done under cooperatives,’’ he advised.
According to him, in many of the cooperatives, the majority of the members are old men and women. The youth tend to give a deaf ear. But also many are not familiar with cooperatives and with the mushrooming Saccos, they have instead joined such groups.”
The cooperative option
“Cooperatives are principle-based enterprises that put people, rather than the pursuit of profit at the centre of their business. Because of this, they follow a broader set of values than those associated purely with making a profit- namely self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. The democratic nature of the cooperative enterprise encourages participation, broadens ownership and fosters empowerment of youth.
Indeed, young people often cite that it is the cooperative values and principles that make cooperatives attractive to them both a means to create their own enterprises or as a potential employer who will provide them “decent work”,” notes the International Labour Organisation [ILO].
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