RUNDU: The co-operative development activities in both the Kavango and Caprivi region still have a long way to go because the concept is still not well understood in both these two regions. This was the view of the Kavango regional Governor Maurus Nekaro during the launch of the 2012 International year of Co-operative’s regional activity programs for both Kavango and Caprivi region held at Rundu on Tuesday.

The Kavango Governor lamented that some of the challenges faced by co-operatives are the lack of business management capacity amongst co-operative members, the lack of proper networking among stakeholders as well as the absence of a national Apex body to advocate and lobby for co-operative interest.

In order to address some of the above-mentioned challenges, Nekaro indicated that the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry is in the process of implementing various programs throughout the country such as the implementation of a Communication strategy to increase awareness on the co-operative concept.

The other programme is to provide co-operative college courses to improve the business management skills of co-operative leader and managers, as well as facilitate local exchange visits to co-operatives to enhance networking.

The Governor therefore encouraged and urged community members in both the Kavango and Caprivi regions to participate in co-operative activities by becoming members of co-operative in their areas to enable them to fully benefit from the services that co-operative are providing.

In both the Kavango and Caprivi regions, there are co-operatives that are in involved in various economic sectors covering activities such as wood carving, saving and credit, sewing and tailoring, seed multiplication, provision of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, livestock marketing and crop production.

There are currently 84 co-operative registered in Namibia with a total membership of 25 000 members. In Kavango and Caprivi regions, there are 11 co-operatives, five in Kavango and six in Caprivi region with a total membership of 326 members of which 113 are women.

Meanwhile, the Registrar of Co-operatives Loide Jason said the Kavango and Caprivi region has great potential for co-operative development because communities have access to natural resources.
She said government has created loan guarantee Fund to enable co-operatives without collateral and assets to access loan from AgriBank in the case of agricultural co-operatives and Bank Windhoek in thw case of non-agricultural co-operatives.

Although co-operative activities are cross cutting in all sectors of the economy, the mandate on co-operative is entrusted with the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.

The United Nationals General Assembly through resolution 64/136 declared the year 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives. The International Year of Co-operatives being held under the theme ‘Co-operative Enterprises Build a Better World’, is aimed at increasing awareness about co-operatives and how they function within various sectors.

The commemoration further strives to promote co-operative enterprises as a means of socio-economic empowerment for individuals and communities as well as support capacity development for the growth of efficient and effective co-operatives.

(edited)RUNDU – Cooperative development activities in both the Kavango and Caprivi Regions still have a long way to go because the concept is still not well understood in both regions. This was the view of Kavango Regional Governor Maurus Nekaro during the launch of regional activities for the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives for the two regions at Rundu on Tuesday.

The Kavango Governor stated that some of the challenges faced by cooperatives are the lack of business management capacity amongst members and the lack of proper networking amongst stakeholders, as well as the absence of a national body to advocate and lobby for the interests of cooperatives.
In order to address some of the challenges, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry is in the process of implementing various programmes throughout the country, such as a communication strategy to increase awareness of the cooperative concept.

Another programme provides for cooperative college courses to improve the business management skills of cooperative leaders and managers, as well as to facilitate local exchange visits to cooperatives to enhance networking.

The governor urged community members in the Kavango and Caprivi Regions to participate in cooperative activities by becoming members of such bodies in their areas in order to enable them to fully benefit from the services provided by the cooperatives.

In both regions, there are cooperatives that are in involved in various economic sectors covering activities such as wood-carving, saving and credit, sewing and tailoring, seed multiplication, and the provision of agricultural input such as seeds, fertilisers, livestock marketing and crop production.
There are currently 84 cooperatives registered in Namibia with a total membership of 25 000 members. In the Kavango and Caprivi Regions, there are 11 cooperatives – five in the Kavango Region and six in the Caprivi Region. The two regions have a combined membership of 326 members, of which 113 are women.

Meanwhile, the Registrar of Cooperatives in the Ministry of Agriculture, Loide Jason said the Kavango and Caprivi Regions have great potential for cooperative development because the communities there have access to natural resources.

She said government has created a loan guarantee fund to enable cooperatives without collateral and assets to access loans from AgriBank in the case of agricultural cooperatives, and from Bank Windhoek in the case of non-agricultural cooperatives.

Although cooperative activities cross-cut all sectors of the economy, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry is entrusted with the mandate on cooperatives.

The United Nationals General Assembly through resolution 64/136 declared the year 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, which is being held under the theme ‘Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World’.

The year is aimed at increasing awareness about cooperatives and how they function within various sectors. It further strives to promote cooperative enterprises as a means of socio-economic empowerment for individuals and communities, as well as support capacity development for the growth of efficient and effective cooperatives.