by I Pollet · 2009 · Cited by 82 — CoopAFRICA is located in the ILO Office for Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda, and is part of the Cooperative Programme (EMP/COOP) of the Job
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This paper aggregates the findings from nine country studies and from recent literature upon African cooperatives. The presence of cooperatives and people covered by them was found to be significant, though erratically documented. The current growth of the movement is largely driven by expansion of Savings and Credit Cooperatives. However, building and maintaining a movement™s structure presents a challenge. Federations often struggle with legitimacy and operate at a mere subsistence level. Cooperative colleges do not sufficiently cater for members and staff of primary cooperatives. The extent to which governments pursue a policy of actively creating an enabling environment for cooperatives proves to be the key factor in reconstructing the cooperative movements. The paper further discusses the significance of cooperatives for other policy domains and the position of cooperatives as a vehicle for development.ILO Office for Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda CoopAFRICAKazi House, Maktaba Street P.O. Box 9212 Dar es Salaam United Republic of Tanzania Tel: +255.22.2196700 Fax: +255.22.2122597 E-mail: coopafrica@ilo.org www.ilo.org/coopafrica International Labour Office Cooperative Programme (EMP/COOP) 4, route des Morillons 1211 Geneva 22 SwitzerlandTel: + 41.22.7997021 Fax: +41.22.7996570 E-mail: coop@ilo.org www.ilo.org/coop Cooperatives in Africa: The age of reconstruction – synthesis of a survey in nine African countriesCoopAFRICA Working Paper No.7Ignace Pollet
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The Cooperative Facility for Africa (Coop AFRICA ) is a regional technical cooperation programme of the ILO contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the promotion of decent work in Africa by promoting self-help initiatives, mutual assistance in communities and cross border exchanges through the cooperative approach. Coop AFRICA cooperatives, other social economy organizations and their higher level structures in order to strengthen their capacity to access markets, create jobs, generate income, reduce poverty, provide social protection and give their members a voice and representation in society. CoopAFRICA™s approach consists of assisting stakeholders to establish a legal and policy environment conducive to the development of cooperatives; providing co-coordinating structures (e.g., unions and federations) and establishing and These funds are accessible through a competitive demand-driven mechanism and a transparent selection of the best proposals.Coop AFRICA policy and legal advice; studies and publications; training and education; support to networking; advocacy; and promotion of innovative cooperative ventures among others. CoopAFRICA and is part of the Cooperative Programme (EMP/COOP) of the Job Creation and Enterprise Development Department of the ILO. The programme works in College, the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives CoopAFRICA CoopAFRICA P.O. Box 9212 coopafrica@ilo.org www.ilo.org/coopafrica Cooperative Programme (EMP/COOP) 4, route des Morillons 1211 Geneva 22 coop@ilo.org www.ilo.org/coop
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Cooperatives in Africa: The age of reconstruction – synthesis of a survey in nine African countries2009CoopAFRICACooperative Facility for AfricaCooperative Programme (EMP/COOP)Job Creation and EnterpriseDevelopment Department(EMP/ENT)Employment SectorCoopAFRICA Working Paper No.7Ignace PolletSeries on the status of cooperative development in AfricaILO Office for Kenya, Somalia,Tanzania and Uganda
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without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), Libraries, institutions and other users registered with reproduction rights organizations may ILO Cataloguing in Publication Data Pollet, Ignace cooperative / cooperative movement / cooperative development / cooperative education / practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an ILO publications and electronic products can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO Printed in Tanzania
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iiiThe age of reconstruction – synthesis of a survey in nine African countries Table of contents List of acronyms vAcknowledgement .viiAbout the author .viiExecutive summary ..viii1. Introduction ..1 1.1 The Cooperative facility for Africa .1 .2 ..22. Extent of the cooperative movement .. 2.1 The number of cooperatives 2.2 The total membership of cooperatives . ..94. Cooperative education .11 International cooperative agencies .19 . International political institutions ..21 .22 .22 .24 Advocacy .. Further discussion .. List of references .
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The age of reconstruction – synthesis of a survey in nine African countries viMFI Micro-Finance Institution Poverty (Ethiopia)PPPMER Project de Promotion des Petites et Micro Enterprises Rurales (Rwanda) TFC Tanzania Federation of Cooperatives TTCA Tanzania Tobacco Cooperative Apex WFP World Food Program
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viiThe age of reconstruction – synthesis of a survey in nine African countries Acknowledgement as Coop AFRICA Working Papers and added to the reference list at the end of this paper. CoopAFRICA working paper reviewers for facilitating the execution and publication of this baseline study. In particular, comments, suggestions and other inputs provided by are gratefully acknowledged.About the author has a track record in research on different types of popular organizations as well as enterprises in both Belgium and developing countries.
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The age of reconstruction – synthesis of a survey in nine African countries viiiExecutive summaryThe Cooperative Facility for Africa, known as CoopAFRICA is a regional technical cooperation programme of the International Labour Organization (ILO), operating On the basis of data and evidence gathered from key-informants and secondary and support institutions; donor involvement; other issues. Cooperative presence in each of the above mentioned countries was found to data collected in this study. The tendency appears to trend upward, with most countries included in this study having hundreds of new cooperatives registered regulatory systems in the countries researched lack an effective mechanism for deregistration.The reconstruction and maintenance of the cooperative movement™s structure presents a challenge in Africa. To illustrate, functional confederations were found found that confederations often struggle with recognition and legitimacy (from Federative structures, often organized by economic sector, seem to be stronger organizations. Cooperative colleges are government-owned and cater for school- department staff. Availability of training for members and staff of primary cooperatives is restricted and is usually provided during a short instructive session by department staff when cooperatives are registered.
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ixThe age of reconstruction – synthesis of a survey in nine African countries Many governments have adopted a pro-cooperative attitude, mirrored in updated legislation and functioning cooperative departments. In some cases, the regulating policy may be felt as meddlesome by certain cooperative movements. While in other cases, the government is trying to restore the movement™s institutions. donor programmes. Different types of donors have been prominent, including force derives their employment from the presence of cooperatives. Beyond the employment and the income that cooperatives generate, their social impact is rather enabling services to their members. Due to lack of effective representation systems, cooperatives are not as involved in government policy as much as they could be. In the countries studied, cooperatives do not as yet provide additional systems of social protection (other than traditional in-group mutual support), nor do they bring about a voice on behalf of their constituency. Likewise, cooperatives are mostly not yet equipped to serve as a vehicle for life quality campaigns, such gender equality, emphasize that the state of cooperative development differs considerably by were studied.
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