COOPERATIVES AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN ELGON REG LION A CASE STUDY OF BUGISU COOPERATIVES UNION (BCU)
BY
WESUTA ANTHONY BEC I 20007 I 82 I DU
RESEARCH THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND APPLIED STATISTICS IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE A WARD OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ECONOMICS OF KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
SEPTEMBER, 2012 DECLARATION
I WESUTA ANTHONY registration number BEC/ 20007I DU; here by declare that this
thesis is my own original work. Its not a duplication of similarly published work of any
university or other institution of higher learning for the award of a Degree or Diploma.
I also declare that the materials cited in this paper which are not my own have been fully ::::t:~ .~ ...... Wesuta Anthony
Date; . .1.?:-:J~. ~J~. ~~ ...... APPROVAL
This is to certify that this research paper has been submitted for examination with my ::::~~eas. ~::;;te~lS~'·.. Ssekajugo Derrick
Supervisor I Date: ...... /J ..I~ .1..... ffi. ~
11 DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Wambi Mukhwana Moses, without whom I would have not been what I am today.
lll ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wise to acknowledge with pleasure the contributions and assistance accorded to me in form of critiques, comments, and advice from various professionals while writing this thesis. Special thanks goes to my supervisor Mr. Ssekajugo Derick for his advice, guidance and more so for offering his valuable time to assist me at the time of difficulty.
Deep appreciation and gratitude go to my parents Mr. Mukhwana James and Zitta
Wakooli, my brothers especially Mukhwana Godfrey Friday my friends Maniku Simon and Ahemd Mohamed for their financial and moral suppmi offered. My indebtedness also goes to the staff of BCU and all coffee farmers from Elgon region who accepted my request and willing answered my questi01maires.
Finally, I salute my girl friend Mary Nandutu who was by my side through thick and thin and for her continuous moral support and encouragement when I felt desperate and lacked the moral to go on.
IV ABSTRACT This repmi presents the findings of BCU aimed at assessing the role of BCU towards agricultural development in the Elgon region. Its major findings are three;
First BCU has attained 36 percent on average of its endeavourer to attain agricultural development through training of farmers, development of infrastructure, increasing the saving culture, sharing of profits (Bonus), determining the price and income generation
,distribution and redistribution.
Secondly the problems facing BCU towards agricultural development in the Elgon region such as low capitalization, political interfere, poor storage facilities and other infrastructure, unfair business practices and governance and leadership gaps are a result liberalization of the economy as this has affected both the quality and quantity of coffee handed by the union (BCU)
As possible solutions, there 1s need to rev1ew the cooperative lows as regards liberalization of agricultural sector, reduce government involvement in the daily affairs of the union and increase government financing through reducing the interest rates.
Finally, the cooperative union should carry out both vertical and horizontal restructuring so as to adopt to the rapidly changing economic environment reflected in increase globalization and agricultural industrialization if there are benefit members and should operate as organization not as a firm as advocated by (Heimberger and Hoos 1962) but as an organization (Emellant 1942, Robotka, 1947 and Philip 1953).
v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BCU .Bugisu Cooperative Union
ICA International Cooperative Alliance
NAADS National Advisory Agricultural Development Service
NCP National Cooperatives Policy
KIU Kampala International University NRM National Resistance Movement's
FDC .Forum for Democratic Change
UCDA Uganda Coffee Development Authority
I' I I
VI TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ...... i
APPROVAL ...... ii
DEDICATION ...... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iv
ABSTRACT ...... v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... vii
LIST OF TABLES ...... X
CHAPTER ONE ...... 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE ...... 1
1.0 Background of study ...... 1 1.2 Statement of the problem ...... 2 1.3 General objective of the study ...... 3 1.4 Specific objectives of study ...... 3 1.5 Research Questions ...... 4 1.6 Scope of study; ...... ' ...... 4 1.6.1 Content scope...... 4 1.6.2 Theoretical scope...... 4 1.6.3 Geographical scope ...... 4 1.7 Significance of study ...... 5
CHAPTER TWO ...... 6
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...... 6
2.0 Concepts, ideas and opinions from authors ...... 6 2.1 Cooperatives and Agricultural Development ...... 6
Vll 2.2 Theoretical perspective ...... 13 2.3 Related studies ...... 15
CHAPTER THREE ...... 16
METHODOLOGY ...... 16
3.1 Research design ...... 16 3.2 Population and sampling ...... 16 3 .2.1 Target population ...... 16 3.2.2 Sample size ...... 16 3 .2.3 Sampling techniques...... 16 3.3 Data collection instruments ...... 17 3.3.1 Questionnaires ...... 17 3.3.2 Focused group discussion ...... 17 3.4.0 Data processing ...... 18 3.4. 1 Data analysis ...... 18 3.4.1 Editing and spot checking ...... 18 3.4.2 Coding ...... 18 3.5 Reliability and validity ...... 18 3.6 Ethical considerations ...... 19 3.7 Limitations ofthe study ...... 19
CHAPTER FOUR ...... 20
DATA PRESENTATION ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ...... 20
4.0 Introduction ...... 20 4.1 Contribution of Bugisu cooperative union towards agricultural development...... 20 4.2 Problems faced by Bugisu cooperative union towards agricultural development...... 23
Vlll CHAPTER FIVE ...... 30
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 30
5.1 Contribution of BCU towards agricultural development in Elgon region ...... 30 5.2 Conclusion ...... 34 5.3 Recommendations .., ...... )6 REFERENCES ...... 38
APPENDICES ...... 39
APPENDIX I ...... 39
CLEARANCE FROM THE ETHICS COMMITTEE ...... 39
APPENDIX II ...... 40
INFORMED CONSENT ...... 40
APPENDIX III...... 41
QUESTIONNAIRES FOR THE RESPONDENTS ...... 41
APPENDIX III ...... 44
PROPOSED BUDGET ...... 44
APPENDIX IV ...... 45
TIME FRAME ...... 4 5
APPENDIX V ...... 46
CURRICULUM VITAE ...... 46
lX LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Responses towards the contributions ofBCU towards agricultural development
...... 20
Table 2: Response towards the problems ofBCU towards agricultural development in the
Elgon region ...... 23
X CHAPTER ONE
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
1.0 Background of study. The cooperative movement is a global institution which originated in Europe and spread to other industrializing countries during the later 19 century as a self help method of
counter extreme conditions of covert (Hoyt 1989). It comprises of over 800 million people and its found in almost every country in the world.
In developing countries Uganda inclusive, people began organizing themselves in to cooperatives in 1913 which operated formally until 1946 when the first cooperative
Ordinance was enacted. This also marked the birth of cooperative department and the present cooperative movement. By the end of 1946 there were 75 organizations of a cooperative nature. Fifty (50) of these were agriculture marketing societies, 8 were shop keepers (supply) societies, 6 were consumer stores and the remainder were miscellaneous societies. The period 1946 to 1970 saw a significant growth of the cooperative movement especially in the cotton and coffee sectors. In 1951 cooperatives handed 14300 tones of
Cotton and coffee the acquisition of two coffee curing works and ginneries in 1956. The total tonnage rose to 89308 tons by 1960. In 1965 out of 43 7923 bales of cotton produced in the country, cooperatives handled 267420 bales (60%)in additional to 40% of robust coffee valued at 60 million shillings and of Arabic coffee valued at 30 million shillings
.Beginning with the 1970s the cooperatives were greatly miss managed , interfered with and alienated from membership. The cooperative movement was miss understand and its economic and social impact greatly underrated by both the members and public. This mark the beginning of steady decline in the performance of cooperatives .The period 1992 through 2006 exhibited a continuous decline of cooperative commodity marketing,
for instance of the coffee export (130068) in 1998/93 cooperatives accounted for
22%(28585 tones).This dropped to 2%(3868tonnes) out of the total of 180164 tones in
2001102 and further to a meager 1% (2104 tons) out of 162254 tons in2006/07. (National
Cooperative policy, 2011)
Cooperatives are defined by International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) as autonomous
associations of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and
cultural needs and aspirations tlu·ough jointly owned and democratically controlled
enterprise. It may also be defined as a legal entity owed and democratically controlled by members. Members always have a close association with the enterprise as producers or consumers of its products or service or as its employees. The concept of cooperative adapted in this study is a business organization which is owned and controlled by members on the basis of one vote and it's characterized by neutrality, distribution of
profits, open and voluntary membership and limited interest on share capital. Cooperative also deals in aggregated purchases, store and distinction of farm in-puts for their members taking advantage of volume discounts and utilizing other economies of scale.
They bring down member costs, provide seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, farm machinery to their members in to a total system for accomplishing the goals of the cooperative.
1.2 Statement of the problem.
In Uganda, attempts to organize farmers in cooperative has often failed, although cooperatives are a grassroots organizations, multi-sectoral and pervade every aspects of human endeavors be it in rural or urban area. They have demonstrated the capacity to group together primary producers. Thus provide an opportunity for organizing small
2 individual producers to solve the problems of financing, production, processmg and
marketing. Consequently, they are able to compete favorably in the national, regional,
and international markets. (Hoyt 1989). (Akwabi 1997) further adds, cooperatives
provide relatively more permanent institutional frame work through which problems of
basic human needs can be met on a voluntary basis. Cooperatives empower people by
enabling even the poorest segments of the population to participate in economic progress;
they create employment for these who have no or little capital and provide protection by
organizing mutual help in communities. They also generate and equitably distribute
wealth, raise the level of awareness, education and management skill all of which lead to agricultural development. Therefore, the major concern of this study is to empirically analyze the role of Bugisu cooperative union towards agricultmal development in Elgon reg1on.
1.3 General objective of the study.
The research intended to determine the role of cooperatives (Bugisu Cooperative Union) towards agricultural development in Elgon region.
1.4 Specific objectives of study.
The researcher intended to;
1. Establish the contribution of cooperative unions towards Agricultural development in
Elgon region
2. Determine the challenges faced by cooperative unions in Elgon region
3. Suggest measures to the challenges faced by cooperative unions in Elgon region
3 ------====
1.5 Research Questions
The study Sought to answer the following questions;
1. What contribution of cooperative unions towards agricultural development in
Elgon region?
2. What challenges do cooperatives unions face in the Elgon region?
3. What measures should be undertaken to address the challenges of cooperative
unions in Elgon region?
1.6 Scope of study;
1.6.1 Content scope.
The study sought to examme whether cooperatives have an impact on agricultural development. The study also checked robustness of the results in the base line
specification by allowing for different types of people involved in cooperative activities.
1.6.2 Theoretical scope.
The study was guided by the theory of cooperatives developed by Heimberger and Hoos in 1962 which state that "the cooperative optimization objective is to maximize benefits to members".
1.6.3 Geographical scope.
The study was carried out in Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) located along Palisa -
Mbale high way, 2km from Mbale town .its boarded by Sironko district in North, Budaga district in West, Manafa district in south and mountain Elgon in East.
4 1. 7 Significance of study. Inspite of the government policies and legal frame work on cooperatives and
International policies and conventions, very little impact has so far been achieved by
cooperatives towards agricultural development in the Elgon region and in Uganda in
general. Therefore, it was the researchers hope that the findings create a positive change
of attitude and approach by different parties. I.e. Government, cooperatives, individuals
both foreign and local as regards agricultural development
With government polices such as propensity for all through NAADS(National Advisory
Agricultural Development Service) progran1mes, this paper has identified major hindrance towards agricultural development in the region thus if the government wises to attain development of agriculture than such areas should first be addressed.
Similarly if the government wishes to assist farmers, than it should use cooperatives such as BCU since they have primary societies at the lowest level and have the potential to organize many more individuals to join them rather than forming new groups so as to access fund from the government as this requires high administrative costs.
This paper should also be useful to the ministerial of trade, Industry and Cooperatives as regards formulation and review of polices such as liberalization in agricultural development is to be revised.
The findings are to be used by the managers and administrates of cooperatives 111 restructuring the Cooperatives so as to meet the changing demand of farmers.
Finally, the findings are to f01m the basis for further research on cooperatives as there are many areas requiring research such as their current structure, financing and government involvement among.
5 CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.0 Concepts, ideas and opinions from authors
2.1 Cooperatives and Agricultural Development
A cooperative is a kind of business organization that is in business for the people who own and use it. (Abrahamson and Martin 1976) Cooperatives operate at cost by changing customers in form of patronage refund. Cooperatives are formed for simple reason that individuals can pool their resources and carry out business activities that they cannot perform as efficiently if they acted alone. Intemational cooperative alliance (ICA, 2005) states that Cooperatives exist to fulfill economic needs of the people (owners)' In some cases they have provided the owners with more favorable prices or more dependable market for their items purchased and sold by them. Intemational cooperative alliance
(ICA, 2005) defines a cooperative as "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations tlu·ough a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. "The seven intemationally recognized cooperative principles are: Voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, member econom1c participation, autonomy and independence, provision of education, training and information, cooperation among cooperatives and concem for the community.
Agricultural development is a complex matter consisting of a large number of intenelated factors of physical, economic, social, cultural, and political nature (Wharton, 1968).
Agricultural development is thus improvement in infrastructure, increase in demand,
6 increase in training, price, bonuses and change in motivation of people and improvement in education.
Problems faced by cooperative societies
Much research has focused on the problems inherent in the traditional cooperative organizational form that create disadvantages for cooperative members (e.g., cook, 1995;
Royer, 1999). Cook (1995) presents four core problems, also discussed by Royer (1999), namely; low capitalization, poor storage facilities and other infrastructure, Dented image and weak advocacy, Governance and leadership, Inadequate knowledge on cooperatives and Unfair business practices.
Low capitalization
Cook (1995) refers to this as "another equity acquisition problem" from the
Cooperative's perspective. This is attributed to limited sources of cooperative financing which include; entrance fees, share capital, annual subscription fees and retained earnings. The failure ofthe members to raise meaningful capital compels societies to take loans at high interest rates of as high as 29% per annum, to run cooperative business.
Besides the lack of acceptable collateral, most financial institutions are not willing to give loans for agricultmal purposes.
Limited financial resources have other knock on effects on cooperative business such as constrained acquisition of modern equipment and tools as well as attracting and retaining qualified professionals. Consequently, cooperatives have not achieved the desired growth and effectiveness in service delivery to the members.
7 Poor storage facilities and other infrastructure
Uganda is faced with an acute shortage of modern agriculture commodity warehouse, processing machinery, transport and other equipments. For instance, the National warehouse survey of 2007 by the ministry of trade, Industry and cooperatives shows that there are 866 warehouses with a total storage capacity of 45073 metric tones. Of these only 3% meet the standards for agricultural marketing while 8 require minor repairs. The majority of processing machinery is obsolete. This contributes to high post harvest losses, estimated between 40-50%, and compromises quality as well as commodity prices. These pose a great challenge to the cooperative participation in the commodity value chain thus limiting the competitiveness of their commodities.
Dented image and weak Advocacy
The cooperative movement has suffered a real and perceived negative image. This is attributed to various disadvantages suffered by the cooperative movement such as crop failure, market and price fluctuations, political instability, loss of assets and weak advocacy by the cooperative movement itself. Other internal weaknesses amongst particular societies and failure of some have so seriously dented the public perception that it is often difficult to attract new and energetic members to the cooperative.
Governance and Leadership gaps
Most of the problems faced by cooperatives an se due to bad governance and poor leadership. Good corporate governance principles demand that leaders act in the interest of the organizations they lead in order to achieve their objectives. Good corporate governance practices are built on five pillars namely, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness, probity, integrity and responsibility. Although cooperatives are democratic
8 in nature, most of the membership has not taken advantage of this democracy to elect able leaders and appoint competent managers to ensure that the cooperative ideals and aspirations are realized and conformity to cooperative laws. The Ugandan experience shows that cooperative leaders are not necessarily a reflection of the required leadership competencies, patronage and commitment to the cooperative business. Some of the consequences of this practice are the dominance of the cooperative by few members, the lack of the will to practice democracy and accountability which undermines sustainability of the cooperatives.
Inadequate knowledge on Cooperatives
Most of the current cooperative membership is not adequately educated and trained in cooperative matters. This leads to member exploitation, low patronage and poor accountability which negatively impacts on cooperative business. Generally there is inadequate knowledge on the formation of cooperatives, leadership, market, supply sources and cost analysis, member investment, source of debt capital and conduct of member meetings. This continues to hamper proper planning for the benefit of members of the cooperative and development of cooperative activities that result in agricultural development
Unfair Business practices
The operations of some individual business people and firms (middle men) engaged in processing, marketing and service provision in the domestic market offer stiff competition to the cooperative business. These persons have a competitive edge over cooperatives because they offer instant and sometime advance payments .this practice tends to be exploitative as it not only ties producers to middlemen but often compromises
9 quality standards, compliance to cooperative behavior and eventually the international market for the products.
Contributions of cooperatives towards agricultural development
Many researchers have studied the role of cooperatives to words agricultural development among which include the following; Prices, Sharing of profits, Training,
Income generation, distribution and redistribution, savings culture and Infrastructure.
Infrastructure
The current 10746 cooperative societies are spread throughout the country which makes the movement the most accessible institution in Uganda. These societies own stores, land and other assets. It's therefore possible to deliver relevant services to a wider population segment through the cooperative movement more than any other institution in the county and all these services improve agricultural development.
Saving culture
Cooperatives emphasize savings in their operations thereby mobilizing the communities to save as individuals or groups to enhance production, investment and capital accumulation, with the increased savings agricultural development is possible (cook,
1995; Royer, 1999)
Income generation, distribution and redistribution
The diverse natme of the cooperative business offers a great potential to create employment, generation of wealth and equitably distribute it among the members of the cooperative .with increase in the incomes of the members of the general public, agricultme production is likely to increase which IS an attribute of agriculture development(U ganda cooperative Alliance repo11 2002).
10 Training
Training is the process of imparting employees of an organization with the body of knowledge and skills that are necessary for them to understand the overall working of the organization and to be able to perform certain tasks with high level of performance
(Birungi, 2003).This means that training should enable the person understand the operations of the organization, hence it must be tailored to the achievement of organizational objectives. With this cooperatives are able to provide skills to the farmers in form of harvesting, drying, pulping and storing. According to NAADS repmt 2009, the information that farmers gain makes their daily farming activities much easier and this lead to increase in productivity implying a great influence on agricultural development.
Share of profits
Profit is a payment or reword for the assumption of risks by the entrepreneur. The greater the risk the higher must be the profit (Hawley). Knight defined profit as" the reword for uncertainly bearing and not for risk taking in a business which is insurable. Walker argues that profit is the reword for differential ability of the entrepreneur. All this definitions are defective in one way or the other, in that they pa1ticularize ce1tain aspects of the functions of the entrepreneur to the neglect of others while the fact is that his functions many aid varied (International Cooperative Alliance Report 2000).Cooperatives generally retum only a small portion of their profits to the owner in form of stock dividends. They earnings are normally returned in form of patronage refund to the owners in proportion to the amount of cooperatives business volume accounted for each person
(Abrahamson.Mrutin 1976). Linda James (2002) argues that employees are not motivated solely by share of profits but are linked to their attitude on the managers, but of
11 all the functions arguable the most complex due to the fact that farmers' motivation is
dynamic.
Price
International cooperative alliance (ICA, 2005) defines pnce as quantity of payment
requested by seller of a good or serv1ce rather than the eventual payment amount.
Economists some time define price more generally as the ratio of the quantities of goods
that are exchanged for each other. Cooperatives are forn1ed for simple reason that
individuals can pool their financial resources and carryout business activities that they
cannot perform as efficiently if they acted alone. Cooperatives have provided owners
with more favorable prices of more dependable markets for items purchased or sold by
the owners. In this regard some argue (Abrahamson Martin 1976), that cooperatives play
a price setter or power balance role in many markets. Chatterjee (1996) argues that if an
organization is willing to pay high wages (price) it can attract well qualified workers
while several factors determine agricultural development such as bonus, training, profit
sharing, price is still on the fore front. Arthur Pell (1998) believes that price like working
conditions is a satisfier. Aswathapa (2002) further concludes that price can motivate
some people but not others. Kalyani et-al (200 1) further assets that a lower price may be
motivated or influenced by price incentive but time will come when price cases to be a
motivating source for agricultural development.
Possible measures to the challenges facing Cooperatives
To reduce the challenges facing the cooperatives in Uganda, the ministry of trade,
industry and Cooperatives though it's National Cooperatives Policy 2011 and Linda
James (2002) advocates the following;
12 Review the status and operations of the existing Cooperatives societies countrywide to make them more responsive to member needs and implement the necessary revitalization interventions.
Mobilize people to form cooperative societies that suit their common interests presently to changes in economy.
Facilitate the establishment of tertiary cooperatives to provide specialized services such as cooperative insurance and commercial banking.
Rebuild the cooperative-image through improved governance, better service delivery and publicity campaigns among other measures.
2.2 Theoretical perspective
The study was be guided by the theory of cooperatives developed by Heimberger and
Hoos in 1962 which state that "the cooperative optimization objective is to maximize benefits to members". It can be regarded as having developed the first complete mathematical model of behaviors of an agricultural cooperative. Sexton (1995), who provides a brief overview of developments in the economic theory of cooperatives prior to Heimberger and Hoos' paper .Sexton (1984 ), considers their paper as "a landmark in the economic theory of cooperatives." Heimberger and Hoos (1962) use the neo-classical theory of the firm to develop short-run and long run models of a cooperative using traditional marginal analysis. In their model, the cooperative's optimization objective is to maximize benefits to members by maximizing "per unit value or average price by distributing all earnings back to members in proportion to their patronage volume or use"
(Torgerson eta!., 1998). Sexton (1995) regards this "landmark" paper so highly because;
13 ------======
The (correct) analysis of cooperative and member behavior is based on a clear set of
assumptions.
The model clearly distinguishes between short and long-run behavior in a cooperative
Based on these characteristics, the model set the stage for further advances in cooperative
theory in the 1970s and 1980s.
Torgerson et al. (1998) contend that Emelianoff (1942) made a major contribution to
understanding the internal economics of cooperatives with his conception of the
cooperative as a form of vertical integration, and his focus on the structural and
functional relationships of members (the principals) to their cooperative marketing
organization (the agent). His model was later refined by Robotka (1947), Phillips (1953)
and Aresvik (1955).
There have been various debates on whether a cooperative enterprise should be treated as a fitm (a decision-making entity), as Heimberger and Hoos (1962) did, or as an organization (aggregation) of economic units (members), as treated by Emelianoff
(1942), Robotka (1947), and Phillips (1953), for example. Rhodes (1995) presents an overview of the debate on the Helmberger-Hoos and Phillips models, with the former initially having the greatest support among economists, although their contribution has also been criticized. Sexton (1995) views this debate as "primarily one of semantics," and considers the issue not important to understanding cooperatives. He sees the development of alternative models as application of advances in economic theory of cooperatives reflecting "the richness of the environments in which cooperatives operate and the need to have alternative models that apply in different settings" Royer (1994) and Torgerson et al. ( 1998) also contribute to this debate.
14 Over the past few decades, the rapidly changing economic environment, reflected in
increasing globalization and agricultural industrialization, has led many agricultural
cooperatives to undertake substantial structural changes in order to adapt to the new
situation. Royer (1999), for example, mentions that in addition to mergers, consolidations
and acquisitions (horizontal and vertical restructuring), cooperatives have become
increasingly involved in fundamental institutional changes (e.g., joint ventures with
corporations).
2.3 Related studies Bonus (1986, as cited by Iliopoulos and cook, 1999) studied the characteristics of transactions between farmers and their cooperatives and concluded that the cooperative
"represents a hybrid organizational mode blending market forces with elements of internal organization designed to minimize transaction costs".
Hansmann (cited by Iliopoulos and cook, 1999), studied alternative organizational arrangements and governance structures, including agricultural cooperatives, using a transaction cost theory of ownership as his framework, and argued that alternative institutional arrangements have developed in order to minimize the transaction costs of ownership and contractual arrangements. Iliopoulos and cook (1999) also i·efer to the
"growing theoretical and empirical literature on new generation cooperatives". Although cooperatives have served, and are serving, an important function for many farmers, problems inherent in conventional cooperatives have given rise to doubts about the sustainability of these cooperatives and sometimes to the establishment of other forms of business organization.
15 CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research design.
The study adopted a descriptive' case study design. This method was appropriate because it involves intensive, descriptive and holistic analysis of a single entity. (Oso and Onens,
2008).This design was adored because the farmers are organized under Cooperatives which Bugisu Cooperative union (BCU) is among them .This enabled the researcher to generate in depth information that showed magnitude and scope of cooperative societies and agricultural development in Bugisu region.
3.2 Population and sampling
3.2.1 Target population
The study was conducted with in the Bugisu cooperative union that is; board member
(24), general workers in the cooperative (head of depa11ments; 6) and Trustees (275 societies) in Elgon region.
3.2.2 Sample size
The sample consisted of 23 board members of Bugisu cooperative union, 5 general workers in the umon and 62 trustees of the union and it was generated from n=N/1 +Ne 1/2
3.2.3 Sampling techniques.
The research used a combination of a purposive and random sampling method to group them in three groups, namely; Boarder members, trustees and general workers.
16 3.3 Data collection instruments.
The study used questionnaires and focus group discussion as the main tools for collecting data. The selection of these tools was guided by the nature of data to be collected, time available and the objective of the study. The overall aim of the study was to determine the role of BCU towards agricultural development in Elgon region. The researcher was mainly concerned with views, opinions, perceptions, feelings and attitudes of farmers towards agricultural development. Such information can best be obtained through questionnaires and focus group discussion (Bell 1993).the researcher used semi structured instruments which enabled the researcher to balance between the quality and quantity of data collected on the variables which were useful for further explanation of the phenomenon under investigation.
3.3.1 Questionnaires.
These questionnaires were also in two forms namely; open ended in which the responses by the participants were free according to there understanding.
The close ended questi01maires in which the response were provided by the researcher and the participants were required to rank them accordingly; e.g. very good, good, fair, no impact and don't know .The researcher gave five days to respondents to study and fill the questions and requested the respondents to ask for classification where there did not understand.
3.3.2 Focused group discussion.
The discussions were carried out with 20 groups (5-1 0 persons) who included trustees especially those trustees who were illiterate while recording the necessary information relevant to the questions in the appendix 1.
17 3.4.0 Data processing
3.4.1 Data analysis
The data filled in the questionnaires was complied and analysised by tallying it and tabling it in frequency tables, identifying how often certain responses occurred and later evaluation was done. The information was later recorded in term of percentage.
The recorded data was later edited and interpreted which ensured uniformity, legibility and consistence .Also interview results were coded in frequency tables and calculated in terms of percentages and presented in the study.
3.4.1 Editing and spot checking
The researcher edited and spot checked during and after each discussion with respondents, this ensured that information given was logical, accurate and consistent.
Obvious errors and omissions were corrected to ensure accuracy, uniformity and competence so as to facilitate coding.
3.4.2 Coding
This ensured that all answers obtained from various respondents were given codes and classified into meaning terms for better analysis
3.5 Reliability and validity
To ensure and maintain a high level of reliability and validity in this study, the researcher did the following;
Questionnaires were pre-tested with a few friends, ambiguous questions were made clear and irrelevant questions deleted.
The researcher used accurate questions which were open ended and closed in nature and they had enough space for appropriate responses from the respondents
18 3.6 Ethical considerations.
This entailed first getting clearance from the Ethics committee (head of department KIU) and informed consent from BCU acting Chairman that commissioned the researcher to go for the study.
3. 7 Limitations of the study.
The researcher faced the following problems in the study;
There was a problem of transport as most of the roads in the region are impassible, so this called for moving of long distances on foot and this was worsened by constant heavy rains in the region.
Financial constrains also hindered the research from attaining the intended number of respondents especially the trustees i.e. 163 but instead accessed only 62.
The high level of literacy among the respondents also delayed data collection process since the questionnaires were printed in English yet many farmers are illiterate.
Possible solutions may be; the researcher worked with the finance that were available and worked with in his budget to avoid over lapping.
19 CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.0 Introduction
In this section, we present a qualitative assessment of cooperatives and agricultural development. Specifically, the aim ofthis section is to establish;
(i) Contribution of Bugisu cooperative union (BCU) towards agricultural
development in Elgon region.
(ii) Problems faced by Bugisu cooperative union towards agricultural development.
(iii)Possible solutions to the problems facing BCU towards agricultural development.
4.1 Contribution of Bugisu cooperative union towards agricultural development.
Table 1 gives a summary of the findings in relation to the contribution of BCU towards agricultural development in Elgon region.
Table 1: Responses towards the contributions of BCU towards agricultural d eve Iopmen t Activity Frequency Percentage Determining price 20 23 Share of profits 12 13.8 Savings 04 4.6 Infrastructure development 22 25.3 Training of farmers 24 27.6 Income generation, distribution and 5 5.7 redistribution Total 87 100 Source: primary data
20 As shown in table 1, BCU has many contributions towards agricultural development in
Elgon religion. These include; determining the price, sharing of profits, savings,
infrastructure development, training of farmers and income generation distribution and redistribution.
Majority of the respondents 27.6 percent were of the view that there has been increased output and quality of the agricultmal products due to training of farmers prior to this , training of farmers through sepo trainers as regarding drying, harvesting, prlliming there this has increased output of coffee.
Regarding infrastructme development, 25.3 percent of the respondents were the view that the union has achieved this aspect towards agricultmal development. According to the respondents, this is evidenced by Malukho estate, Namatala estate and primary society stores. However, some respondents 74.7 percent were of the view that growth in the infrastructme has been retantient to the extent that most of the primary society stores are in a sorrow state in that farmers no longer use them to store producers. As regards the state of, roads this still remains the biggest challenge towards agricultmal development in
Elgon region as they become impossible especially in the rainy season.
As for determining price, 23 percent of the respondents were of the view that BCU has encouraged agricultural development within the Elgon region. According to the respondents, this is evidenced by increased volume of output in both coffee and other crops grown in the region such as beans and maize. This view is supported by the statistical information from agricultural centers (NAADS offices in the region). Prices in
21 the cooperative societies have increased from 2800 shillings in 2007 to 8050 shillings in
2011 and this has also resulted into increased output between 2007 and 2011.
Sharing of profits, 13.8 percent were of the view that, this has increased agricultural development in the region. Share of profits (Bonus as trustees known it) which respondents reported that dependent on the quality and quantity of coffee supplied to the society (union). This has motivated most of the farmers to increase their producers and quality so as to be in position to earn high bonus and this implies agricultural development within the region.
94.3 percent of the respondents were of the view that income generation, distribution and redistribution has not increased agricultural development in the region. This is because the union currently employs less than 2 percent of the population in Elgon region.
Implying low income generation ,distribution and redistribution, prior to this the state of the cooperatives societies is so bad that the farmers no longer prefer to store their produces, rendering the employees of the society jobless.
Majority of the respondents 95.4 percent were of the view that savings by the cooperative union has not impacted agricultural activities such as timely pruning, planting and weeding due to the delay of money from the cooperative union (BCU). They were also on a view that savings is no longer emphasized by the cooperative union as it was in the early 1970s.
However there are other contributions of BCU towards agricultural development as it was reported by the respondents such as provision of tuition to university students of trustees
22 as these have encouraged more farmers to join the union and increase on their output, and provision of fertilizers seedlings and pesticides which all result into increase in the quality and quantity of agricultural products.
4.2 Problems faced by Bugisu cooperative union towards agricultural development.
Table 2 gives a summary of the findings in relation to the problems faced by BCU towards agricultural development.
Table 2: Response towards the problems of BCU towards agricultural development in the Elgon region Activity Frequency Percentage
Low capitalization 18 21
Dented image & weak advocacy 7 8
Political interference 24 28
Unfair business practices 12 14
Inadequate knowledge on activities of 0 0 cooperatives
Governance & leadership gaps 10 11
Poor storage facilitation and other 16 18 infrastructure
Total 87 100
Source: Primary Data
23 There are many problems facing BCU towards agricultural development in the Elgon region. Among these are; low capitalization, dented image and weak advocacy, political interference, unfair business practices, poor storage facilitation and other infrastructure and governance and leadership gap.
Majority of the respondents 28 percent were of the view that the biggest challenge facing
BCU towards agricultural development is political interference in the daily affairs of the cooperative. This is evidenced by the suppression of the leaders (board members) of the union from 20 10 to date and appointment of an acting chairperson "Wepuhukhu" whom the cooperative member thinks is appointed on political grounds. And this has made the operation of the principle of cooperative (Demonogratical elections) difficult.
Through group discussion with farmers (trustees), negative sentiments about the supervision (political interference) were voiced (see Box 1). In most cases elections are based on political parties or regions of Elgon region and this was evidenced in the last election of 2010 where the struggle was between (FDC) Forum for Democratic Change
Mr. Nandala Mafabi and (NRM) National Resistance Movement's Beatrice Wabudeya and because results where not favor of the ruling party (NRM), it later resulted into supervision of board members according to the respondents.
24 Box 1: During elections we were given money 200,000 Ugandan shillings by NRM
members to vote Beatrice, if we wanted government to assist us (Union).
Trustee from Bududa.
2. Coffee is the source of riches in Bugisu, kill BCU and kill coffee. trustee from
Sironko
3. With proper operation of BCU, Bugisu became very rich and the government fears it
may find resistance in the religion
Trustee from Mbale.
An observation that emerged was that once the union is lifted in the hands of the farmer
to deal with the election as it was in the later 1960s, then agricultural development in the
region will boom.
Low capitalization was another challenge that was noted by respondents (21 percent)
They were of the view that this was because of corruption of the leaders, the assets of
union such as Malukhu estate, Namatala estate, BCU land in Doha and other commercial buildings in Mbale town from which the union raises its money are under rented to themselves (board members)or friends and not mentioned. On top of this there are high taxes imposed by the government on such assets of the union which has resulted into low capitalization.
Another challenge faced BCU towards agricultural development according to the respondents ( 18 percent) is that of poor storage facilitation and other infrastructure such
25 as roads within the region. This is evidenced by the poor state of the primary cooperative stores to the extent that they are being used by animals as curls and the impassable roads to this society all have humped agricultural development.
Although the government of Uganda has always emphasized infrastructure development in its budgets allocating 15 percent to these sectors, the infrastructure within the Elgon region is in a very sorrow state and calls for quick attention as this is hindering the transportation and development of agricultural within the region.
Some respondents 11 percent were of the view that, governance and leadership gaps are also a challenge facing BCU toward agricultural development. This was attributed to low levels of education of representatives of the farmers to the union in that they have always failed to take right decisions and beginner for higher prices for the farmers. Some respondents still attributed this to lack of cooperative institutions that would provide education to the farmers who would be tomorrow leaders.
Tlu·ough group discussion with some farmer about the leadership gaps and governance statements like the one in Box 2 were common.
Box 2. Somebody of primary bribes and is elected to the union from the society, at the union he/she becomes board member and because he has some skills of Accounting he is given to head the accounting department
However, all this was attributed to low levels of education within the religion. Although the government has encouraged free education at all levels, many still do not attend
26 school providing a big challenge towards agricultural development due to Improper leaders of the union.
14 percent of the respondents were of the view that unfair business practices such as pricing is another challenge facing BCU towards agricultural development and this has been attributed to liberalization of the economy and as a result many firms such as
Victoria Mitido and Kyagalanyi have joined the market. As a result many farmers have tended to sell their high quality coffee to these firms because of the high prices and that of low (poor) quality is sold to the union. On top of that, some respondents were of the view that some of these firms are financed by the government since they are attached to the president's family so as to cause failure to BCU.
Some respondents (8 percent) were of the view that dented images and weak advocacy is also another challenge facing BCU towards agricultural development in the Elgon region.
Though group discussions, the feeling of the trustees is that the union has misused the money from the assets of the union for their personal desire that is why those in administration become very rich in a shortest time and they further say the union sold most of their assets such as Mount Elgon Hotel for their own benefits, all this has reduced people's confidence in the union making the implementation of their agricultural problems difficult.
According to all the respondents ( 100%) were of the view that inadequate knowledge on the activities of cooperatives is no longer a problem facing BCU towards agricultural development in Elgon region. Through all group discussions carried out and
27 questi01maires issued they said "we trustees and BCU leaders have adequate knowledge on activities of the union.
However, through these tools of data collection, some other problems facing the cooperatives towards agricultural development were identified among which included;
Poor standards (quality) liberalization of trade policy, poverty (limited-crop financing) mixing of different brands (Arabic and Colonial), middlemen who exploit farmers, market, unfavorable government policies such as taxation and natural calamities especially land slides.
4.3 Suggested measures to the challenges facing Bugisu Cooperative Union
According to the respondents, the following were the possible measures that can be undertaken to reduce/eradicate problems facing BCU towards agricultural development in Elgon region. The most common solution from the respondents was the call up the government to reduce its involvement in the affairs of the union directly and support the union through direct financing.
Reforming of the cooperative laws and policies regarding the operations, ownership, and administration to suit the changing economic situations
Improvement of the infrastructure such as roads and pnmary societies by both the government and union respectively so as to facilitate transportation and storage during a bump harvest
28 Provision of loans to the union by the government at a reduced rate of interest to enable it buy and offer advance payments to the trustees as it was in the early 1970s as this will facilitate agricultural development.
Call upon the government to intervene in price setting of coffee during the reading of the national budget as this will ensure price stability and reduce unfair competition affecting the union.
Involving of farmers in policy formation and laws regarding the cooperative unions and foreign firms dealing in coffee trade locally should be controlled such that they take measures to maintain good quality of coffee the farmers produce.
As for market the respondents were of the view that people m Uganda should be encouraged to take coffee through various campaigns by the union and the government.
29 ------~======
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Contribution of BCU towards agricultural development in Elgon region
The first objective of this study was to determine the contribution of Bugisu Cooperative
Union (BCU) towards agricultural developments among, which include; training of
farmers, infrastructure development, price determination and share of profits, in Elgon
region. Data analysis and interpretation of interview and questionnaire responses from
the trustees, board members and general workers revealed that those contributions have
an effect to agricultural development. These findings revealed that · the major
contribution of BCU (27.6 percent) towards agricultural development is training of
farmers. They reported that through training i.e. seminars, practical skills regarding
planting, harvesting, drying, maintaining soil fertility and general care of agricultural
products, their quality and quantity of output have increased. This finding is in
agreement with the views of Birungi (2003) and NAADS report 2009 also express
the same view. Training of farmers as described by Birungi (2003) and NAADS report
2009 is that the information farmers gain makes their daily farming activities much easier
and leads to increase in productivity and this is also in agreement with Schermerhorn
(1993) who argued that training provides learning opportunities to acquire and improve
on the job skills to meet changing job requirements so as to increase the quality and
quantity of their output.
30 Not only training of farmers leads to agricultural development but also infrastructural development as it was noted by the respondents (25.3%). They reported infrastructure such as roads and stores which is totally in a poor state, if improved it would facilitate transportation of the agricultural products from this region and also provide storage facilities as there will be better prices due to regulation of supply and this would increase the quality and quantity of the output, farmers income, and distribute incomes which are all indicators of agricultural development. This finding is in agreement with National
Cooperative Policy (2011) that argues that the cutTent 10746 cooperative societies are spread throughout the country which makes the movement the most accessible institution in Uganda .It also makes deliverance of relevant services to a wider population segment, but this has been limited by the poor present state of the cooperative societies.
The findings also reveal that the other contribution of BCU (23 percent) towards agricultural development is determination of price. They reported that once the union sets a higher price for coffee, as it was in 2010 (price of 8500 per kg) the total tonnage of coffee increases in the subsequent years as it was experienced in 2011 , So with this high price the quality and quantity, farmer's income increases implying agricultural development. The foregoing is in agreement with Chatte1jee (1996) who argues that if an organization is willing to pay high price, it can attract more qualified workers while several factors determine agricultural development such as banks, profit training. Price is still on the foremost front and this is in agreement with Arthur Pell (1998) who believes that price like other working conditions is a satisfier. Gareth Johnes et-al (2000) also
31 argues that management can use price to motivate farmers to perform at higher level and
attain high goals and more people to join cooperative and remaining in it.
The second objective of this was to examine the problems faced by Bugisu cooperative
union towards agricultural development among which included the following; political
interference, poor storage facilities and other infrastructures, low capitalization and unfair
business practices.
These findings revealed that the major problem (34.5 percent) facing BCU towards
agricultural development is political interference. They reported that through
government involvement in the affairs of the union during the elections has made the
union to become a political ground where the affairs of political pruiies are considered
rather than the affairs of the trustees and this has made most of the trustees to loss interest
in the union and opted for other coffee dealers such as Victoria. This is in agreement with
2011 report on the state of cooperatives where it was noted that most of the cooperative
unions in Ethiopia are collapsing due to the politicization of the cooperatives fairs. Cook
( 1995) also reported the same that most of the cooperative societies in South Africa have
collapsed due to government involvement which has limited the implementation of the
cooperative policies such being democratical ~n nature.
The findings also revealed that the other challenge (25 percent) facing BCU towards
agricultural development is poor storage facilities and other infrastructure such as poor
states of roads, sorrow state of the primary store and because of this the transportation of the coffee from the villages (primary stores) to the union is hard and in addition the
32 primary stores have lost their roofs, walls with holes, and this contributes to high post
harvest losses and compromises the quality as well as commodity prices posing a great
challenge to the union participation in the commodity value chain thus limiting the
competitiveness of their coffee.
This finding is in agreement with the national cooperative policy 2011 which expressed
the same view, poor storage facilities and other infrastructure as described by the national
cooperative policy (2011) is that out of 866 warehouses with total storage capacity of
450733 metric tones, only 3% (26) met the standards for agricultural marketing and 8%
(69) require minor repairs.
Another challenge facing BCU (23 percent) towards agricultural development is low
capitalization. The respondents reported that the union has insufficient working capital
which their attribute to poor management of the union assets such as hotels, commercial
buildings, estates and its land in Doho which are either taken by the creditors or under rented. Although they also attribute it to limited sources of financing such annual subscription fees, entrance fees as the number has remained the same. And because of this the union has failed to finance the farmers in farm of advances payments, provision of pulp machines, retaining qualified professionals, affecting its activities towards agricultural development. This finding are all in agreement with the National cooperative policy (20 11) and the ministry of trade and industry report (20 10) which expresses the same view that because of insufficient working capital cooperative have problems in acquisition of modern equipment and tools as well as attracting and retaining qualified
33 manpower. As a consequence the union has failed to achieve the desired growth and
effectiveness in service delivery to the members.
The above studies and repmis are in agreement with Hermberger and Hoos theory that
starts that the unions' optimization objective is to maximize benefits to members, by
maximizing per unit value.
5.2 Conclusion
This study investigated the role of Bugisu cooperative union (BCU) towards agricultural development in the Elgon region. This was in relation to the fact that cooperatives provide relatively more permanent institutional framework through which problems of
basic human needs can be met on a voluntary basis, empower people, generate and equitably distribute wealth, raise awareness, education and management skills. The study specifically sought to establish the contribution of BCU towards agricultural development, Challenges of BCU and possible measures to the challenge.
From the study findings, the researcher made the following conclusions;
Cooperatives are central to the achievement of greater equality in society, getting involved in cooperative activities has special power benefit not only to the trustees, boarder members, general workers, welfare, but also positive implications for all other measures of development such income distribution, development of infrastructure among others.
Government also benefits in many ways from the cooperative unions: - from improved income of farmers, increased foreign exchange due to increased expmis tax base through
34 taxation of cooperatives assets such as hotels, estates and commercial buildings and provision of employment opportunities.
Bugisu Cooperative Union has made enormous good progress towards agricultural development through training of farmers, fair prices and share of profits through bonuses and fees payment to students in higher institutions of learning which has resulted into increased quantity and improved quality of the coffee (Arabic coffee).
Despite liberalization of trade policy within the country, which has resulted into other coffee deals in this religion such as Victoria, Metido and Kyagalanyi has affected the quality of coffee and reduced loyalty of farmers to BCU.
As regards the debate about weather cooperatives should be treated as a firm
(Heimberger and Hoos 1962) or as an organization of economic unite of members
(Emellant 1942, Robotka, 194 7 and Philip 1953). The researcher was in agreement with
Emellant 1942, Robotka, 1947 and Philip 1953, this was because there is collective decision making in BCU by both members and board members.
The researcher was also in agreement with argument of Royer 1994 was of the view that cooperatives should carry out both horizontal and vertical restructuring so as to adopt to the rapidly changing economic environment reflected in increase globalization and agricultural industrialization if there are benefit members.
35 ---
5.3 Recommendations
In order to overcome anomalies and to promote agricultural development in Elgon region
in particular and Uganda in general, the researcher recommended the government of
Uganda, Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and private sector (including
donors) should collectively work hand in hand to do the following;
Infrastructure Development: The study revealed that one of the causes of agricultural
underdevelopment in Elgon region is the poor infrastructure such as roads and storage
facilities. Therefore, the researcher recommended that there should be increased budget
allocated to the infrastructure sector especially the roads that are impassible in rainy
seasons and renovation of the primary societies which are in a sorrow state. If agricultural development is to be realized as these will facilitate transportation and production of more products.
Increase the country's competitiveness at international market. The Uganda coffee development Authority (UCDA) should formulate regulations and standards for roast, and coffee standards as this will increase the competitiveness of Ugandan coffee especially roast and ground coffee in the regional and overseas markets.
The study also revealed that low capitalization is another problem humping agricultural development in Elgon region, so the government through the central bank should low down the interest rate (which is at 29% per annum) charged on loaned funds to the
Cooperative unions say 15 percent to enable the unions access sufficient capital so as to attain its objectives driven towards agricultural development.
36 --~------~=-======~~
Reduced government involvement in the affairs of the cooperative union as this has
resulted into reduced loyalty by the trustees in the unions as they assume that their views
are not respected as it was revealed in the study.
Stabilization of coffee price by the government through minimum prices and setting of a
stabilization fund by the government during its budgeting process as this will reduce
price fluctuation in the coffee market and attract more coffee producers in the region.
Areas for further studies
The research calls for further studies as regards;
The impact of government involvement in affairs of Cooperatives Union
Restructuring of Cooperative unions
State of Cooperatives and Impact of Linearization policy on Cooperative unions
37 REFERENCES
Abrahamson, Martin. (1976). Economics basics: volume 1
Adams. Royer (1994) and Torgerson et-al (2001) Advances in experimental social
psychology. Berkawitzb, New York
Amini.M.E. (2005). Social Science Research Conception: Methodology and
Analysis. Makerere University.
Aswathapa. And Kalyaniet-al (2002). Operation of Organizational Cooperatives
Cook, Sexton and Arthur Pell (1995). The future of USA agricultural cooperatives.
A nee-Institutionally Fourth edition. Prentice hall
Fried.B.D. Ivancevich, and s. Ivancevich. (i2001). "Establishing effective
coping proced ures."
Gareth r. Sones and George.M.Jennifer, (2000) organizational behavior.
.Maicibi, N.A (2003) pertinent issues in employment management.
Kampala. Mk publishers
Me leod (2006). Types of cooperatives. Northwest Cooperative development center.
Mclead. Andrew. (December, 2006).Types of cooperatives identity
New York.
National Cooperative Policy (20 11 )
Oso, Yuko Willis and Onen David. (2008). A general guide to writing research Proposal and report; A Hand for beginning research. (Second edition). Quick acks enterprise: Kampala. Poverty eradication action plan 2004/5 - 2007/8.uganda Schermerhorn J.R. (1993), management for productivity. Fourth edition. . New York, Wiley Todaro (1989). economic development in the third world: third edition. Longman, University.
38 APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
CLEARANCE FROM THE ETHICS COMMITTEE
KAMPALA Ggaba Road. KC~nsanga P 0 Box 20000 Kampala. Uganrl,., INTERNATIONAL Tel: +256 (0) 712 421256 Fax: +256 (0) 41 501974 UNIVERSI TY E-marl ad !'!:l.!.':!~@k •u_
SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND A PPLI ED STATISTICS
15th December 2011
TO WHOM IT MAY CON CERN
Re: INTRODUCING WESUTA ANTHONY- BEC/2 0Q_07/82/DU
Th is is to introduce to you the above men tioned, a 3rd year student at Kampal a International Univer sity p uJ-su ing a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He is car rying out a r esearch stu dy on COOPERA T IVES AND AGRICULT URAL DEVELOPME N T: CASE STUDY O F B UGI S HU COOPERATIVE UNION (BCU ) You are requested to offer h i m t he necessary assistance that will enable him collect the requi r ed data so as to compl ete this research project.
Yours sincerely, I ;._\'-. - ~~~f·J WA1 RI ND I DANiE_J '-" / H'EAD ~:)f rlEPARTMENT
"E-.::ploring the Height .~·"
39 APPENDIX II
INFORMED CONSENT
ACTING CHAIRMAN BCU
MBALE
Dear Sir,
RE: PERMISSION TO USE BCU FOR A RESEACH STUDY
I wesuta Anthony, registration number BEC/20007/82/du a final year student at Kampala
international ..Jllliversity wishes to undertake a research study in Bugisu cooperative
unioo(BCU)
The research is base~ on the topic: cooperatives and agricultural development taking a case study ~ · " 1" . of Bugisu cooperative union.
r will be gratefu,l for the assistance.
You,rs fai~y
'•.
Mr. Ssekajugo Derrick
(Supervisor)
40 APPENDIX III
QUESTIONNAIRES FOR THE RESPONDENTS
Dear Respondent,
I am Wesuta Anthony a third year student at Kampala international university pursuing a
Bachelor of Arts in economics. I am carrying out research on cooperatives and agricultural development in Elgon region. My main aim is to determine the role
Cooperatives to words agricultural development with in the region. This questionnaires is specifically for academic purpose and all informational received shall be kept confidential.
Basic introduction questions
1. Tick(/) where necessary (x) cross where it's not necessary.
(a) What is your level of education?
Primary ( ) secondary ( ) university ( ) none ( )
(a) From which region of Bugisu.
Mbale ( ), Manafa ( ) , Bududa ( ), Sironko ( ) , Bulambuli ( )
Part A
1. Rank the following contributions of BCU towards agricultural Development in Bugisu region. (Rank on scale of 1 to 5)
1=ve ry good. 2=good. 3=fair 4=No impact. S=don't know
Determining the price
Share of profits
Training of farmers and staff
41 Infnistructure development
Saving culture
Income generation, distribution and redistribution
2 Are there any other contributions of BCU towards agricultural development in Bugisu region? YES I NO.
3. IfYES mention them.
4 Rank the following problems facing BCU towards attainment of agricultural development in Bugisu region. (Rank on scale of 1 to 5)
1= very good, 2=good. 3=fair, 4= No impact , 5= Do not know
Low capitalization
Dented image and weak advocacy
Political Interference
Unfair business practices
Poor storage facilities and other infrastructure
Inadequate knowledge on activities of cooperatives
Governance and leadership gaps
5 Are there any other problems facing BCU towards attainment of agricultural development in Bugisu region? YES/ NO
42 6 If YES mention them.
7. Suggest some possible measmes that can be undertaken to reduce I eradicate the problems above (5 and 6).
SECTIONC
Acting chairman BCU and society leader
8. (a) What has been/is the total number of members of BCU I your society for the following years.
Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 20 11 20 12
Number of members
(b) Please give reasons for the increase or decrease of members.
9. a) What were/are the cooperative prices of coffee in the following years
Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 201 2
Price/kgs
43 (b)What is/are the cause of the increase/ decrease of the prices?
APPENDIX III
PROPOSED BUDGET
No: Item Description Total (Ush)
1 Stationary (I) 2 reams of rolled paper @ 14000
(II) Printing, binding and typing 4
copies@ 18000 110000 (III) Writing materials 10
discs@1000
2 Transport 8000@day for 7 days 90000
40000 to and from Mbale
..., .) Internet cafe 10 days @2000 20000
4 personal 1 felid assistant for 7 days@3000 21000
5 Literature collected 30000
6 Meals 7 days @3000 21000
7 Miscellaneous 1/10 of other totals 29800
TOTAL 327800
44 APPENDIX IV
TIME FRAME
Activity July September
Propose writing
Data collection
Data analysis
Final Report and submission
45 APPENDIXV
CURRICULUM VITAE
BIO DATA SURE NAME: WESUTA OTHER NAME: ANTHONY DATE OF BIRTH: 17/10/1987 NATIONALITY: UGANDAN PLACE OF BIRTH: MBALE DISTRICT MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE RELIGION CHRISTIAN TEL: 0779633659 / 0704680216
EDUCATION BACKGROUND AWARD YEAR INSTITUTE BAE (waiting) 2009 -2012 Kampala International (To date) University UACE 2006-2007 PMM Girls School Jinja 2002- 2005 Holy Cross Lake View Jinja UCE 1994-2001 Busoga Junior School Jinja PLE
LANGUAGES SPOKEN English Fluently Lugisu Excellent Luganda Fairly Lusoga Fairly Swahili Tries
46 WORKING EXPERIENCE 2012 Economics and Commerce Teacher at St. Henry SSS 2008 Tomato wholesaler at Owino from Mbale during form six vocations. 2005 Teacher Busoga Junior School during my vocation
LEADERSHJPSKILLS 1. Head Boy: Busoga Junior School in 1999-2001
2. Minister ofFumiture: At Holy Cross Lake View from 2003-2004
3. Chairman Debating club: PMM Girls School 2006-2007
4. Class Coordinate economic -, (March intake 2009 - 2011)
5. Publicity Secretary Bamasaba Student Association KIU 2010-2011.
HOBBIES 1. Debating,
2. Reading Novels,
3. Football
REFEREE 1. Mr. Wambi Mukhwana Moses.
Team Leader The Giving Circle Africa P.O BOX 107 JINJA. Tel: 0775952627
2. Mr. Luwaga Charles Director St Henry sss P.o Box 34244 Kampala Tel: 0703700764
3. Mr. Ssekajugo Derrick Head of Department In-service and Lecturer Kampala international university Tel: 0712727353
47