ACFA Being Innovative

Initially, we told you that this was the head of a horse but you doubted
and claimed that it was a frog.
Are you now dissapointed or you still believe that you are right?
Let us receive comment from you on what you now feel about this drawing.

You may just be Walking out of Porverty ......

Simple Ilustration of Cooperating

All Cooperative Farmers Association
SIMPLIFIED ILLUSTRATION OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

Let’s take for instance this illustration of a poor villager who has two cows and gets ten litres of milk from it daily and after consumption by his family everyday, he’s still left with a surplus of five liters of milk. What should he do with the surplus?He may wish to sell the extra milk but may not find a customer to purchase them. With this development in mind, what will you like to do if you were in the shoes of this person? Someone may conclude that if I am the one, I will just sell the extra milk in the nearby town or city market. This is a very good resolve. But what if he finds it difficult to sell to anyone in the market? and its obvious that he does not have money to go to the town to sell the milk. What should he now do? Here, it’s clear this poor villager is faced with a problem of selling his extra milk. Do you have any solution for him?

One day that poor villager met a learner of business management or otherwise say; an ASS Team member of ACFA who had earlier been faced with a similar problem. Because he had experience of how to address such situation, he counsel the village farmer by informing him that he is not the only person facing such problem. The ACFA team counselor told the farmer that there are many other farmers in his village facing the same problem that he does not know. He even made it known to him that even in the nearby village, there are others that their milk is wasting away because no buyer want to buy less quantity of milk. And that if they all can come together, they will be able to reason together and find a solution to their common problem. So that henceforth, you all can unitedly collect the surplus milk at a common place and send somebody to the nearby town to sell it. After sale, you can sit together and distribute the money according to your contribution of milk. Of course first you have to deduct all the expenses from the sales proceeds.

Because that villager genuinely needed solution to his problem, he agreed to what the ACFA ASS Team member told him, and within a short period of time, he told other colleagues about this new idea which led to the bringing together of others of like-mind and form jointly own venture which subsequently helped them to become milk producers in his village.

By collecting the milk together in large quantity and selling the milk in the nearby town they were all able to earn money. After that they did not face any problem of finding a market for the surplus milk. This process continued for a long time. One day some body suggested that instead of selling only milk why not produce other milk products like ghee, butter, cheese, milk powder etc. and sell them in the market at a better price? All of them agreed and did the same. They produced quality milk products and found a very good market for their products not only in the nearby town but in the entire country. Just do a reviewing; A poor villager, who was not able to sell five litres of milk in his village, is now selling milk and milk products throughout the nation. He is now enjoying a good life.

How did it happen? Who made it possible? This is the reward of a joint effort or a co-operative spirit.

The term co-operation is derived from the Latin word co-operari, where the word co-operative therefore could means “working together”. So those who want to work together with some common economic objective can form a society which is termed as “co-operative society”. It is a voluntary association of persons who work together to promote their economic interest. It works on the principle of self-help as well as mutual help. The main objective is to provide support to the members. Nobody joins a cooperative society to earn profit. People come forward as a group, pool their individual resources, utilize them in the best possible manner, and derive some common benefit out of it.

In the above example, all producers of milk of a village joined hands, collected the surplus milk at a common place and sold milk and milk products in the market. This was possible because of their joint effort. Individually it would not have been possible either to sell or produce any milk product in that village. They had formed a co-operative society for this purpose.

In a similar way, consumers in a particular locality can join hands to provide goods of their daily need and thus, form a co-operative society. Now they can buy goods directly from the producers and sell those to members at a cheaper price. Why is the price cheaper? Because they buy goods directly from the producer and thereby the middlemen’s profit is eliminated.

Do you think it would have been possible on the part of a single consumer to buy goods directly from the producers? Of course, not. In the same way people can form other types of co-operative societies as well. Let us know about them.

ENSURING FOOD SECURITY IN NIGERIA THROUGH EXTENSION OF FARMING SKILL AND TECHNOLOGY.

As Nigeria joins her counterpart all over the world, to celebrate world food day. It is pertinent to note that food remains a paramount issue in the seven point agenda of the present president of the federal republic of Nigeria president Umaru Yar’adua.

Nigeria is richly blessed with human and natural resources. At a point, we have been able to harness these resources to satisfy the needs of the masses. What has happening in the agricultural sector of the economy for the past twenty years now, is a basic problem that needs to be addressed.

Nigeria, the largest populated country in Africa is richly blessed with lot of sustainable resources that would have taken the country to greater height, and in the past, Nigeria was known as one of the country that exports the highest number of raw agricultural materials to the rest of the world. But today, Nigeria cannot even feed its masses let alone talks about exporting to other country

Despite the propaganda about exportation of raw agricultural materials, withal the new innovations of agriculture, what we export cannot be compare to what we ought to have exported.

This timely information is aimed at ensuring the production of enough food that will be sufficient for the consumption of the people; and for export. This information is also targeted to assisting in the security of food through the extension education technology.

We in Gofta believe strongly that the awareness and education given to farmers on the new method of farming and innovation has, to a considerable extent not been enough. Putting into consideration the large number of farmers we have in the country; to be precise, its effect is not up to 11%. Therefore, the government at all level must wake up to their responsibility of making food sufficient for its citizenry. In Nigeria where the bulk of farmers lived in the rural area, government ought to give special priority to farmers by designing a program aimed at reaching the rural farmers. Instead of using the Television to sensitize the people, the government and its agent should look for capable groups among the farmers co-operative Societies, to help them bring the real farmers together to be sensitized on how to prepare their farms for better yield. Instead the agencies set up by the government to reach the farmers through extension education technology have failed. As they have not been able to incorporate these farmers and give them the necessary assistance needed.

Extension in the real sense is to reach a large number of farmers at the same time.

OUR ADVICE:

We advise the government and all the agric officials in the various Ministry of Agriculture to buckle up now and do their best to make sure the farmers are assisted to the maximum level they can, to be able to produce enough food, to feed the populace, and for export

They should ensure they reach all the farmers, and ask them their problems, provide it for them and also encourage them by means of financial assistance, then institute a means to monitor their progress.

We in Gofta strongly believe that if these advices are applied, food shortage will be a thing forgotten in all nook and corners of Nigeria.

The government agencies definitely cannot be able to reach all farmers in the rural areas. Another fact is, any money designated for agric project in the country, becomes money for all. This is so because; the farmers are helpless, brother less, friendless, and unpopular. This should stop! Let us start our investment right now before our bones get puny. Call the farmers together, give them what actually belong to them. Because if you fail to do this, the book of Psalms 82:3 says “Give ear to the cause of the poor (those in the grass root) and the children without fathers; (the farmers) let those who are troubled and in need have their rights so says the Lord”.

Women As Entrepreneur and Their Involvement in Microfinance in Nigeria. (Part One)

This section of the Gofta news magazine is to reveal the effort made so far to investigate the ways in which micro-finance programs, both governmental and non-governmental, have driven financial sustainability and included women in community development in Nigeria. In this development, the study examined the extent to which these programs have affected women in the area of economic self reliance, social and political empowerment. Women are generally considered to be at the lowest tread of the poverty ladder in Nigeria, the study extrapolated the effects of micro-finance on the lessening of poverty for the women.

Furthermore, the study examined the policy implications of micro credit financing of women economic activities within the broad framework of gender formulaic background of these enterprises. In order to accomplish these goals, we decide to explored the theoretical bases of micro-finance breakdown with the overarching context of gender/feminist literature. This approach is important because of the low economic status of women in Nigerian society. As we proceed to argue here that there is a general likelihood that the microfinance approach is targeted at women, we also explained the underlying rationale for this approach from the Nigerian perspective.

To realize this and test our propositions, we found out that, issues in our locality if used will be appropriate. Hence, we have selected three micro-finance institutions, one non-governmental organization and two government assisted microfinance organizations: Country Women Association of Nigeria (COWAN), the Peoples Bank of Nigeria, and Family Economic Assistance Program. The latter two are both federally operated institutions of the government of Nigeria aimed at providing credit to those who ordinarily would not get them. By so doing, raise their economic status and help them to eliminate their poverty. The suggestions that are made in this study are:

1.        That there should be a direct relationship between micro credit availability and economic development.

2.        They should create a direct affiliation between micro credit and women empowerment.

3.        That they should support the availability of micro credit facilitates income generating   activities among people and contributes to their increased standard of living.

4.       That they should create a link between the association and the micro finance institutions to enhance the development of financial sustainability among women.

5.       That micro financial institutions are directly associated with women without hindrance of any sort.

Understanding Co-operative

applying THE CO-OPERATIVE FORMULA

 

Most people have been made to totter about and waste their precious time and effort by some wolves in sheep’s clothing, just because they don’t understand the actual process of going about what they intends to do. This is neither strange nor funny as persons from almost every aspect of life fall victim to this trait.

For the benefit of what we are actually discussing about in this book, which is “STEPS TO SETTING UP CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES” this book will not just help those intending to set up co-operatives alone, rather, it will add to the knowledge of running a co-operative group that you already know.

Most of the information’s you will find here might be what you already know, but if you remind yourselves of it and act on it, you will see the true benefit you obtain as a co-operator. To start up the TRIP, lets consider the words used in the co-operative society BYE-LAWS.

1.1a.   About ten individuals who know and trust themselves and have a common goal or pursuit are expected to come together, to discuss ways they hope to excel in their various businesses. After conducting with themselves and seeing the possibilities of their succeeding if they work together, they are expected to make their intention known to the Co-operative officer in charge of where they operate from.

1.1b.   The Co-operative officer is expected to visit them during one of their meetings. Whether they are pre-informed or not. As this unscheduled visit by the officer will display the authenticity of the existence of such group. In the visit, the officer is likely to educate them on the primary guidelines of setting up a co-operative society, what a co-operative society is, how a co-operative society is expected to function and etc.

1.1c.   The requirements to setting up a reputable co-operative society are made known to them. The reason of thrift payment by co-operator is decisively explained to them in detail. The need not to be in a hurry in running a co-operative society is brought bare before them.

1.1d.   The co-operators will be then expected to start some savings which they will use to register the co-operative after which on routinely, the officer visits them and check their various record books to make sure they are acquainted with the understanding of book keeping and how to record them.

1.1e.   During several visit by the officer in charge, who is certain that they have gradually saved enough money to register the group and being very sure that after the registration that the co-operative group will still have some money left, he then advice them to write an application to register the co-operative which he/she will attest to that he is recommending them for registration. To Read More, CLICK HERE

Shebnah Okoro

NAME:                                                             OKORO SHEBNAH
SEX:                                                                  MALE
MARITAL STATUS:                                        MARRIED
NO. OF CHILDREN:                                       FOUR
PROFESSION:                                                 BUILDER
NATIONALITY:                                              NIGERIAN
STATE OF ORIGIN:                                        IMO
RELIGION                                                       CHRISTIAN
TELEPHONE NUMBER:                                 08071733824

HOW MANY TIMES HAS
OFTA SUPPORTED YOU:                             TWICE

WHEN PRECISELY:                                       May 2007 and June 2011

Comment;
I Mr. Shebnah Okoro has actually benefited from the good gesture of Goftagroup, hence I recommend it to any businessman/farmers or entrepreneurs who has good intention to expand in his/her businesses.
If any person/association or organization see reasons to help this foundation raise some fund to assist many who still believe goftagroup can be of good use to them can partner with this group. Just CLICK HERE to assist goftagroup