Member commitment in times of COVID-19

29-04-2020

'We are not in normal times'. You might have heard this statement quite often these past few weeks. Well, in these abnormal times you make lemonade with the lemons life has given. In Twi (my local parlance), there is a proverb that "biribi es3e a na ne yie mua", literally meaning "in every misfortune lies an opportunity".

Member commitment has always been a huge topic in almost all cooperatives (at least those I have encountered). It is often seen as a chicken and an egg issue. Cooperatives need members financial, produce and time commitment to thrive. Members on the other hand, wants to see added value and /or benefits before giving commitment.

Well cooperatives have a unique opportunity in this unfortunate situation of COVID-19 to show concern for their members and offer them a sense of belonging; different for a non-member. By this, they are sure to win some 'Affective Commitment'.

Somewhere in Ghana, one of our clients, Asetenapa Cocoa Cooperative ( with support from their partner Tony's Chocolonely) has taken the step to show concern for their members and the entire communities they are located. They have given them sanitizers, liquid soaps and prevention information brochures. For their communities, they have provided them with hand washing stations at vantage points and given preventive information through health personnel.

COVID Helpdesk

Though the coop is doing a lot, they were not looking at the entire picture; the after math of this pandemic and the possible negative impact of the COVID measures on their business. Through the Agriterra COVID helpdesk questionnaire, the board and management had an 'eye opener', hence has required assistance on developing a contingency plan. Their major risk is to get decertified from Fairtrade since they are not able to give proper trainnings due to Government ban on any form of social gathering in light of the pandemic. Loosing certification means loosing their only source of revenue. If this continues, it might affect onfarm activities during the main crop season. So clearly, these are issues worth looking at.

In the mean time, we are helping our clients look ahead with the kind of questions we ask and not just stay in the present. We are LIVING with them and not LEAVING them.

Habiba Nyarko Agyemang, business advisor Ghana