News

The new normal in Burkina Faso

In Burkina Faso, precisely in Bobo-Dioulasso in the west of the country, there is the mask ceremony which is a cultural event that takes place every year in April. This is a ceremony during which masks representing several forms of animals are presented in the city. People come out in large numbers to enjoy this beautiful public ceremony. According to local beliefs, this ceremony gives people hope for life for the coming year.                                                   

Cooperatives roles in promoting climate-smart agriculture

Across the globe, smallholder farmers are facing challenges brought about by changes in climate. The overall impacts of climate change on agriculture will depend on the balance of various effects. The shift in weather patterns takes place at a time when there is an increasing demand for food, feed, fiber, and fuel, which has the potential to damage the natural resource base on which agriculture depends irreversibly. 

Powerwoman 6: Daphne Muchai

Agriterra trained 14 strong willed female (future) leaders in the first ever ‘Female Leadership in Agricultural Cooperatives Masterclass’, held in Kenya. The group is composed of Zambian, Ugandese and Kenyan participants, representing organisations that are active in coffee, dairy, sunflower or credit and saving.

Main purpose of the masterclass is to strengthen the leadership skills of these women. These highly motivated cooperative leaders return full of energy and ambitions back to their respective cooperatives, better equipped to take up their leadership roles and make a change contributing to closing the gender gap in agricultural cooperatives.

Powerwoman 6: Daphne Muchai (56) from the Women Farmers’ Association of Kenya (WoFaAK) 

Coffee producers San Fernando in times of corona virus

San Fernando coffee cooperative in Peru, located 13 hours away by road from Cusco, with more than 420 members, is facing the situation caused by the coronavirus using various strategies within a complex context. It is important to start mentioning that the lockdown measures dictated by the Peruvian government in order to control the pandemic have caused great difficulties in internal transportation, which in turn has meant that coffee farmers face problems to supply to the local markets with other products such as cassava or avocados. They produce this complementarily to the coffee production to obtain additional incomes, waiting the peak harvest season of coffee (May). It means that is has been almost impossible for them to move their products to the towns and neither to buy basic food, because they are not available in the local markets for the same reasons.

The importance of cooperatives during COVID-19 crisis in cocoa sector Bolivia

El Ceibo R.L. in Bolivia is a second level cooperative, working in the agro industrial production chain of organic cocoa and other products. They work under criteria of economic, social and environmental sustainability. They also have the mission of satisfying the needs of its associates and producers in the field, with its own self-management under the philosophy of the cooperatives values.

Powerwoman 5: Costance Asiimwe

Agriterra trained 14 strong willed female (future) leaders in the first ever ‘Female Leadership in Agricultural Cooperatives Masterclass’, held in Kenya. The group is composed of Zambian, Ugandese and Kenyan participants, representing organisations that are active in coffee, dairy, sunflower or credit and saving.

Main purpose of the masterclass is to strengthen the leadership skills of these women. These highly motivated cooperative leaders return full of energy and ambitions back to their respective cooperatives, better equipped to take up their leadership roles and make a change contributing to closing the gender gap in agricultural cooperatives.

Powerwoman 5: Costance Asiimwe (34) from Lyamujungu SACCO in Uganda 

Creating job opportunities for the youth through cooperatives in Ethiopia

Agriterra is implementing its ‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs approach’ in African countries, i.e. Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.
Ambitious young professionals are offered the opportunity to gain work experience in primary cooperatives and unions at known Agriterra partners. Agriterra co-finances the salary costs of the cooperatives that have enrolled in the programme and guides the young professionals and cooperatives through the development, implementation and evaluation of the young professionals’ personal development plans.
Agriterra gradually decreases its co-financing to guarantee the sustainability of the project. 

Making face masks in South Sudan

Mazarrelo Women Multipurpose Coop in South Sudan has four business lines: poultry, vegetables, tailoring and catering (cookies). Established in November 2019 as women only cooperative to empower women, the 106-member cooperative found itself in the codid 19 turbulence.