22 CHAPTER 2


Box 2.1 Amecha Area Multipurpose Cooperative


The Amecha Area Multipurpose Cooperative is located 17 kilometers from Wolenchiti, the capital of the food-insecure woreda of Boset. Founded in 1980 under the Derg regime, its activities were then limited to col- lecting farmers’ produce for the Agricultural Marketing Corporation of the government at below-market prices. The organization was there- fore considered exploitative of farmers and was dismantled with the fall of the regime in 1991.


The Cooperative was re-established in 1995 with the objective of providing members with output marketing services as well as enhanced access to agricultural inputs and credit. This time, however, the organi- zation was meant to be free of any external control and to be governed democratically in accordance with the interests of the members. At present, the Cooperative’s contacts with the administration are limited to management training, market information, and audit services pro- vided by the Woreda Cooperative Office. In return, the Cooperative is obligated to present its audited financial report annually to the Zonal Cooperative Office.


At the time of the Cooperative’s re-establishment, it was also made clear that membership should be voluntary, in contrast with forced par- ticipation under the previous regime. As of today, membership is open to anyone, provided they accept and respect the Cooperative’s bylaws, understand and accept its objectives, and pay 67 birr (1 birr as a regis- tration fee and 66 birr as the price of a share). The Cooperative today counts 984 members, mostly elderly people. Younger individuals typically do not control land and are thus less interested in the services offered; moreover, the organization is often still perceived as a government entity similar to the cooperatives under the Derg regime rather than a farmer- owned organization.


Currently, the Cooperative is only involved in input supply and crop purchase. It receives agricultural inputs (fertilizer and credit) from the Lume-Adama-Boset Union and sells to members and nonmembers (but only members may purchase on credit). In marketing members’ output, the Cooperative gives priority to the Union, provided the prices offered are competitive with the nearby markets of Nazareth and Wolenchiti. Nonmembers may also sell their products through the Cooperative, but they do not benefit from the proceeds of the organization. (Dividends have been distributed twice to members since the re-establishment.)


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