Cooperatives’ Relevance

MINISTER for Finance Mahesh Acharya handed over the management of Small Farmers’ Development Project (SFDP) under the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) to Small Farmers’ Group in Shankar Nagar of Rupandehi district the other day. The hand over was part of the government’s decision to mobilise the people at the local level to manage and operate such financial and other institutions as per the need of the areas. The SFDP in Shankar Nagar is quite unique in that it was developed and operated by women as a cooperative organisation. Since it is the present policy of the government to hand over all the Small Farmers’ Development Projects to the local farmers, till date, more than 90 per cent of such projects have already been handed over to the farmers’ groups in different parts of the country. This is a positive initiative of the government in that the local farmers, formed into Small Farmers’ Groups, would not only be responsible in running these institutions exclusively created for their benefits but, more importantly, they would be making their own decisions in management their organisations’ affairs. While this is perfectly in keeping with the government’s policy to strengthen democratic practices and norms at the village level, the farmers, in turn, would be enabled to identify their local problems and challenges. And, through their own initiatives, come up with the required solutions. Since over 90 per cent of the population are farmers living in villages, the local-level development activities launched by the farmers themselves would, in the long run, contribute to the overall development efforts of the nation in general and the government in particular. For, after all, the mainstay of Nepalese economy is still agriculture which employs over 90 per cent of the nation’s population.

All know that the majority of farmers are small farmers who eke out a subsistent level of existence because of, among others, small land holdings and the lack of access to inputs needed to improve their obsolete farming technique—which, in turn, is holding them back from increasing their farms’ yields. In such a situation, the formation of farmers’ cooperatives, such as the SFDPs, would not only ensure maximum mobilisation of their meagre resources but also lead to the optimum utilisation of their labour, skills and knowledge for their common uplift. As such, if the vast majority of the small farmers’ low living standards are ever to be raised, then it looks to reason for the concerned authorities to forward all necessary assistance, encouragement and incentives to the small farmers to form their own cooperatives.

Pro-Women Scheme

IN SPITE of all those expressions of good intentions over the years to better Nepalese women’s living conditions, actual programmes on the ground were largely absent from the scheme of various national plans and programmes. Of course, under many line ministries, one or the other programmes would have some gender considerations. There would be some women-specific programmes too. But they would be few and far between. It is against this backdrop of absence of a comprehensive programme targeted to uplift women’s conditions that the Women Awareness and Income-Generation Programme commands attention. It was a welcome move on the part of the government to launch such a scheme that particularly aimed at making women’s lives better. Truly a nation-wide programme, it is under way in all the seventy-five districts. It was revealed at the gathering in Kathmandu the other day of chairpersons of district coordination committees overseeing the implementation of this programme that by far 76,590 women in 8,510 groups have been associated with the programmes conducted in 940 Village Development Committees. Savings, of Rs. 2.4 million have already been mobilised through the programme, which as the name suggests, aims to enable women to generate income on their own.

The chairperson are in Kathmandu to deliberate on the weaknesses in the implementation of the programme. Some of the speakers at the inaugural function of the five-day national workshop were suggesting how to move forward. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Development Ramchandra Paudel, who inaugurated it, suggested that perhaps the programme should aim at developing the savings groups into cooperatives. Indeed, the eventual shape and functioning of these groups would probably be fashioned after those of a cooperative. But, as the Minister of State for Women, Children and Social Welfare Kamala Pant pointed out, it is easier said than done. Implementing the programme through cooperative would require a different approach. And it won’t be as uncomplicated as formation of groups. She is right. For now, the scheme should run much in the manner as decided. If the experience of having conducted the programmes in 940 VDCs points to the continued validity of this modaility, then the programme design should not be changed. Efforts should not be focussed instead, on bringing the programmes to as many VDCs as resources permit. Replication of this scheme in programme areas of other line ministries should also be considered, if it is found to be beneficial. Then depending on the gained experience, it could be discussed later in a similar gathering as now, whether the cooperative model should be tried, gradually.