Co-op sees opportunities in new horticultural plant
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday November 30, 2016 14:54
Bosa Bosele Horticultural Cooperative Society’s membership has dropped from 50 in 2002 when it was registered to only 15 at present.
The co-operative society has already started negotiations with relevant authorities to make the society a collection point for all the produce from the Bobirwa region as they seek to take advantage of the horticultural processing plant, Napro.
The co-op chairperson, Jacob Mokgathong said this will reduce expenses on the agriculturists and curb a situation where farmers decide to bypass the co-op and sell directly to the market.
“We are hoping for a positive response from Napro,” he said. The co-op’s capital base at the moment is that members pay a once off membership fee then supply the co-op with the produce. The co-op then markets the products, sell them and then charge the farmer 20% commission. Non-members are charged 30%.
Mokgathong noted that the co-op is struggling financially and at some point it was on the brink of liquidation because it had debt that it could not clear off. He cited a P20,000 debt to the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS), as an example. He attributed the situation to the ever changing competitive business environment and other attributes that have over the years hindered their success and progress.
He noted that in many instances, the farmers complain that the commission is too high. Mokgathong also said laxity and lack of commitment by the co-op’s board members as well as lack of skilled labour are some of the reasons the society is threatened with liquidation.
He however said they have come up with a strategic plan that will address all these concerns. He said their aim is for the co-op to benefit its members through dividends.
“However, we have never been able to afford to pay dividends to our membership because of lack of income. We only generate little funds to run daily but never enough to pay dividends to members,” he said. He said they are saved by the fact that members are dormant.
“We are in debts and the challenge is that we have seasonal farmers and this forces us to end up buying our products from outside the co-op. The issue of seasonal farming is threatening our business and causes friction between co-op workers and farmers,” he added.
Mokgathong further said farmers are unable to keep their individual cooperative plans. He said this will guide a regional plan. “We have a potential as a region to do that. We hope that our strategic plan that is still being formulated and finalised will address the situation,” he said.