News

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.

Women with potential and ambition

Bert Overbeek has been working as a trainer, coach, interim manager, and writer for 25 years. He delivers training courses in leadership and all derivatives thereof for more than 55 organisations. In addition to this, he has written several books about management, including a book about gender diversity and inclusion. 

Coops prepare for post COVID-19 quarantine business re-entry

QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES -- With the scheduled easing of quarantine restrictions in many areas of the country on May 16, cooperatives are anticipating a potential mass withdrawal of savings by members to shore up their cash reserve. This could lead to a cash flow problem that could result in a financial collapse for the cooperatives. “My greatest fear is a financial crisis that could result from liquidity problems of the cooperative,” says the CEO of one primary agricultural cooperative in the country. This sentiment was shared by other cooperative managers in a rapid survey conducted by Agriterra Philippines among its clients in line with the establishment of its Corona Regional Help Desks worldwide.

The current COVID-19 crisis situation in Burundi

The COVID-19 pandemic also included Burundi country. Today (5 May) there are 19 positive cases and among them 1 death.

Powerwoman 4: Joan Simbolei

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 4: Joan Simbolei (39) from Kipkelion District Coffee Union (KDCU) in Kenya 

Live stream e-commerce: a new option of agri produce marketing in China

China has passed the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic. In post-lockdown times, consumption is expected to bounce back. As a new way of marketing, live stream e-commerce has been gaining incredible popularity among Chinese consumers since its emergence in 2019. That presents opportunity for farmers as well. If you are interested to know how live stream e-commerce helps boost sales of agri produce in China, read this post of Lei Chen, business advisor China.

Directly delivering

Eatable Oil, such as Peanut, Sesame, Sunflower Oils, is one of the main ingredients in Myanmar Dishes. Without eatable oil in food, nobody has a taste. Also locally produce sufficient domestic consumption for the country. A Burmese saying goes “Have a wash in cooking oil, warm yourself at a fire made by chopped stalks of tobacco, and the paddies are piled in great heaps".