Co-operative Performance Index - Field Results and Analysis of Co-operatives in RwandaPublished through: USAID - Enabling Market Integration through Rural Group Empowerment (EMIRGE)
Authors: Theogene Nkuranga, EMIRGE Program Coordinator, Global Communities Rwanda; Kristin Wilcox, EMIRGE Technical Officer, Global Communities Date: January 2013 Introduction
Co-operatives are democratic, member-run, and member-financed enterprises. They have been a model for bringing together people across all spheres of society in common economic and social interests. In Rwanda, co-operatives comprise nearly 2.5 million members grouped into approximately 5,000 active co-operative entities. These co-operatives are regulated by Rwanda law 50/2007 of 18/09/2007 determining the establishment, organization, and functioning of co-operative organizations. Most commonly found in Rwanda in the agricultural sector, co-operatives are providing significant results in the production of tea, coffee, rice, maize, Irish potatoes, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat, and fish. They are also seeing gains in other sectors such as finance SACCOs (savings and credit co-operatives), mining and transportation (motorcycles and minibuses) as well. Since 2010, CHF International in Rwanda has been working with producer groups and associations of People Living with HIV/AIDS and families living with Orphans and Vulnerable Children, assisting these groups to become formal co-operatives and building capacity in the areas of governance, management, and business development in order to increase household incomes and strengthen overall family resiliency. To track performance among those co-operatives, Global Communities' co-operative development program, EMIRGE, in partnership with the USAID/Higa Ubeho Economic Strengthening team, developed a tool called the Co-operative Performance Index (CPI) and supported the assessment of each of the 85 co-operatives in the USAID/Higa Ubeho program and the EMIRGE program portfolios. |