. Play commendable role in stabilizing local market gaps
ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian Cooperatives Agency said cooperative unions, associations and federations have not been successful in achieving their six-month export target which was 70 million USD. However, the Agency said, the cooperatives have played a commendable role in stabilizing market gaps at national level.
Abdu Adembuser, Agency Planning Project and Information Directorate Director told The Ethiopian Herald that the cooperatives have managed to earn only 14 million USD from export during the first six-months of the current budget year, achieving only 20 percent of the plan. The failure is due to the low level of commitment, weak structural linkage/integration, instability in some parts of the country and inflation.
The 27 cooperatives and unions as well as two federations are mainly engaged in the marketing of coffee, grain, vegetables, fruits, and spices. On the other hand, the cooperative unions, associations, and federation have together supplied 269,193.05 tons of agricultural commodities to the national market and hence played a critical role in stabilizing the local demand-supply gap.
As to him, 878 Cooperatives have been trying to get involved in various value addition schemes in agro-processing. However, while the cooperatives have the plan to build 21 factories in the past six months, Wongi Union Molasses factory was the only one to be successful to enter operation. Berhanu Dufera, Agency Financial Cooperative Development Directorate Director on his part said the overall capital of the cooperatives has increased by one billion birr over the six month period.
Members of the Cooperatives have also opened saving accounts in the name of 100 thousand children and saved 2.8 million Birr. The agency has also conducted a financial inspection and auditing on 13,922 cooperatives as per the cooperatives law proclamation number 9/85/2009 to make sure that they are financially stable.
The agency has finalized the preparation of the draft cooperatives policy and roadmap which awaits approval. So far, the cooperatives have created 37 thousand temporary and seven thousand permanent jobs. Currently, the 82,000 cooperatives, 381 cooperative unions, and 3 federations have more than 722 million USD capital.
The Ethiopian Herald, February 28/2019
BY MULATU BELACHEW
