Cooperative movement vital for wealth creation, says KK
Cooperative movement vital for wealth creation, says KKBy Kelvin Tembo
Tuesday October 14, 2008 [04:00]
FIRST Republican president Dr Kenneth Kaunda has said the cooperative movement is essential to the creation of wealth and jobs. In a speech read for him by UNIP president Tilyenji Kaunda at the launch of the party’s Bulibombo Multipurpose Cooperative Society in Lusaka on Saturday, Dr Kaunda noted that there were very few programmes that were being directed at reducing poverty in the country.
“We were preached to about the benefits of capitalism by the western world, we were told that if you properly manage macro economic factors, we would attain economic growth and the benefits would trickle down to the entire population,” he said.
Dr Kaunda said it was unfortunate that the preachers of such an ideology were suffering economic crisis. He said Zambia was not developing at the same pace with the western world, hence the need for the involvement of the cooperative movement.
“There are very few programmes if any directed at addressing the plight of those living in poverty, those at the bottom of the economic pyramid are financially weak but collectively they can marshal economic muscle,” he said.
Dr Kaunda said the cooperative movement needs to spread to other parts of the country and should not have any political inclination. He recalled that cooperative systems were used at independence for people at the local level to engage in economic activities.
“Unfortunately years later, there was an interruption to the programme, but I am delighted that we are going back to what we started years ago as a means to stimulate our economy and empower our people economically,” said Dr Kaunda.
The co-operative movement in Zambia is undergoing reorganisation after years of being non-operational. The Zambia Co-operative Federation (ZCF) has since begun participating in the distribution of farming inputs to small-scale farmers, with a total 30,000 metric tonnes of inputs earmarked to the 2008/2009 agricultural season.
Labels: COOPERATIVES, FINANCIAL CRISIS, KENNETH KAUNDA, NEOLIBERALISM, ZAMBIA COOPERATIVE FEDERATION
posted by MrK @ 10:47 PM
2 Comments:
COMMENT - Zambia has wasted two decades following neoliberal economic theory. It is time for demand side economics to return - invest mining profits in infrastructure and agriculture, and create jobs by paying tens of thousands of people to build ponds and swales for water management, and feeder roads to unlock the economic potential of the rural areas. It will create markets by having people with money to spend, and pave the way for future jobs in farming, as well as secure the food supply and lay the foundation for future manufacturing of agricultural surpluses (classic Adam Smith).
Links: THE HISTORY AND CURRENT STRUCTURE OF ZAMBIAN COOPERATIVES (FAO)
Zambia Co-operative Federation (ZCF)
P.O. Box 33579
Lusaka, Zambia
Phone: (260 1) 220 520, Fax: (260 1) 222 516
Email: zcf@Zamnet.zm
International Cooperative Agricultural Organisation
Efforts and initiatives for supply of conservation tillage equipment in Zambia
by Isaac Sakala
Africare SAMeP, Box 31095, Lusaka, Zambia.
Africare Smallholder Agricultural Mechanization Promotions, (SAMeP)
International list of cooperative organisations
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home