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Agricultural cooperatives and socialempowerment of women: a Ugandancase studyHilary Ferguson & Thembela KepePublished online: 24 May 2011.
To cite this article: Hilary Ferguson & Thembela Kepe (2011) Agricultural cooperatives and socialempowerment of women: a Ugandan case study, Development in Practice, 21:3, 421-429, DOI:10.1080/09614524.2011.558069
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Agricultural cooperatives and socialempowerment of women: a Ugandancase study
Hilary Ferguson and Thembela Kepe
This article presents a case study of Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise in south-western
Uganda, which shows that benefits from agricultural cooperatives can extend beyond monetary
tangibles. We discuss several social factors that women members claimed have improved since
they became members of the cooperative, including their confidence, their negotiating skills, the
ability to be of service to their communities through transferring skills to non-members, and the
ability to take control of certain household decisions when dealing with men. We conclude that
these social benefits could be enhanced if they were fully acknowledged as important by agents
of change.
Cooperatives agricoles et autonomisation sociale des femmes: etude de cas d’OugandaCet article presente une etude de cas de la Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise, dans le
sud-ouest de l’Ouganda, qui montre que les avantages decoulant des cooperatives agricoles
peuvent s’etendre au-dela des aspects monetaires tangibles. Nous discutons de plusieurs fac-
teurs sociaux qui, selon les femmes membres, se sont ameliores depuis qu’elles se sont
jointes a la cooperative, y compris leur assurance, leurs competences de negociation, l’aptitude
a rendre service a leurs communautes en transferant des competences aux non-membres, et
l’aptitude a prendre le controle de certaines decisions concernant le menage lorsqu’elles ont
affaire a des hommes. Nous concluons que ces avantages sociaux pourraient etre ameliores
s’ils etaient pleinement reconnus comme importants par les agents de changement.
Cooperativas agrıcolas e empoderamento social das mulheres: um estudo de caso de UgandaEste artigo apresenta um estudo de caso da Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise no
sudoeste de Uganda, que mostra que os benefıcios provenientes das cooperativas agrıcolas
podem ir alem dos recursos monetarios. Discutimos varios fatores sociais que as mulheres-
membro disseram que tem melhorado desde que elas se tornaram membros da cooperativa,
inclusive sua confianca, suas habilidades como negociadoras, a habilidade de ser prestativa
a suas comunidades atraves da transferencia de habilidades a nao-membros e a habilidade
de assumir o controle de certas decisoes familiares quando se esta lidando com homens. Con-
cluımos que estes benefıcios sociais poderiam ser ampliados se eles fossem totalmente recon-
hecidos como importantes por agentes de mudanca.
ISSN 0961-4524 Print/ISSN 1364-9213 Online 030421-9 # 2011 Taylor & Francis 421
Routledge Publishing DOI: 10.1080/09614524.2011.558069
Development in Practice, Volume 21, Number 3, May 2011
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Las cooperativas agrıcolas y el empoderamiento social de la mujer: un estudio de caso deUgandaEste ensayo examina la Empresa Cooperativa del Area de Manyakabi del suroeste de Uganda,
un caso que demuestra que los beneficios de las cooperativas agrıcolas no solo son monetarios.
Los autores analizan varios factores sociales que segun las mujeres han mejorado desde que se
afiliaron a la cooperativa, entre ellos su autoestima, su capacidad para negociar, su servicio a
su comunidad capacitando a las no socias en distintos menesteres y, ademas, una creciente
capacidad para tomar decisiones relacionadas con el hogar cuando de negociar con los
hombres se trata. Los autores concluyen que estos beneficios sociales podrıan fortalecerse si
los agentes de cambio reconocieran la importancia que revisten.
KEY WORDS: Civil society; Gender and diversity; Labour and livelihoods; Sub-Saharan Africa
Introduction
It is estimated that there are some 750,000 cooperatives worldwide, providing their members
with a range of benefits, including affordable products and services, and ownership or
control of resources (NCBA 2005; Ortmann and King 2007). Many cooperatives in developing
countries focus on agriculture, with input supply and marketing as key areas of involvement
(Holloway et al. 2000; Adeyemo 2004; Piesse et al. 2005; Ortmann and King 2007). Even
though the empowerment of members to improve their quality of life and enhance economic
opportunities through self-help is a key goal of most cooperatives (NCBA 2005), more often
than not in practice agricultural cooperatives focus on generating greater profits (Barton
2000; Ortmann and King 2007). Even studies that acknowledge cooperative organisations’
positive influence on broader social aspects within communities often present these social
benefits as secondary to economic benefits (Mayoux 1995; Hoyt 2004; Nyoro and Ngugi
2007). Studies that explore the role of agricultural cooperatives in empowering their women
members are particularly limited, but a few exceptions exist (see Oberhauser and Pratt 2004).
Our case study seeks to contribute to the debate on the benefits of agricultural cooperatives in
developing countries by exploring how these institutions can empower women beyond the
business ventures for which they were established. We would like to emphasise that our
contribution is not a comparative analysis of the economic and social benefits of agricultural
cooperatives to their members. Rather we seek to highlight how cooperative members recognise
and appreciate social benefits as complementing economic goals. In other words, we do not see
these two goals as mutually exclusive. To make our contribution, we use the case study of
female members of the Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise in south-western Uganda.
Following a description of methodology, the article provides background and context about
the case-study region, and a description of the Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise. This is
followed by a presentation of the economic and social benefits gained by cooperative members
and the community at large, with a focus on the importance of intangible benefits and the
promotion of women’s empowerment. The final section discusses these issues further, and
concludes.
Case-study methodology
This article is based on primary data collected over four weeks in May 2009. Semi-structured
interviews, focus groups, observations, and informal discussions were conducted with
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smallholder farmers belonging to the Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise; a cooperative
association in south-western Uganda’s Mbarara and Isingiro districts. This study’s findings
originate from a research project examining a local and regional food aid procurement initiative
within the smallholder community (see Ferguson and Kepe 2011). During fieldwork for this
initial project, the significant role of the cooperative as a driving force for social empowerment
was realised. When these data were separated out from the results of our initial study, we found
that they produced distinct findings worthy of a separate discussion.
Twenty-five farmers (20 female, five male), belonging to nine of the cooperative’s 28 differ-
ent farmers’ groups, participated in semi-structured interviews. Overall, this small sample size
of 25 smallholders permitted in-depth, qualitative research within the limited timeframe. For the
purposes of this article, the cooperative leadership and cooperative membership are considered
key informants. The study is wholly about the experiences of these small-scale actors, and
therefore it must directly engage with their perspectives.
A combination of ‘convenience’ and ‘snowball’ sampling was the main approach for identify-
ing farmers for interviews and focus groups (see Denscombe 2007). Convenience sampling made
use of pre-existing naturally formed groups – in this case, the Manyakabi Area Cooperative
Enterprise and the various farming groups working under its structure. Snowball sampling
became useful for enabling research participants who were contacted first to identify other
farmers belonging to the cooperative for participation in the study. Through our application of
these techniques we were able to contact and include a diverse group of smallholders living in
different locations of the cooperative’s catchment area within the Mbarara and Isingiro districts.
The cooperative leadership informed us where farming groups within the community were
located, as well as how to contact them. Subsequently, the leaders of these farming groups
were contacted, and smallholders working under these farming groups were identified and inter-
viewed. The farmers interviewed also provided us with additional potential research subjects. We
also asked cooperative and farming-group leaders to refer us to farmers of different socio-econ-
omic backgrounds and both sexes, applying a degree of judgement to our sample choice to ensure
a degree of diversity in our sample. Combining these sampling techniques allowed us to take
advantage of the cooperative’s organisational structure, enabling us to gather a varied group of
study participants through a well-considered referral process within the community.
Four focus-group discussions with farmers were also conducted. Focus groups consisted of
five to six farmers each, with either all-male or all-female participants, to diffuse any cross-
gender tensions and to promote candid conversation; three female focus groups and one male
focus group were thus formed. Overall, this small sample size permitted in-depth, qualitative
research within the limited timeframe. Lastly, informal discussions with cooperative leadership
and community members provided additional insight into how the cooperative benefits
members and non-members within the community.
The Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise
Typically, in Uganda women play a domestic role and are mainly responsible for household
food production and preparation. Conversely, men act as income earners and are integrated
more widely into the formal economy (Otiso 2006). Consequently, men have traditionally
had greater control over resources, often leaving women disempowered (UNDP 2007). In
reality, the situation is more complex and varies throughout the country. Gender roles are chan-
ging as Ugandan society undergoes various social, economic, and political transformations
(Otiso 2006). The Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise represents one such example of
how gendered power structures have been changing, and how social developments can be
encouraged through cooperative associations.
Development in Practice, Volume 21, Number 3, May 2011 423
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The Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise is an umbrella organisation which oversees
farmers’ groups from the Masha, Nyakatunda, Kabingo, and Birere sub-counties in Isingiro dis-
trict, and the Nyamuyanja, Nyakayojo, and Mwizi sub-counties in Mbarara district. It was
established in 2004. These farmers’ groups are predominantly female, and thus the majority
of the cooperative’s members are women. Each of the groups consists of 150–300 members,
and the cooperative as a whole consists of approximately 9000 members.
In Uganda, 73 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture-related livelihoods (UNDP
2007). In rural Mbarara and Isingiro the majority of individuals, to varying degrees, are also
involved in agriculture. The cooperative was formally established after recognising these
farmers’ need to market their produce more effectively. Essentially, it aims to help farmers
to develop greater bargaining power by encouraging them to command better prices from
their buyers. Traditionally, local wholesalers and traders set the price levels for farmers’ agri-
cultural goods. Without adequate bargaining power or competitive economic forces, this
reduced the price paid to the producers of these commodities.
Increasing bargaining power is of particular importance to the cooperative’s members, 95 per
cent of whom are female. In fact, widows’ groups largely initiated the cooperative enterprise as
a women’s empowerment project. Collectively, these women decided to enter agricultural ven-
tures which enabled them to improve their livelihoods as female farmers in order to reduce their
socio-economic vulnerability. Their goal was to establish improved incomes independently of
men. Consequently, they decided to engage in agricultural ventures in which men do not tra-
ditionally participate, but where there is potential for high earnings. After unsuccessful attempts
at entering various enterprises, including various fruit and vegetable sales, the cooperative
management became interested in making bulk sales of beans and maize to the World Food
Programme (WFP). This is now one of the cooperative’s most lucrative ventures for its predo-
minantly female membership, with approximately 10 to 15 farmers from each of the farmers’
groups belonging to the cooperative participating in this venture.
Market linkages
Financially, the Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise provides some income improvements
to the female farmers participating in livelihood projects. The cooperative is involved in local
and regional food-aid procurement (LRP), whereby smallholders sell maize and beans to the
WFP, which distributes them in areas hard hit by food shortages, as food aid. The majority
of the smallholders who were interviewed are involved in the production and sale of beans
and maize as food-aid commodities to the WFP, and the organisation has been making LRP pur-
chases from the cooperative since 2005. Overall, the cooperative provides farmers with
enhanced market linkages by forming relationships with traders from local and external
regional markets, and by establishing contracts with large-scale buyers such as the WFP.
Pre-market production planning, quality-control training, and post-harvest handling emphasis-
ing the production of specialised crops (such as maize and beans) are also a focus, and the
improvement of farm productivity to increase crop yields and household food security are
also emphasised. The cooperative has provided some farmers with inputs, including seeds
and seedlings for maize and bean gardens.
The social benefits
In addition to the economic benefits that arise from participation in the cooperative’s income-
generating enterprises, the cooperative plays broader social roles within the community.
Leaders organise the members and disseminate information throughout the community. This
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focus on information dissemination contributes towards community-development projects at
large – such as projects in education, health and hygiene, and savings/investments – and
enhances agricultural productivity. Through participation in the cooperative, women have
developed greater independence and status; have gained leadership and business skills, and
argue that they have improved their coping strategies in general. These intangible benefits
have empowered female farmers in Mbarara and Isingiro, allowing them to better withstand
challenges relating to livelihoods and poverty. Women have also developed business creativity
and coping mechanisms that help them to respond to challenges and capitalise on new beneficial
arrangements, which, in turn, often results in greater economic success.
A sense of empowerment
It is often difficult for cooperative associations to successfully promote women’s participation
in business, independently from men. Oberhauser and Pratt (2004: 221) argue that this is largely
because ‘[w]omen’s empowerment is oftentimes embedded in economic and social structures
that have historically marginalized women from access to resources, employment opportunities,
and decision-making positions’.
The Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise has been successful in overcoming some of
these problems. All 20 of the female farmers interviewed expressed an increased sense of
empowerment as one of the major benefits of the cooperative and its various enterprises, par-
ticularly through participation in the WFP’s procurement project. The interviewees argued
that since the creation of the cooperative, women in the area have a stronger voice in the com-
munity. For example, after having developed what one farmer called a ‘plan with a focus’, they
are now able to negotiate prices with wholesalers. While on the surface this seems like an econ-
omic advantage, this new bargaining position has also enabled women to command respect
from their business partners, as well as from their male counterparts. For example, before the
cooperative gained strength through this initiative, women in Mbarara and Isingiro were very
rarely able to stand up in public and talk, let alone engage in public and equal discussions
with males. Now, they argue, a woman can state her name with confidence and make a
speech in the community – a measure of respect that the farmers used during interviews to illus-
trate their improved positions within their society.
In addition, women have gained greater control over their households’ agricultural produce,
since through the cooperative’s enterprise they have come to be in charge of planting, growing,
and harvesting maize and bean cash crops, among other food crops. The majority of women
indicated that they have gained primary responsibility for these agricultural products, particu-
larly in making decisions on how they are divided and distributed between home use, sales, and
inputs. One of the male farmers interviewed expressed this very clearly: ‘Selling is in my wife’s
hands’. Only two female farmers gave any account of family conflicts over the management of
farm outputs. Evidently, greater economic power can increase one’s social status, enabling
greater respect at both the household and community levels.
Business knowledge
Research shows that women who gain market knowledge gain freedom, as well as mobility
outside of the home (Mayoux 1995). It is important for women to gain knowledge about the
market, because they are often less informed about, and engaged in, business enterprises,
which are typically dominated by men. Women belonging to the cooperative indicated that
their growing knowledge about the market provides them with a greater range of options.
Since undergoing training that enables them to identify markets and to access these markets
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in a skilled manner, they now realise how they also can take advantage of local markets. In the
words of one female farmer in the community: ‘We women now dig in the garden knowing
where to take produce’. In addition to commanding higher prices for their own goods
through selling to the WFP via the Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise, they now also
visit neighbouring villages, buying produce for a lower price and reselling it for profit. In
one example a female farmer mentioned that she purchases pineapples from her neighbours
for 500 Ugandan shillings and then sells them for 700 shillings at the market to earn a profit.
Cooperation, problem solving, and leadership skills
By engaging in wider networks and coming together, farmers ‘learn by doing’ to develop, share,
and manage skills through trust-based relationships and information sharing (Sartorius and
Kirsten 2007; Kaganzi et al. 2009). Farmers’ associations and cooperatives can help farmers
to develop the skills required to influence business arrangements, and improve the availability
of agricultural extension programmes and inputs. This is important for female farmers, who
typically have less access to the resources, programmes, and overall employment opportunities
required to foster these skills (Oberhauser and Pratt 2004). The Manyakabi Area Cooperative
Enterprise has acted to empower women to gain ownership of the skills that they require in
order to improve their business ventures and to enhance agricultural productivity. It has also
promoted cooperation between fellow members, promoting the transfer of various business
and agricultural skills, as well as collaborative problem-solving techniques.
Cooperation and teamwork better equip members to cope with the various challenges that
they face within the community. Together with farmer members, the cooperative leadership
has promoted the creation of additional smaller-scale self-help projects. For example, two
female farmers expressed the importance of rotary-style clubs that have been established in
some villages by women living in close proximity to one another. Each month the club supports
one family belonging to the cooperative, shifting to a different household in rotation each
month. Typically, through these rotary support clubs, each month the women provide specific
member families with a set sum of money for the purchase of household requirements. This is a
form of social security. Similarly, work parties, referred to locally as okuherezana emizizi, are
used as a self-help tool. According to cooperative leaders, all farmers participate in these clubs.
Work parties encourage farmers to share the burden of farm labour and to transfer skills, as
farmers rotate between group members’ gardens to complete labour-intensive, time-sensitive
farm tasks including planting, weeding, and harvesting.
Positive spill-over
Although there are sometimes tensions between members and non-members of the cooperative,
and although some women, in particular, may not be able to join the cooperative because they
lack independence from their husbands, non-members are still positively influenced by the
activities of their neighbours who are members. Farmers who do not join the cooperative
benefit from the example set by the cooperative’s members and service provisions. During inter-
views farmers explained that non-members often choose to copy the agricultural techniques pro-
moted by the cooperative to improve their productivity. For example, cooperative members have
been trained to dig trenches within their banana (matooke) plantations to collect water. This
method of water collection improves the size, productivity, and quality of banana trees.
While some non-members remain sceptical of the cooperative members’ agricultural practices,
calling them a waste of time and even associating them with witchcraft, others have successfully
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adapted such techniques on their own plantations. Significantly, the cooperative also seems to
have popularised the concept of women’s empowerment within the community.
Understanding and coping with risk
Consistent with the findings of other studies on women’s collective economic strategies (see
Oberhauser and Pratt 2004), women in Mbarara and Isingiro have responded in innovative
ways to the struggles that they face. Successes in projects that are supported by the cooperative,
such as the sale of maize and beans to the WFP, help to build confidence in the cooperative and
its initiatives. This includes greater communication and support within the community, particu-
larly between cooperative members and within individual farmers’ groups. Farmers explained
that the agricultural planning process has also helped to improve group dynamics within house-
holds, since it promotes healthier communication between family members in relation to
decision making that affects the household unit.
Although they may lack resources, rural smallholder communities should not be seen as
weak, vulnerable, and lacking valuable skills, since they often adopt effective coping mechan-
isms and adapt well to their circumstances by utilising their traditional knowledge and engaging
in innovative problem-solving techniques. By applying their indigenous knowledge, farmers are
well placed to play a role in the development of the policies that affect them (Lado 1998;
Rukuni, Blackie, and Eicher 1998).
The Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise’s leadership and members have established
such coping mechanisms to deal with challenges in terms of the region’s lack of land and
labour. First, as mentioned above, is the use of the work parties, which are promoted by the
cooperative to share the burden of labour and transfer skills. Female farmers apply this strategy
to redistribute labour burdens and to complete farm tasks more quickly and efficiently through
group effort. Farmers also explained how work parties promote the sharing of knowledge and
skills among farmers. Overall, this has the potential to sustainably increase farm output and crop
quality.
Secondly, the cooperative was able to acquire communal land from the government, which it
provides to members free of charge. Leaders managed to secure a large portion of land, approxi-
mately 200 hectares (about 495 acres), from Uganda’s National Forest Authority. This land is
leased by the cooperative for a very affordable cost of 15,000 Ugandan shillings per year. The
cooperative has been able to secure a 25-year lease for 100 hectares of the land and a 50-year
lease for the remaining 100 hectares. Female farmers plant a great amount of beans and maize
on the communal land, most of which is sold to the WFP to be used as food aid. Additionally,
other crops are grown for home consumption and local sales. This additional land, which is
fertile, has been extremely helpful for many farmers, especially those who have access to
little land, or whose land is exhausted or unusable. Despite the fact that there are hardships
associated with farming a plot on the communal land, including the fact that the land is far
removed from most farmers’ homes and also lacks proper shelter for farmers who typically
stay on the land for at least a week at a time, those farmers who can participate in farming
this land, do so.
The strong organisational capacity of the Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise has
enabled fairly successful participation in WFP procurement operations. Furthermore, the coop-
erative’s ability to provide training sessions, to promote self-help mechanisms and knowledge-
sharing tools such as work parties, and to provide additional inputs such as seeds and land has
helped farmers to overcome some barriers. Not all of the risks faced by rural agricultural com-
munities, and in particular by women within these communities, can be overcome by coopera-
tive arrangements; however, it is evident through this case study that cooperatives such as the
Development in Practice, Volume 21, Number 3, May 2011 427
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Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise can help members to respond to a variety of challenges
– to the very real benefit of women who traditionally lack control over resources.
Discussion and conclusion
It is important to recognise that the benefits discussed may be helpful to different members of
the cooperative in varying degrees, due to pre-existing socio-economic standards and living cir-
cumstances, and it is often the case that women employ ‘strategies for their own empowerment
in ways which respond to their situation and resources’ (Mayoux 1995: 225). The case study
discussed in this article is a small example of how the common quantitative measures of
success, via cost-benefit analysis, do not always reveal all benefits. Further, quantitative tech-
niques can be problematic for other reasons, such as the fact that women do not necessarily
control the economic gains that they attain through participation in cooperative arrangements
or otherwise (Mayoux 1995; Doss 2001). Another important point is that, in any case, the
social benefits can sometimes outweigh the economic benefits.
Therefore, the success or failure of cooperative arrangements should not be measured solely
on the degree to which they succeed or fail to enhance the income levels of members. Positive
impacts need not always be measured monetarily. Cooperatives have the potential to affect
broader social arrangements, and the intangible benefits experienced by cooperative members
can result in greater empowerment, which in turn can inspire further constructive outcomes.
As illustrated by our case study of the Manyakabi Area Cooperative in south-western Uganda,
this collective arrangement has provided members with a degree of social development that
has been beneficial to women of the community in particular.
In addition to the points made above, we have identified two, non-mutually exclusive lessons
for practitioners, as well as a recommendation for policy and research. First, in terms of rel-
evance for practitioners, we believe that the case study offers lessons about opportunities
that can result if the social benefits of cooperatives are harnessed alongside other programmes
dealing with rural and community development. For example, if there is a cooperative that is
working well, and whose social benefits (such as those discussed above) are clearly evident,
then development practitioners in the same area would not have to duplicate certain training
or empowerment programmes for the same communities. Rather they could invest their
resources in enhancing the existing social benefits from cooperative arrangements. Second,
development practitioners interested in institutional development at the community level
could use the social benefits of cooperatives to learn what works and what does not work in
terms of collaboration among locals. This does not necessarily mean that cooperative arrange-
ments should be used as a model of collaboration, but it certainly could offer lessons. Third, in
terms of policy and research relevance, we believe that there is a need for more work with a
focus on the non-monetary benefits of cooperatives. Such work, for example, could elevate
the importance of these social benefits, instead of representing them as incidental. Such
studies could also help both established and new agricultural cooperatives to be deliberate in
enhancing these social-empowerment aspects of their cooperative.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the farmers within the Manyakabi Area Cooperative Enterprise for assist-
ance during fieldwork, as well as Ugandan colleagues Clare Kabakyenga and Warren Ankwasa. They are
also grateful to Amrita Daniere and Michael Bunce for useful comments on an earlier version of this paper.
The Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto and the Social Sciences and
428 Development in Practice, Volume 21, Number 3, May 2011
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Humanities Research Council of Canada are thanked for their financial support. The authors remain
responsible for what is reported here.
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The authors
Hilary Ferguson (corresponding author) is an MA graduate and Thembela Kepe is an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Toronto. ,[email protected]. and
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