Let’s focus on building farmers’ cooperatives Kampala

By Christopher Bendana

Kampala

It is through farmers’ cooperatives that farmers can improve their productivity and livelihoods, says an agriculturalist working with a leading organization that supports small-scale farmers in Uganda.

Robert Anyang, executive director of the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), told stakeholders attending the organization’s annual stakeholders’ planning workshop on 21 April 2026 that agricultural transformation would succeed only if farmers worked together through cooperatives. SAA  has over the years with farmers built their own cooperative model called the One-Stop Centre. It has a store, office and facilities for farmers.

The workshop, held at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala, brought together SAA staff, district coordinators, district agricultural and production officers, researchers from Makerere University and Mountains of the Moon University, agrochemical dealers, insurers, and other stakeholders.

“How do we scale? Our resources are limited. We must work through cooperatives, and farmers must own the process,” Anyang said.

Shuichi Suzuki, SAA president, speaking via video link, echoed Anyang’s call, emphasizing that the organization’s ethos is premised on the farmer rather than on projects or paper. “Let’s put the farmers at the center,” Suzuki said. “That is why we are focusing on transforming farmers’ associations into service hubs.”

He called for the promotion of safe soils, climate-smart agriculture, adequate nutrition, and food production built not on projects, not on paper, but on the farmer.

The workshop was held under the theme: Deepening Impact and Expanding Reach at Scale: Strengthening Farmers’ Organizations to Provide Affordable and Efficient Services to Enhance Members’ Productivity and Income. It also celebrated the organization’s 40 years of working with small-scale farmers in Uganda.

Julius Mulumba, the district agricultural officer for Isingiro district, who also doubles as the SAA district coordinator, told Science Now Magazine that cooperatives are easy avenues for mobilizing farmers into different programs and can help in raising capital. He added that cooperatives also help farmers improve their bargaining power when accessing farm inputs and selling their produce.

Fredrick William Kisaakye, the district production officer of Mubende district, agreed with Mulumba, adding that cooperatives not only help farmers negotiate favorable terms when selling produce but also enable them to access bank capital more easily, unlike banks working with individuals.

Kisaakye argued that Mubende district had created agricultural awareness programs including on the European Union Deforestation Regulation through cooperatives.

“I only need to pass through the chairman or secretary of the cooperative, and the message will reach all members without distortion,” he said.

He also highlighted the advantages of contract farming, where farmers are paid at predetermined prices, protecting them against price fluctuations.

A 2021 study, Cooperatives as Engines of Transformation, by Financial Sector Deepening Uganda Chapter, found that cooperatives play an important role in Uganda’s economic development. The number of cooperatives increased from 13,179 in 2012 to 20,916. Of these, 9,432 were in agricultural marketing, while 9,189 were SACCOs.

The study concluded that cooperatives play a critical role in mobilizing savings, increasing access to credit, and facilitating various activities along production value chains, including procurement, storage, and distribution.

However, despite their significant growth and importance, cooperatives face a myriad of challenges, including poor governance, political interference, and market misconduct. As of 2020, more than half of registered cooperatives were still under probation, and only 12% of those registered in 2017 had received permanent status within the two-year probation period.

The study suggested closing gaps through self-regulation, decentralized registration, adoption of digitalization in operations, and the merging of smaller cooperatives.

And it is in these areas that organizations including SAA have come in to close the gaps. SAA has strengthened  management and governance structures including building operations offices  in all the 13 One-Stop Centre associations  spread across the country. They recently built ones in Kole, Napak, Otuke and Abim districts  have internet equipment  to easy communication with the outside world.