Online Reporter
The Herald, 4 September 1984
TURNOVER from co- operatives in Zimbabwe totalled more than 827 million in 1983, says the Secretary for Lands, Resettlement and Rural Development, Cde Langford Chitsike.
Answering questions from The Chronicle, Cde Chitsike said an extensive network of warehouses and distribution centres servicing the co-operatives had been built at a cost of nearly $7 million during the past four years.
The volume of trade by the country’s co-operative enterprises as a whole was “much larger when we take into consideration non-agricultural co-operatives”, said Cde Chitsike.
For the movement to grow it was essential that better marketing systems were developed. It was for this reason that better and effective methods were constantly being explored, with the ultimate objective of removing the middlemen so that co-operative members could earn greater shares of income for their products services.
Cde Chitsike said more than 1 000 co-operatives had been registered with the department of co-operative development since independence. This expansion had taken place at a time when senior staff were leaving and being replaced by school leavers.
The range of co-operatives was now wider than at any time before independence and the Government was constantly and effectively responding to the many challenges of the movement.
There were, however, other departments of Government which needed to contribute more to the development of the Co-operatives to remedy a need for technical support services.
Lessons for today
- Co-operatives generated more than $27 million in turnover and that over 1 000 co-operatives had been registered since independence. This shows how people can achieve more when they work together than when they operate individually.
- Government invested nearly $7 million in warehouses and distribution centres to support co-operatives. Cde Chitsike emphasized the need for better marketing systems and reducing dependence on middlemen.
- Government departments needed to contribute more technical support to co-operatives. Development works best when government, business, universities, financial institutions, and communities work together. No single institution can solve development challenges alone.
- Sustainable national growth requires investment in rural areas where many people earn their livelihoods. Strengthening rural enterprises reduces poverty and promotes food security. While the article celebrates growth, history has shown that some co-operatives succeed while others fail because of poor management, corruption, or lack of accountability.
- Economic empowerment comes from organisation, cooperation, skills, and access to markets. Even today, Zimbabwe’s farmers, entrepreneurs, and community groups can benefit from the same principles, work together, invest in infrastructure, build skills, improve marketing, and ensure good governance.
- Just as leaders like Samora Machel promoted self-reliance and regional cooperation in the 1980s, today’s rural co-operatives can become engines of development by working together, adding value to local resources, embracing technology, and connecting to larger markets. Sustainable co-operatives create income, reduce poverty, strengthen food security, and keep wealth within local communities.
