Use co-operative to empower poor

T&T Representative/Nation of Islam David Muhammed says poor people can use  co-operative societies to empower themselves. He had made reference to the power of co-operatives during a lecture at City Hall, Knox Street, Port-of-Spain, on January 14. The United Nations had also declared 2012 the Year of Co operatives. Interviewed on Friday, Muhammed said: “The perspective was looking at the issue of  co-operatives. The Year 2011 was declared the Year of the People of African descent. In many ways, it was ceremonial to some of the problems that people of African descent face.

Muhammed added: “People must combine their strengths and form think tanks and skills banks and  co-operative societies and savings’ unions whereby, they can use their collective strengths economically to empower themselves instead of just empowering others.”

 
Input of the Black Agenda project
At the lecture, Muhammed had made reference to the late leader of the Nation of Islam (1930 to 1975) Elijah Muhammed and the economic blue print which he had developed. Muhammed had been an inspiration to the great Muhammed Ali, Louis Farakkhan and Malcolm X. The Black Agenda project was taken from his blue print and addressed categories including clothing, shelter, education, health and transport.

Muhammed said: “I see it as a suitable launching pad, in particular for people of African descent who have been considered to be the largest group of consumers when compared to producers. “The idea was for poor pople to combine their resources and pool their economic strength and focus on how they can utitlise their talents in a manner not just to seek employment but to create employment. It was not just about being self employed but intended to create industry.”

It was also intended to encourage thrift. Muhammed added: “The fact is poor people spend money on commercial things. The concern is they take all of their money and surrender their economic strength to forces outside of their communities that may not necessarily contribute to their development.”

Don’t reject co-operatives
Executive Director of the Caribbean Centre for Competitiveness/economist Indera Sagewan-Alli lamented  co-operatives have “failed in Trinidad and the jury is still out.” Interviewed on Friday, she said: It didn’t work because it wasn’t sustained. That is not to say it is an initiative we should reject. When you consider it in a sustained manner, a  co-operative has a capacity to impact on an economy in a number of different ways. It can allow you a diffeent approach to daeling with poverty and alternatively you help people at the lower levels of society to add value to their lives and to earn a sustainable living.”

She noted countries with massive numbers of poverty-stricken citizens like India and Pakistan have used  co-operative and related programmes to combat poverty. Among them are the Seed Funding initiatives in which small amounts of money are pumped into helping community striken communities where poverty is rampant.

In these countries, she noted, the success rate was extremely high. She added: “You have had payment in the range of 90 per cent. Individuals in the  co-operatives were held responsible for each other. These are the kinds of initiative we would want to look at and to pattern programmes around.”

Enabling small businesses
Sagewan-Alli noted  co-operatives could benefit micro or small businesses have grave difficulty in opearting independently in terms of their capacity to market goods and services. She said: “They don’t have the revenue streams to deal with many kinds of. They don’t have the resources to market their firms and grow. The important aspect is that of growth.”

“You attempt to pool firms together. Even as they co operate against each other the pool is to target larger markets. Markets which on individual basis they would be unable to exploit.” Zeroing on the Caribbean, Sagewan-Alli said: “Over 80 per cent of businesses are defined as small and constrained in terms of their capacity to innovate. The  co-operative inititaive can be a mechanism to facilitate industry growth therefore contributing to national growth.”

Less State dependence
Sagewan-Alli said if  co-operatives and its attendant programmes were implemented there could be success stories such as increased employment generation and less state dependence. “You would have less dependence on the State to generate subsidised programmes and there would be alternative sources of revenue to Government. Overall, it would impact on the national capacity of the country and contribute to the growth of its Gross Domestic Product,” she added.

What is a Co-Operative

A co-operative is the pooling together of individuals or resources to better take advantage of resources. For example, the monies in a Credit Union, come from individual people. There is a collective ownership of the entity that is created such as the Credit Union or a small business. A co operative differs from a bank, in that the customer does not necessarily own a share in the bank. The customer might make use of the banks’ services. There is a separation from the customer and the bank.