A Celebration of the Achievements of Cooperative Certificates by IGGs in Tolon District

On Friday 10^th of March, 2017 a durbar was organised at the Tolon Chief’s palace to celebrate and present cooperative certificates to Income Generating Groups (IGGs) International Service Volunteers work with in the Tolon District.

These Income Generating Groups (IGGs) are women’s groups found in Tolon and its surrounding communities. These project communities include; Dundo, Dimabi Yapala, Yoggu, Kangbagu, Wayamba and Tolon town where two of the IGGs are based. These IGGs are mainly into shea butter and rice processing as their main production and two of the groups in Tolon are into dressmaking.

ICS in partnership with NFED Tolon has been working tirelessly for about two years with the IGGs in the Tolon District to bring improvement in the lives of the people and also increase the production of the local businesses of the women. As most of the groups are mainly into shea butter and rice processing, a lot of research was done by the past volunteers to find out a strategy that can improve and sustain their production. 

Registering the groups as cooperatives was found to be beneficial. The volunteers went to all the communities and the women were given training sessions on how to become cooperatives. The IGGs had to have some important documents before they could be registered as cooperatives, therefore training was given on how to draw a constitution, keep financial records and keep minutes which would allow them to become registered. The training sessions were successfully understood and taken into practice.

Rahman addressing the women of Dundo about the benefits of cooperatives.

All the IGGs went through the necessary procedures to be registered as cooperatives. The past cohort guided them to apply for the certificates and it was successfully done. Now a follow up activity was done to figure out how far the cooperative registration had gone, NFED and cohort 6 of ICS has gotten the certificates for the groups. A durbar was organised and all the groups were invited to come and celebrate and receive their cooperative certificates, CEO of International Service also attended to witness and present the certificates to the groups. The regional NFED staff members were also present to witness and advise the IGGs on how best the certificates could improve their businesses.

The CEO of International Service presenting the women of Dundo with their cooperative certificate.

Now let’s talk about what cooperatives are. Cooperatives are businesses that are owned and democratically controlled by their members the people who buy their goods or use their services, not by investors. In other words, a cooperative is a group of people with common socio-economic interests or needs who have come together voluntarily to solve such needs. Cooperatives are formed by their members when the marketplace fails to provide needed goods or services of acceptable quality or at affordable prices.

Advantages of cooperative registration:

·        Easy formation: Compared to the formation of a company, formation of cooperative society is easy. Any more than ten adult people can voluntarily form themselves into an association and get it registered with the Registrar of Co-operatives.

·        Social service: The basic philosophy of cooperatives is self-help and mutual help. Thus, cooperative foster fellow felling among their members and inculcate moral values in them for a better living.

·        State assistance: Government had adopted cooperatives as an effective instrument of socio-economic change. Hence, the Government offers a number of grants, loans, and financial assistance to the cooperative groups – to make their working more effective.

·        Perpetual assistance: A cooperative society has a separate legal entity. Therefore, the death, insolvency, retirement, lunacy, etc., of the members do not affect the core existence of the cooperative society.

Cooperatives can also empower people to improve their quality of life and enhance their economic opportunities through self-help. Also, registering as a cooperative can increase the confidence of a group when applying for a loan or other financial support. There is also more support from NGOs to expand your business as cooperative IGG is a widely recognised certificate.

Now the IGGs can gain support and benefits from organisations, banks, resource personnel and more as they are now registered as cooperatives.

The IGGs and Team Tolon volunteers celebrating after the presentation of cooperative certificates.

Rahman and Gifty

Team Tolon’s Livelihood Projects: The Volunteers Perspective

When I started my twelve week volunteer journey with International Service I had no idea of the extent to which I would integrate with the Income Generating Groups (IGGs) we are working with. I am amazed that we are able to share ideas even when we are out of the community. It seems there is tremendous progress with the work so far. Typing this post about the IGGs is my attempt to put their position into context, and I hope will give you knowledge of the project we are working on.

We are working with IGGs in five communities within the Tolon District, namely Kangbagu, Wayamba, Yogggu, Dimabi and Dundo.

Kangbagu

Kangbagu has a 30 member IGG named Bohimbu Viela who are into the processing of Shea butter. They are very optimistic and hardworking.

Their major setback is inadequate finance to expand their business. They also think linkage to bulk buyers will bring about improvement in their income generating activities. Bohimbu Viela has the potential to be a very profitable IGG. They have the necessary skills of financial management and recording keeping the last cohort trained them on, and are well on their way to success.

Wayamba

The IGG Walima Kavi was also created after the NFED program. These women have meetings every Wednesday to discuss issues of income generation and also to improve their manufacturing process. They are into the processing of rice and shea butter.

Walima Kavi are keen on International Service and NFED’s work but sometimes expect a little more than what the organization can provide. They are hardworking women who take their work seriously, and they produce and sell at the market every week.

This group needs a lot more of training on record keeping and financial management as they seem not to be putting to work what the past cohort showed them.

Dimabi

The name of their IGG is Biehigu Tagya which translates to Life is Changed. Their main activity is shea butter production, although they also have secondary activities such as soap making, dressmaking and rice production.

Biehigu Tagya’s idea about International Service’s partnership with NFED and its work is very positive, as they see the impact it has made on them since their involvement.

Dundo

Dundo’s IGG is named Bagsim Viela. Their main focus is rice processing, although they have secondary activities of shea butter and nim oil production.

The members of the group work in their individual homes to produce the rice, and do not have shared facilities. Bangsim Viella sell their produce at three different markets; Katinga, Nyankpala and Tamale. The group’s primary source of funds is through personal savings. They also have group savings which is distributed in challenging periods to the group members, to keep them active in the IGG (personal welfare).

Bagsim Viela is a hardworking group but sometimes pessimistic. They are skeptical to change and reluctant about taking financial risk. Although the group produces rice and shea butter in low quantities, they are of good quality, and they are also capable to produce in larger quantities to attract bulk buyers if they get the necessary financial resources and equipment.

Though they struggle to embrace new ideas, they are hard working and ensure they sell every week at the market. International Service and NFED Tolon need to build the women’s understanding of the importance of risk taking is when it come business, as well as to encourage them to take their financial record keeping seriously. The future of these women is bright, all they need is to exercise patience and cooperate with International Service and NFED Tolon. They should put into practice all the training they have been given by all the past ICS volunteers and patiently await the results.

Yoggu

Yoggu has a 34 member IGG that are hardworking, always willing and wanting to learn new skills. They always want to better themselves with anything that is brought forward to them by International service.

Their major setback is the fact that they lack funds for raw materials for production, so they produce the same quantity each week. Also, they are unable to reach other market centers, like that of Tamale, as transport from the community is poor.

Yoggu seem to follow and implement the work of each cohort and are on the way to success. They seem to be among the most serious of the IGGs we are working with; they all turn up to meetings regularly and contribute when the need arises. They have a strong belief that once they are able to improve the finance and transport situation and are also linked to bulk buyers, their business will excel. 

Girls Growth and Development (GIGDEV)

GIGDEV is a dressmaking group set up in 2008 by Sella Nitori and the NGO, GIGDEV. The IGG is a dressmaking group made up of 45 women, 40 of which are students. The age range of the group is 14-22. The women have been taken through new skills in sewing and also literacy lessons from NFED. Financial management and recording keeping training given to them by past cohorts has been of great help to them as it helps them in saving to acquire new sewing machines.

To conclude, although there are undeniably some variation in the outlooks and attitudes of the different IGGs, they all remain fully engaged with our project. Overall they are largely motivated and hardworking, and in support of the work of International Service and NFED. Over the next cohorts, we see the IGGs thriving more and more as they are able to gain easier access to water, better ways to transport their goods, and become more confident in handling their finances. This will empower our women to become more efficient and increase their profit in their livelihood activities, eventually reaching out to bulk buyers, in turn helping them reach their potential.

Nasmah Nashiru    

International Women Day – Empowering the rural woman

I am pleased to join in celebrating this year’s International Women’s Day as an International Citizen Service volunteer working with rural women who are striving very hard to better their lives. It’s a day to celebrate women and to look beyond their limitations to acknowledge the valuable opportunities they bring about; to present them as empowered agents of change rather than as marginalized groups and, above all, an important occasion in which we reflect on the need to empower women and celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women in our country and the world over. As we celebrate this day today, I’m reminded of my stay in Tolon and the trips to six of its surrounding village which really revealed how much work is still needed to enhance the situation of women around the rural realm of the world. I am encouraged to note that the theme for every year’s Women’s Day celebration must have been “Empower rural women – end hunger and poverty” and not be changed until a bridge is created to close the in just socio economic gap between women in rural areas and urban centres.

As I reflect on this theme and the necessary steps that need to be taken to empower rural women, I am happy to note that International Citizen Service through our volunteering have made commendable progress in empowering women in Northern Ghana, especially in Tolon, my place of volunteering. International Citizen Service is a UK based NGO that runs humanitarian programmes in seven communities in the Northern and Upper East Regions. We work mainly with women, children and people with disabilities in the areas of education, livelihood, female empowerment, sexual reproductive health and disability rights. Our project partner is a division of the Ministry of Education in Ghana; Non-Formal Education Division is responsible for coordinating literacy activities in the country.

Now allow me to walk you through a phase in a working history of ICS/NFED Tolon and to shine some spotlights on our women’s Income Generating Groups (IGGs) as we happily celebrate this year’s international women’s day. Once Gandhi said that, “a woman is not less than a male in any aspect; be it her mental strength or her intellectual strength or her spiritual strength, she has the potential to work actively in every sphere of the life”. These remarkable women are working to transform their lives and communities. They started off having little or no business experience, but now the women of the IGGs are managing a variety of small businesses in the fields of dressmaking, Shea Butter and Rice production in six communities in the Tolon District namely; Dundo, Dimabi Yepala, Yoggu, Wayamba, Kangbagu and Tolon. I acknowledge the works of our predecessors for making these IGGs firm as it is now. They did a massive job by starting a pipeline process of putting these groups into co-operatives. My team, (cohort 6) after taking over to begin our twelve weeks tenure on the project on 12th January 2017 have ensured a successful project so far, nine weeks into our placement; we have completed the process by getting these groups their certificates from the Department of Co-operative which has now legalized them as functional co–operatives. Also our dressmakers have been richly developed by Mr. Musa, a renowned fashion designer/lecturer from Tamale polytechnic whom we called upon to take them through some series of new fashion designs. Their feedback after the training signified a very fruitful session. We have also succeeded in selling our group’s produce, their success stories and other rising matters to the public in an awareness creation exercise at the Katinga market.  Again, in order to raise extra funds for the groups; we are currently on the verge of acquiring motor tricycles from MASLOC for four of our groups to serve as a secondary source of income to them aside the profits they make from their actual businesses. Over the next few weeks we have planned to organize a durbar for the groups. The purpose of the durbar is to create a forum for bulk buyers and financial personnel to educate the groups on how to optimize the quality of their produce to attract bulk buyers and also to intensify their knowledge in proper financial records keeping and bank transaction. We are still working on a Dagbani manual on rice and Shea butter production and audio visuals of all our Dagbani presentations and trainings. This will serve as reference document to which the groups will refer when the need arises; we hope to finish them before our tenure come to an end.

I’m inspired by the fact that through our volunteering, over 250 women in and around Tolon have been given the opportunity to be creative and optimistic; turning current and past challenges into future opportunities. The knowledge and skills that the sessions contain are for wider female empowerment in Tolon, giving them the independence to keep up their businesses and be responsible for their own futures.

Here in Tolon, we celebrated the Women’s Day at the chief’s palace by inviting our women groups to share their stories and opinions surrounding their businesses. This was followed by presentation of their co-operative certificates and was concluded with inspirational messages from the chief of Tolon and our able team leaders Edward and Caleb.

We at ICS/NFED – Tolon envision a Ghana where women are empowered to realize their social, political and economic potentials and together we can make a difference. As we celebrate International Women’s today 8th March, 2017, I entreat stakeholders responsible for the welfare development of rural areas to have a relook into the redistribution cycle to affect the rural people and urge that we all recommit ourselves and do our utmost as a nation to close the socio economic gap between the urban woman and the rural woman. Parity among women is progress for all!

I wish you a happy International Women’s Day!

By: Enock Dekyi