Masvingo Food Commodities Cooperative Company Limited
Masvingo Food Commodities which I facilitated its conception was/is a community based social enterprise involved in commodity production and trading, It is based in one of the driest regions of Zimbabwe albeit it holds more than 50 percent of man made water bodies. However it faces recurrent droughst and the majority of the households are food insecure dure to droughts and heat waves consequently as a result of climate change.
Communities from dryland and irrigated farming areas formed farmer producer groups which combined to form commodity associations for the respective crops. The associations then came together and mandated the formation of a cooperative company where farmers hold shareholding.
They selected board members from their leadership of commodity associations and farmer groups to be the board of directors. The board of directors then appointed the secretariat to run the day to day business of the company.600 farmers became shareholders, a cooperative commodity trading company owned by farmers was formed. Farmers used their knowledge of crop production to produce crops and sell to the company.
Farmers had access to markets and increased their sales voume and incomes. This improved their livelihoods and resilience because they had good cash reserves from commodity sales. The farmer producer groups and associations have complete governance structures from their community and have by laws which they formed. There is local ownership and sustainability.
There are no policy frameworks in Zimbabwe to support such initiatives, rather they are treated like any private profit making company.
The farming methods and crops produced are well suited to the farmers areas. This makes adaptation a success.