Impact

“We had no functional committees and the existing ones that did not know their roles. Now because of the trainings, we have reinstated our committees and roles and responsibilities clearly defined. They are more active in helping the cooperative source for funding and markets.”

“Initially, we had stopped accepting new membership; out of our own ignorance and fear of new peoples’ characters. Our income level remained the same. As a result of learning about open and voluntary membership, we increased from 45-67, our incomes have increased as well from UGX25-45 million”

“Some of our primary cooperative societies have taken up the development and utilization of Gender Sensitive policies. More women have been engaged in management and leadership positions”

“Through exposure, we managed to improve out networks, recently signing an MOU with the National Alliance for Agricultural Cooperatives (NAAC) to build capacity on cooperative development, the East African Farmers Federation (EAFF) governance training for BOD and Management”

“Before, I would get money and spend it all on buying new clothes to dress nice. Because of the advice of ADC, I have reached a different level; I got money from the bank twice, UGX 2,000,000 each time. The bank staff know me personally and often encourage me to take loans because I know how to use the loans I take and always pay back on time. I bought a plot of land and Cattle, Goats that give me returns. I have also opened a shop to sell commodities.”

“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, majority of our members are withdrawing their savings to fund business, investments, and other household needs. Even those who had created fixed deposits. As a result, this has created a gap in Working Capital for the organization.”

“Adopted the utilization of insurance for our small holder farmers/members in the event that at the end of the season, production is affected by drought or natural calamities. Farmers have been linked to financial service providers e.g.  76 members were linked with OKO Finance limited, based in Kampala for crop insurance.”

“The other trainings on Marketing especially, help me gain valuable knowledge. I was recently given the opportunity to present at a radio station on the nature of cooperatives. I comfortably taught people on the elements of a marketing mix, demand and supply and Quality for a better price. All this knowledge was because of ADCs training.”

“From the training, we learned the value of bulking and collective marketing to increase sales. We did a joint venture with a few friends selling Soya Beans and Maize. We managed to accumulate about 240Kgs of Soya Bean and 600Kgs of Maize in the season. We sold at a higher price than we often sell individually. 3500 and 1000 respectively”

“Majority of their members have taken upside selling in a bid to meet daily needs. Some buyers are purchasing red cherries from the farmers, which they prefer due to its less labor-intensive nature”

“We have been assisted in developing cash flow projections before accessing finance by the ADC. We are able to accurately value and request for actual amounts required to finance our contracts. For example, we have accessed financing from Rabo Foundation twice now. We were able to prepare cash flows that were approved as a result of the training.”

“The training in PRM enlightened us in the need to have formal contracts in place with all understanding of contractual terms. We have managed to secure contracts with a few entities to supply up to 160 metric tons of coffee”

“The quality of our produce has improved; farmers no longer dry coffee on the ground. Buyers used to give us lower prices because of dirty produce. Now we understand the value of producing the highest quality to attract the highest price. As a result, we have been able to sell at UGX 7000 from 4,500 to buyers, who pay us an additional Quality bonus.”

“60% of our Farmers are now Certified FTO for Coffee/Cocoa and Vanilla, some are organic certified under a different partner. The Challenge is the acquisition of market for the certified products and the cost of certification (Approximately UGX18-19M), annually which is a challenge in the absence of a market”

With SOMA, Now I know that savings come first, then you invest them and after that you can track your income”

“SOMA is bridging the knowledge gap between what is being done to what should be done in Agriculture to achieve productivity on the farm”

“I got to know SOMA from my mother who sent me a link via Facebook. All the processes of registering and learning were seamless and I think it will change the lives of my village farmers since most of them are still illiterate."

“The Simu+ has not only helped me as a person but also my business. I am right now encouraging other people to finish the training so that they know how to do bookkeeping and avoid misusing money”

“Now that we know our stand in the coffee market and the training helps us small producers compete with the other big players and international producers in the market since these people are well conversant with the market trends and dynamics yet for us, we are not. So, the ADC training is empowering us."

“We exported over 40 metric tons in the first year and then we exported 63 metric tons of coffee. With the Price Risk Management training and the financial literacy trainings has taught us how to negotiate a contract, what the different incoterms mean. Now that I know my stand in the market, I can well express myself with the buyer and ask for better prices. The training is also helping us on how to arrange our data, with the spread sheets we can extract data easily.”

“I first got Ugx. 10million then Ugx. 25million. I pay monthly on a 2.7 % interest in reducing balance. I keep my records and keenly follow my loan repayment and I also know how much I have put in my farm just like I was taught by ADC, so it is easier for me to repay the loan.

I have never defaulted my loan, I pay promptly. I recently applied for Ugx. 30million to develop a new plantation and a tree plantation so that the trees can help me to deal with hailstorm and the like. When the banana is at its peak, I get 6 million per month, for example this month I harvested thrice because it is the season.”

“I used to take about 8 bottles of beer, but now, I only take water to save the money for my business. It used to cost me 3000 shillings times 8 bottles in 30 days, you can imagine that’s a lot of money which can cater for other things. Before we suffered in the hands of banks, we applied for loans, but we were never given.

After the ADC training, we sat down as a cooperative and decided that everyone contributes a shilling from the produce, we save it at cooperative level. As I talk now, we have saved 5 million shillings in our account and we have a good relationship with the DFCU bank now. They are so willing to give us money because we are more organized, we don’t delay, and they don’t delay serving us as a cooperative”

“We have seen our growth through the training’s ADC has been giving us. We started working with Raba Foundation 5-year back with our first loan of 250 million which increased our net income and mobilized more members however most of the members we serve are illiterate about finance so we needed ADC to train the farmers we work with so that they are able to pay back their loans but most importantly for the farmers to be able to expand their businesses.

“We recently got another loan from Rabobank foundation as a SACCO of 1 billion which has lifted our portfolio to five billion and our members are now financial literate. Robert Mugabi is one of our members who has received agriculture loans over ten times from our SACCO and also getting training form ADC”