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Lesson One Concept of Co-Operation

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100 views5 pages

Lesson One Concept of Co-Operation

Uploaded by

kalasingayvonne
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CO-OPERATIVE PHILOSOPHY

LESSON ONE
CONCEPT OF CO-OPERATION

1.1 INTRODUCTION
People are social animal and they should leave together as group in their daily life. Traditionally
people used to leave together in a village centered life to their problems. Today the current
constitution in Kenya gives the citizen freedom of associations. This implies that today’s co-
operation is legal entity recognized by the sovereignty.

1.2 WHAT IS CO-OPERATION?


Co-operation simply means working together for a common purpose. This is a joint effort to help
one another so as to accomplish certain tasks that would benefit members of the group.

In any community, co-operation exists in different forms of association of people who have
voluntarily come together as a group of driven by their social and economic needs. Through these
associations members are able to cope with their problems and challenges of life in an attempt to
improve their living standards and conditions.

1.3 INFORMAL/ TRADITIONAL FORMS OF CO-OPERATION

Example
• A Group of people who come together to weed their crops of harvest their crops for one
another in turn until everybody is assisted.
• Villagers brought their resources to construct an access road/ dam/ cattle dip e.t.c.

In conclusion people carried out these tasks without being forced or demanding any payment.
They supply joined together in order to perform some work with the hope that the following day
they would also benefit from the group activities, this is the informal / traditional
co-operation. Remember that nothing was written rules/ duties everything was verbal and
everybody adhere to it since it was voluntary. It's based on mutual trust

Today’s informal co-operation practices


➢ People joining hand to clean the validly parts of the town they work and hire in.
➢ People coming together for a harambee to build more classrooms for their children in
school and colleges.
➢ People conducting a fund rising drive to build a church
➢ Merry – go – round in which members of the group agree to contribute a certain amount of
money every month to each other in turn vital everybody benefits.

N.B the harambee spirit is Kenya which has been done in promoting our social and economic
development has its roots in this type of informal co-operation.
In conclusion you notice that the need for co-operation among traditional communities was
important for their survival. They never had money to employ labourers, build shelter e.t.c and
therefore the case today. All the people have the basic needs for food, shelter, security and sense
of belonging, hence requires a combined effort.

The idea of co-operation therefore is not new, since as we have seen it has been practiced for a
long time where those people co-operated as a result of people fighting for survival against nature.
They co-operated in order to solve problems caused by physical environment wild animal and
drought.

1.4 MODERN FORMS OF CO-OPERATION/ FORMAL


1.5 CO-OPERATION
Due to development of science and technology problems caused by nature have reduced but still
we find ourselves coming into problems with other members of society. This problem is because
of social and economic inequality being most solutions to these problems lies in Co-operative
action hence need for formal co-operation

1.6 SIMILARITIES (Between Informal and Formal Co-operation)


➢ Both aims at assisting their members to uplift their standard of living by voluntarily
joining together to work are to.
➢ In both there is the aspect of common objective
➢ They are both based on mutuality
➢ They both aim in providing services to members
➢ In both, it is self-help organization

1.7 DIFFERENCES
➢ Traditional was mainly practiced in respect to natural or environmental problems while
modern are formed primarily as a solution to exploitation and as a collective action to solve
particular social and economic problems.
➢ Traditional co-operation was a way of life with a loose kind of association of people who
are bound together by their sense of social duties and desires to help one another. Modern
co-operations are formed consciously and regulated by the laws of a country and the co-
operation principles.
➢ In informal co-operation the rules and duties were verbal while the former have written
rules and duties.

1.8 CO-OPERATION IN MODERN SET UP (CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES)

A Cooperative society is an autonomous association of persons united voluntary to meet their


common economic, social or cultural needs and aspiration through a jointly owned and
democratically controlled enterprise.

FEATURES OF CO-OPERATIVES
1. An Association of Persons:
• A Co-operative Society comes into existence when a group of individuals join hand and
form an association.
2. An Enterprise or Undertaking: It is run by members themselves at their own cost and risk.

3. Voluntary Association: An individual is free to join the Society and resign from his
membership of the Society at his will and discretion.
4. Service Objective: The main object of co-operative society is to serve its members rather than
to earn profits.
5. Democratic Management: The Co-operative Society follows the cardinal principle of
democracy i.e, one man one vote. The affairs are handled by the Board of Directors. The capital
does not get any special treatment over human being in co-operation.
6. Equity: No discrimination among members is made on the grounds of religious faith, political
ideology, and educational qualifications and so on.
7. Norms of Social Justice : There is no class division among capitalists and working class in Co-
operation.
8. Socio-economic Movement: As part of Socio-economic Movement, The Co-operative
movement, is viewed as a constituent part of the overall socio-economic movement of the country.
9. Proportionality or equality : It is based on proportionality or equality. The surplus is
distributed not according to share taken but according to the proportion of business operation a
member has effected with the society.
10. Universal Movement : It is a Universal Movement found in all countries of the world.
11. At the service of both the members and the community : Every society stands for the
economic upliftment of the members and the social, cultural and economic betterment of the local
community

OBJECTIVES OF CO-OPERATIVES

The main objectives of co-operatives are:

1. Elimination of Middlemen. The First and foremost objective of co-operative society is to


remove the middlemen in different fields, who take away the gains that should have gone
to the real beneficiaries e.g farmers.
2. Raising economic status of the poor. The most basic aim of a co-operative society is to
raise the standard of living of the poor.
3. Removal of the ills of capitalism. Co-operatives aim at service and not profit. The basic
cause of the ills of capitalism is the profit motive. This leads to exploitation, class struggle,
economic inequality and unfair competition. These evils adversely affected the interest of
workers and gave birth to co-operative movement. Therefore the aim of co- operation is to
restrict the amount of profit and provide better service to its members.
4. Raising moral standards of its members. Co-operative movement wishes to direct
human life towards goodness by raising their moral standard.
5. Increasing the prosperity of the whole community. . A co-operative society aims at
bringing about the welfare of not a particular individual but of the whole community.
6. Abolition of Social Inequalities. The feeling of ‘high’ or ‘low’ among members of the
community act as a cause of social tensions, the removal of which is the goal of the co-
operative movement.
7. Political and Religious Neutrality. As far as possible, a co-operative remains aloof from
political parties and religious groups.
8. Development of Corporate Life. A Co-operative aims at providing a corporate life to the
weaker sections of the community.

Activities for which co-operatives can be found in are;


➢ Marketing
➢ Fishing
➢ Saving and credit
➢ Handicrafts
➢ Agricultural production
➢ Consumers
➢ Housing
➢ Transport

1.9 BENEFITS DERIVED FROM CO-OPERATIVES


The benefits of co-operation are studied under three broad categories viz.,
1. Economic Benefits
2. Social and Political Benefits
3. Educational Benefits.
4. Ethical / Moral Benefits
• Economic Benefits
The following are the Economic Benefits derived out of a Co-operative institution:

I. The substitution of profit incentive in business by that of service to the community.


II. A more equitable distribution of wealth.
III. A break up of monopolistic tendencies which result from capitalism.
IV. Increase in purchasing power and real wages to individuals.
V. Reduction in cost of distribution system by elimination of unnecessary middlemen.
VI. The more accurate correlation of demand and supply.
VII. Stabilization of employment.
VIII. General improvement in employer, employee relationships.
IX. Cheap marketing and processing of farm products at reasonable prices.

• Social and Political Benefits.


The important Social Benefits are as follows:
I.To provide a unique education in democracy, responsibility and toleration.
II. To train for political power.
III. To evolve an industrial relationship among all.
IV. To preserve a strong friendly or family spirit.
V. To secure rational construction and unifying approaches to social and economic problems.
VI. To prevent underemployment and unemployment.
VII. To secure moral as well as physical satisfaction of pure quality, correct weight and fair
dealings.
VIII. To prevent exploitation of man by man.
• Educational Benefits
Following are the important educational objectives or benefits of cooperation.
I. The individuals learn by experience gained in practical work of co-operation.
II. Co-operation also sponsors education. There are many co-operative schools and colleges
formed to provide affordable education and also employment to educated unemployed
youths.
III. To train the people to take initiatives in organizing
IV. To create experts
Ethical or moral Benefits
Following are the important ethical and moral benefits of cooperation
I. The policy of honesty is a necessity in co-operation
II. Cooperation returns money value for honesty and other virtues.
III. The motto of co-operation is “ each for all and all for each”
IV. Co-operation aims at the production of fine human beings.

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