Use School-Based Co-Ops to Recruit the Next Generation of Cooperators

Abstract

The average age of the agricultural cooperative member, now 61, has gradually increased over the years. Coupled with rising rural-to-urban migration, the resultant imbalance is a harbinger of food scarcity in the not-so-distant future. That should worry planners.

Yet, the solution to an ageing membership lies in our primary and secondary schools, for this is where early values are ingrained. If we could inject the spirit of cooperativism at this level and then provide the right nurturing environment, our work should be halfway done.