Cameroun: Cooperative Societies - Where Things Went Wrong

Publié sur le web le 24 Juillet 2008 Lukong Pius Nyuylime A few weeks ago, one of the most prominent cooperative unions in Cameroon, the West Central Cooperative Union (UCCAO) celebrated its golden jubilee. Although the anniversary activities had as August guest, the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Jean Nkuete and the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana among other dignitaries, it was a feast celebrated with lots and lots of mixed feeling. The ecstasy that usually surround such celebrations was absent and the feasting really timid, so to say. The same dispensation could have occurred with any other cooperative society or union in Cameroon. The reason is simple. Cooperatives are no longer the safety valve on which farmers depend for survival. Two major incidences are believed to... [read full story]