Members empowerment in Co-operative savings and credit societies in Tanzania

Abstract

One of the pillars of good governance in co-operatives is member participation in all stages of decision making (Prakash: 1999). But member participation does not just happen naturally or automatically. It has to be induced through different efforts by the leaders, the employed staff as well as the members themselves. One of the critical factors, for causing member participation, is member empowerment. In this presentation, we are going to look at member empowerment in Savings and Credit Co-operatives (SACCOS) in Tanzania. The Savings and Credit Co-operative Movement is the second biggest and also the fastest growing co-operative system in Tanzania. With 890 societies, it boasts 175,000 membership (SCCULT:2003), while the agricultural marketing cooperative movement, is formed by over 4,000 co-operatives with 600,000 members. In economic terms, the relationship between savings and credit cooperatives and entrepreneurship development in marketing co-operatives are obvious. The two have a technical logic of existence. But in Tanzania the interaction between financial and crop marketing co-operatives is marginal. Historically, the two do not exist in the same geographical space. The Savings and credit movement is largely employee-based hence urban centric, while the agricultural marketing movement is typically rural. This is a challenge which cooperative promoters and supporters will have to face.