| 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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1986 – 1987
Registered since 1981 but NMAC has not been able to operate for 3 years due to deficiency in many areas. Songkhla Provincial Cooperative Promotion Office (SPCPO) and NMAC organized a public forum for coop members who were residents of 27 villages, in 4 sub-districts of Na Mom to discuss about coop problems, its ability to provide service to members, and the needs to mobilize their own capital.
As a result, Satja Omsab (Gentlemen’s Agreement on Regular Saving) project was initiated to promote members’ saving. In this project, members committed to save a minimum of one baht ($0.033) a day without withdrawal for 5 year, their savings at NMAC were deposit under NMAC account at a provincial level coop- Songkhla Agricultural Cooperative Federation Ltd. (SACF) and used as 100% loan guarantee. Loan from SACF was utilized for its daily operation and for credit service to its members. From 1986 – 1987, NMAC’s capital has grown from 61,549.50 Bahts to 13,973.91 Bahts. Since 1987, the coop has been relying on its own capital alone to provide microcredit for its members at low interest rate and other services this contributed community growth.
Furthermore, NMAC also rethought its inventory mix to meet its members’ needs. Instead of holding various unwanted goods, NMAC shifted to cooking gas, rubber tapping equipment, fertilizers, animal feeds.
1988 – 1994
As NMAC’s membership was increasing consistently, Songkhla Provincial Cooperative Promotion Office and NMAC were aware of the need to educate farmers of coop principles, and values before their registration to ensure members know their roles and responsibilities as fundamental to their active participation to strengthen the idea of self-help and mutual-help as well as their roles and responsibilities.
Cooperative promotion officer also mentored NMAC’s BoDs and staffs in coop good governance and management, and daily operation. In addition, coop group leaders and staffs were also learned how to run group meeting, promote member participation and involvement.
1995 – 2004
Over the span of 11 years, NMAC’s membership base grown from 169 in 1984 to 1,187 in 1994 (an overall 602% growth or an average 23% YOY) so as its business lines and volume. NMAC found it difficult to keep up with members’ needs. So SPCPO suggested the coop to adopt strategic planning for its management. Coop promotion officers mentored NMAC in strategic plan preparation, implementation, monitor and evaluation where members are actively engaged in every steps. Coop strategic plan was prepared based on members’ needs reflected from members’ need survey, reviewed and approved by members in coop’s annual general assembly. Coop strategic plan was prepared for 9 years period and will be reviewed annually.
2005 – 2014
Following coop’s adoption of strategic planning practice, during this period, the coop focused on implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of its strategic plan. At year end, based on feedback from members, the plan would be reviewed for progress, criticality, impact and urgency to consider the continuity and adjustment of the following year’s action plan which would be approved by member representatives at coop general assembly. Projects implemented included student loans for members and family members, community relationship development, demonstration cooperatives in school, community waste segregation, healthcare promotion, welfare for members with disabilities, and study visits, etc.
Currently, NMAC has developed its capacity to effectively provide services that promote its members’ well-being and build a better community. Members and community’s needs are reflected to coop through various participation processes, strategic and action plans are prepared accordingly, then relevant government agencies are coordinated for integrated implementation.
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| 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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Stakeholders involved in the implementation of the projects consisted of resident of Na Mom district, Na Mom Agricultural Cooperative Ltd.’s staffs and BoDs, sub-district and village headmen as group leaders, and Songkhla Provincial Cooperative Promotion Office.
o Songkhla Provincial Cooperative Promotion Office designed processes for member/ public participation, providing mentorship for coop’s BoDs and staffs to build an enabling environment for member participation such as group meeting, survey, general assembly, etc. Monitor and evaluate coop development to provide relevant supports according to coop situation and needs.
o NMAC’s members are critical factor in the initiative implementation. They committed to participate in coop’s capital mobilization, engage non-active members, providing feedback for coop’s operational improvement.
o NMAC’s staffs and BoDs in collaboration and under mentorship of cooperative promotion officers played an active roles in projects implementation by involving members in every processes from strategic planning to evaluation.
o Sub-district and village headmen as group leaders are key coordinators between coop and community. Throughout the year, coop group leaders regularly communicate with group members and coop management through group meetings.
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| 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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1. Budget used for the implementation of the initiative comes from 2 sources: regular budget for extension service from SongkhlaProvincial Cooperative Promotion Office, and operation expense budget of NMAC. I) Budget for on-site consultation visit of cooperative promotion officer were allocated by the Songkhla Provincial Cooperative for 42,240 baht/year ($1,408/year). II) Budget for coop promotion officers study visit for 49,200 bahts/year ($1,640/year) and III) Operation expense budget was allocated to team of staffs for group meetings, member visits, etc.
2. Human resources involved in the implementation of the initiative consisted of cooperative promotion officers and NMAC’s BoDs and staffs, and sub-district and village headmen representing residents of 27 villages in 4 sub-districts of Na Mom district. I) Cooperative promotion officers helped in the consultation, training, and knowledge transfer to farmers, coop’s BoDs and staffs to help them adopt cooperative principles, values, and practices. Also provided training and consultation to NMAC’s BoDs and staffs to enhance their ability to connect and communicate with members facilitate group meeting process.
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| 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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- An integrated farmer organization – a cooperative run in its members’ best interest where the community are fully engaged from the strategic planning to decision making. Na Mom Agricultural Cooperative Ltd. has been transformed from a totally dysfunctional cooperative with insufficient operating capital and full of dead stock to an efficient, democratically and inclusively managed, and economically sound one. The cooperative engaged its members in every major decision makings through group meetings (4,791 members from 27 villages in 4 sub-districts into 39 groups), BoDs’ monthly meetings, and annual general assembly so every action and project implemented are designed toward meeting members’ needs – critical, urgent, and wide impact. NMAC’s membership base grow from 169 in 1984 to 4,791 in 2014 comprising 62% of Na Mom population. Its services and social welfare are designed to meet its members’ needs in almost every aspect of their lives involving education, housing, career, healthcare, etc. Over 90% of its surplus are allocated to its members and community.
- Community’s human capital. Coop’s BoDs, staffs and members were educated and mentored to collaboratively run the NMAC to meet their needs and promote community growth. They learned about their role and responsibility and how that impacted them at individual, cooperative, and community level.
- A process designed to encourage and facilitate full participation from members promoting member-responsive services and allowing effective check and balance processes. I) Communication channels where members, coop’s staffs, BoDs, and cooperative promotion officers can communicate regularly, timely, and openly including:
o Group meetings – meet at least once a month. Issues raised, information shared, comments and suggestions made in group meeting are brought for discussion or decision making in BoDs’ monthly meetings.
o Surveys – carried out once annually. Information collected are used to prepare cooperative strategic and action plans which are reviewed, and approved by members in general assembly.
o Reports – Monthly meeting report will be distributed to group leaders to disseminate to group members.
o Focal points – members can talk to group leaders, members of BoDs, coop’s staffs, or cooperative promotion officers.
And II) 4 task forces, each consisted of NMAC’s staffs, members of BoDs, and group leaders, assigned to meet with members bimonthly to provide training, following up on certain issues, disseminate information.
This process practiced at NMAC for over 30 years has empowered farmers to play an active role in how their organization should be run through their involvement.
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| 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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Monitoring and evaluation are carried out through group meetings, BoDs’ and staffs’ monthly meetings, surveys, reports, NMAC’s operational performance reviews:
I) NMAC’s operational performance such as amounts of deposit, loans, consumer goods and input supply sales, inventory, etc. can be good indicators of community’s adoption of are reviewed and analyzed, if any one indicator show sign of abnormalities, further analysis of root causes and factors will be done and discussed with members, BoDs, and staffs so corrective activities/actions can be planned and implemented accordingly.
II) Survey is carried out once a year before cooperative’s annual general assembly to seek members’ feedback of cooperative performance and suggestion on service and operational improvement. Data collected will be inputs for coop strategy planning.
III) Group Meetings – through group meetings, data reflected from member farmers will be compiled by group leaders and each bring into discussion with cooperative BoDs and staff at cooperative monthly meetings. Issues considered most critical, urgent, and impact wider public will get first priorities for the implementation. Then the plan concluded from the meetings will be brought back to update farmers and discussed at group meetings. The plan will then be adjusted based on feedback from farmers and brought back to discussed in the next group meetings until it get approval by the members. Progress of implementation are also discussed and followed up at group meetings.
IV) BoDs’ and staffs’ monthly meetings will review information reflected from group meetings then actions will be planned accordingly.
V) Reports including monthly meetings and coop’s annual reports are distributed to members for reviews.
VI) General assembly held once a year, attended by members’ representatives elected from group meetings, to report on coop performance, financial statement, surplus allocation, strategy and action plan for the following year, get members’ approval for the aforementioned, , elect new BoDs (a 2-year term).
VII) Regular visits. Cooperative promotion officers visit cooperative regularly to learn about their situations and problems, as well as to provide advises, and supports.
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| 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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- During the early stage of initiative implementation, farmers felt it was difficult to get loan from the cooperative as it was conditioned to their commitment in savings. Number of farmers wanted to terminate their membership at the cooperative and go back to loan shark. Group leaders and cooperative promotion officers went to meet with them in the villages and also in group meetings to explain how the system works and how it will benefit them in the longer term. Friends-bring-friends strategy was employed to get more members to attend group meetings, and also visited them at home. Through such processes, cooperation and participation from farmers gradually rise and as they committed to the program started to see benefits- low interest loans, increased personal saving, better services i.e., goods stocked more tailored to their needs and available at lower costs, also total benefits received in terms of dividends, patronage returns, social welfare, and contribution to community - they are more confident with the system so they were more engaged with the program.
- When group meeting program first started, it gained low level of participation from farmers – less information sharing, comments, or feedback provided inadequate information inputs for effective planning or decision making. We discovered that some farmers are too shy or afraid to speak in public so we provide a sheet of paper for farmers to write their opinion. Farmers who are afraid or too shy to speak in public or uncomfortable to speak about certain issues can opt to write. The method worked very well, we received better responses from farmers. Even though, later more farmers were more confident to participate in group meeting discussions, paper option was kept available. Presently, member participation in group meeting is over 80%.
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