Then there was Ugesa

Ugesa is about a two-hour drive from Iringa.  Because of the long drive, we will not be visiting an additional village today.  It is a very scenic drive with pine trees that are being grown for lumber and several milling operations along the way and we encounter a number of trucks on the road, hauling lumber.

There are nine officers and board members that attended the meeting this morning.  We begin by reviewing the membership and the loans made in the last year. The Treasurer of the SACCOS reported that there are 137 members of the SACCOS, with 73 men and 64 women.  65 of these members are also members of the AMCOS.  They are in the process of registering as an AMCOS, but the registration is not yet complete.

The Treasurer reported that the total loans made last year was TZS 46,485,200 (about $20,500).  This included loans to 98 members, or about $210 per loan. Loans were made to 53 men, 42 women and three loans were made to institutions.  The repayment rate, so far, has been 90%.  This is an area that grows about 50% maize and 50% potatoes.  There had been too much rain for the potatoes and so the crop was not good.  The remaining loan payments are being rescheduled and the officers believe the loans will be fully repaid.

The government requirement for the registration of an AMCOS is that all members must pay an entrance fee and purchase shares in the AMCOS.  This AMCOS has set these fees as TZS 10,000 for the entrance fee and the cost of shares as TZS 10,000.  The AMCOS is requiring members to purchase 2 shares initially, and three more shares within two years.  So far, all 65 members have paid for

the entrance fee and the two shares, for a total of TZS 30,000 each (about $13 each).  The Government Commission also requires that the AMCOS must have TZS 300,000 (about $132) in assets.  The AMCOS is ready to join the Joint AMCOS. They plan to have a meeting in late July to allow the members to have a formal vote to join the Join AMCOS.

We then proceeded to deliver the presentation on how the AMCOS would work and the interactions between the AMCOS and the SACCOS.  Again, as in other village meetings there was much discussion and many questions. 

One of the questions was asked about what would be the ordering interval between ordering supplies and delivery.  We have proposed a timeline that would request that members’ orders be received from the AMCOS to the Joint AMCOS by September 1 for delivery by October 1.  Yara Fertilizer has assured us that this would be more than sufficient to deliver our forecasted demand of 10,000 bags of fertilizer.  However we have been advised that we should place our orders for hybrid seed as early as possible because some seed companies ran out of some varieties that farmers wanted to order last year, and farmers had to settle for some varieties that were not optimized for their areas. 

We have discussed how the Integrated Development Center buildings are designed to have warehouse space that enables AMCOS members to store supplies before planting.  They can store crops after the harvest to enable members to obtain possible higher prices after harvest.  A question was asked whether members could store green beans in the warehouse.  We advised them that the AMCOS could decide for themselves what guidelines to issue regarding what crops could be stored.  However, we recommend that only staple, non-perishable crops should be considered for storage in the warehouse, such as maize, rice or sunflower seed.

We have time for two interviews today.  The first interview was with Onesmo Nziku.  He is 27 years old, and has been a member of the SACCOS for two years.  He plans to be married later this year.  He farms three acres of maize, green beans and potatoes. 

His first loan was for TZS 600,000 (about $265) to purchase seed and fertilizer.  He was able to obtain a profit of TZS 900,000 (about $400).  He plans to take out another loan this year.  The time for his loan approval will be coming up soon.

Onesmo is currently building a house.  He says that he thinks he will be able to complete the house next month, before he gets married.  He thinks that his future is very bright, because he is able to take out loans that will increase his income.

Our next interview was with Atupavye Mgeyekwa.  She is married and has five children.  She has three daughters and two sons.  The oldest son and daughter are married and she has three children in secondary school. 

She farms three acres of maize, two acres of potatoes and ½ acre of green beans.  She has been a member of the SACCOS for three years. 

Her first loan was for TZS 300,000.  She used the money from the loan to purchase hybrid seed and fertilizer.  She made income of TZS 550,000 and a profit, after repayment, of TZS 250,000. 

Her next loan was for TZS 200,000.  She hasn’t yet harvested the crops, so she hasn’t recognized the income yet.  If the profit is great enough, she wants to build a house next year. 

She says that because of the SACCOS, her life is better and she has made a better life for her children.

With the interviews completed, we begin our drive back to Iringa.