Agricultural cooperatives seen as key

The National Business
Brian Waffi

By PETER ESILA
THERE are about 8,310 registered cooperatives, with 355,656 Papua New Guineans participating in cooperative business activities, according to the Cooperative Societies of PNG (CSPNG).
Registrar Brian Waffi said the sector with the highest cooperatives was agriculture.
“Multipurpose cooperatives also register to do numerous businesses depending on the markets, while livestock and fisheries follow,” he said.
“The Cooperatives Societies Office (CSO) was revitalised in 2000 as a public investment project (PIP) under the Department of Commerce and Industry.”
Waffi said the CSO had out-lived its phase as a PIP.
He said the main objectives of the CSO were:

  • INSTITUTIONAL strengthening of the Office of Cooperative Societies by establishing appropriate policy and reviewing the Cooperative Act to be an Authority;
  • CAPACITY building of cooperatives to encourage their growth through training and other relevant support; and,
  • SECURE funding assistance to assist cooperatives to start up their business activities.

Waffi said CSPNG was created by the Cooperative Societies Act under the Department of Commerce and Industry.
“Its function is to encourage and facilitate Papua New Guineans to register their business groups to meet their common goals and aspirations. Cooperative is a concept that traditionally exists in PNG culture in its social context through extended family ties and clansmanship but needs to be transformed to entrepreneurship for people to participate in socio-economic development,” Waffi said.
“As defined by International Cooperative Alliance, cooperative societies are autonomous associations of persons united voluntarily to meet common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprises governed by their values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity members, based on ethically values of honesty, openness, social responsibilities and caring for others – a model suitable for PNG’s rural based population.”