We in ACFA recommend that governments at all levels should support the effort of the farmers’ co-operative movement as a collective body under All Co-operative Farmers Association (ACFA) to enhance food sufficiency which will lead to self sustenance.

The Idea behind ACFA FARM is that solutions to Africa’s problems should come from Africans. 

With a target of two years in mind, ACFA, hope to become a real pillar of attraction.

ONLY ACFA has this plan.

ACFA promise to deliver, if they are considered for this privilege.

ACFA Team

ACFA: Question About Cooperative. No 1

Question 1: What Is The Concept At Which The Co-Operative Foundation Is Laid?

Answer: “The co-operative ideal is as old as human society. It is the idea of conflict and competition as a principle of economic progress that is new. The development of the ideal of co-operation in the nineteenth century can best be understood as an attempt to make explicit a principle which is inherent in the constitution of society but which had been forgotten in the turmoil and disintegration of rapid economic change.”

ACFA: Question About Cooperative. No 2

Question 2: Was There Anytime That The Process Of Cooperative Faced A Hitch?

Answer: From the 1760s onwards, there were experiments in co-operation across the UK such as the Fenwick Weavers shop in Scotland and the Hull corn mill. By the early 1830s there were around 300 co-operative societies in the UK. These co-operatives often ran into problems through giving credit or a lack of business experience. Sometimes they were unable to recruit new members to move the co-operative into a new generation.

ACFA: Question About Cooperative. No 3

Question 3: What Helped The Rochdale Pioneers To Succeed, After Learning About The Situation Others Prior To It Previously Faced?

Answer: Instead of the pioneers to be deterred by the hectic situations faced by others that previously existed, the Rochdale Pioneers rather learned from these experiences and ideas and used them to develop a model of co-operation that could be followed by others.

They made this period of early nineteenth century a time of new ideas and rapid change. Many People interested in the survival of cooperatives were writing about and discussing co-operation and how to develop a successful and sustainable co-operatives.

Among these optimistic cooperators are Robert Owen (1771 - 1858) who was latter known as the Father of  Co-operation and was also involved in the trade union movement, introducing infant education to the UK and in setting up co-operative communities. He is probably best known for his work at New Lanark in Scotland.

Another well known advocate of cooperative society is George Jacob Holyoake. (1817 - 1906) George Jacob Holyoake travelled the country during the 1830s talking about co-operation and Robert Owen’s ideas. Holyoake was a great advocate and propagandist for co-operation. His history of the Rochdale Pioneers “Self Help by the People” was published in 1857 and inspired others to follow and set up their own co-operatives.

Among these great supporters of cooperation is Dr William King (1786 - 1865) Dr William King was another advocate of co-operation, seeing it as a means for working people to improve their lives. From 1828 to 1830 King edited “The Co-operator”, sharing experiences and advising on the steps to establish a co-operative. The Rochdale Pioneers studied “The Co-operator” and recognized the importance of learning the lessons of the earlier failures as they developed the principles and practices that ensure their model of a co-operative society was successful.

ACFA: Question About Cooperative. No 4

Question 4: Why Was 1840^s Called The Hungry Forties?

Answer: The 1840s were known as “The Hungry Forties” because the move from hand looms in homes to powered looms in factories during the industrial revolution which changed the lives of many working people in Rochdale. The weekly wage for weavers had fallen by half at least from the 1820s to the 1840s and was barely enough for them to survive on. Women’s wages were even lower and many people were only working two or three days a week.

Industrialization led to a rapid increase in the population of Rochdale. The cost of housing meant that workers lived in slums, often with one room for each family. The poorest families lived in basements, with little ventilation and light and with access only to polluted water. Food prices were very high and many shopkeepers added weights to the scales so that customers did not receive the amount of food they had bought. Food adulteration was common, with water being added to milk, chalk being added to flour and gravel being mixed with oatmeal.

Working people had little control over their lives and were struggling to improve their living and working conditions by joining trade unions and campaigning for the vote. Elsewhere in Europe others were pioneering co-operative ideas to address poverty in rural areas. In Germany Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen and Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch developed ideas that led to savings and credit co-operatives. In Slovakia Samuel Jurkovic established similar rural co-operative initiatives.