Co-operative series: A village garden co-operative – Part 6

Things had happened so quickly, the villagers could hardly believe that a whole year had passed since Maria first suggested starting a co-operative in the village. Now, the Sunshine Garden Co-operative was going strong. A wagon full of fresh onions was on its way to the city market. Nawat was chosen to go to market each week now, because she was the best salesperson. She always brought home fewer onions and more money than any other co-op member. The horse and wagon were rented for the day from a neighbouring farmer, who took part of his payment in onions. The money to pay the farmer came from the funds put aside from the profits of the market sales.

The harvests had been good because everyone did their part. Almost everyone came to the co-op meetings and it was rare that someone missed their shift in the garden. When it came time to divide the harvest, Karam, the bookkeeper, called out each member’s name and the number of hours they had put into the garden. The food was then divided among the members depending on how much work they had put into the garden. Those who worked two days per week in the garden received twice as much food as those who worked one day per week. The harvests were so good that the members were able to put a cartload of onions aside to take to the market. The members did a smart thing as soon as they had saved enough money from dues and market profits. They built a storage shed, so they could keep produce fresh for market. They also kept their own food fresh to last them throughout the year.

The advice and training of old Cheng from the neighbouring village seemed to pay off too. His methods of crop rotation, intercropping, and composting manures really did help to regenerate the soil. People had been skeptical the year before when Cheng told them about companion planting. “When different plants are planted together, they repel insects for each other,” he said. People were all too familiar with the damage insects can do. They thought only strong chemicals could repel insects. Cheng told them about the right amounts of water to give each crop and how much sun they would need. His advice about growing a variety of foods to help provide a balanced nutritious diet turned out to be wise as well.

The co-operative faced a series of tough decisions at this point. First of all, what should they do with the money that the extra produce was bringing in? At first, the villagers needed all the food from the garden. But gradually their own food shortage eased. A monthly trek to the market on foot turned into a weekly trip. When the members got a great yield from the garden, they rented a horse and wagon and took a large load of produce to market. Some members of the co-op suggested that the money earned from the market trips should be distributed to the members. After all, they grew the food. Others thought the money should be put back into the co-op, and reminded everyone that when the co-operative began, they all agreed that some of the profits would be used to buy other kinds of nutritious foods that the members were not growing for themselves. The rest would be put back into the co-op. There were so many other things they could do with this money. For instance, if they continued to sell surplus produce, should they put a down payment on the purchase of a horse and wagon, or should they always depend on the farmer to rent to them? Again, Maria knew, a lot of research would have to be done. As wise old Cheng told her, it is when co-operatives branch out and try to do too many things that they meet with failure. “Keep it simple,” he said. “Keep it manageable.” These were the types of decisions they would have to make after their own harvests were in for the season and they had time to think about these matters.

To show their gratitude for all Cheng had done for them, the members invited him to the first anniversary meeting of the Sunshine Garden Co-operative. At the meeting, Cheng congratulated the members for following his instruction well, learning quickly, and producing good harvests. But Cheng made a point of commending the unsung hero of the co-operative, the manager, Maria.

“A co-operative is a group effort,” Cheng said, “but the group needs a good leader. Maria is an excellent leader. She did research to make sure the garden would be feasible. She made sure that the members had collected enough money before buying the seeds and tools that were needed. She organized the garden and the work schedules carefully. She was good with people; she was considerate of people’s time and special needs. She was good with money; she made sure that a good part of the profits from selling the onions went back into the co-op in case of an emergency. She arranged for tools to be repaired before they became impossible to fix. She is a good leader. She leads by example and she thinks about the future. I congratulate her.”

Maria looked back to that first meeting, when she and Guillermo first raised the idea of the co-op with the villagers. They were a sullen, mistrustful, unhappy group: they knew each one was going hungry, but they were only concerned with their own hunger. Who could blame them? But look at them now.

Since then, these same people had solved many problems on their road to success. They found land for the garden, they raised the money to operate the garden, they had to fit extra work into their already busy lives, and they had to solve a crisis when some members did not do their share of the work. Through solving these problems, the group became loyal and cohesive. In the beginning, people had hoped for individual gain, but commitment to the survival of the co-op became more important.

At the celebration that followed their anniversary meeting, the members looked back at the last year:

“I had no courage before joining the group. Now if I need help, I am not ashamed to ask for it,” Kwesi said.

“Some people have better ideas than others, so when you work together, you learn,” Guillermo said.

“This you cannot take away from me; it is helping me to develop as a person,” said Rebea.

Rajhid, as usual, had the last word.

“In the co-operative,” he said, “everyone is open and we can talk things out. We are strong in number. As sticks are strong only in a bunch, we are strong only in unity.”

Note: This concludes the story of the Village Garden Co-operative. The first two scripts in the series were published in Package 22. Scripts three and four appeared in Package 23.