HECKTON CHUWA, SAME

VUASU Cooperative Union (VCU) leaders have urged the relevant state authorities to provide the union with payments amounting to Tshs 79.6 million in compensation as directed by the government in the revival plan for economic entities affected by the global downturn.

VCU chairman Rajab Mleli said at the 26th VCU annual general meeting recently that the union has applied for the compensation funds to the respective authorities but it hadn't received any response so far.

“We are all aware that the President directed that all those who were subjected to losses as a result of the global downturn be compensated through a special government fund,” he told the meeting.
  
He said the VCU board of directors has picked an experts committee to raise the matter with Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda.

The team will seek to bring the government to understand that the union  badly needs to pay money owed to different stakeholders, he declared.

John Kiure, its acting general manager, said the union, which operates in Mwanga and Same districts in Kilimanjaro region, expects to collect 200 tons of coffee in 2010/2011 compared to 100,000 tons projected in the 2009/2010 crop season. 

“Although we projected to collect 100,000 kilos in 2009/2010, the union collected only 59,436 kilos, which is 59.4 percent of the target,” he said, noting that 36,393 kilos was collected in Mwanga district and 23,043 kilos in Same district.  

Renting houses brought earnings of about 4,770,000/-, he said, pointing out that the income would have been higher had other houses found tenants.

VCU expects to collect 200 tons of paddy (rice) from farmers and has already allocated about Tshs 300 million for collecting coffee and paddy crops in the harvest season 2010/2011.  

The VCU management sought permission at the AGM to collaborate with Mawenzi Coffee Exporters, a private firm, in reviving coffee in the two districts and seek coffee markets, he said.
     
The manager said that despite these projections, the union faced some challenges, including reviving coffee as its production plummeted to abysmal low levels starting from two decades ago.  

“Coffee collected during the 2009/2010 season in the two districts of Mwanga and Same where our union operates was 59,436 kilos compared to 1,240,024 kilos in 1984/85,” he said in illustration.

Another challenge facing the union was high charges of transporting coffee from the two districts to market or auction destinations.

“Lack of our own means of transport led the union to pay 10,491,700/- in 2009/2010 as charges of transporting the coffee which we collected,” he stated. 

To improve the union's coffee business, Vuasu would continue to provide good payments to the farmers, he further noted. 

“The union was able to pay farmers about 1,900/- per kilo to farmers in 2009/2010 compared to 1,300/- which was provided by private buyers, thus motivating farmers who went on to produce more coffee and of high quality,” he added.