Cooperative development and training project

The project will improve the staff, facilities, equipment, and curriculum of Cooperative College (CC), NUCS training arm, to enable CC to provide training to managers, technicians, and other board and staff members of primary and secondary cooperative societies, including member organizations of the JCCUL. The project will also help NUCS: (1) develop a member education program and cooperative promotional activities which are expected to increase cooperative membership by at least 30%; (2) develop a research and planning capability to assess changing training needs of cooperatives and farmer associations, analyze the potential for expanding Jamaican cooperative businesses and developing a strategy to realize that potential, and periodically reassess the support services needed by cooperatives; (3) develop a central liquidity facility service and provide management advisory and data processing services; and (4) establish a cooperative partnership program and a "Cooperative Development Fund" to enable NUCS to provide technical and financial assistance to small and new cooperative enterprises. The project will also provide short-term TA and training directly to the JCCUL. It is expected that, in the longer term, this strengthening of the JCCUL and affiliated unions will eventually enable the JCCUL to serve as the financial arm of the entire cooperative movement, as a reliable source of credit for cooperatives in their production and other income-generating activities. The project will benefit the 230 managers and 8,000 employees of cooperative societies and the 3,500 cooperative leaders directly and through them the 350,000 cooperative members. The project - in which, besides CLUSA, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU) will provide TA - complements the services NUCS is providing to producer marketing organizations under the Agricultural Marketing Project.