Cooperative training and education : operational program (OPG) proposal

Phase I of the project will concentrate on Gambia"s 62 multi-purpose marketing cooperatives, especially their executive and managing committees, and Phase II will concentrate on thrift and credit societies (most members are women). The host-country implementing agency will be the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MANR). Project training will focus on numeracy and basic literacy skills specifically related to cooperative activities and transactions and the management of cooperative storage and distribution depots (SECCO"s). Cooperative secretaries and inspectors will be trained to provide most of the village-level training and will be assisted by mobile training units utilizing audiovisual equipment, by radio programs, and by training teams from the MANR"s Department of Cooperatives and The Gambia Cooperative Union (GCU). The latter will conduct seminars for committee members from several cooperatives in special 2-3 day sessions. The audiovisual materials produced under this project will be prepared in conjunction with the MANR"s Extension Aids Unit and will emphasize pictures and symbols (rather than just written language), role playing, community theater, puppetry, and song. Training for all the above-mentioned trainers will be carried out at the Cooperative Training Center at Yundum. The trainers will be instructed in innovative teaching methodologies (group and participatory training techniques, role playing, etc.), teaching technology (the production of audiovisual materials and the use of A/V equipment), and new course materials (group dynamics, rural development, and Gambian and West African case studies). CLUSA will provide one full-time cooperative education advisor, short-term specialists and consultants, and some commodites (e.g., mopeds). The Peace Corps will assign three volunteers.