Member-based organizations like cooperatives are gradually growing in Myanmar. In 2017, two cooperatives in Kayin State were formed as a result of a project funded by the European Union (EU). This initiative was followed by a project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in another township of Kayin State.

The cooperative formation initiatives are meant at providing a model for the development of more sustainable cooperatives in the rural areas. Currently, the government is following its approach of ‘one-village-one-cooperative’ in cooperative formation. This approach is effective as a conduit of government funds, but it is not sustainable because of the small size which averages between 30-50 members.

ACCESS Advisory with its work in Kayin proposed a bigger cooperative at the township level or a cluster of villages to mobilize between 500-2,000 members. This will allow the mobilization and pooling of resources enough to generate resources that will support operations including the salary of full time staff. The cooperative formation model follows a three-stage process of savings group formation, consolidation and formation of cooperative. The whole process takes one year, including the period needed for the registration with the Department of Cooperatives.

This model was use also by the New Humanity, an Italian NGO who partnered with the Karunas Mission Social Solidarity (KMSS), with the vision of forming cooperatives in all dioceses of the Catholic Church in Myanmar. NH pilot-tested the model in the dioceses of Mandalay, Yangon and Pathein.

The main advocacy issue is for the government to support the development of cooperatives as vehicles for rural development. Cooperatives should be viewed as an empowering institution in the communities especially the remote and inaccessible areas.

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