coffee nurseries. There is a continuous need for increased factory capacity. . The quality of African coffee is consistently higher than that of. many Surqpean farms .because it is more carefully picked and handled t)y ..the, owners' family than it would be t>y hired labour. Several co-operatives produce the. highest grade of coffee and win the annual awards
.offered- b,.y.. the Cpff,e,e Board... ; The principal problem is managerial'rather
than, .t.echnipal... Competent ,vand honest accountants in particular are"
difficult ,to. find in country districts. Some unions retain a European as manager? and. elsewhere .a system of centralised accountancy for coffee societies is under discussion. Societies have none the less been making substantial profits, in .recent years,.
Pyrethrum is a less, /important .cr.o.p.-,than,coff.esj but ,it is;.,also, increasing rapidly5 in yield even more than in acreage. Sales are con trolled by a marketing board, and the best pyrethrum comes once again
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from.:African. co-operative societies.. A,union of oi^t AfeLcan. <jo-opGcativcs
in Kiaralju. constitute the largest group. . These .societies may have from. _ a few hundred- to,a thousand members* and the.area which each member has under, the prop, .may be...from, en© to 25 acres. Picking continues, at inter-., . val.s foe niao-months in tho yo.ar, the flowers are, dried on the.farm, "bagged,
and brought to. the .society., which weighs, checks for quality,and for
wards, to. the Pyrethrum Board, :where the product %s graded and.sold..
Societies ar« paid weekly, but some members leave their money on deposit and: withdraw at longer intervals. Others use the.society as a source of short-term loans for agricultural and other purposes secured on.future ...
deliveries, . The.society sells seeds to members.^ who propagate their own plants... The.Kiambu Union has recently built excellent off ice and storage accomodation, with a railway siding, from its own. resources and rents off ices,., to local egg and vegetable co-operatives and to a European .
building-society, ,v .:,,■.,.
-'There has been a tentative move towards using both coffee- ahd.o; ;V.
pyrethrum co-operatives for other "services., such as credit, supply and <■ ;o the hire of lorries. While these are subordinate functions strictly ■■■■■■.
related to the marketing of the crop, they have been carried on success fully, but attempts to run a general,supply business have led to losses*
: Among other crops sold'co-operatively, cereals are. handled by the •
Kenya Farmers' Association to the value of about MjOOO^OQO, and;on a ■■.-:
small scale by-about 100 African societies, K-.F*Ai has.i.ts own. milling • ■=
subsidiary, with the largest^ milling plant in the territory. Fruiii; and vegetables are grown: by Africans as well as Europeans. There area -. . . number: of local societies, some of them specialising in a single product, and a Horticultural Co-operative. Union which, beginning as a European., . :.
farmers' undertaking, now includes farmers of all races and their local co-operatives.. . One Asian-Suropean and several African societies handle sugar and qaggery.and there is some marketing of chillies, rice' and other crops. Tea, though it is being encouraged as. an African crop,, is of very recent introduction,, and.no attempt has so far been made to organise co
operative marketing or processing, '■ ' '
:S~&^^
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" "'As1 regards^-livestock products,, a-good deal remains.. be done to-wards'-improVing'the African s-fcandards-'of breeding, rearing and feeding all types of livestock, "but'poor"markets and low prices in recent years have not provided much incentive.to improvement, Kenya Co-operative Creameries^ with- 2,474 members and sales of over £j3,0O0,OOQ, has existed
for many years and handled milk mainly from European but also to a
limited extent from African farms. There are about 50 African co-opera—-tive dairy societies, the greater number of which produce $100* but-&ich,aro
not very successful. There are atiout 30 African pig marketing societies, whioh sold to a bacon factory controlled by the Pig Industry Board until
the export price fell so severely in 1957 and 1958 that the factory, had.■"■;to be" temporarily closed and societies had to. dispose of their product.
as pork on local markets. By I960, there were signs of a revival-* There,
are about 40 small'African egg marketing1societies, many of them con
sisting of women only. Most of them sell through the Kenya Poultry Produce:Co-operative, which exports about half its.turnover... There is one society..:handling hides and skins, most, of whose members are butchers?
and one:i-recently"formed co-operative sheep,farnu . . . r
■■^■■■■:'TEer';Masai, a pastoral'and semi-nomadic'people, present" special1 ■"•■■■■"■•'■
problems of social and economic' development. Plans for co-operative, marketing of;cattle.for slaughter have been, discussed with them, but by
the .end of.-19§0:.;no.faction had been..-..;fcaken,. .A, few year s: ago the Purko v,....
section of ,-i;he: Mar3aj,^ who -oini good forest land, were persuaded to form ...V:
a timber. Co-operative Society3 but it has had a difficult start owing. to;:.
the suspicion%rand business ■inexperience of its members., (There is-a
successful,African; timber co-operative in another part of the. country^;.;.:;as well;,as.".one of wh^-phtlie members are Europeans.). -• -.;■. ■■ '.. ;r
:.i.v-■':/Od6—operation in-Kenya-in fields other-than that :of ;;agribu3:tural ':r-'■'■■-■'-'■
marleting-has ;had a'raiiher limited developmdn-ti- It.faH^-.ialdor-four!: hsadss- ■".-.■
thrift'and':"c'redlt| i;consume^s;|J\craf-tsmen5 "housingi- As -will have been"' applarehtV';-there1are':;ho;<iredit" or thrift ■societies "inagriculture^
some' mlrk;0tx£g:""socioties^make short—term advances' t6 1heir: rn^
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■■..There is -a large and successful Ismaill'co-operative thrift 'and savings organisation and about 20 African thrift societies, most of them1 con sisting-.of 1employees .in. a single "business .or 'government department?
though some of them seek to protect the interests of. national or tribal groups working.in towns at. a .distance from .their homes. . . ■•■■■■
■ . ' The need.for agricultural credit co-operatives is likely to become more apparent as African farmers turn increasingly from subsistence to cash 'crop farming. The need for thrift is also obvious, as many are