Facilitating social enterprise development through collective marketing: insights from Bukonzo Joint Co-operative Union, Western Uganda
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Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Fair Trade
Abstract
Collective marketing is an avenue through which farmers could receive higher returns from
their produce. Bukonzo Joint Co-operative Union exemplifies this: it has obtained both
Fairtrade and organic certifications and, by following the Fairtrade ethos and offering farmers
a guaranteed (and often) higher price, potentially has a strong role in livelihood improvement,
poverty reduction, social inclusion and rural development. In this study, we showcase the role of
collective marketing, explore the challenges and analyse the relevance of finance institutions in
the development of co-operatives. Our qualitative study shows that collective marketing mixed
with the Fairtrade ethos could strongly encourage social enterprise development and could lead
to livelihood improvement in marginalised areas. However, one of the most important barriers
is limited finances for the production of high-quality coffee, purchasing members’ coffee
under the Fairtrade label and investment in infrastructure: availability of ethically appropriate,
affordable funding options is critical in the development of social enterprises.
Description
Keywords
Collective marketing, Social enterprise, Development finance, SACCO, Fairtrade certification, Premium markets, Coffee, Smallholder farmers
Citation
Ikwera, R., & Twongyirwe, R. (2019). Facilitating social enterprise development through collective marketing: insights from Bukonzo Joint Co-operative Union, Western Uganda. Journal of Fair Trade, 1(1), 13-26.