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Computerizing agricultural cooperatives: a practical guide

Computerising agricultural cooperatives: a practical guide



Authors: ; UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security
Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations , 2006

Full text of document

Agricultural cooperatives have been slow to computerise in least developed countries, but this fact is changing rapidly as computers become cheaper and access to the Internet grows.

This manual, drafted as a result of a two-day international workshop on computerising agricultural cooperatives held at FAO headquarters in October 2003 , is intended to provide a reference for agricultural cooperatives considering computerisation, with the aim of ensuring that their first attempt to computerise will be a successful one. It is based on a review of computerisation experiences in Asia, Africa and South America.

The manual's intended target audience includes managers, trainers and policy makers with little experience in working with computers. It reviews both the advantages and risks of computerising and provides advice and suggestions along each stage of a typical computerisation plan. The manual is further supplemented by practical examples of how agricultural cooperatives in developing countries tackle computerisation problems at the local level.                    
                                     
In conclusion, it is argued that computerisation can improve cooperative business efficiency, provided a few practical guiding rules are followed. The “Ten Commandments of Computerisation” are noted as:

  • have a clear business goal
  • learn from others who have already computerised
  • prepare a business plan that carefully lays out the arguments
  • establish a core development team
  • examine the system development issues carefully and adopt a modular, step-by-step approach
  • take sufficient time to develop the implementation plan. Define clear business goals and objectives, outputs, tasks, responsibilities, timing and costs
  • be careful with contracting, set measurable targets and time schedule and consult a lawyer
  • keep running the manual system until completely satisfied with the new system
  • be sure to train each person adequately, training should be continuous
  • do not forget about maintenance and updating