CDA reaches out to rural dwellers

Authorities at the Cooperate Development Agency or CDA say they have embarked on the process of reaching out to rural community dwellers in the country as part of measures to organize them into viable cooperatives.

The CDA was created by an Art of legislation in 1936 and was amended to create the cooperate societies Act in Liberia. Its main objective is help locals organized themselves into profitable ventures. Addressing the Ministry of Information regular press briefing Tuesday, August 25, 2015, the Register General of CDA Mr. A. Richelieu Mitchell said CDA is a legal, technical, educational, as well as the overall administrative regulatory arm for cooperate activities of the government.

He says the agency is to identify, mobilized, institutionally organize, register, and regulate grassroots farm and non-farm individuals or group into viable cost-effect socioeconomic cooperatives to become economically viable entities throughout the 15 counties of Liberia.

According to him, the CDA provides technical expertise such as training, audit and settlement of dispute among registered cooperate societies and their members to the extent, and inclusion of auxiliary development partners.

He further explained that the CDA work in partnership with every government ministries, agencies, local government, local and international organizations as part of its cooperate development policy. Mr. Mitchell narrated that national government assures and acknowledges that a genuine, autonomous and economically viable cooperate movement and its membership have extensive development potential to contribute towards the nation’s socio-cultural and economic challenges.

He added that women and youth groups have been identified as the most vulnerable to economic adjustment programs in the country, saying” to date, the CDA has pushed equity strategies such as getting cooperate organizations’ leadership to enforce the inclusion of at least 30% female recruitment in the overall organization membership at both secondary and primary cooperate level to warrant full legitimating”. By Lewis S. Teh-Edited by Othello B. Garblah