Investment plans and cooperative development goes hand in hand Nyakyera- Rukoni ACE (Area Cooperative Enterprise) is a cooperative, which is active since 2005. Currently they have a membership of about 1.463 members comprised in 22 RPOs (Rural Producer Organisations). The cooperative is a multi-purpose cooperative, and is active in bulking of maize, coffee, dairy and beans. The cooperative is adding value to maize by making flower of it. In December 2011, Agriterra executed a company assessment. It was decided that the cooperative first needed to improve their structures and management before becoming a client. Additionally, Agriterra was in favor of executing feasibility studies on the maize and milk expansion plans first. It was decided though that in order to facilitate the improvements of the ACE, they could benefit from the trainings which were to be provided to the neighboring SACCO in terms of increasing the knowledge of business planning and cooperative development. 
In 2012, the ACE started in March with producing maize flower. The financial statements of 2012/2013 (broken financial year) should provide more insight on the profitability of this activity. In addition, Agriterra arranged 2 missions to the ACE to look further into the milk ambitions. In November 2012, Agriterra asked a local consultant to work on a business plan for this investment. 
In short, the opportunities for the ACE, especially with respect to dairy are clear. However on cooperative level, some crucial changes need to be made. The cooperative needs to professionalize quickly by attracting a general managerto oversee and integrate all the different activities of the ACE. The members approved employment of a new general manager in the AGM of November 2012.  In addition, in order to become bankable for financial institutions, the equity needs to be increased significantly. In a special AGM, which will be held on the 9th of March, the members will have to resolve this matter. By mid-April, the cooperative should know how much equity has been raised and there will be a GO/NO GO approval by the Board.

2013 will be a crucial year for the cooperative. Both on raising enough equity for the investment plans, but more so, as the organization needs to professionalize quickly. The different economic activities (maize, beans, coffee and milk) needs to be integrated on cooperative level. Currently all those activities are executed by the separate RPOs. So currently the cooperative is a non-adding value entity and a business model needs to be implemented. In addition, the necessary structures needs to be set up. The bookkeeping needs to be computerized. In addition, capacities and skills with respect to record keeping  at  Rural Producer Organizations needs to be increased. Simultaneously, the member registration needs to be computerized and updated. This will also benefit the SACCO, as they will become better able to determine whether farmer members will be able to pay their loan taken into account their productivity.

The goal of this contract is to strengthen Nyakyera ACE in order for the cooperative to operate again as an economic enterprise, whereby it adds value to the produce of their members. Further the goal is to increase in membership and to assess the possibilities of investing in a 5.000 liter milk cooler.