(EID-034) “COOPERATIVES AND SHAPE”

Cooperatives could be formed to cater to any business under the commerce of man, and there is no reason why cooperatives could not be formed to cater to social enterprises that could make money for its members, aside from meeting the basic social needs of these same members.

Going back to the drawing board, I realized that cooperatives could be formed to realize the five advocacies of the United National Integrated Development Alliance (UNIDA), namely shelter, health, agriculture, peace & order and education or SHAPE for short.

Since cooperatives are very much like corporations, there is nothing that prevents cooperatives from entering corporate businesses such as building homes, putting up hospitals, running corporate farms and operating schools. With some creativity, cooperatives could even go into the business of supplying the third party resources for the delivery of peace & order services, which falls under the category of the protection industry.

Much to my surprise, the government housing agencies actually have a program that would enable developers to put up social housing, but there are very few takers because the margins are very small. The small margins could be a “problem” for corporations, but on the other hand, it could be an opportunity for cooperatives, since they would have ready markets for the housing products among their own members.

The rising costs of public health care could be a “problem” for the government, but on the other hand, it could be an opportunity for cooperatives to put up small hospitals, catering also to their own members. Chances are, this could be an innovative way of re-inventing the health management organization (HMO) model, but with a twist, because the members are more “naturally” linked to each other.

Corporate farms are usually associated with big corporations, but it is a business that farm cooperatives could go into. Sama-Kabuhayan, the lead organization of UNIDA for the agriculture sector is now giving free seminars about integrated organic farming systems, being the best model now for corporate farming.

Education is a good business with high margins and high returns. Cooperatives could actually put up their own schools, using technologies that would enable them to enter this business with minimal costs. The University Consortium of UNIDA could help them do this.