Adapting Cooperative Business to “The New Normal” in Kenya

DGRV´s Support to Adapt to the “New Normal”

Against this background, DGRV Kenya supports project partners on their way to adapt to “The new normal”. Our Kenyan development project does have a strong focus on capacity development for cooperative members and leaders. Learning new skills and practicing them is particularly challenging in times when physical interactions are not possible and digital coverage is low. We therefore support our associated cooperatives to create health concepts which enables an adapted co-operative management taking limited digital capacities into account.

For example, together with the cooperative administration we defined measures and guidelines to conduct Annual General Meetings with physical participation again. In doing so we were able to support our project partners to remain compliant organizations besides the existing challenges.

Even though the continuation of safe, physical meetings and workshops is important especially in times of the COVID-19 crisis, a digitalization boom should not be underestimated. E-learning is also playing an increasingly important role in Kenya.

Could E- learning be a Sustainable Way Forward?

Within the first 6 months of 2021, DGRV Kenya together with GIZ and its local project partners, enabled 280 co-operatives to use our DGRV online tool “Cooperative Basics”. The E learning software is the first one of its kind accessible for Kenyan cooperators and was launched just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Could E- learning be a resilient way of continuous co-operative learning?

On the positive side we experienced that

• Digital cooperative learning attracts new co-operative members, e. g. cooperative leaders often volunteer to onward the digital learning experience to young non- members;
• The certification at the end of the E learning course is often the first evidence of cooperative education for long standing cooperative members and
• Appreciation for stress-free learning in the users own time.

The sustainability of E- learning in the cooperative space in Kenya may be limited through the following factors:

• Guidance on both, the subject matter as well as on ICT handling throughout the E- learning experience is required;
• Only 40% of the DGRV E- learning users are less than 35 years old, hence a generational change can not be achieved through E- learning alone and
• Self-motivation of the users to continue learning in their own time is low.

Finally, we would say that an E- learning component adds to the diversity of access to cooperative education and does have the potential to thrive in times of crises but only if appropriate technical guidance is provided throughout the learning process.