Tin and tungsten cooperatives find footing

In Kabale and Rukungiri, licensed cooperatives have started pooling their tin and tungsten before selling, instead of each family carrying a small sack to the buyer alone. When you sell one tonne together, the buyer talks to you differently.

01What changed on the ground

You see, members told us the combined loads attract better per-kilo terms and that sorting standards have improved, since the group cannot afford one member's dirty ore spoiling the lot. Women, who do most of the sorting, are now on the payment lists in their own names in two of the groups we visited.

02What has not changed

The road from the hills is bad and hire of a lorry is expensive, so a good share of the extra money goes straight back into transport. Grading disputes with buyers are still settled by argument, not by an assay.

03Our reading

Cooperative selling is working better than we expected, and it is the cheapest formalisation tool available. Tie it to proper assay access and the gains would stick. We shall return to it when the numbers come out.