CoopWorks V5.0 - Computer System for Farmer Associations

CoopWorks, which is available in two different versions, a Dairy and a Coffee coops version, is a member MIS which has been integrated with digital weighing scales and electronic member cards to boost transparency and accountability in farmer producer coops. It is an open source system with no license fee requirements with integrated digital scales and electronic member cards.

Business indicators give the management the financial picture in the society in terms of their income and expenditure. Basic accounting skills is essential and expertise in computer skills needed. A light version is being developed for the farmer groups that are small and can not afford heavy investment in ICT but can access the system in a cyber and make printouts of the reports.

Computerization in farmer producer groups boosts confidence in members, improves the cash flow management and will lead to increased pay to members as a result of savings on overheads. Computerization has three costs namely hardware costs, software license costs and training. With CoopWorks being an open source system, the costs are reduced to two thirds - hardware support and training.