Lessons from India’s youth co-operative movement and how Kenya can turn youth participation into ownership, innovation and leadership.
Young people are often described as the future of the co-operative movement. But for Kenya, that description may no longer be enough.
The future of the movement is being shaped today, and young people need to be part of that process as members, owners, entrepreneurs, innovators and decision-makers.
This is one of the key messages emerging from the experience of Harsh Sanghani, president of the International Cooperative Alliance Youth Committee, who argues that the greatest opportunity co-operatives offer young people is “ownership with participation.”
His observation carries particular significance for Kenya, where co-operatives, especially SACCOs and agricultural societies, remain important players in financial inclusion, enterprise development and community economic development.
The challenge is to ensure that young Kenyans do not see co-operatives simply as institutions created by their parents and grandparents, but as organisations they can own, influence and transform.
From membership to meaningful participation.
For many young Kenyans, their first encounter with a SACCO comes when they need access to credit. Others encounter agricultural co-operatives when looking for markets for their produce.
While these services remain important, the co-operative movement needs to offer young people a broader proposition.
A co-operative can be a financial institution, but it can also be a business platform, investment vehicle, employer, innovation centre and democratic organisation.
This requires co-operative leaders to rethink how they engage young members.
Youth participation should not be limited to annual meetings, conferences, youth committees or special programmes. Young people should have opportunities to participate meaningfully in governance and strategic decision-making.
The objective should be to develop young leaders who understand co-operative principles, financial management, governance, technology and enterprise.
Young people should become co-operative entrepreneurs.
One of the strongest lessons from Sanghani’s message is the need to connect co-operation with entrepreneurship.
Kenya has a large population of young people who are creating businesses in agriculture, technology, creative industries, tourism, transport, manufacturing and the digital economy.
Co-operatives can provide these young entrepreneurs with something individual businesses often struggle to obtain: collective strength.
Young entrepreneurs can establish co-operatives to share equipment, reduce operating costs, access markets, negotiate collectively and develop common infrastructure.
A group of young filmmakers, for example, could collectively own production equipment. Young farmers could aggregate their produce and negotiate better markets. Digital workers could develop platforms collectively owned by the people who use them.
This is the real strength of the co-operative model: it allows individuals to pursue economic opportunities while retaining collective ownership.
SACCOs can become youth enterprise platforms.
Kenya’s SACCOs are particularly well positioned to support this transformation.
Instead of viewing young members primarily as borrowers, SACCOs can develop programmes that combine affordable financing with business training, mentorship, market access and digital services.
A youth enterprise programme could help members move from an idea to a viable business by providing access to: affordable start-up capital; financial literacy; business mentorship; digital skills; market information; incubation and innovation programmes; professional business services; and networks linking young entrepreneurs to potential customers and partners.
Such an approach would change the relationship between the SACCO and its young members.
The young person would no longer simply be someone who saves and borrows. He or she would become an entrepreneur and an active owner contributing to the growth of the institution.
Digital transformation offers a major opportunity.
Technology is another area where Kenya’s co-operative movement can learn from the youth.
Young Kenyans are already deeply engaged with mobile money, digital banking, social media, e-commerce and other digital platforms.
Co-operatives should therefore involve young members in designing and improving their digital services.
SACCOs could establish youth innovation programmes through which members identify problems and develop digital solutions for member services, financial education, communication, marketing and governance.
This would make young people more than consumers of technology.
They would become co-operative innovators.
For a movement seeking to remain relevant in an increasingly digital economy, this is an opportunity that should not be overlooked.
Give young people real leadership opportunities.
Sanghani’s experience also raises an important governance question for Kenya: how much influence do young people actually have within co-operative institutions?
Having a youth representative does not automatically amount to meaningful participation.
Young members need opportunities to develop the skills required for leadership and, where appropriate, to compete for positions within governance structures.
Co-operatives can introduce structured leadership development programmes that prepare young members for responsibilities in boards, committees and management.
This should be based on competence rather than age alone.
The older generation has valuable institutional knowledge, while younger members bring fresh perspectives, technological skills and new approaches to business.
Kenya therefore does not need a battle between generations.
It needs intergenerational co-operation.
Experienced leaders can mentor young people while young members contribute ideas in technology, entrepreneurship, communication and emerging markets.
Policy makers must create space for youth co-operatives.
The responsibility also extends to government and policy makers.
Youth-focused co-operative policy should go beyond encouraging young people to join existing societies.
It should make it easier for young people to establish, operate and grow viable co-operative enterprises.
This could include strengthening co-operative education in schools, colleges and universities; supporting youth enterprise development; improving access to appropriate financing; providing business incubation; and creating stronger links between young co-operatives and markets.
Technical and vocational institutions could also introduce practical co-operative entrepreneurship programmes, allowing students to understand how collective ownership can be used to create employment and businesses.
Young people should encounter the co-operative model before they enter the labour market, rather than discovering it only when they need a loan.
Measure youth inclusion differently.
Kenya’s co-operative movement should also reconsider how it measures youth participation.
The number of youth conferences held or youth members registered may not tell the whole story.
More useful questions would be:
How many young people own shares in co-operatives?
How many actively participate in elections and governance?
How many young entrepreneurs have received support from co-operatives?
How many youth-led co-operative enterprises have become sustainable businesses?
How many young people sit on boards and committees?
And how many young people see the co-operative movement as a place where they can build their economic future?
These measures would provide a clearer picture of whether youth participation is genuine or merely symbolic.
The future should begin today.
The central lesson from Sanghani’s experience is that young people should not be told simply to wait for their turn.
They should be given the opportunity to participate now.
For Kenya, this means moving from youth inclusion as a programme to youth inclusion as an institutional strategy.
It means turning young members into entrepreneurs, consumers into owners, representatives into decision-makers and beneficiaries into innovators.
Kenya already has a strong co-operative foundation. The challenge is to make that foundation relevant to a new generation facing different economic realities from those experienced by previous generations.
If co-operative leaders and policy makers succeed in giving young people genuine ownership, skills, influence and opportunities, the movement will not merely have young members to carry it into the future.
It will have a generation actively reshaping it.
Young people should not simply inherit Kenya’s co-operative movement. They should have a hand in building what it becomes.
