Cooperative Societies in Vanuatu — Student Guide with Answers and Activities

Simple rewrite for students: Cooperative Societies in Vanuatu

Cooperative societies are groups of villagers who pool their money and work together to run businesses for their members. When a cooperative makes money, that money (the profit) is divided according to how many activities each member took part in — each member who worked in an activity gets a portion called a dividend.

Vanuatu has village cooperatives plus a national group called the Vanuatu National Cooperative Federation (VNCF). In the past, the VNCF used to buy goods in large quantities and sell them to village cooperatives. Since 1986, the VNCF stopped doing wholesale buying itself and now works with private wholesalers instead.

A useful result of the cooperative movement was the Cooperative Savings Bank. It got people in villages saving money, but it did not give loans. In 1991 this was changed into the National Bank of Vanuatu, which is now owned and run by the government.

The Cooperative Service of the Vanuatu Government helps cooperatives. It employs 34 people and—since 1988—also helps small rural businesses (whether they are cooperatives or not). Development officers run training for cooperative secretaries and business owners on organizing and managing their businesses, and they advise on management, accounting, and legal issues. Three women advisors focus on helping women who start or join businesses.

The Service set up regional groups of village cooperatives and runs five Commercial Centres in these towns: Lenakel (Tanna), Craig Cove (Ambrym), Lolowai (Ambae), Ringdove (Epi), and Litzlitz (Malekula). Each Commercial Centre usually has:

• a wholesale section that sells goods in bulk to village cooperatives,
• docks for copra, cocoa, and shells,
• a branch of the National Bank of Vanuatu, and
• a retail store for local shoppers.

Activity questions — answers and guidance

1. What is a "consumer cooperative"? Name two consumer cooperative societies in Vanuatu and the villages where they are located.

Definition: A consumer cooperative is an organization owned by its customers (the members). Members buy shares to join, then the cooperative runs a store or service that sells goods to the members at fair prices. Profits are returned to members (often as dividends) or reinvested to improve services.

Note about local names: Your textbook or school handouts should list the actual names of consumer cooperative societies and the villages where they are based. I don’t have that page or list, so I cannot give the exact two names from your materials. Please copy the names from your book and I will confirm or explain them. Example placeholder names (do not use on tests): Lenakel Consumer Co-op (Lenakel) and Litzlitz Consumer Co-op (Litzlitz).

2. List the six basic rules for running a cooperative society. Why are these rules sometimes called the "Rochdale Rules"?

Here are six clear, commonly used rules for running a cooperative. These are based on the traditional Rochdale principles used around the world:

1. Open membership: Anyone can join if they buy a share and agree to the rules.
2. Democratic control: Each member has one vote (one member, one vote), no matter how many shares they own.
3. Limited interest on capital: Members may get only a small, limited return on money invested, to keep focus on service not profit.
4. Distribution of surplus: Any profits (after reserves) are shared among members as dividends based on their participation.
5. Neutrality: The cooperative stays neutral on politics and religion to include all members.
6. Education and training: The cooperative provides training so members and leaders can run the business well.

Why called the "Rochdale Rules"? These rules come from the Rochdale Pioneers in Rochdale, England (1844). The Rochdale group set up the first successful consumer cooperative and created principles that later became the basis for cooperative movements worldwide.

3. Create a bar chart showing the number of village cooperatives in each Local Government region of Vanuatu.

I don’t have your class data that lists how many cooperatives are in each Local Government region. To make the bar chart you will need those counts. Here are two helpful ways to proceed:

A. If you have the counts, use this quick method in Excel or Google Sheets:

1. Make two columns: (A) Local Government Region name, (B) Number of village cooperatives.
2. Select the data, then Insert > Chart > choose "Column chart" or "Bar chart".
3. Add axis labels and title: e.g., "Number of Village Cooperatives by Local Government Region".

B. Example (template) table and a simple ASCII bar chart:

ASCII bar chart for the example above (each '*' = 1 cooperative):

Tafea  : ********
Malampa: ******
Pénama : *******
Shefa  : *****
Sanma  : ****
Torba  : **

Replace the example numbers with your actual counts and redraw the chart the same way or in a spreadsheet.

4. Put the seven steps for how a consumer cooperative operates in the correct order and show them as a flowchart.

Correct order (logical flow):

1. People buy shares and become members.
2. A committee is elected from among the members of the society.
3. The committee appoints a secretary or manager.
4. The secretary or manager operates the store.
5. The store makes a profit.
6. The annual general meeting of shareholders, the committee, and the cooperative inspector is held, where decisions are made on how to use the profits.
7. Some profits are reinvested in the store; the remaining profits are distributed equally among members.

Simple flowchart (visual using arrows):

People buy shares → Committee elected → Committee appoints manager → Manager operates store 
           ↓
       Store makes a profit
           ↓
  Annual general meeting (shareholders, committee, inspector)
           ↓
  Some profit reinvested → Remaining profit distributed equally to members (dividends)

You can draw this on paper or in a diagram tool: use boxes for each step and arrows to show the order.

5. Using the 1997 cooperative society accounts on Malekula (the 'Sales' table in your book), calculate the dividend amount each member would receive.

I do not have the 1997 Sales table or the other account figures from your Social Science book, so I cannot compute the actual dividend amount yet. To calculate the dividend per member you need two pieces of information from the accounts:

1. Total profit available for distribution (this may be called "surplus" or "net profit" after any reserves and reinvestment are set aside).
2. The number of members who will share that profit (or the total number of share-units if dividends are paid by shares).

Method / formula:

Dividend per member = (Total profit available for distribution) ÷ (Number of members receiving the dividend)

Example calculation: Suppose the accounts say "Profit available for distribution = 1,200 vatu" and there are 12 members. Then:

Dividend per member = 1,200 ÷ 12 = 100 vatu per member.

Please either type or take a clear photo of the Sales table or the parts of the accounts that show:

• Sales, costs and net profit (or the figure labelled "net profit", "surplus", or "profit available for distribution"), and
• How many members (or total shares) exist that year.

Send that data and I will calculate the exact dividend for you and show each step.

If you want, I can:

• Check two named cooperatives you copy from your book (answer for Q1),
• Create the bar chart for Q3 if you give the counts per Local Government region, and
• Compute the exact dividend for Q5 if you send the 1997 Sales table or the profit and member numbers.

Which of those would you like to do next? If you paste the table data here I will finish Q1, Q3 and Q5 for you.