On Day 4 of our journey through the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, we arrive at Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics.
Kwanzaa is a celebration that has grown in practice in African-American communities in the USA, but stems from African philosophies, and was originally envisioned as a way to celebrate African culture and foster unity. Its framework was inspired by first-fruits harvest traditions found in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
What is Ujamaa
The Kiswahili word Ujamaa translates roughly as “fraternity”, or “familyhood”. Ujamaa is also a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere’s (former president of Tanzania) social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. In the context of the Kwanzaa festival, the principle of Ujamaa represents Cooperative Economics. This principle seeks a commitment to shared social wealth and collective growth through mutual support networks in the communities of Africans both on the continent, and in the wider diaspora.
How does cooperative economics work?
Ujamaa stems from the idea that wealth is generated from a community structure that is similar to a family, in the way that it supports and gives people the foundation to grow and develop. It sees communities as extended families and emphasises that they should build, strengthen and maintain control of the wealth they generate together to avoid it being lost.
One aspect of Ujamaa relates to spending money within local African-American communities to ensure that the wealth stays within the community and is reinvested in local business, but it extends far beyond this. Concepts of Ujamaa discuss how wealth accumulation could lead to unequal financial influence or even exploitation, and aims to avoid such problems.
Julius Nyerere gave his take on the definition of Ujamaa in that it is “above all human centered—concerned foremost with the well-being, happiness and development of the human. Ujamaa rejects the idea of wealth for wealth’s sake as opposed to wealth for the well-being of all.”
Ujamaa and cooperative economics in practice
With so many ideas of mutual support described in the principle, we might ask how can Ujamaa be achieved in our daily actions? How can communities support each other collectively out in the material world?
Beyond spending money in the local community, Grassroots Economic Organizing suggests a number of ways that African communities (both on the continent, and in the diaspora) can strengthen themselves via cooperative economics.
- Shop at farmers’ markets.
- Buy fair trade produce. This helps support smallholder farmers to make a fair income.
- Form, join, or do business with producer cooperatives (e.g. workers cooperatives, agriculture cooperatives etc).
- Move finances to a credit union, which is a financial cooperative, and which often are better at providing loans cheaply to their members.
Our partners in social enterprise
The Community Revolution is a non-profit social enterprise, and in line with our vision to facilitate sustainable development for our communities around the world, we partner with various like-minded organisations.
One of our key partners is the Ghana Permaculture Institute (GPI) (partner on our Moringa Initiative) whose work helps facilitate co-operative economics for sustainable growth. Many of GPIs projects practice aspects of Ujamaa in rural communities in Ghana, impacting smallholder farmers and other members of the community.
Their activities include:
- Tree nurseries. GPI uses permaculture planting techniques which have a regenerative effect on the land to improve soil health for years to come
- Capacity building programmes. Accessible permaculture courses that offer practical skills for people of any education level, to turn land into a productive resource with easily shareable skills.
- Moringa and high-value crop production. GPI helps farmers to sell their products to create a sustainable and decent livelihood, teaching best production practices of high value organic crops such as: moringa, citronella, lemongrass and cocoa.
Generosity is community wealth
Ujamaa shares values and traditions of the Kenyan motto ‘Harambee’, a Swahili word meaning ‘everyone pulling together’, similar to the philosophies of Kwanzaa. Although Ujima focuses on the generation of community wealth, generosity to those in need is seen as a virtue, an ethical obligation in many traditional African cultures.
New Jersey Frontrunner highlights that “in one study from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), it has been shown that three countries in East Africa — Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania — are among the top nations in the world that actively participate in grassroots philanthropy.”
In the Book of Ani (an ancient Egyptian manuscript) we are taught that generosity is its own reciprocal reward and that “small gifts return greater and what is replaced brings abundance.”
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