CUCK in partnership with ATC and ACDI/VOCA CDP (Co-operative Development Programme) programme has launched a Co-operative Information Resource centre dubbed CIRC. The launch held on the 11^th November 2014 at the University’s main campus in Karen is a milestone towards revolution of the co-operative business model in Kenya. The Co-operative Information and Resource Center (CIRC) is a one stop-shop data centre for the co-operative movement in Kenya. The new Information Resource Centre dedicated to building a vibrant economy helping to create quality livelihoods, deliver better education and generate more enterprises.

In a speech read on his behalf by the commissioner of co-operative, the a cabinet secretary, ministry of industrialization and enterprise development Adan Mohamed, he marked that the new resource centre will catapult the enormous co-operative movement in the nation in marketing, and organizational development.

“The government,” Adan marked, “through the ministry of industrialization is committed to supporting ventures that contribute to poverty eradication and creation of employment.”

Speaking on the same event, the Kiambu county deputy governor hon. Njoroge Githinji noted that the biggest challenge in Kenya today remains youth unemployment. Hon. Githinji noted that the launch of CIRC was long overdue. He challenged co-operatives to exploit the full potential of the new resource centre to market and map their co-operatives for maximum benefits.

CUCK Principal Prof. Douglas Shitanda hailed the new venture saying that the Co-operative University College of Kenya is will work tirelessly with the co-operative movement to address its needs. He noted that the new resource centre is a tool vital for research, information dissemination and benchmarking. He noted that the objectives of the CIRC:

1. To be a transformative platform in reading materials, employment and improving education and training
2. To strengthen research programs of CUCK as an avenue of research dissemination and possibly data collection.
3. To create revenue through premium resources on the portal, such as advertisement, marketing and networking,

are a strong impetus to the co-operative movement in Kenya.

This portal will serve as one-stop shop for co-operative information. The portal will utilize a member system where users will need to log in to access both free and paid content in a “freemium” model in order for data on users to be captured. It will be an interactive community, utilizing social media to engage users with each other, as well as ATC, portal partners and ultimately, buyers and suppliers of agricultural enterprises through the mapping portion of the portal. The portal will be located at circ.coop. Utilizing a .coop domain easily identifies the portal as resource for co-operatives.

Portal Information

The portal will focus on organizational development resources for co-operatives, associations and organizations, with links to technical resources for specific industries (i.e. dairy, coffee, horticulture). For this focus on organizational development, the portal will focus on five areas for resources: Money, Management, Membership, Marketing and Mapping . Resources on the platform will include: Documents, Videos, Case Study, Courses/Training, GIS/Mapping.