Department of Cooperatives under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Cooperatives and Marketing will finalise Cooperatives Database System throughout the country next month.

The system is intended to provide information relating to cooperatives in each of the 10 districts and activities members perform for income generation and poverty reduction.

The Cooperatives Officer in Maseru, Mrs. 'Malerato Fiee, said the system will also show the number of members in as far as gender issues are concerned, cooperatives and assets, adding that they will also be classified according to their activities.

'Some cooperatives deal with savings and credit, while others are engaged in multipurpose such as handicrafts and agricultural activities.

Mrs. Fiee added that Cooperatives Officers have already completed districts visits to identify the existing cooperatives.

To date, there are 136 cooperatives societies in the country with 13, 225 registered members.

Source: LENA 07/01/2008