North West Economic Forum 2025
When the North West Cooperative Association (NWCA) Ltd stood before the region’s most influential economic stakeholders to receive the Community Development Champion 2025 award, it was a moment of reflection. Yes because, in a time of uncertainty, the cooperative has not only survived but set the pace for what development can and should look like.
Let us be clear: this is not simply about coffee. It is about vision. About staying rooted in community while reaching for the world. About refusing to let insecurity, poverty, or policy inertia define what is possible.
Under the stewardship of Waindim Timothy Ntam, NWCA Ltd has proven that cooperative models still work — maybe not as relics of a past era, but as essential vehicles of inclusive development. NWCA’s transformation of smallholder farming into value-added enterprise, job creation, and export-ready branding through Kola Coffee is no small feat. This is home-grown development at its most authentic.
But there’s a bigger lesson here. At a time when international donor fatigue is high and faith in government initiatives is strained, NWCA has quietly built a track record that development agencies, government planners and civil society actors ought to study closely. Their formula is not magic. It is practical: start with people, listen to their needs, invest in their skills, and return value to the community. That is development with dignity.
This editorial further urges regional actors and decision-makers not to just applaud NWCA’s success and move on. Instead, replicate it. Strengthen policy support for cooperatives. Expand market access for local products. Prioritise IDP-inclusive initiatives. And above all, allow community-based institutions the space and trust to lead.
Awards are not ends in themselves. They are nudges and reminders of where we are, and where we must go. NWCA’s recognition should nudge the North West Region toward a new economic era, where development is no longer a distant dream, but a collective effort led by those closest to the soil. Because, as the NWCA story shows, when the farmer thrives, the region rises.
By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Newsroom
Photos by Nyanchi Photography
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