Patronizing Agricultural Cooperatives: The Journey towards Zero Hunger Attainment in South-South States, Nigeria (Published)
The study focused on farmers patronizing agricultural cooperative societies as a journey towards zero hunger attainment in South-South States, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select a sample size of 144. A validated questionnaire was used to obtain data from respondents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the data obtained. Results showed that the average age, farming experience, household size, farm size and annual farm income were 46 years, 11 years, 6 persons, 3 Ha and N282,638.89 respectively. The level of participation of the respondents activities in their groups was highest in payment of monthly dues and other necessary contributions (mean = 3.60) and the most benefit derived was increased human capacity development in farming (mean = 3.48). In addition, most (59.03%) of the cooperators indicated their high level of satisfaction with the groups they belong. Regression results showed that respondents derived significant (p<0.05) benefits from their belonging to cooperative groups. It was concluded that farmers were satisfied by patronizing cooperative societies as a strategy to attain zero hunger amongst households. The study recommends that there should be awareness creation for new entrants to join cooperative societies so as to accomplish zero hunger.
Keywords: Benefits, Cooperative Societies, Farmers, Participation, Satisfaction, zero hunger
Demystifying Women’s Apathy Towards Rural Community-Based Cooperative Societies in Nigeria: An Empirical Insight (Published)
The main thrust of this paper was to examine women’s apathy towards rural community-based cooperative societies in Nigeria. The study specifically examined the types of cooperatives in the study area, the reasons for women’s membership of cooperatives, reasons for women’s apathy towards cooperatives and the socioeconomic determinants of women’s involvement in cooperative societies in rural communities. The study was carried out in Cross River State, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised all rural women in the study area. The respondents consisted of 145 randomly selected rural women. Data were collected with the aid of a validated structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Data obtained were analyzed using mean, mean deviation, ranking and probit regression model. The result of analysis revealed that different cooperative societies exists in the area, women join cooperatives for various reasons such as access to loan/grants, to attract government support, access to farm input, access to educational opportunities, among others. It was also noted that women’s apathy towards cooperatives is associated with their lack of land ownership right, domestic responsibilities, and poverty etc. The age, marital status, level of education and occupation of women were significantly related to their participation in cooperatives. It was recommended among others that government should provide credit facilities to rural women to enhance their financial autonomy and participation in cooperative societies.
Keywords: Cooperative Societies, Nigeria, Rural, Women, apathy
Performance of Fishery Cooperative Societies in Rivers State; Nigeria (Published)
In Nigeria fishery sub-sector accounts for about 40% of animal protein in the diet and contribute 4.4% of the agricultural share of the nation’s GDP in 2003. Nigeria is blessed with a vest expense of inland, fresh water, marine and brackish ecosystem which is richly bless with aquatic life. However Nigeria fish production volume of 0.5 tones cannot meet the annual demand of 1.3 million tonnes. Average annual fish consumption in the country has therefore stagnated a 9.2kg per capita, a situation that resulted in a huge supply and consumption gap. The study, therefore had its trust as appraising the performance of fishery cooperative societies in Rivers State. Data were obtained from 360 cooperative fishermen, from 12 purposively selected Local Government Area of Rivers State. Data obtained were analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that, the respondents were of low educational qualification as such affected their initiative to improve the technique in the fish production as well as management of the fishing experience, had significant influence on the fishermen return as fishermen who went for more catch. Also, the findings from the study gave evidence that; there are three major sources used in the fishing exploit deep sea approach, the riverside and the creek. It was observed that more fishermen prefer the creek as fish tend to hide at the creek followed by the riverside approach with few exploiting the deep sea. The findings revealed that fishermen are faced with various degrees of challenges which range from pollution, climate change/bad weather, financial challenge; storage and processing facility; as well as high cost of fishing tools. The Researcher, therefore recommended among others that formal cooperative system of fish producers should be put in place to improve fish production in the areas.
Keywords: Cooperative Societies, Fishery, Nigeria, Rivers State