Effect of Cooperative Societies on Poverty Alleviation in Rural Communities in Ezeagu Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria (Published)
The study investigated the effect of co-operative societies on poverty alleviation in rural communities in Ezeagu Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria. Three research questions and two hypotheses were formulated in line with the objectives of the study. The study employed the descriptive research design, the instrument for data collection was questionnaire constructed for the study and calibrated with the 4-point Likert ordinal measurement and rating scale. The population of the study was 130 cooperative members purposively selected from three cooperative societies. The sample size used was 97 cooperative members using Krejcie and Morgan table. Adopting a judgmental sampling technique, 97 questionnaires was distributed and 78 copies of the questionnaires were completed and returned and used for this study which represents 80% response rate. Research hypotheses were tested using regression analysis. The finding revealed that cooperative credit significantly impacts poverty alleviation (β = 2.391, p < .001). This suggests that cooperative credit has a significant positive impact on poverty alleviation. Based on these findings, the study recommended that to promote cooperative development, governments, cooperative societies, educational institutions, NGOs, and private sector organizations should collaborate to increase awareness of cooperative credit services in rural areas through simplified application processes and financial management training among others.
Keywords: Cooperative Societies, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Rural Communities