International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences

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Prospects of Cooperative Society for Sustainable Agriculture Among Smallholder Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria

Received: 15 September 2018    Accepted: 30 September 2018    Published: 14 November 2018
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Abstract

The study was conducted to ascertain prospects of cooperative society for sustainable agriculture among smallholder farmers in Benue state, Nigeria. Data were collected from eighty (80) respondents using questionnaire. Frequency, percentage, mean score and factor analysis were used for analyzing data collected for the study. Findings indicate that about 39% of the respondents were aged between 41 and 50 years while 7.5% were aged above 60 years, among others. A greater percentage (63.8%) of the respondents were males with majority (88.8%) being married, 40% of them acquired tertiary education with 50.0% having a household size of 1-5 persons while 68.8% had farming as a major occupation. Savings and contributions (57.0%) were major sources of fund for cooperative society. Major reasons for joining cooperative society were access to credit facilities (38.8%), greater access to farm inputs (26.2%), raise standard of living (11.2%), among others. Results on benefits of cooperatives society include access to information (94.5%), increases members income and food security (91.8%), high productivity/ increase in output (90.4%), easy access to loan facilities (89.0%), improved market competition and expanded market opportunities (89.0%), pulling of resources together (86.3%), easy access to credit facilities (80.8%), greater access to farm inputs (75.3%), availability of labour (61.5%), etc. Factors influencing performance of cooperative society were named institutional, funding and input- related variables. The study recommends that there is need for timely provision of farm inputs for the farmers in order to increase productivity for sustainable agriculture. Adequate awareness campaign is needed in ensuring that farmers become members of cooperative society so as to pull their resources together for greater productivity.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijaas.20180405.11
Published in International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 5, September 2018)
Page(s) 103-109
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Prospects, Cooperative Society, Sustainable, Agriculture, Smallholder Farmers, Nigeria

References
[1] International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) (2010). Blue print for a cooperative decade. Geneva: ICA.
[2] Nweze, N. J. (2002). Rural development in Nigeria: Past approaches, emerging issues and strategies for the future. Nigerian Journal of Cooperative Studies, 2 (1), 73-89.
[3] Onuoha, E. (2002). A critique of the drafts of cooperative policy for Nigeria. Nigeria Journal of Cooperative Studies, 2 (1), pp. 10-17.
[4] Ebonyi, V. and Jimoh, O. B. (2002). Cooperative movements: A way out of poverty. Longman Publishers, pp. 9-10.
[5] Ibitoye, S, J. (2012). Survey of the performance of agricultural cooperative societies in Kogi state, Nigeria. European Scientific Journal, 8(28), pp. 98-114.
[6] Borgens, S. O. (2001). Identification as a Trust-generating Mechanism in Cooperatives. Annual Publication of Cooperative Economics.
[7] Birchall, J. (2004). Cooperative and the Millennium Development Goals. Geneva: International Labour Office.
[8] Ibrahim, Y. (2001). Basic aspects of cooperative studies. Kano: Munawwar Books International.
[9] Baarda, J. (2004). Outside equity: Obligation, tradeoffs fundamental cooperative character selected paper at the NCERA-194 2004 Annual Meeting, November 2nd 2004.
[10] Flannery, M. J. (1994). An Economic Evaluation of credit unions in the United States. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Research Report, No. 54.
[11] Baarda, J. (2006). Current issues in cooperative finance and governance: Background and discussion paper. Washington D. C. USA, Rural Development, Cooperatives programme.
[12] Muhammad, S. H. (2014). The role of cooperative organizations in rural community development in Nigeria: Prospects and challenges. Academic Research International, 5(3), pp. 189-197.
[13] National Population Commission (NPC) (2006). Report of the 2006 Census. Abuja, Nigeria.
[14] Ajani, E. N. (2012). Occupational diversification by rural women in Anambra state, Nigeria. Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany, p. 92.
[15] Ajani, E. N. and Agwu, A. E. (2012). Information communication technology needs of small-scale farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural and Food Information, 13:2, pp. 144-156.
[16] Nnadozie, A. K. O, Oyediran, A. G, Njoku, I. A and Okoli, K. C. (2015). Nigerian Agricultural Cooperatives and Rural Development in Ivo L. G. A., Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 15 (4), pp. 34-43.
[17] Ajani, E. N. (2013). Constraints to effective use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) among small-scale farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. International Journal of Agricultural Science, Research and Technology, 2 (3), pp. 117-122.
[18] Mbah, E. N., Ezeano, C. I. and Onwusika, A. I. (2017). Assessment of challenges faced by rural youths in family farming in Benue State, Nigeria: Issues for consideration. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Innovations, 5 (2), pp. 7-15.
[19] Onogwu, G. O. and Arene, C. J. (2007). Effects of lending of formal and informal micro-finance. institutions on Access to Agricultural credit in Nigeria. Journal of Rural Development, 26 (2), pp. 177-187.
[20] Ekong, E. E. (2010). An Introduction to Rural Sociology. Dove Educational Publishers, Uyo, Nigeria, p. 251.
[21] Nweze, N. J. (2003). Cooperative promotion in rural communities: The project approach. Nigerian Journal of Cooperative Studies, 2 (2), 73-86.
[22] Ebonyi, V. and Jimoh, O. B. (2002). Cooperative movements: A way out of poverty. Longman Publishers, pp. 9-10.
Author Information
  • Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria

  • Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria

  • Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Nigeria

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  • APA Style

    Attah Agbo Joseph, Mbah Evangeline Nwakaego, Okeke Margaret Ngozi. (2018). Prospects of Cooperative Society for Sustainable Agriculture Among Smallholder Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria. International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences, 4(5), 103-109. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20180405.11

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    ACS Style

    Attah Agbo Joseph; Mbah Evangeline Nwakaego; Okeke Margaret Ngozi. Prospects of Cooperative Society for Sustainable Agriculture Among Smallholder Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria. Int. J. Appl. Agric. Sci. 2018, 4(5), 103-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20180405.11

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    AMA Style

    Attah Agbo Joseph, Mbah Evangeline Nwakaego, Okeke Margaret Ngozi. Prospects of Cooperative Society for Sustainable Agriculture Among Smallholder Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria. Int J Appl Agric Sci. 2018;4(5):103-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20180405.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijaas.20180405.11,
      author = {Attah Agbo Joseph and Mbah Evangeline Nwakaego and Okeke Margaret Ngozi},
      title = {Prospects of Cooperative Society for Sustainable Agriculture Among Smallholder Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria},
      journal = {International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences},
      volume = {4},
      number = {5},
      pages = {103-109},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijaas.20180405.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20180405.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijaas.20180405.11},
      abstract = {The study was conducted to ascertain prospects of cooperative society for sustainable agriculture among smallholder farmers in Benue state, Nigeria. Data were collected from eighty (80) respondents using questionnaire. Frequency, percentage, mean score and factor analysis were used for analyzing data collected for the study. Findings indicate that about 39% of the respondents were aged between 41 and 50 years while 7.5% were aged above 60 years, among others. A greater percentage (63.8%) of the respondents were males with majority (88.8%) being married, 40% of them acquired tertiary education with 50.0% having a household size of 1-5 persons while 68.8% had farming as a major occupation. Savings and contributions (57.0%) were major sources of fund for cooperative society. Major reasons for joining cooperative society were access to credit facilities (38.8%), greater access to farm inputs (26.2%), raise standard of living (11.2%), among others. Results on benefits of cooperatives society include access to information (94.5%), increases members income and food security (91.8%), high productivity/ increase in output (90.4%), easy access to loan facilities (89.0%), improved market competition and expanded market opportunities (89.0%), pulling of resources together (86.3%), easy access to credit facilities (80.8%), greater access to farm inputs (75.3%), availability of labour (61.5%), etc. Factors influencing performance of cooperative society were named institutional, funding and input- related variables. The study recommends that there is need for timely provision of farm inputs for the farmers in order to increase productivity for sustainable agriculture. Adequate awareness campaign is needed in ensuring that farmers become members of cooperative society so as to pull their resources together for greater productivity.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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    T1  - Prospects of Cooperative Society for Sustainable Agriculture Among Smallholder Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria
    AU  - Attah Agbo Joseph
    AU  - Mbah Evangeline Nwakaego
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    AB  - The study was conducted to ascertain prospects of cooperative society for sustainable agriculture among smallholder farmers in Benue state, Nigeria. Data were collected from eighty (80) respondents using questionnaire. Frequency, percentage, mean score and factor analysis were used for analyzing data collected for the study. Findings indicate that about 39% of the respondents were aged between 41 and 50 years while 7.5% were aged above 60 years, among others. A greater percentage (63.8%) of the respondents were males with majority (88.8%) being married, 40% of them acquired tertiary education with 50.0% having a household size of 1-5 persons while 68.8% had farming as a major occupation. Savings and contributions (57.0%) were major sources of fund for cooperative society. Major reasons for joining cooperative society were access to credit facilities (38.8%), greater access to farm inputs (26.2%), raise standard of living (11.2%), among others. Results on benefits of cooperatives society include access to information (94.5%), increases members income and food security (91.8%), high productivity/ increase in output (90.4%), easy access to loan facilities (89.0%), improved market competition and expanded market opportunities (89.0%), pulling of resources together (86.3%), easy access to credit facilities (80.8%), greater access to farm inputs (75.3%), availability of labour (61.5%), etc. Factors influencing performance of cooperative society were named institutional, funding and input- related variables. The study recommends that there is need for timely provision of farm inputs for the farmers in order to increase productivity for sustainable agriculture. Adequate awareness campaign is needed in ensuring that farmers become members of cooperative society so as to pull their resources together for greater productivity.
    VL  - 4
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