Role and Contribution of Cooperative Societies in the Economy of Awka North Local Government Area

Abstract

This study examines the contribution of co-operative societies towards development of  Awka North  L.G.A. The specific objectives include to determine the socio-economic characteristics of members of the co-operative in the area, to identify the activities carried out by the co-operatives, examine the contributions of the co-operatives toward national development and identified the constraints which hinders their contribution towards development of Nigerian economy efforts. Taro Yamani’s formular was used to determine the sample size of 197 respondents and descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, frequency distribution and scale analysis were used to analyze data. The study revealed that co-operative societies in the area are engaged in crops, livestock and storage enterprises and that they provides credit facilities and supply farm inputs to their members. The study further revealed that mobilization of savings is among the contributions of the co-operatives towards enhancing national development. In line with the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that the government should encourage the co-operative in the area of increase supply of credit from financial institution and improve on public enlightenment in order to bring about increased participation and involvement of small-scale farmers.