COOPERATIVE MEMBERSHIP AND SMALLHOLDER FARMERS INCOME IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
Keywords:
cooperative societies, earnings, livelihood, productivityAbstract
Cooperative societies have been found to benefit their members economically and socially, which raises farm income and improve productivity of smallholder farmers. This research focused on the effects of cooperative societies’ membership on smallholder farmers’ income. The study proffered solutions to diverse research questions on assessing the income generating activities of smallholder farmers and assessment of the effects of Farmers’ Cooperative on income of members. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire from one hundred and thirty (130) farmers selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, means and percentages, and multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Most of the respondents (72.3%) were male, 80.0% had no formal education, 53.1% were between 51 and 65 years, 81.5% were married, 57.7% had family size between 1 and 5 persons while 93.8% had a farm size of less than 4 ha. Cooperative members earned a mean total income at ₦252,400, compared to ₦168,389.7 for non-members and ₦141,000 for former members. The regression analysis underscores the significant and positive impact of cooperative membership on household income (β = 0.31, p < 0.05), signifying higher earnings for cooperative-affiliated households. Farm size cultivated and household size were highly significant. The study confirmed that strengthening cooperative systems is a viable pathway for enhancing agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods. The findings underscore the need for adept cooperative management practices to address challenges and optimize the socioeconomic benefits for participating households.
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