Cooperative, an aid to Women Empowerment (A Case Study of Awka South Local Government in Anambra State)
Chapter One
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of the study is the impact of cooperative society on women empowerment in Awka South Ladies Savings Group, Anambra State.
The specific objectives of the study are to:
- Determine the contributions of cooperative societies to women’s empowerment.
- Give a clear view of the factors that prompt cooperative societies to assist women’s empowerment.
- Elaborate on the problems that cooperative societies face or encounter in the discharge of their responsibilities to their members.
- Determine if there is any significant relationship between cooperative societies and women’s empowerment
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW, CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will be an attempt to appraise the literature review, perspectives and theoretical framework that are applicable and relevant towards achieving the desired aims and objectives of this research project.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Nigerian economy has a lot of potentials for growth and development. Perhaps, one important way to the realization of this goal is through the encouragement of cooperative movement. (Ayanwu et al, 1996). Cooperatives are defined as “an autonomous association of persons who unite voluntarily to meet their common economic and social needs and aspiration through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise (IC1A, 1995). Cooperatives are established by like-minded persons to pursue mutually beneficial economic interest. Researchers are of the opinion that under normal circumstance Cooperative play significant role in the provision of services that enhance agricultural development. Regular and optimal performance of these roles will accelerate the transformation of agriculture and rural economic development. Ijere (1981), further explains that, it is the cooperative that embraces all type of farmers and a well organized and supportive Cooperative is a pillar of strength for agriculture in Nigeria.
Capital formation can be defined as the transfer of savings from households and governments to the business sector, resulting in increased output and economic expansion (Wikipedia). Co-operatives vary in meaning for different purposes and with the profession of the people. However a co-operative is a voluntary association of people, engaging in a democratically controlled business organization, operating at cost which is owned, capitalized and controlled by member patrons as users, sharing risks and benefits in proportion to their participation to achieve a common economic goal.
Therefore, a co-operative can be defined as a business, voluntarily organized, operating at cost which is owned, capitalized and controlled by member patrons as users, sharing risks and benefits proportional to their participation ( Akanni, 1986). Co-operatives are defined by the International Cooperative Alliance’s Statement on the Cooperative Identity as autonomous associations of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprises. Aco operative, according to Shaar (1989) infarmer co-operative.What they are and what they are not, is a business voluntarily controlled and owned by the member patrons and operated for them on a nonprofit or cost basis.
Barko (1985) views co-operative as a voluntary association of man and woman, organized to solve the socio-economic felt needs of members, called cooperators. Member owner often capitalize, finance, supervise, control and direct the policy of the organization. In this regard, members usually pool their resources together for their socio-economic interest. Co-operative is a voluntary organization of persons with common interests formal and operated along democratic lines, for the purpose of supplying goods and services at affordable cost to us members who contribute capital, time, and energy to the cooperatives (Olajide, 1992).
Lot (1980) depicts that co-operatives were created and delivered by the economic in which all cooperative benefits felt. An organization of this need was given by early classical cooperative theorist Charles as quoted by Alao (1990) in which he says that the enormity of the disadvantages in the case when there would be In a village a single large granary will tended to instead of large number of granaries exposed to rats, weevils, humidity and fire which economical large tasks managed by unskilled people who either know to improve or conserve year outputs.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is designed to articulate various research methods which includes; research design, population of the study, sampling procedure and sample size, data collection instrument and validation, method of data analysis, and ethical consideration.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design that will be adopted for this research study is purely a survey research design. The adoption of this type of research design involves the use of questionnaire, which was used in eliciting information for this study. Furthermore, the questionnaires have been designed in such a way that the questions asked would provide useful answers to the research questions as well as test the hypotheses of the study.
AREA OF STUDY
Awka South Local Government Area is situated at a distance of approximately 36 km north of Anambra.
SOURCES OF DATA
PRIMARY DATA
The primary data will be collected through questionnaire administration. The questionnaire will be divided into two sections. Section A and Section B. Section A will contain information on socio-demographic characteristics of respondents and section B will focus on the objectives of the study.
SECONDARY DATA
The secondary data of information will be gathered from textbooks, journals and relevant articles from the internet.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
Population refers to sum total number of items or element under observation in a particular study. The population of the study will be the entire members of Great Women Multipurpose Co-operative Society
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
INTRODUCTION
The study investigated “cooperative society and women empowerment with special attention on a study of Awka South Ladies savings group, Awka South Local Government Area, Anambra State”. This chapter covers the presentation, analysis and interpretation of data collected from primary sources. The data presented here are the answers of the respondents to the questionnaire served to them. In order to present and analyze the data collected through questionnaire and interviews, all questions in the questionnaire were analyzed including those that have a close relationship with the research questions, interviews, objectives as well as hypotheses. Also, the hypothesis was tested using chi square and t test statistical method.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The summary of findings is based on the research objectives, which stated below:
We looked into the contributions of cooperative societies on women empowerment; we have determined the factors that prompt cooperative societies to assist women and also decipher the problems faced by these cooperative societies in the discharge and implementation of their responsibilities to their members. We also gave a clear view of the purposes that determine the contributions of cooperative societies to women; we elaborated on the problems and determined the significant relationships between cooperative societies and women empowerment.
Findings have shown that female members dominate the cooperative society by 78%, with 56% being married and 32% being single while 12% are divorced. Also, the active age of members of the cooperative ranges between 36-45 and they occupy 54% of the total members of the cooperatives. The percentage of highly educated members of the cooperative is 10%. These are the members with MSC/MBA qualifications while 40% are BSC/HND holders, 22% are OND holders and just 6% has SSCE/GCE level of qualification.
Rate of members with strong belief in the cooperative society is rather high. Ranging from 86% of the cooperative members who strongly believe in the functionality and empowerment from the cooperative.
The researcher looked into the perspectives, conceptual and theoretical frameworks that are applicable and relevant towards achieving the desired aims and objectives of the research project. The results of the research findings show that majority of the respondents (cooperative members) are female, still in their active age and married, fairly educated and high proportion being in their private businesses which includes menial and petty trades of mostly agricultural produce..
The researcher looked into the historical development of cooperative societies, and also discussed cooperative society’s principles; we expatiated on the types of cooperatives and their significance and further looked into the problems that are militating against the performance of cooperative societies.
The researcher discussed the relationship between cooperative societies, small-scale businesses and business development and also shed more light on the relationship between cooperative societies and women empowerment. We ventured into the CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK where we looked into the theory of democracy, the classical theory and the flow financing theory.
The researcher also worked on the main body of the research by first determining the most suitable research design that should be adopted for the research study and a survey research design was adopted. We analyzed our primary and secondary sources of data, population of the study and also chose the most appropriate sampling method and techniques with which accurate research findings and result could be derived.
In the end, Analysis were made which goes along with the presentation of data and its interpretations, which drove us to our final conclusions.
CONCLUSION
The study examined the cooperative society and women empowerment. The independent variable (Cooperative societies) has positive effect on the performance of women empowerment. It was observed that co-operatives were created and delivered by the economy in which all cooperative benefits are felt. Early classical cooperative theorist Charles gave an organization of this need. The statistical results from the data gathered using chi-square test suggested that:
– Cooperative societies have a significant impact on women empowerment
– Cooperative societies plays a significant role on women empowerment and also
– Cooperative societies’ “problems” sometimes negatively affect the progress of women empowerment
In conclusion, Majority of these respondents are self-employed (sole proprietors) in their various businesses and they are mostly in the management position of their businesses using surety (others) as their collateral and being given a moratorium of 1-2 years on the loan collected. Majority of the loan collected is spent on their various businesses; the co-operators enjoy the benefit of financial assistance by the co-operative society, which increases the capital formation of the cooperators. The major way by which co-operative society increase co-operators capital formation is by granting credit services, the co-operative society gives timely loan to co-operators which empower members to own their own business. Co-operative society helps to improve business entrepreneurial, they play a leading role in poverty reduction and emphasizes on the welfare of its members by monitoring the income and expenditure of members.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the research findings, the following are recommended:
- The government should assist co-operative society to improve their capital base through the annual budget of the country. That is, substantial amount of money should be allocated to the co-operative society like the other sectors of the economy.
- There is need for co-operative research and organization of symposium and public lectures with a view to enhance the efficiency of co-operative movement in Nigeria
- The Government should license cooperative societies to practice micro finance banking so as to alleviate problems of securing fund by small scale business.
- Cooperative leaders should encourage the members of small scale business to participate in the technological entrepreneurial development programs to enhance their skills in their key business areas.
- Small-scale businesses should be encouraged to join or form cooperative societies, which should embody all principles of cooperation to facilitate access to fund and promote entrepreneurship development.
REFERENCES
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