ABSTRACT
The only way people can maximize benefit of limited
resources to their reach is by self-reliance. Therefore there is need for
people to use co-operative societies to achieve these. The project seeks to
identify how cooperative societies can be used as means to alleviate poverty in
Kaduna South LGA. Four cooperative societies and their members were used to
buttress the point. Poverty is on the rampage, thus the need to stamp or
alleviate is a welcome development. Primary and secondary data were used in collecting
data. In the findings, the cooperative societies have alleviated poverty in
Kaduna South Local Government Area by measures of their activities in and
around the territories. It also noted that they encountered some difficulties
in carrying out their activities, among which is poor management.
Recommendation were made in respect of the problems they are facing and avenue
they can improve the lives of persons in Kaduna South LGA. It is particularly
recommended that persons in positions of authority should be people with
impeccable character and hardworking. Cooperative societies need and since
funds from external sources are difficult to obtain members should be
encouraged to make special savings so as to enable the societies mobilize more
funds from internal sources Also persons who join cooperative societies in must
be prepared to do work with others to achieve the societies set objectives and
must also be prepared to display transparent honesty when dealing with fellow
cooperative and societies.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
In Nigeria today, poverty has become a major problem facing
the country. The question has been asked, how can this problem of poverty,
which is effecting our economy be alleviated. Several government bodies have
been set up to find solution to that. However, it is important to find out what
poverty is all about and the meaning of cooperative by different scholars, and
merge the two together for us to have a clearer of the purpose of this study.
According to Oxford dictionary, poverty is a state of being
poor. It is inability of a household to generate adequate income for the
maintenance of the house members. That is to say, it can be defined from the
point of view of income, and that is the general intake by which poverty can be
evaluated. A Poor person means a person who is unable to find a job, obtain
adequate income, unable to own property, and maintain a good healthy condition.
This is the sign of poverty we are talking about.
On the other hand, cooperative is a phenomenon that denotes
any form of working together voluntarily by persons or individuals to achieve
common goals. To narrow it down cooperative refers to the activities of an
association of persons with similar social, cultural and economic needs who
willingly come together to satisfy these need in solidarity. In other words cooperative
was born as a result of reaction against capitalism, competition and injustices
that associated with them. Cooperatives is a purely service oriented to their
members rather than profit oriented.
The cooperative members integrated their resources, for the
satisfaction of their members identified need. Beside, a tree cannot make a
forest; people from different places can come together and pool their resources
together to satisfy their expectation.
However, based on these, cooperative is the best way of
tackling the perennial economic problem of a developing country like Nigeria
where a greater percentage of people live below poverty level. This is probably
what informs the Federal Government in 1979 to formulate a policy guideline,
that at least 25% of Nigerians should become cooperators.
The Danish people saw in cooperative as easier way of
improving their national economy, especially after the war with Germany and
their humiliating defeat which contributed to national poverty. They went into
promotion of the economic interest of their people (Okechukwu 2001). Swedish
people embraced cooperation because of the need to improve the economic
interest of their people. Everybody was made to participate in one form of
chosen economic activity or the others.
In Africa, particularly in Nigeria this has made the Federal
Government to have several poverty alleviation schemes such as National
Agricultural Food Production Programme (NAFPP), River Basin Development
Authority (RBDA), Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), Operation Feed the
Nation (OFN) National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Agricultural Credit
Guarantee Scheme (ACGS), National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPED),
National Economic Empowerment Strategy (NEEDS) Family Support Programme. (FSP),
Better life for Rural Women, family Economic Advancement Programme, and others.
Some state government, were not left out in trying to find out how poverty
could be alleviated. Cooperatives as socio-economic institutions through their
activities are could be a potent tool for poverty alleviation particularly in
fighting poverty and unemployment. This could be in the area of agriculture,
provision of infrastructural facilities and education.
Therefore in Kaduna State, particularly in Kaduna South
Local Government Area, the research activity is conducted so as to know the
level or the impact of cooperative in reducing poverty.
1.1 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
Cooperatives are at work in almost every country and
economic sector. It is generally recognized that cooperatives respond
effectively to the ever-changing needs of people. For example, in response to
the effects of globalization, people continue to choose cooperatives to address their needs. In a
number of countries, people are starting new cooperative enterprises in such
areas as social care and information technology. Women and youth are also
choosing the cooperative form to start enterprises of their own, thus creating
new jobs and opportunities. The cooperative advantage extends to the users of
cooperatives and indeed to the communities in which they operate. Cooperatives set
industry standards by putting into practice their values and ethics. In some
countries, cooperatives are seen as leaders in promoting food safety and
security, and in protecting the environment. Still in others, cooperatives are
building peaceful societies by promoting understanding and collaboration among
people of different cultural and income backgrounds. Indeed there is a
conventional reasoning that cooperative presents the most viable channel out of
poverty in developing countries.
It is in the light of the above understanding that led the
Nigerian Government at all levels to promote the use of cooperative in poverty
reduction efforts. Nevertheless cooperatives in Nigeria are still known to be
bedeviled with problems including, lack of capital, lack of access to credit
facilities, poor management, misappropriation of funds, etc. While efforts are
being made by stakeholders of cooperative in Nigeria to remove and/or reduce
these problems, there is an apparent consensus that the need for adequate and
sufficient knowledge of the role of cooperatives in poverty alleviation still
exists. For example there is a need to identify and analyse in sufficient
details those cooperative activities and functions that bear directly on the economic empowerment of members,
as well as identifying factors that could promote and enhance cooperative
efforts in poverty reduction. Unless these issues are known and appreciated,
the emphasis on cooperative as a poverty alleviating platform may continue to be
unrealistic.
1.2 OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
Generally, the objective is to find out how cooperative
societies in Kaduna South Local Government Area (LGA) are used as a tool for
poverty alleviation.
The
specific objectives include:
1.
Examine the personal characteristics
of members of cooperatives in Kaduna South LGA
2.
To find out the type of poverty
prevalent in the Kaduna South LGA.
3.
To examine the roles played by
cooperative societies to tackle the poverty in the local government area.
4.
To analyse the impact of cooperative
activities in poverty reduction in the area.
5.
To identify factors affecting
performance of cooperative in poverty alleviation activities in the area.
6.
To make recommendation based on the
findings
1.3 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
i.
What are the profiles of members of
cooperatives in Kaduna South LGA?
ii.
What type of poverty is prevalent in
Kaduna South LGA?
iii.
What are the roles cooperative
societies in Kaduna South LGA play in reducing poverty?
iv.
To what extent does cooperative
become a means to poverty alleviation?
v.
If cooperative organisation can
alleviate poverty what type of poverty?
vi.
What types of cooperative society
can help?
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
Poverty has become a threat to
the Nigeria society in general. If the findings of this study is everything to
go by, there would be a measurable value to the following:
1.
To the poor, to know the working of
the cooperative in the Kaduna South LGA. This will go a long way in assisting
them to reduce poverty, by established cooperative societies.
2.
To the staffs of the cooperative
society, this work can serve as a mirror which cooperative staff can see their
objectives targets, achievement and importantly people perception.
3.
To the Federal Government they can
use this work as a yardstick to measure effectiveness of cooperative societies.
The Government can through this work know appropriate steps to be taken in
improving the working of cooperative societies.
4.
To Nigeria in general, the work can
be of immense contribution. This can be used to know the types and levels of
poverty existing in Nigeria and the step taken by the government in curbing the
menace.
1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The focus of this study is to find out how cooperative
societies in Kaduna South LGA can alleviate poverty. This is limited to
selected registered cooperative societies in Kaduna South Local Government
Area.
It could have covered the whole of Kaduna State, but due to
the following, factors it is strictly limited to Kaduna South Local Government.
The factors are:
Time: Due to constraint of time, the period in which
research is to be carried out is short, the researcher therefore have to select
few cooperative societies in Kaduna South Local Government Area.
Cost and Insufficient Data: As
a result of increase in transport fare, the researcher could not be able to
visit the whole cooperative societies in Kaduna South LGA.
On the other hand, the respondents could not release all the
necessary documents and information about their societies.
Low level of Education: Most respondent are not adequately
educated, they found it difficult to read and fill the questionnaire and this
limited the information for the researcher.
In spite of the above limitations, the results of the
investigation could be said to be valid and reliable at the time of the study.
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