SUSTAINABILITY OF COOPERATIVE MEMBERS’ FARM BUSINESSES IN THE POST COVID-19 ERA IN THE OSHIMILI SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, DELTA STATE NIGERIA.
Abstract
This study investigated the sustainability of cooperative members’ farm businesses in the post COVID-19 era in the Oshimili south local government area of Delta State in Nigeria. This study was undertaken because of limited access to credit, lockdown measures, and social distance imposed by the government. This study examines the effect of cooperative loans in increasing the value of farm products, examines the effect of members’ participation on the success of cooperative farm business, and determines the effect of cooperative marketing of members’ farm produce on their income. The research used a purposive sampling technique to select 20 farmers’ cooperative societies with a total membership size of 295 from the study area. The Taro Yemeni formula was used to obtain the sample size of 169 members. A well-structured (5) five Likert scale questionnaire captured questions raised in their research question. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics frequency percentage and mean. The study reveals that farmers’ cooperative members benefit from soft loans. The study indicated that members’ involvement has improved the cooperative farm business and the market for their cooperative farm products. The developed hypothesis was tested using regression analysis. The results of the test show that the null hypotheses were accepted. This means that the cooperative in Oshimili South L.G.A is still suffering from the impact of COVID-19. This made them unable to provide the needed services to their members. The work therefore recommends that cooperatives should do more to provide loans to their members in a timely manner to enable them to produce more farm products. The cooperative should organize training sessions for members on the importance of participating in cooperative business. In addition, cooperatives should encourage their members to bring their products to the cooperative to ensure an increase in their standard of living and income
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Sustainability, Agricultural Cooperatives, Cooperative Members Farm Business, Cooperative loan and Sustainable Livelihood TheoryDownloads
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Copyright (c) 2024 Okafor, Ogochukwu Esther, Michael Maureen Chinenye , Ifesinachi Uju Monica
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