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.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page i
Approval Page ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of Content vi
CHAPTER ONE :
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background of the Study 1
1.1 Statement of the problem 1
1.2 Objectives of the Study 4
1.3 Research questions 6
1.4 Significant of the study 6
1.5 Scope and limitation of the study 7
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction 8
2.1 Definition of cooperative society 8
2.2 The conceptual framework of poverty 10
2.3 Poverty alleviation 13
2.4 Causes of poverty 15
2.5 Strategies for poverty alleviation 16
2.6 Co-operative as a poverty alleviation programme 19
2.7 Recent development poverty alleviation programme 21
2.8 The factors that hinder the performance cooperative in poverty
alleviation 23
vii
2.9 Roles of cooperative in poverty alleviation 25
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 27
3.2 Sources of data 27
3.3 Area of Study 28
3.4 Population of the study 28
3.5 Sampling and sampling techniques 29
3.6 Instrument of data 30
3.7 Instrument validity 30
3.8 Instrument reliability 30
3.9 Method of data collection 31
3.10 Method of data analysis 31
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 32
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary of findings 46
5.2 Conclusion 47
5.3 Recommendations 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY 50
APPENDIX 52
1
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
2
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.
3
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
4
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
5
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
6
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.
7
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.
8
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
DISCLAIMER: All project works, files and documents posted on this website, eProjectTopics.com are the property/copyright of their respective owners. They are for research reference/guidance purposes only and some of the works may be crowd-sourced. Please don’t submit someone’s work as your own to avoid plagiarism and its consequences. Use it as a reference/citation/guidance purpose only and not copy the work word for word (verbatim). The paper should be used as a guide or framework for your own paper. The contents of this paper should be able to help you in generating new ideas and thoughts for your own study. eProjectTopics.com is a repository of research works where works are uploaded for research guidance. Our aim of providing this work is to help you eradicate the stress of going from one school library to another in search of research materials. This is a legal service because all tertiary institutions permit their students to read previous works, projects, books, articles, journals or papers while developing their own works. This is where the need for literature review comes in. “What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. The paid subscription on eProjectTopics.com is a means by which the website is maintained to support Open Education. If you see your work posted here by any means, and you want it to be removed/credited, please contact us with the web address link to the work. We will reply to and honour every request. Please notice it may take up to 24 – 48 hours to process your request.
