Farm Operations Cooperative in Central Agricultural Zone of Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACThis study was carried out to examine farm operations cooperatives in Central Agricultural Zone of Delta State, Nigeria. All the members of the six (6) selected groups were used for the study. The data which were collected with the use of questionnaire and interview schedule were analyzed with the use of frequency counts, percentages and tobit regression model. Most of the members were females and were also mostly married. Most of them were educated formally and had average household size of 5 persons and average farm size of 2.5 ha. They had an average farming experience of 13 years and most of them had no contact with extension agents. Most (76.50%) household had members that emigrated from households. They subscribed to these groups because of reduction of labour cost, timely execution and conclusion of farm operations, exchange of ideas and information, expansion of farm size and reduction of drudgery involved in farming. They were mostly satisfied with their various groups. They however had challenges ranging from irregular meeting attendance, inadequate access to extension service, bloated membership strength to lateness to work. Inadequate membership strength was also a constraint to few of the groups. The farmers' decision to subscribe to their various groups was informed or influenced by their marital status, level of education, household size, farm size, farming experience, extension visit and contact with other farmers, and emigration of household members. It was recommended that extension agents should establish frequent contacts with the various groups and educate them on the importance of time and regular meeting attendance. The groups with bloated membership strength should be split into two groups while farmers need to be encouraged to subscribe to those groups with inadequate membership strength.

Assessment of leadership effectiveness among the executives and members of farmers’ cooperative societies in Osun State, Nigeria: Implication for agricultural development

“…The mean farm size of leaders and members were 3.8±2.4 hectares and 3.2±2.03 hectares respectively, implying that the majority of the leaders and members had small farm sizes. This agrees with the findings of Yamusa and Adefila (2014) and Ofuoku (2015), that the majority of farmers were operating on a small scale and unable to benefit from economies of scale hence resorting to cooperative organizations. Further results show that the mean annual income of the leaders and members were N1,581,000:00 ± N935,223.85 and N1,286,666.67 ± N 855,662.14 respectively which (at 1USD = N 600), are equivalent to US$2635 ± US$1558.71 for leaders and US$2,144.44 ± US$1426.10 for members.…”

“…This implies that although both leaders and their members had enough farming experience, leaders of cooperative societies had more farming experience than their members which could influence their performance. The finding is at variance from that of Yamusa and Adefila (2014) and Ofuoku (2015) who reported that members of farmers' cooperative societies had longer years of farming experience. The mean farm size of leaders and members were 3.8±2.4 hectares and 3.2±2.03 hectares respectively, implying that the majority of the leaders and members had small farm sizes.…”

Stressors and Resilience within the Cassava Value Chain in Nigeria: Preferred Cassava Variety Traits and Response Strategies of Men and Women to Inform Breeding

“…For instance, due to climate change, herders (who are primarily men and usually assisted by boys in Nigeria) and their cattle are often forced to navigate undefined routes to the relatively greener vegetated southern belt in search of feed [36][37][38]. In the process, some herders invade farms with their cattle that forage on crops and destroy seeds, thereby resulting in frequent land-use conflicts with cassava farmers and a loss of their livelihoods [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]. In extreme cases, conflict leads to some farmers migrating off their lands [33].…”