INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH, Jan 5, 2024
Financial cooperatives, commonly known as credit unions or savings and credit cooperative societi... more Financial cooperatives, commonly known as credit unions or savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs), have emerged as integral components of Nigeria's financial landscape, especially in rural areas. This paper explores the effectiveness of financial cooperatives as costeffective models for financing rural economies. The study delves into their structure, benefits, challenges, and impact on rural communities, with a focus on Nigeria's unique context. Financial cooperatives, characterized by member ownership and control, aim to provide affordable financial services to low-income populations. In Nigeria, where rural areas face challenges in accessing traditional banking services, financial cooperatives have been promoted as a sustainable approach to extend financial inclusivity. SACCOs leverage member savings to offer loans at reasonable interest rates, fostering cost-effectiveness compared to other microfinance models. The paper also discusses the structure of the rural economy in Nigeria, its challenges, and potential policy pathways for fostering rural economic growth. The components of financial cooperatives, such as membership, governance, savings mobilization, lending methodology, and regulation, are examined. The study emphasizes the significance of good governance in ensuring cooperatives act in the best interests of their members. It also discusses the positive impact of financial cooperatives on rural communities, offering accessibility, affordability, and contributing to community development. In conclusion, financial cooperatives present a promising model for rural economic development in Nigeria. The paper provides recommendations for enhancing their effectiveness, emphasizing collaboration with regulatory bodies, targeted initiatives for financial inclusion, capacity building, technological adoption, diversification of financial products, community engagement, risk management, collaboration with stakeholders, and knowledge sharing.
Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development, Mar 30, 2024
Agriculture is a sector crucial to the growth of the Nigerian economy. In the past few years, its... more Agriculture is a sector crucial to the growth of the Nigerian economy. In the past few years, its contribution to gross domestic product (gdp) has averaged at about 25 percent. Smallholders pool their resources in collective action to form agricultural cooperatives in order to increase farm productivity and income. These cooperatives account significantly for the development of the agriculture sector. Digitalization, on the other hand, has gained currency as a transformative strategy for agriculture. This study aimed to examine in broad terms the perspectives of digitalization in the rice value chain created by members of cooperative societies in Anambra State. A total of 180 members of cooperative societies across the four agricultural zones of the state who participate in the rice value chain were selected for the study using a multistage sampling technique. A structured and validated questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The data were consequently analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage & ranking) and inferential statistics (chisquare & cramer's v). The study identified rudimentary digital tools and that technologies enabled members to use mobile phones for the purposes of financial services, input delivery, market access and weather prediction. However, technologies requiring high-level skills for their implementation were obviously lacking among these cooperators. Also, the ways in which individual, institutional and technological factors limit adoption of these technologies were empirically identified. However, members generally welcomed the use and application of digital tools to improve their value chain activities. There was the perception among members that though digitalization was necessary, its unguarded use in the processes of cooperatives could erode their participation in the governance of the cooperative, thereby compromising the principle of democratic member control. The study identified an urgent need for a strong digital infrastructure backbone, encouraging the formation of agricultural digital solution cooperatives, digital literacy programs support from companies providing special skill agricultural digitalization solutions, and instituting government grants to support the high cost of investments required for digitalization.
Greener Journal of Educational Research, Nov 20, 2013
The paper aims to advocate the adoption of agripreneurship education as a special form of entrepr... more The paper aims to advocate the adoption of agripreneurship education as a special form of entrepreneurship education for the enhancement of the potential of agriculture sector to ensure food security. It argued that food security is necessary for supporting the dream vision of Nigeria to be among the league of 20 largest world economies by 2020. Accordingly, agripreneurship education should be compulsory from basic level to tertiary level of our educational system. In order to support this, agripreneurship mentoring for young graduates must be carried out by successful agribusinesses and a tax regime put in place for agripreneurship education. Further, the paper showed how such model could translate into increased economic opportunities and food security for the household and the nation. Finally, a policy to support access to international markets for agricultural commodities, endowment for research in agripreneurship, national merit award to successful agripreneurs and increased support to the study of agricultural based courses were recommendations.
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in Malaysia. The country continues to train huma... more Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in Malaysia. The country continues to train human resources in this sector. In the last five years, the number of female students enrolling in higher institution has increased in all fields including agriculture. The field is generally dominated by men because it is technical field of study. Literature reviews show that employers preferred male employees in technical fields and female employees in the non-technical fields. However, statistics show that more women are venturing into the male dominated fields. Holland (1985) stated that the individual career interest must be identified to ensure the congruence of interest with the type of careers they are involved in. The purpose of the study was to identify career interest and career awareness among higher institution students in the field of agriculture. The specific objective of the study is to identify difference in career interest and career awareness based on gender. Data were collected through the survey method using career interest test and questionnaire. The population of the study was all agriculture students at public higher institutions in Peninsular Malaysia. The sample of the study was 389 students from various agriculture programmes. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Stratified random sampling method was used to obtain the survey sample. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Findings indicated that most of the agricultural students are female but the agriculture programs were not their first choice when they applied to further their study in the higher institutions. A significant difference was also found in career interest and career awareness among gender. This study proposes that teachers, counselors and parents should encourage children to choose agriculture as their field of career.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH, Jan 5, 2024
Financial cooperatives, commonly known as credit unions or savings and credit cooperative societi... more Financial cooperatives, commonly known as credit unions or savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs), have emerged as integral components of Nigeria's financial landscape, especially in rural areas. This paper explores the effectiveness of financial cooperatives as costeffective models for financing rural economies. The study delves into their structure, benefits, challenges, and impact on rural communities, with a focus on Nigeria's unique context. Financial cooperatives, characterized by member ownership and control, aim to provide affordable financial services to low-income populations. In Nigeria, where rural areas face challenges in accessing traditional banking services, financial cooperatives have been promoted as a sustainable approach to extend financial inclusivity. SACCOs leverage member savings to offer loans at reasonable interest rates, fostering cost-effectiveness compared to other microfinance models. The paper also discusses the structure of the rural economy in Nigeria, its challenges, and potential policy pathways for fostering rural economic growth. The components of financial cooperatives, such as membership, governance, savings mobilization, lending methodology, and regulation, are examined. The study emphasizes the significance of good governance in ensuring cooperatives act in the best interests of their members. It also discusses the positive impact of financial cooperatives on rural communities, offering accessibility, affordability, and contributing to community development. In conclusion, financial cooperatives present a promising model for rural economic development in Nigeria. The paper provides recommendations for enhancing their effectiveness, emphasizing collaboration with regulatory bodies, targeted initiatives for financial inclusion, capacity building, technological adoption, diversification of financial products, community engagement, risk management, collaboration with stakeholders, and knowledge sharing.
Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development, Mar 30, 2024
Agriculture is a sector crucial to the growth of the Nigerian economy. In the past few years, its... more Agriculture is a sector crucial to the growth of the Nigerian economy. In the past few years, its contribution to gross domestic product (gdp) has averaged at about 25 percent. Smallholders pool their resources in collective action to form agricultural cooperatives in order to increase farm productivity and income. These cooperatives account significantly for the development of the agriculture sector. Digitalization, on the other hand, has gained currency as a transformative strategy for agriculture. This study aimed to examine in broad terms the perspectives of digitalization in the rice value chain created by members of cooperative societies in Anambra State. A total of 180 members of cooperative societies across the four agricultural zones of the state who participate in the rice value chain were selected for the study using a multistage sampling technique. A structured and validated questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The data were consequently analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage & ranking) and inferential statistics (chisquare & cramer's v). The study identified rudimentary digital tools and that technologies enabled members to use mobile phones for the purposes of financial services, input delivery, market access and weather prediction. However, technologies requiring high-level skills for their implementation were obviously lacking among these cooperators. Also, the ways in which individual, institutional and technological factors limit adoption of these technologies were empirically identified. However, members generally welcomed the use and application of digital tools to improve their value chain activities. There was the perception among members that though digitalization was necessary, its unguarded use in the processes of cooperatives could erode their participation in the governance of the cooperative, thereby compromising the principle of democratic member control. The study identified an urgent need for a strong digital infrastructure backbone, encouraging the formation of agricultural digital solution cooperatives, digital literacy programs support from companies providing special skill agricultural digitalization solutions, and instituting government grants to support the high cost of investments required for digitalization.
Greener Journal of Educational Research, Nov 20, 2013
The paper aims to advocate the adoption of agripreneurship education as a special form of entrepr... more The paper aims to advocate the adoption of agripreneurship education as a special form of entrepreneurship education for the enhancement of the potential of agriculture sector to ensure food security. It argued that food security is necessary for supporting the dream vision of Nigeria to be among the league of 20 largest world economies by 2020. Accordingly, agripreneurship education should be compulsory from basic level to tertiary level of our educational system. In order to support this, agripreneurship mentoring for young graduates must be carried out by successful agribusinesses and a tax regime put in place for agripreneurship education. Further, the paper showed how such model could translate into increased economic opportunities and food security for the household and the nation. Finally, a policy to support access to international markets for agricultural commodities, endowment for research in agripreneurship, national merit award to successful agripreneurs and increased support to the study of agricultural based courses were recommendations.
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in Malaysia. The country continues to train huma... more Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in Malaysia. The country continues to train human resources in this sector. In the last five years, the number of female students enrolling in higher institution has increased in all fields including agriculture. The field is generally dominated by men because it is technical field of study. Literature reviews show that employers preferred male employees in technical fields and female employees in the non-technical fields. However, statistics show that more women are venturing into the male dominated fields. Holland (1985) stated that the individual career interest must be identified to ensure the congruence of interest with the type of careers they are involved in. The purpose of the study was to identify career interest and career awareness among higher institution students in the field of agriculture. The specific objective of the study is to identify difference in career interest and career awareness based on gender. Data were collected through the survey method using career interest test and questionnaire. The population of the study was all agriculture students at public higher institutions in Peninsular Malaysia. The sample of the study was 389 students from various agriculture programmes. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Stratified random sampling method was used to obtain the survey sample. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Findings indicated that most of the agricultural students are female but the agriculture programs were not their first choice when they applied to further their study in the higher institutions. A significant difference was also found in career interest and career awareness among gender. This study proposes that teachers, counselors and parents should encourage children to choose agriculture as their field of career.
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