ASSESSMENT OF RURAL COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES ON FARMING HOUSEHOLDS’ ASSISTANCE IN MOKWA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

The study was undertaken to assess the rural cooperative societies on farming households’ assistance in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedures and purposive selection were used to select a sample size of one hundred (100) respondents for the study. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the selected respondents. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results of the study revealed that the mean age of the respondents in the study area was 38 years, male, married and 77% were educated ranging from primary, secondary and tertiary education. The mean household size was 10 persons. More than half (53%) were full-time farmers with the mean of 16 years as farming experience. The mean farm size was 6 hectares acquired from Government allocation. The farmers’ mean annual income was N 33,110:00 K. The result also revealed that 67% of the respondents were aware of cooperative societies. The participation in cooperative activities indicates that 57% of the respondents participated every month, 14% every week, 11% every day and 18% every year. The result further indicates that cooperative society’s assistance to the farmers includes cash, farm inputs, farm implements and training. The mean cash assistance received was N 32,490:00 K. The farm inputs received were: fertilizer, improved seeds, pesticides and herbicides. The farm implements received were: tractor, planter, harvester, sprayers and storage facilities. The training programs received were nursery bed demonstration, seeds planting, fertilizer application, herbicides application, land preparation method, storage method, climate change adaptation practices and crop harvesting methods. The constraints to farmers’ participation in rural cooperative societies were: lack of trust, lack of funds, lack of Government supports and lack of extension services. Cooperative societies should improve on their leadership quality through transparency to build trust and attract more members, Cooperative societies should provide financial supports to their members through Government and commercial banks, Government should provide extension service stations to train farmers and share information on modern farming techniques were offered as recommendations.