Full Project – COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES AND SOCIAL WELFARE DEVELOPMENT

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Chapter One

1.1 Background of the Study

Cooperative societies are groups that are formed to address the economic and social requirements of its constituents. People, companies, or entire communities may all band together to join these types of societies and strive toward a shared purpose. Raising people’s standard of living is a key objective of cooperative groups. They accomplish this by removing obstacles to purchasing products and services that may otherwise be out of reach. Farmers in a cooperative society, for instance, could have easier access to better inputs, machinery, and distribution channels for their products. Cooperative societies work to better the lives of its members in many ways, not only financially. These include the areas of education, healthcare, and community building. They work to better the lives of its members and the communities as a whole by offering educational and health services. Cooperative societies help advance the common good by fostering individual and collective economic autonomy and academic and social advancement. They’re crucial for creating long-lasting communities where everyone benefits.

The importance of cooperatives in enhancing the standard of living in rural areas is substantial. According to Ortmann and King (2009), cooperatives were first established in Europe, and then extended to other industrialized regions in the late 19th century. Yet, these cooperatives were established as a response to widespread poverty. Humans have always worked together to solve urgent issues and express their emotions, hence the history of cooperation is inextricably linked to the evolution of human society. Cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise,” as defined by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), the representative body for cooperatives.

Cooperative societies have existed as a response to problems of scarcity, shortage, and inadequacy since their origin. The need to alleviate poverty often prompts innovative responses, such as the formation of cooperatives. It is a well-known truth that cooperation emerged as a labor movement — as a shield for the weak and vulnerable — and that both the affluent and the poor in society should support and encourage cooperative societies at every level to assure a better and wealthier tomorrow among the people. A community that fails to prioritize cooperative living may become a refuge for the poor.

The family is the fundamental building block of any culture or nation. In a world where so many people struggle to make ends meet on their little wages, it is clear that there is a pressing need for new sources of revenue, and cooperative economics is one viable option. Cooperation, as defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO), is “a voluntary partnership on the basis of equal rights, obligations, and desire to solve certain economic issue,” regardless of the number of people involved.

In order to achieve their shared economic goals, members of a cooperative organization pool their resources, make equal contributions to the company’s capital, and share equally in the project’s risks and rewards. Cooperatives exist to advance the financial interests and overall well-being of their members in a manner consistent with cooperative principles and ideals. Despite having been established early on, co-ops across the country and area failed to thrive as hoped. Previous stance

Weak vertical and horizontal linkage within and among cooperatives, as well as lack and inappropriate support from the government and other stakeholders, along with a lack of ideology, lack of committed leadership, lack of good governance (management), lack of working capital, attitude and practice of corruption, and a lack of knowledge, skill, provision, and utilization of improved technology all acted as significant barriers to the development of cooperatives. In the words of Pitman and Lynn (2011).

When evaluating a country’s or company’s economic health, it is common practice to look at employment rates and average pay to draw conclusions about prosperity. The societies have grown into a robust and competitive economic option at a time when many people feel powerless to improve their own lives.

According to the United Nations’ Research in Social Development, any organizations legally constituted as such and subject to structured supervisions that claim to follow co-operative principles qualify as co-operative societies. What is now available thanks to the International Labor Organization (ILO) recognized as the gold standard by which cooperatives are measured. It is a well-known fact that a large number of Nigerian households currently earn less than $10 USD a day. Furthermore, research has shown that the largest proportion of Nigeria’s workers is employed in the public sector (2011).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The poor and vulnerable outnumber those making the average amount needed to maintain a bare minimum quality of living in practically every sector of our society. As a result, more people will resort to criminal activity to fulfill their financial obligations to society.

Mutual aid and cooperation is the driving force behind the formation of co-operative societies. The primary goal of every cooperative society is to benefit its members, not to maximize profit. In most cases, the inefficiency of cooperative organizations may be traced back to a severe deficiency of managerial skill. Again, the society’s members or their elected representative lack the necessary expertise to effectively run the organization. Due to lack of funding, they are unable to reap the benefits of having a competent manager.

Prior to the discovery of oil, Nigeria’s economy benefited from the trickle-up effect of widespread support for cooperative groups. Sadly, due to petroleum becoming the dominating commodity and backbone of the economy, such attractions no longer exist today and have been stripped away. Many cooperators don’t appear to benefit significantly from participation in various co-operative societies in terms of capital generation and the enhancement of their welfare status, despite the many advantages of cooperative society. What are the members’ socioeconomic features, how much have the members gained by being a part of a cooperative society, and what challenges do they face in working toward the group’s stated goal?

1.3 Research Questions

The research will answer the following question.

What benefit makes people want to form or join a co-operative society?

Has Co-operative society influence the investment habit of Sagbama cooperative society members?

Has the standard of living of Sagbama been alleviated through co-operative societies?

Should cooperatives be preached as the best form of improving the economic activities of the people

1.4 Aims and Objectives of the Study

The broad objective of this study is to assess the Cooperative societies and social welfare developmenta study of Sagbama LGA of Bayelsa state

to identify the causes of poverty in the area

to find out the reasons why cooperative are to be formed

to identify some forms of cooperative societies

To find out whether there is significant difference in the economic activities of the people that are yet to join one.

1.5 Hypotheses

H1: there is no major benefit for joining cooperative societies depends on their insufficient financial positions individually.

H2: Co-operative societies have much effect on member’s economic welfare.

1.6 Significance of the Study

It is becoming very apparent that people still find it difficult or almost impossible to accept the Cooperative societies and social welfare development. This is with a view of reminding the government and educating the masses of the importance of cooperative society on their economic welfare and economy generally. As known and recognized by all, insufficiency is the mother of forming cooperative(or joining)- just like necessity is the mother of invention- which in no. doubt plays a lot to one’s personality and socialization in the society.

There is no doubt the people’s welfare are the major responsibility of their government, but cooperative society formation or joining is a major step the people of the society are taking to help themselves in improving their economic welfare themselves. This intimate bound draws them to themselves more than every other thing. This intimate relationship enables the members to learn advanced and better measures to improve and earn more income. At the early stage, though they may have challenges and misunderstanding, all these factors influences their character formation in terms of creating wealth and determine their future position in the society.

Cooperative society has been identified as one of the factors that improves the socialization process

within an environment which consequently influence the member’s performance and entire

environment.

This research work would be of great importance to both the government and individuals; that the absence or discouragement of cooperative society, or overlooking the grass root projects will not maintain and sustain that which they may want to achieve in improving the economic welfare of their subjects most importantly those with insufficient resources. In other words educating and re-educating

the people about the benefits of joining cooperative societies is a sure way of ensuring improvement and stability in the homes of their subjects for the betterment of the society at large.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study hopes to talk on cooperative societies in order to gather a well round view of the society in general. The study will limit itself to the Cooperative societies and social welfare development (a study of Sagbama LGA of Bayelsa state).

Delimitation

This study is delimited to Sagbama LGA which is one of the 8 LGAs in Bayelsa state in order to give full consideration and identify the actual influence of cooperative societies in the economic improvement of the wealth of cooperative members.

Limitation

In pursuit of this study, the researcher faced several problems and limitation which includes:

Financial constraint: It is a known fact that adequate finance enhances progress of any
Time factor: The duration and time given for the study was very short therefore lack of time affected work like distribution and retrieved of questionnaire from the respondents and to search for more information.
The aggressive and hostile approach of the respondents under study could not open up enough for fear of been tapped by enforcement agency or authority.

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