MARKETING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS THROUGH CONSUMERS COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES (ECONOMICS PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Recognizing Nigeria’s tremendous Agricultural potentials, the government has accepted the view that the country should resolve to make agriculture the main source of living of the economy and to Enugu state. Agricultural development has to with the increase of the agricultural productivity to be able to generate substantial surpluses. The issues of surpluses lead to the issue of marketing because when they engage in large production, and then there will be surpluses left out.Most of our farmers are illiterate and poor, for this reason, they are dependent on rural usurers for capital at highest rate of interest during cultivation period and again they are bound to sell their products to the middlemen as they do not have capacity to sell to the consumers directly. As a result, they are not getting fair price of their products. So, it is clearly understood that our farmers are becoming poorer day by day due to the exploitation by the middlemen and usurers. Under these circumstances, Cooperative Marketing can be the model of agricultural Marketing for our farmers.
Throughout human history some activities have always been undertaken by groups rather than individuals, simply because this was a better and more economic way of doing things. Consumers cooperative is a method of working together with others having the same or similar needs or problems. It is a method of pooling resources and human endeavour, acting in an organized, disciplined manner. Consumer’s cooperative can engage in marketing of Agricultural product through the collaborative efforts of two or more companies working together in advertising and promotional efforts to reach the same goal. This is sometimes referred to as co-op advertising, but is also not limited to the advertising arena alone. Typically this is seen when a manufacturer supports the efforts of a retailer, but can also be used by multiple businesses looking to pool their resources to defray costs for advertising and promotion (DiBona, 2010). Informal network of financial markets participants include money lenders, rotating savings collectors, mutual assistance groups, Self-Help Groups (SHGS) etc. the Self-Help groups have long been in existence in Nigeria as informal or semi-formal associations known in different tribes as Isusu in Igbo, Adashe in Hausa, Ajo in Yoruba, Yak‟kishar in Ngas, Bam and Oku in Tiv and Kalabari Ijaw respectively, etc. These associations becomes formal institutions of credit if they are registered as cooperative societies (Mohammed, 2011). They are sub-set of the formal institutions (when registered) which cover a wide spectrum of economic activities including farming, fishing, petty trading, arts and crafts, local processing and the likes that serve as source of livelihood of millions of Nigerians living both in rural and urban areas. Of recent, Cooperative Societies have increased significantly in terms of number, membership and activities across the country.
