ABSTRACT
The project work was carried out to find the “Problems and Prospects of Agricultural Cooperative towards Economic Development. A lot of finding were made on this project work which propelled me to summarize that, prospects of agricultural cooperative towards economic development has contributed a lot to economic development. That is to say, it has done more good than harm, based on the research and analysis. I found out that there are positive impact ranging from having adequate storage and processing facilities transportation facilities, good roads leading to the rural areas, good supervision and sufficient fund etc. Prospects of agricultural cooperatives towards economic development were formed to help cooperator by assembling storage and processing agriculture product. It is obvious that any state without a cooperative society is both physically and socially unsound. However, performance is needed in prospects of agricultural cooperative towards economic development, in Imo State. It has been analyzed and recommended possible solutions. Therefore government should as a matter of necessity attach primary solution in their agenda. More grace to cooperative societies in Imo State and more grace to government of Imo State.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Agriculture is still the main base of economic development through cooperative societies. Government have seen the important role cooperative play towards human development, rural transformation and growth in the national economy as well as realization of its millennium development goals hence its participation in all aspect of cooperative development goals in the developing economy. Although cooperative society is a business, yet it is a business organization built on the felt needs or the people desire to solve their most pressing common problems.
Cooperative towards agricultural production builds economic development. Cooperative society was a philosophy of life which a group of people adopted to help themselves solve the economic problems of the time. The cooperative movement was an invention of necessity. It was an attempt to find a solution to the problems of industrial revolution that gave rise to cooperative society.
The industrial revolution started with the invention of different machines that displaced thousands of workers in the factories. The owners of the factories were capitalists who were only interested in making profit at the exploitation of the workers.
      The attendant evils the industrial resolution brought include: long hours of work, sometimes up to 16 hours a day, very poor salaries, often below subsistence level, unhealthy or unsanitary surroundings on the factories that led to disease and high price of commodity, adulteration of goods. There were also cutthroat competition, jealousy, greed and avarice and industrial unrest. In the midst of all these, workers cried out to the government to come to their rescue, to help them ameliorate their economic and social condition. The British government paid a deaf ear to their pleading, because they had a policy of non-intervention with the private affairs of the people. The factory worker continued to suffer exploitation from the factory masters as well as the traders and middlemen. The workers were helpless, dejected, rejected and frustrated. Their situation attracted the sympathy of Christians socialists and other groups of people. They spoke against social evil of get-rich-quick.
The social reformers and public spirited people called upon government to intervene and redress the evils of the factory system by passing factor acts to regulate the hours of work. The appeal also fell on deaf ears, until people the worker started crisis. Meanwhile they are some good socialist that fought for the workers. Robert Owen, Dr. William King, stated that cooperative movement is that practiced today.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Agriculture is and still remains an important sector of the Oru-West. Agriculture still remains a sector of the Nigerian economy in spite of the importance of crude oil which has been unduly emphasized on agriculture; its practice has remained within a subsistence level at a time in the past.
Reports from the food and agricultural organizations shows that by the year 2013, Nigeria will be able to meet only 47 percentage of the food needs of its projected 150 million people. No doubt agriculture provide the greatest avenue for employment, income and food for the Nigeria populace its intrinsic position as a source of raw-materials for key industries and a major source of foreign exchange earning has further added to its prominence among all known occupation. However, the performance of this sector as regards agricultural production varied widely over the past two decades the enabling environment prevalent at different point in time, have greatly influenced it.
      Apparently, agricultural cooperative to a larger extent may be said to begin when farmers plan their output or the expected market prices. Normally, consumers are interested in securing the highest food value at the lowest possible price while at the same time, farmer want the highest possible returns from the sale of their produces. Along the line middlemen seek to earn the greatest possible profit pricing policies and behaviours are therefore important indicators to both the middlemen and the society in general. To explain further to the society, price directly effect aggregate price levels of the economy and hence consumers welfare. Agriculture products uniquely depend on an adequate and flexible transportation system that is why the Oru-West Cooperative Society focus on the geographic movement to acquire market value and also because of the extent to which climate or weather determines where or when and in what quantity transportation service will be needed.
      This study tends to look into the problems and prospects of agricultural cooperative within a state and create the need for exchange which in the other hand calls for the might or important middlemen.
