ABSTRACT
This study had the objective of assessing the role of gender in cooperative development, analyzing the socio-economic profile of the cooperators on the basis
of gender, assessing gender
contributions to cooperative
development
in
terms
of
membership,
organizational
and
leadership structures,
examining
technical efficiency and factors hindering the implementation of gender
sensitive
program
and
activities
in Awka North Local Government Area of
Anambra
State. A field
survey
was
conducted to
collect
data from one
hundred and
fifty
(150)
respondents.
The study
employed
descriptive statistics,
stochastic
cobb
Douglas frontier function as well as ranking method in the analysis of data
collected.
The result of the study indicates that
female cooperators, who
are
within the
active age, are reasonably literate and
dominate
the leadership
role
in cooperatives. The result also shows that farm
size
and
fertilizer use lead to
increase in technical or productive efficiency
among
cooperators. The major
constraint is gender imbalance or inequality,
conflicting interests, low level of
participation, wrong timing of meetings, and
long distance to meeting venue.
The estimation of technical efficiency of the
cooperators
was estimated using
cobb-Douglas functional form of stochastic c frontier model. The coefficients of
farm size and fertilizer possess a positive sign, while gender possessed a negative coefficient and highly significant, although it does not confirm with a priori
expectation, it shows that female cooperators contribute more to technical or productive efficiency of their enterprises than their male counterparts . Hypothesis was tested using chi-sqared X2. This paper recommends that cooperatives should address equality issues and make a firm commitment in their mandate to
correct imbalances where they exist and to attain equitable and sustainable development with both men and women in decision- making and leadership position.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page …………………………………………………………………………..i
Aproval page ………………………………………………………………………….ii
Dedication ……………………………………………………………. ………….iii
Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………………..iv
Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………v
Table of contents ……………………………………………………… …………vi
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………1
1.1 Background of the study ……………………………………………………..1
1.2 Statement of the problem …………………………………………………….7
1.3 Statement of research question ………………………………………………9
1.4 Objective of the study ……………………………………………………….10
1.5 Statement of hypotheses …………………………………………………….10
1.6 Justification of the study ……………………………………………………11
1.7 Limitation and scope of the study ………………………………………….11
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CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………………..12
2.1 The nature of cooperative society …………………………………………..12
2.2 Development of cooperatives ……………………………………………….15
2.3 Cooperative development in Nigeria ……………………………………….20
2.4 Problems of cooperative societies …………………………………………..23
2.5 The role of women in cooperative development …………………………..28
2.6 Economic role of men and women …………………………………………29
2.7 Non-market role of men and women ………………………………………34
2.8 Concept of gender …………………………………………………………..35
2.9 Gender and development project in cooperative…………………………..37
2.10 Gender issues in cooperatives ……………………………………………..38
2.11 How to solve gender issues …………………………………………………39
2.12 Gender analysis and planning …………………………………………….40
2.13 Gender equity ………………………………………………………………41
2.14 Gender equity in millennium development goals ………………………..41
2.15 Gender inequality ………………………………………………………….43
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