Nigerian Journal of Banking and Financial Issues (NJBFI)

Informal Financial Intermediation And Rural Development: The Role Of Cooperative Societies In Enhancing The Income Of Rural Farmer Members

Abstract

The study examined the effect of informal financial intermediation on rural development with special focus on, the role of cooperative societies in enhancing the income of rural farmer members in Nigeria. The study utilized primary data, which were extracted from questionnaires distributed to 335 rural farmer members in the study area. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse and discuss the data, while inferential statistics such as paired sample T-test was employed to test the formulated hypothesis. The study found among others that incomes of members are dependent upon their socio-economic profile such as years of farming experience, access to land, family size, age and marital status. The result also revealed that there is a positive relationship between the activities of cooperative societies and the income of its members in Ekiti State as shown from the paired sample T-test which was employed to test the hypothesis at 5% level of significance. The Study recommends, among others, that Government should formulate workable policies that would make credit facilities and extension services available and accessible to cooperatives with less stringent conditions, Cooperatives should provide more education to members and potential members, with the aim of sensitizing them on the benefits of participating in cooperative activities and cooperatives should come up with more practicable activities in their areas of operation that will have more benefits on not just their members alone but also on the promotion of the entire welfare of the community.