PROMOTING AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES TO CONFRONT FOOD AND ECONOMIC CRISES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STATE STRATEGIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined how state-level strategies promote agricultural cooperatives to confront food and economic crises in Nigeria, with a focus on Benue, Enugu, and Ekiti States. Agricultural cooperatives play a vital role in improving food security and rural economic stability by pooling resources, providing access to markets and credit, and fostering collective action. The study adopted a descriptive–comparative survey design and targeted a population of 27,184 registered cooperatives with approximately 580,144 members across the three states. A total of 348 respondents were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique, and data were collected through key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and structured questionnaires. The research instrument demonstrated strong internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.876, exceeding the recommended 0.70 threshold. Findings revealed clear disparities in cooperative promotion and performance across the states. Benue State emerged as the leader due to strong government and donor support, effective policies, and better infrastructure, which positioned its cooperatives to respond effectively to food and economic crises. Enugu State showed moderate progress, with some positive initiatives but limited by weak institutional coordination and low cooperative membership. Ekiti State recorded the weakest performance, facing systemic issues such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of affordable credit, and poor governance structures. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test confirmed that these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05), emphasizing that the variations are real and not due to chance. The study concludes that agricultural cooperatives are essential vehicles for achieving food security and rural economic resilience. However, their success depends on context-specific strategies rather than a uniform national policy. It recommends targeted interventions such as increasing public and donor funding, improving rural infrastructure like roads and storage facilities, enhancing access to affordable credit schemes, enforcing cooperative policies, and digitalizing cooperative operations. When effectively supported, agricultural cooperatives can become powerful instruments for addressing food insecurity and building Resilient Rural Economies (RRE) across Nigeria.