Suchergebnisse

Japan agricultural cooperative known as JA in Japan is the citadel of small farmers' livelihoods. For almost 60 years, JA was the driving force behind small farmer-supportive policy in Japan. The reverse is the case in Nigeria where agricultural cooperatives are not tailored towards organized support; therefore Nigerian farmers face the brunt of the market, policy and economy. While there are emerging challenges for JA, its relevance remains undaunted in marketing, farm guidance, credit, insurance, and subsidy among others. The paper examines the need for adapting the JA agricultural cooperative model in Nigeria and the needed institutional contexts. Alleviating rural poverty in Nigeria requires building farmers capacity through cohesive farmers' organizations that will act as channels for introducing agricultural technologies for production and processing, gaining access to quality inputs, credit and technology, reduce farm gate losses and enhance harmers access to market and generally improving their capacity for negotiating better deals in the political system and gaining more control over their socioeconomic position in the Nigerian social system. The JA model of agricultural cooperatives is a relevant case study to building an organization that would meet farmers' needs and help in agricultural development.

The seed of cooperatives was first brought to Thailand by Sir Bernard Hunter, the British banker, in 1914. Because of his suggestion , the first cooperative society was established in Phitsanulok Province in the northern part of Thailand, on February 26, 1916, along the lines of the Raiffeisen model, or what is known as the "village credit cooperative." The government at that time was still an absolute monarchy under the reign of King Rama VI. It desired, however, to relieve farmers from severe indebtedness and to enable them to expand their rice production, which was at that time becoming more and more important in earning foreign exchange. During the initial stages of cooperative development, the government directly provided cooperatives with funds to be loaned to members.

The roles of agricultural cooperative in agricultural mechanization and its inadequate contributed to the low level of agricultural production in Nigeria compare with the population of the country. This paper critically examined the relevance and contribution of agricultural mechanization to the development of the agricultural sector of the economy. The study also discussed the benefits of credit for agricultural mechanization, the roles of cooperatives in agricultural mechanization were discussed, and some recommendations were suggested. In conclusion, in the context of trade liberalization and globalization, the cooperative approach is one of the best means of self-protection for small farmers mainly due to its self-help concept and member's participation. It is therefore vital for government to strengthen cooperative credit and improves the efficiency of agricultural credit supply.