AN ANALYSIS OF COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES IN FINANCING RURAL INVESTMENT

AN ANALYSIS OF COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES IN FINANCING RURAL INVESTMENT (A CASE STUDY OF SOME SELECTED COOPERATIVE SOCIETY IN ISIALA NGWA L.G.A OF ABIA STATE)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

Rural areas of Nigeria which house the majority of Nigerians are still plagued by a myriad of problem of under developed (Umebali 2000:04).

Among others these included the following impediments:

1)   Low capital base

2)   Low level of income and productivity

3)   Poor basic infrastructural facilities

4)   Absence of non agricultural employment

5)   Social welfare services, rapid rural urban migration trends, lack of skilled manpower and low level of political power.

Among these arrays of problems, however, the issue of low capital base and low-income level appear to be most dominant and pervasive problem of the rural communities and local government area of Nigeria.

This is an essentially because capital base and income usually create economic environment for provision of funds which are very much needed for finance, most of the other problems of rural development which do not deal effectively with the issue of funding are not likely to achieve the desired results.

Several programmes mounted by the federal and state government have not made difference in the lives of majority of rural dwellers in Nigeria. Some of the programmes, industrial development programme market development programme, programmes for promotion to access of rural communities to credit facilities education, health and welfare programme communities development programmes, directorate for foods, roads and rural infrastructure (DFRI) programmes state rural development authorities the better life for rural woman programmes and the family support programmes.

Although these program have achieve their specific have remained largely unsolved. A classical economic theory recognizes the different between developed care and depressed periphery of any economy. It is believed that the gap will continue to widen and can only be reversed by the operative of economic forces. These force occur when the clear production factors in the developed care redirect industrial location to rural areas with cheaper land and labour. This will how withdraw farmers from the chronically over manned agricultural industrials it is only them that development shift base rural areas.

The apparent death of finance to rural area and its near exclusive from commercial bank financing has been observed. The central bank of Nigeria monetary circular guiddions that recommend minimum of 20 percent of bank total loans to the sector not withstanding.

It is widely known and confirmed by Uzoagu (1981) that banks meet the credit needs of large scale government and private enterprise, but have not involved any meaningful programmes for servicing the credit needs of highly rural area. And finance is the life wire of any enterprise and the rugged and doggedness of the rural areas will make no ledge way without it. It is the recognition of the government integrated effort towards rural areas and the apparent inadequacy of credit to this preferred sector that can best justify a study of this nature.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The Nigerian industrial sector has suffered several set backs in the recent years. Inadequate and lack of infrastructural services have virtually laid the economy prostrate with severe consequences for the manufacturing sector which should be the engine of growth and should therefore play this vital role effectively and as such has been enable to contribute adequately meaningful to G.D.P some of the major problem include.