Contributions of cooperative societies to well-being of women in yewa north local government area of Ogun state, Nigeria

Cooperative Societies have been acknowledged as a valuable tool to achieve both the change of socio-economic role of women and foster the economic development of a country. Therefore, this study analyzed contributions of cooperative societies to well-being of women in the study area. The study was carried out in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State of South Western Nigeria. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 180 respondents from registered members of cooperative societies. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The result revealed that majority (82.22%) of the respondents were married with average age of 53years. Most of them (99.44%) have formal education with average years of schooling of 11years and mean household size of 6 members. It was generally affirmed by the respondents that benefits derived from cooperative societies are; access to credits, training, information and farm input, market for farm produce and social recognition. Majority of the respondents were able to possess farm land, building, motorcycle, bicycle, telephone, radio and television after they joined cooperative societies. They also have better access to good health care and food. The result of t-test showed that there is significant different in the average monthly income (₦39,614.44 difference) of the women and t-value of 23.64. In conclusion, this study provided strong evidence that cooperative societies contributed a lot to well-being of women in the study area. It is recommended that women should be encouraged to join cooperative society of their choice.