Community Driven Development: The Case of Fadama II Cooperatives in Alleviating Poverty in a Developing Country

Summary This study investigated the effects of Fadama II cooperatives on poverty status of farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study assessed the level of participation in Fadama II cooperatives among the participants; determined the factors influencing the level of participation in Fadama II cooperatives; examined the poverty status of the participants in Fadama II cooperatives; and determined the effects of Fadama II cooperatives on the poverty status of the participants. The study was conducted in Oyo State, south-western Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select respondents for this study. A total number of 150 farmers were selected for the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, participation index, multinomial logit regression model, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index, and Probit regression model. The result showed that the respondents participated in the designated activities carried out within their respective Fadama II cooperatives, with the maximum participation in payment of counterpart fund (100%), followed by participatory rural appraisal process (86.7%). Participation index revealed that the majority (46.7%) of the respondents had their level of participation above the grand mean. Interestingly, gender, farming experience and income from Fadama II cooperative positively and significantly influenced both partial and full participation in Fadama II cooperatives. The poverty line is observed to be ₦44300 per month ($115.36 per month). The incidence, depth and severity of poverty are estimated to be 0.28, 0.067 and 0.013, respectively. Probit estimates revealed that Fadama II cooperatives had significant and positive effect on alleviating the poverty status of the participants. Following the findings of the study, government and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to ensure that more farmers participate in Fadama II cooperatives. In addition, the approach of Fadama II cooperatives should be adopted for intervention programmes in developing countries that depend on agriculture not only for feeding their population but also as a business venture.