RELEVANCE OF AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN NIGERIA: THE WAY FORWARD FOR NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The paper analyzes the relevance of agricultural cooperatives in the supply chain of agricultural products in Nigeria given the fact that agriculture is one of the important sectors in national development. In general, agricultural activities are carried out by smallholder farmers of less than one hectare and they work individually. They rely on middlemen in the agricultural supply chain because it is not easy to market their agricultural products in urban markets. One of the main issues faced by Nigerian smallholder farmers in the supply chain of agricultural products is the long marketing chain that involves multiple actors and several intermediaries or middlemen whose primary objective is to maximize profit. While the consumers pay higher prices to the middlemen, the farmers, who are the main producers, helplessly receive very low prices from the middlemen which cripple their economy and consequently the economy of the nation. Such issues and challenges related to the traditional agricultural supply chain that militate against agricultural supply chain in Nigeria are discussed in this paper. Amidst the challenges therefore, the paper explains the relevance of cooperative movement in the supply chain of agricultural products and the way forward so as to ensure effective and efficient supply chain of agricultural product so that the present effort of the Federal Government to reposition the agricultural sector for national economic development would be fruitful. Secondary source of data were used, and the paper further made workable recommendations.