How Non-Governmental Organizations Facilitate the Development of Cooperative Organizations? An Investigation
Author : Meaza Woubishet and Dr. R Dayanandan
Abstract :
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are seen by their proponents as a catalyst for societal change because they are responsive to the needs and problems of their clients, usually the poor, women and children. In an increasingly globalized world, Cooperative organizations are more needed than ever, as a balance to corporate power and as an anchor to the grassroots level of society. The government alone cannot provide a substantial support, (in the form of financial, research, rural infrastructure, technology and so on) for the development of cooperatives to overcome the complexity of the problems. Hence the government allowed and encouraged both national and international NGOs be one of the actors of cooperative development. However, how far the NGOs intervention is succeeded in achieving the objectives of development of cooperatives is unknown due to dearth of studies. Hence this paper focuses on the role of NGOs in development of Cooperatives in the study area. The study employed mixed research design to address the developed objectives. Both primary and secondary data were used and the primary data were collected from Cooperative members and the NGO professionals and the secondary data were obtained from different reports. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select the sample District, Cooperatives, NGOs and the Respondents. To determine the sample size of 235 members, statistical formula forwarded by Poduri (2000) was used. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS (Version 20) software with descriptive statistics like frequencies, percentages, mean and standard Deviation etc. Further, inferential statistics like paired sample t-test, one sample t-test, and Chi-square test were used to arrive the meaningful results. The research out comes indicate that the contribution of sample NGOs in the development of agricultural cooperative is well acknowledge. They have huge potential to became one of the corner stone in agriculture and economic development especially in rural areas where the united force of farmer can change their own lives and the overall livelihood. Many of the cooperatives were benefited from the development programs under taken by sample NGOs. Further, NGOs project development with the idea of cooperatives, involvement of the government official, in provision of training, and notification of stakeholders about the phase-out strategies enabled the agricultural cooperatives to sustain their productivity. Hence, the role of NGOs in development of Agricultural Cooperatives in the study area is very crucial.
Keywords :
Non-government organizations, agricultural cooperatives, development, contribution
