AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN: AN APPROACH TO AGRIBUSINESS 5
Functions of Coordinating agencies
Key functions of cooperative coordinating agencies - in Nigeria include:
- - Registering cooperative groups and maintaining a database of registered cooperatives.
- - Providing training for cooperative managers to ensure that they have co-operative management training skills and a basic knowledge of cooperatives for successful management at the community level.
- - Coordinating activities of cooperative societies by empowering members to be self-employed through sustainable economic activities.
- - Building awareness of the positive effects of cooperatives to promote participation among existing members and general public.
- - Monitoring cooperatives at different levels to ensure compliance with the policies laid for the cooperative sector.
- - Initiating policies or providing input to guide federal policies that affect the sector.
- - Advocating for the cooperative movement by representing their interests at the international and national levels.
- - Channelling funds, grants and other benefits from the government and other organisations such as NGO - s to the cooperative sector.
- The extent to which these functions are performed in the most efficient manner carries a question mark.
Challenges of cooperative agencies in Nigeria
The challenges experienced by cooperative agencies are as follows:
v Regulatory
- - Poor database maintenance of registered cooperative societies.
- - Inconsistencies in government policies and regulations towards cooperatives.
- - Lack of respect for institutional mandate of cooperatives amongst all stakeholders in the sector i.e. regulations and policies of cooperatives are not strictly adhered to by the government, cooperative agencies and/or cooperative members.
v Government support
- - Assistance from government and external organizations e.g. NGOs are not coordinated, with the result that objectives are usually not (totally) met.
- - Delayed response from government to cooperative activities in terms of funding, regulatory amendments or implementation requirements.
v Funding
- - Cooperatives suffer from low levels of investment from the government compared to other sectors. Budget allocations are delayed or sometimes not disbursed.
- - A general lack of understanding of the needs and operation of cooperatives does not allow banks to interact confidently with cooperatives.
v Managerial Capacity
- - Most societies are not well structured and thus administration is poor.
- - Inadequate number of trained cooperative staff to work closely with the cooperatives at the community level.
v Other Challenges
- - There is low awareness amongst the general public about cooperatives in general; this limits the potential pool of members.
- - Members disagree on important issues and this leads to slow development of both the societies and coordinating agencies.
There are some cultural factors which have proved challenging although these are now slowly changing; until recently women in some parts of the country (especially in the North) were not allowed to participate in cooperative activities.
Group Dynamics
Group dynamics is simply how people behave in group and how group itself behaves. Elaborately, group dynamics are the internal nature of groups in terms of how they form, their structure and processes, and how they function and affect members, other groups and the organization or community. Group dynamics is concerned with the interaction within and between groups and the changes resulting from such interactions. Such changes are important because they affect the productivity and even the survival of the group.
The problems that hinder good group dynamic are as follows:
a) Dealing with different personalities, b) personal agendas, c) poor leadership, d) bad communication, and e) lack of focus, f) group think (going along with the majority), g) dominant personalities (sticking to an agenda, difficult to deal with), and h) social loafing (putting forth less effort as a member than they would as an individual).
Group dynamics can be harnessed for greater cooperation. In fact, understanding the processes of group dynamic well enough is winning half the battle to develop intelligent strategies for managing groups. Developing a successful group requires understanding of group dynamics and planning for those dynamics is an important step for building positive group dynamics. As groups are formed, group dynamics develop as the groups progress. Therefore extension or development agents need to understand group dynamics and what to do to foster good group dynamics.
Organization of farmers into viable groups should be the core of any credible agribusiness entrepreneurship. Such groups should be adequately empowered to play the roles under the guidance of expert service providers. Regardless of its purpose or membership, starting a cooperative requires considerable time, energy, commitment, and technical resources. Recognition of a common need is fundamental to the formation and successful operation of a cooperative. Potential members must devote much time and energy to developing their new business. A cooperative requires member commitment to finance and use the business and select knowledgeable directors who hire a competent manager. A strategic business plan is important to harmonize all of the elements for the cooperative - s success. Regular training of cooperative leaders will ensure better understanding of group dynamics as a weapon for effective cooperative management. Cooperative education, training and public enlightenment are important in order to bring about increased participation and involvement of farmers in agribusiness cooperatives. Farmers need encouragements to form cooperatives on their own. This can be achieved through proper education, provision of extension services, and policy support. However, there is need for targeted formation of farmer organizations for enhanced agricultural development in Nigeria