Women’s Participation in Agricultural Cooperative Activities in the Era of Liberalization in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon

Abstract

This study was carried out from February 2019 to May 2020 in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. The objective of the study was to examine women’s participation in agricultural cooperatives’ activities in the era of liberalization. A simple random sampling technique was used in selecting 350 farmers from the purposefully selected 52 agricultural cooperatives. Data was collected through the use of structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, frequency and percentages) and inferential statistics (Chi square). Eighteen interviews were conducted with officials of agricultural cooperatives and public extension organizations beside 5 focus group discussions. A five-point Likert scale was used to measure the extent to which women participate in agricultural cooperative and the extent to which cooperatives have succeeded in making women participative agents in cooperative activities. The findings of the study show that 90% of the respondents agreed that women do participate in agricultural cooperative activities and the extent to which women participate is ‘much’ as declared by 33.7% of the respondents. Seventy two percent of the respondents accepted that there are factors that hinder women’s participation in agricultural cooperatives, prominent among which are: low level of education, domestic and child care responsibilities and cultural constraints with low level of education being the major factor. However, 80.9% of the participants of the study declared that agricultural cooperatives have succeeded in making women participative agents in agricultural cooperatives. Women are members of Board of Directors, treasurers, vendors of agricultural products and farmers on their own right. Conclusively, women’s participation in agricultural cooperatives in the era of liberalization is not nominal, passive or a mere formality but interacting participation as women have a voice and influence decisions in their cooperatives.