Financing of Agricultural Cooperatives in Imo East: Challenges and Prospects, Nigeria

The study was carried out to determine the sources and extent of obtaining loans in financing agricultural cooperative enterprises in Imo East Senatorial District, Imo State of Nigeria. Primary data was obtained using a structured set of questionnaires in which 95 respondents were randomly selected.  Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used in which the specific objectives were ascertained. The hypothesis formulated to guide the study was tested using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of multiple regression statistics. The results revealed that: the loans obtained have helped in financing agricultural cooperative enterprises, share capital and membership registration fees are the major internal sources of financing while major external financing are bank of agriculture and government financing and their major challenges were members contributions insignificant, unfavourable economic situation and weak leadership to effectively mobilize loans. With the exception of family size which was insignificant, the regression result shows that age, educational status, farming experience and income were identified to have significant relationship with loans obtained. The main recommendations were: members should save more with their societies; leadership should show commitment and seek for further information on various financing agencies and members are encouraged to continue to use the loans approved and disbursed to them for agricultural production.