Abstract

The need to access productive resources and services amid present dynamics and competing demands in production inform farmerís membership of agricultural cooperatives, however, this is not automatic. The study investigated access to productive resources and services among agricultural cooperatives crop farmers in Oke-Ogun area, of Oyo state, Nigeria. A total of 180 respondents served as sample subjects and were selected through multistage sampling procedure. Loan (1.41), farm equipment (non-mechanized) (1.40) and seeds/seedlings (1.34) ranked highest as productive resources/services accessed while loan (1.52), seeds/seedlings (1.41), herbicides and pesticides (1.40) ranked highest as productive resources/services available to the respondents. Primary among the challenges associated with operating agricultural cooperatives were low capital base (0.90) and poor management of the cooperative by its leaders (0.89). Significant relationship existed between benefits derived from agricultural cooperatives (r= 0.614, P= 0.049) and accessibility to productive resources in agricultural cooperatives. The study recommends an increase in the capital base of agricultural cooperatives and increased oversight by its regulators to enhance its operations and outcomes.

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