Determinants of Savings Among Members of Cooperative Societies in Anambra State, Nigeria

This study examines the determinants of savings among members of cooperative societies in Anambra state. Specifically, it provides empirical evidence on the socio-economic characteristics of members of the co-operatives and ascertains which of the socio-economic characteristics significantly determine savings mobilization among members of the cooperative groups. It also ascertained the range of savings of the members of the cooperative groups and identified the cooperative members' reasons for saving. Data for the study were obtained from 100 cooperative members with the aid of well structured questionnaires through a simple random sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. Results obtained showed that on the average the members saved N12, 241.57 every month. The average monthly savings is encouraging considering the fact that their monthly income is low. The major reasons for saving as indicated by the respondents include Security, Statutory as Cooperative Member, Investment and to obtain Loans. This is obtained from their mean statistics of 4.00, 3.87, 3.53 and 3.00 respectively. The R2 value of 0.916 obtains indicates that about 91.6 of observed variation in savings by farmers could be attributed to the combined influence of the various independent variables included in the regression equation. The F-statistic with 95.342 was significant at 0.000 levels of significance. There is a significant variation in the range of savings of the members of the cooperative groups. Socio-economic characteristics of members significantly determine the savings of members of cooperative societies in the state. Based on the analysis and findings of this study, the researcher therefore recommends that To increase the farmers' savings potentials, saving should be made statutory as cooperative member. The members should also be encouraged to invest more no matter how small. It is good to save but members should have predefined reasons before saving to enable them make judicious use of whatever amount saved. There is the need to improve the livelihood strategies of the farmers to bridge the noticeable gap that exist in the farmers' savings range. Anigbogu, Theresa Ukamaka | , Chikodiri Scholastica | Okeke, Uju M "Determinants of Savings Among Members of Cooperative Societies in Anambra State, Nigeria" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-3 | Issue-1 , December 2018, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd19075.pdf http://www.ijtsrd.com/management/business-economics/19075/determinants-of-savings-among-members-of-cooperative-societies-in-anambra-state-nigeria/anigbogu-theresa-ukamaka