ABSTRACT

Cooperative societies started in 1844 by the Rochdate Equitable Pioneers. This movement spread over Nigeria around 1934. Today cooperative societies are one of the numerous forms of business organization in the world and it is considered as one of the important means of bringing about economic development to Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State. In Orhionmwon societies perform the role of distributing goods and services to their members, promoting unity, provision of goods and services among others, they offer assistance to farmers to improve the quality of their farm produce throughout careful grading and storage. Members are encouraged to produce the best by paying higher prices for high quality products. Up till date, the optimum potentialities of cooperative societies are yet to be fully exploited; this is due to constraints militating against cooperative societies. The possible recommendation is that at least all villages or clans in Orhionmwon Local Government Area should have cooperative societies another is that a cooperative bank should be created to solve the problem of lack of capital. Also, it is recommended that bank keepers, store keepers and auditors should be employed or trained to ensure effective management of the cooperative societies. Finally, there should be mutual trust within cooperative to ensure steady fast growth in cooperative movement in Orhionmwon Local government Area of Edo State.