Strengthening Women’s Economic Empowerment through Co-operative Societies: Implications for Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

In order to achieve sustainable poverty reduction, co-operative societies are expected to strengthen women’s economic empowerment through job creation and income generation. Women are anticipated to benefit from accessible credit, entrepreneurial support, and productive economic participation through co-operative societies. Despite their participation in these societies, many women continue to experience unemployment, low incomes, and persistent poverty. Consequently, this study examined the extent to which co-operative societies strengthen women’s economic empowerment and the resulting implications for sustainable poverty reduction in Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and was conducted in Enugu State, Nigeria. A total of 356 co-operative members were selected using a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire. The instrument was validated through expert review, while its reliability was established using the split-half technique, which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.86. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using the one-sample t-test at the 0.05 level of significance with the aid of SPSS Version 28. The findings revealed that co-operative societies significantly strengthened women’s economic empowerment through job creation (t = 35.566, p < .001) and income generation (t = 26.811, p < .001), thereby promoting sustainable poverty reduction. The study recommended that government should expand co-operative financing through accessible low-interest credit programmes to enhance women’s employment and business creation opportunities, while co-operative societies should intensify entrepreneurship training through regular capacity-building initiatives to strengthen women’s capacity for sustainable income generation.

Keywords: Women’s Economic Empowerment, Co-operative Development, Employment Generation, Income Generation, Sustainable Livelihoods.