Employment Generation as a Variable in Poverty Alleviation in Enugu and Ebonyi States: the Role of Cooperative Societies

Abstract

The purpose of this research work is to examine “employment generation as a variable in poverty alleviation in Enugu and Ebonyi States, Nigeria: The role of cooperative societies. One research question and one null hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A sample size of 193 presidents of multi-purpose cooperatives in Enugu and Ebonyi States was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was a researcher-developed structured questionnaire termed; employment generation questionnaire (EGQ). The instrument was validated by 3 experts, two from Department of Adult and Continuing Education and one from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Education. Cronbach Alpha method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. The research question was answered using mean and cluster mean scores, while the hypothesis was tested using t-test statistic at 0.05 level of significance and critical value of 1.96. Results of data analyses indicates that the respondents were of the opinion that cooperative societies alleviate poverty through employment generation. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made among others that all stakeholders in the cooperative enterprises in Enugu and Ebonyi States should encourage the establishment of more cooperatives including adequate funding of existing ones.