The objective of this assignment for the International Labour organisation was to understand the current situation of cooperatives and other similar organizations in Jere Local Government Area, Nigeria, particularly their capacities, strengths, weaknesses and needs. particularly their capacities, strengths, weaknesses and needs. The Gender Research Alliance collaborated with African Centre for Innovative Research and Development (AFRI-CIRD) in Nigeria for this assignment.
The research process aimed to:
- Review existing relevant literature on cooperatives in Nigeria, northern Nigeria and Jere Local Government Area, highlighting specific challenges and opportunities;
- Map all relevant stakeholders, cooperatives and similar self−help organizations operating in the targeted value chains in the target areas and identify relevant cooperative support organizations;
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of cooperatives in terms of leadership, membership, infrastructure, participation in the markets, and their economic viability;
- Provide an assessment of the challenges and opportunities for upgrading the position of cooperatives and other farmers groups in vegetable value chains;
- Identify and discuss concrete opportunities for cooperative development for producers (with a special focus on women producers) and for youth employment;
- Identify main factors, internal and external, impacting on the ability of cooperatives to successfully grow their operation;
- Identify and analyze skills gaps and specific training needs for cooperatives, other producers’ organizations, and cooperative support organizations and;
- A review of ILO tools such as Think.Coop, MyCoop, Start.Coop to assess their relevance.