AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES AND THE ACTUALIZATION OF THE FADAMA III PROJECT IN NIGERIA
(A CASE STUDY OF FADAMA III PROJECT IN IMO STATE)  
ABSTRACT
The department objective of the third Fadama III project for Nigeria is to sustainably increase the incomes of Fadama users. Overall progress toward the achievement of the project objective is satisfactory. The last implementation status report rated both Project Development Objectives (PDO) and IP satisfactory. All the states have disbursed go most of the Fadama Community Association/Fadama Users Group (FACS /FUGS) whose capacities have been built to implement community sub-projects. Over 400 productive rural infrastructure have been constructed in the Fadama communities all over the federation while the 52,713 Fadama users groups (FUGS) registered have acquired a total of 58,758 productive assets. This project abstract is drawn from the PDA, SAR or PAD and may not accurately reflect the projects current future. The World Bank Group supported an estimated 884 operations to promote opportunity and get needed services the poor in 2012.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
ADP           -       Agricultural Development Programme
ADPEC       -       Agricultural Department Project Executive Committee
ARCN -       Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria
ASAS -       Advisory Service Activities
CBO          -       Community Based Organization
FADPEC      -       Federal Agricultural Development Project Executive Committee.
FCA           -       Fadama Community Association
FCI            -       Federal Capital Territory
FMAWR      -       Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Waters Resources   
FUG           -       Fadama Users Group
IDA           -       International Development Association
LDP           -       Local Development Plan
LFD           -       Local Fadama Desk
LFDC -       Local Fadama Development Committee
LFDC -       Local Fadama Desk Officer
LGA           -       Local Government Area
NFDP -       National Fadama Development Project
NFRA -       National Food Reserve Agency
NFTC -       National Fadama Technical Committee  
NGO          -       Non-Government Organization
PAD           -       Project Appraisal Document
PDO          -       Project Development Organization
PEC           -       Programme Evaluation Committee
PFMU -       Project Financial Management Unit
PIM           -       Project Implementation Manual
SFCO -       State Fadama Coordination Office
SFTC -       State Fadama Technical Committee
SMANR      -       State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources  
 TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1        Background of the study                       
1.2        Statement of the Problem             
1.3        Objectives of the study                        
1.4        Research Questions                             
1.5        Significance of the study                       
1.6        Scope and Limitations of the study         
1.7        Definition of Terms                              
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1    History and Origin of the Project                    
2.2    Objectives and Performance Indicators           
2.3    Scope and Beneficiaries of the Project            
2.4    Funding and components of the project          
2.5    Project implementation arrangements            
2.6    Benefits of the FADAMA III programmes         
2.7    Agricultural cooperative effect and community
2.8    Problems of cooperative enterprises in Nigeria
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1    Research Design                                          
3.2    Area of Study                                                     
3.3    Population of study                                              
3.4    Sampling and Sampling Procedure                 
3.5    Sources of Data                                                  
3.6    Instrument for Data Collection                       
3.7    Method of Data Collection                             
CHAPTER FOUR:  PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1    Presentation and Analysis of Data                  
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
5.1    Summary of Findings                                   
5.2    Recommendations                                               
5.3    Conclusion                                                  
5.4    Areas for further Research                                    
        Bibliography
        Appendices
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
        World Bank describes poverty in Nigeria as “widespread and severe”. Despite the country’s vast resources, she is still known with low GDP per capita, high unemployment rate, low industrial utilization capacity, high birth rate and agricultural dependence. World Bank further states that low productivity in agriculture is the cause of high incidence of poverty in the country.
        Agriculture is the major sector in the Nigerian economy providing employment for more than 70% of the population.
        “Since the nations independence in 1960, agriculture had been the ministry of the nation is economy providing the largest clunk of foreign exchange inflow into the country. Moreover, it contributed about 63% to the nation’s GDP according to official statistics with the dramatic shift of focus to crude oil exploration and attendant boom of the 1970s, agriculture was displaced as the nation’s main foreign exchange earner. As a consequence therefore, agriculture’s contribution to the nation’s GDP declined to 34% just as unemployment began to make an upward movement.
        Although 80% of the land in Nigeria is cultivable and about 13% is forested, it is sad to note that as at 1990 only 42% of the cultivable area was farmed. Although the United Nations testify of an increase in agricultural output in recent years but this increase has been attributed to the expansion of the area under cultivation rather than from increased productivity. The sector has been hampered by lack of investment in improved farming technology while over farming of fragile soil has worsened the problem of soil degradation.
        In the bid to solve the agricultural problems faced by the nation, different regimes have over the years drawn up various agricultural plans and policies among which include Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), Green Revolution (GR) and Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). The National Fadama Development Project (NFDP) is however a major instrument used in achieving the government’s poverty reduction objectives in Nigeria in recent years. The project which was initiated in the early 1900s is now in its third edition or phrase. In the first phase, it had only six participating states with only jigawa as a “core state”, ie a state in which Fadama I was fully implemented. However the National Fadama project is current found in all the 36 states of the federation including the FCT.
        The aim of Fadama III project is aimed at alleviating poverty in the communities through empowering the Imo people to own productive assets. The ministry has entered into discussion with various investors on an integrated agricultural development and food production in the state that will launch Imo state as major producer and exporter of food in the century. This is in the area of Rice Production, Livestock, Fisheries Vegetable and Fruits, Agricultural Input, Poultry, Cassava, Oil, palm etc. According to the Wikipedia, “Economically, the state is proportion its working population engaged in farming, although trading (18.8%) and services (12.9%) are also important”. The state has 27 local government areas and each of the twenty-seven local government areas has no fewer than 100 cooperative Fadama user group engaged in producing livestock, crops, processes foods, marketing, storage and distribution.
 1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM             
        The goal of increasing food production and reducing  food import has elicited many programmes and policies at the various level of government. Kudi, T. M. et al (unpublished) citing Cox and Akin (1979) describes the Fadama concept as an age old tradition in Hausa land where the land that floods on seasonal basis allow for the growth of a variety of crops under small scale irrigation farming system. Many reasons have been advanced for the necessity of supplementing rain fed agriculture with irrigation in Nigeria.
        This is because the country is endowed with underground and surface water reserves, rich pastures and favourable agro-ecological conditions in the country’s low lying panes with alluvial deposits called Fadama. It was in the light of these potentials that the first National Fadama Development Project (FADAMA I) was designed in 1993 to promote simple and low-cost improved irrigation technology under World Bank financing.
        Government impressed by the achievement of FADAMA I approached the ADF and the International Development Association of the weorld Bank for support in expanding the achievements of FADAMA I in scope and size. To achieve its aims, FADAMA II was designed with a focus on community driven development will maximum participation of the stakeholders at every stage of the project cycle. Despite the successes recorded in the FADAMA II project, the project still faced some constraints. Adegbite A. D. et al (2007) identified some of the problems discovered as “…. Inadequate infrastructural and storage facilities, inadequate cantina for farm operation, insufficient access to micro credit facilities and other support services by members of the FADAMA endowed communities….” Therefore aims of establish the role co-operative societies have to play in the actualization of the FADAMA III project.
 1.3    OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY     
        The general objective of this research work is to identify the Relevance of Agricultural Cooperative societies in ensuring the success of the Fadama III project in Imo state.
        Furthermore, to ensure efficiency and precision this specific objectives which are:
i.             Analyze the objectives of the third National Fadama Development Project.
ii.            Identify the project implementation arrangement of the third National Fadama Development project as well as to modus operandi.
iii.          Discover and analyze the impact of the Fadama III project on the life of the people of Imo state.
iv.          Find out the factors militating against the full actualization of the objectives of the project.
v.           Identify the role of agricultural cooperatives societies in the actualization of the Fadama III Project.    
vi.          Make suggestions and recommendations that will help improve the contribution of agricultural cooperative societies to the actualization of the Fadama III Project.
 1.4    RESEARCH QUESTIONS
        During the course of this research, the researcher intends to provide answers to the following questions.
i.             What are the objectives of the project?
ii.            How is the project being executed?
iii.          What are the contributions of the project to the development of Imo state?
iv.          What are the roles of agricultural cooperative societies in the actualization of this project?  
v.           How can these limitations be minimized if not entirely eradicated?
 1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
        The usefulness of the findings of this research cannot be over emphasized. First of all, this research will help the state government with tips on how to effectively use agricultural cooperative societies in the actualization of the goals of the FADAMA III project.
        Secondly, the research will provide the organizers and coordinators of the Fadama III development project with possible solutions to the challenges currently face d by the project.
        Thirdly, prospective organizers of community development oriented programmes will find this research work a useful guide to the actualization of their prospects.
        Finally, thought the researcher restricted this research study to Imo state, the result of the findings will be of immense benefit to all coordinators and benefactress to the FADAMA III project all over Nigeria as well as students conducting similar research work on the same topic or related ones.   
1.7    DEFINITION OF TERMS
          Below is the definition of some basic concept frequently used during the course of the research.
i.             Agricultural cooperative: Agricultural cooperatives are association of individuals for achievement of economic and social objectives. Modern cooperatives started with modern industrialization as a weapon of counter measure against capitalism.
ii.            FADAMA: This is the Hausa name of irrigable land usually low lying plains underlain by “shallow” aquifers found along major rivers systems. The Fadama concept is an age-old tradition in Hausa land where land that floods on several basis allows for the growth of a variety of crops under small scope irrigation farming system. Such lands are especially suitable for irrigated crop production and fishing and traditionally provide feed and water for livestock.
iii.          FADAMA Community Association (FCAs): These are apex organization of economic interest groups which derive their livelihood from the shared natural resources of the Fadama land.
iv.          FADAMA User Groups (FUGs): An FUG is a group of an average of twenty (20) persons who share common economic interest and registered as a Fadama cooperative. FUG and FCAs, are the primary beneficiaries of the FADAMA project.