Abstract
Cooperative societies play an important role in facilitating women empowerment because they can address both economic and socio-cultural factors that perpetuate gender discrimination. Cooperatives, as economic enterprises and as self-help organizations, play a meaningful role in uplifting the socio-economic conditions of their members, their local communities, and their countries as well. The benefits to women brought by cooperative enterprise are many, but they are not universal. Some social and cultural nuances within household and communities can serve to limit how much of women’s return they are able to retain. Similar constraints may also affect their ability to organize as cooperatives at all. In view of this background, this study analyzes the challenges of women cooperative in rural area, a study of Chikun Local Government of Kaduna State. To address the problem of study, three research questions were raised. The researcher adopted a survey research design. A total of one hundred and eighty-nine (189) respondents comprised the target of the study. Questionnaire and was the instrument used for data collection. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), frequency tables and percentages (%) were employed in the data analysis. It was discovered that cooperatives allow rural women who might have been isolated and working individually to bind together and creates economies of scale as well as increase their own bargaining power in the competitive market. It creates a safe environment where rural women increase their self confidence, identify their own challenges, make decisions, manage risks and have control their own resource and it  ensure rural women participation in development. Rural women gain self reliance through their participation in cooperative as well as access to opportunities which they would not be able to obtain on their own, hence attaining equality of opportunity between men and women and help women participate in family decision making and cooperative offers opportunities for poor rural women to come out of their household to organize themselves in group and to work in productive and social activities and cooperative offers opportunities for poor rural women to come out of their house hold to organize themselves in group and to work in productive and social activities. Women's lack of access to critical resources such as land, agricultural inputs, implements and services, women’s’ low level of active participation and their under-representation in decision-making and leadership, the prevalent misconception that woman’s reproductive and domestic responsibilities constitute their main role and women lack access to land, credit or production inputs; their level of education is lower than men‘s and their business experience and women lack of decision-making power in the household and community are challenges to women cooperatives in rural area are challenge  to women cooperatives in rural area. Economic empowerment to improve the status of impoverished women, increasing women’s access to land and other assets and women access to loan and credit facilities are ways the challenges of women cooperatives can be address in rural areas.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1    Background of the Study     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    1
1.2    Statement of the Problem     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    3
1.3    Research Questions     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    5
1.4    Objectives of the Study     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    5
1.5    Significance of the Study     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    6
1.6    Scope of the Study     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    6
1.7    Definition of Terms    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    7
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL
2.1 Introduction     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    9
2.2 The Roles of Women Cooperatives in Rural Areas-    -    -    -    -    9
2. 3. The Challenges of Women Cooperatives in Rural Areas-    -    -    -    17
2.4 Ways the Challenges of Women Cooperatives Can Be Address in Rural Areas -    27
2.5    Theoretical Framework     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    34
2.5.1 Modernization Feminist Theory -        -    -    -    -    -    34
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1     Location of the Study     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    36
3.2    Sources of Data Collection    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    36   
3.3    Population of Study and Sampling Technique-    -    -    -    -    37
3.5    Method of Data Collection     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    39
3.5    Methods of Data Analysis     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    39
3.6    Problems Encountered in the Field     -    -    -    -    -    -    40
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.1    Introduction     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    41
4.2    Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Respondents     -    -    -    -    41
4.3    Roles of women cooperatives in rural areas        -    -    -    -    44
4.4    Challenges of women cooperatives in rural areas -    -    -    -    -    49
4.5    Ways the challenges of women cooperatives can be address in rural areas    -    53
4.6     Discussion of major findings     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    54
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1    Summary of Findings    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    66
5.2    Conclusion     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    68
5.3    Recommendations     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    69
    References    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    72
    Appendices     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    76