Cooperatives have been regarded as one of the main
institutional machineries for empowering the economically
weak members of the society. Despite the availability of
cooperative societies, it appears that a significant proportion of
rural women are either unaware of the existence of such cooperative
societies or are lacking in the basic socioeconomic
characteristics that form the prerequisite for participation in
such activities. The study therefore examined the level of
participation of women in cooperative organization and its
determinants in the study area. The study was conducted in
Yewa North Local Government area of Ogun State, south-west
rainforest zone of Nigeria in 2011 using two stage sampling
techniques to select 180 respondents. Descriptive statistics and
Logit regression analysis were used to analyze the data
generated. The results showed that pressure from household
head, insufficient fund and low membership were found to be
the major problems militating against women participation in
cooperatives. Logit regression analysis revealed positive and
significant relationships between variables such as education,
years of business experience and forms of cooperative
(producers and credit and thrift) and these variables were the
major determinants of participation in cooperative society.
Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that any
policy that will further increase the level of education of
women would increase their participation in cooperative
society.