Members’ Participation in the Awabel Multi-Purpose Farmers Cooperatives Union and its Affiliates, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

This research tried to identify various characteristics of members that influence their participation level in cooperative governance and business. Participation measures included attendance at meetings, utilization of cooperative services and building cooperative capital through shareholding. Member socio-economics, organizational environments and beliefs concerned cooperative principles, collective action, individual member identities as associated with cooperative membership, satisfaction with cooperative operation and management are used to analyze the differences among groups of members. The study was conducted in East Gojam Administrative Zone, Awabel Multi-Purpose Farmers’ Cooperatives Union area of operation. Ninety-five individual members and 35 potential members surveyed in November to January 2007/08. The major concern of this study is to assess and identify determinants of members to participate actively in cooperatives with the aim of proposing measures for development of selfreliant cooperatives that address member’s participation factors. It is also assessed the problems of potential members to join to the existing multi-purpose cooperatives. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and percentages were used to describe sample respondents in terms of some desirable variables. A binary logit model was employed to analyze determinants of members’ active participation in cooperatives. Fifteen explanatory variables were included in the model of which Socio- economic four factors and institutional environment two a total of six were found significant at less than 10% probability levels. This study also attempted to examine the differences between members and potential members the result showed that the two groups varied in socio economic factors.