Abstract:
Currently, cooperative enterprises in Ethiopia are growing in terms of numbers and
membership. However, despite growing policy attention and researchers‟ interest on
cooperatives, the issue of members‟ participation, in relation to performance of
cooperatives has not been adequately addressed. The overall objective of this study was to
determine the influence members‟ participation in their cooperative financial performance
of cooperatives. The study used a cross-sectional research design. Questionnaires and key
informant interview checklist were used for data collection. The study covered 371
members from 27 primary cooperatives. Participation attitudes were assessed using likert-
scale items, while members‟ evaluative perceptions about their cooperatives performance
were measured by using five score scale measurement. Multiple linear regression were
employed to analyze the relationship between participation and financial performance of
wheat growers‟ cooperatives. The study results show that majority of respondents have
positive attitude of participation in their cooperatives. Years in membership, number of
shares, quantity of seed purchased and quantity of wheat supplied were statistically
significant relationship with performance. Overall, on average members evaluated their
societies‟ functioning as good performance. Majority of respondents agreed that they are
better off in the market after joining cooperatives. It is recommended that since members‟
attitude and behavior of participation is affected by the level of information and education,
launching of a continuous cooperative extension education is critical. Strengthening those
participation aspects having influence on the financial performances. The good
performance of agricultural inputs provision service should be considered as best practice
of lesson and internal strength. Cooperatives should be able encouraging members to
supply more quality produce to their cooperatives by giving them tangible benefits in price
reward and patronage dividend. The study indicates issues for further study such as how
to address the financial capacity limitation of primary cooperatives and how to explore and
implement tri-modal arrangement in the form of public-cooperative-private partnership
model.
Key words: cooperatives, members, participation, performance
