- Title
- Challenges facing cooperatives in community development in Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape Province
- Creator
- Nxesi-Noxonya, Fundiswa
- Subject
- Cooperative societies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Sustainable development -- Research -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Date Issued
- 2024-04
- Date
- 2024-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/65357
- Identifier
- vital:74094
- Description
- Cooperatives are becoming prominent local economic development agents responsible for addressing economic and social problems experienced by communities in developing countries and sustaining livelihoods. Cooperatives in South Africa contribute significantly to poverty reduction and job creation. The purpose of this study was to understand the operations of cooperatives in community development in Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape province, so that interventions could be implemented to improve cooperatives' performance in the district. The study used a qualitative approach to enable the researcher to investigate cooperatives' challenges in community development and how these have influenced their operations in Graaff-Reinet. The study adopted a case study design. Individual, face–to–face, semi-structured interviews with 12 participants were conducted. Ten participants were cooperative members, and the other two were government officials. These participants were purposively selected because of their involvement in cooperative support programmes. The study's findings revealed that cooperatives contribute to an increase in household income, food security and job creation and improve the quality of life of members of cooperatives in the Graaff-Reinet community. The study also found that cooperatives can address economic and social problems experienced by communities, such as providing training and counselling to community members. However, the study found that the major challenges are limited training opportunities for members of cooperatives, insufficient funds and the mismanagement of funds. This study advocates for meaningful strategies that may be adopted to promote cooperatives as sources of income, namely, improved project management, self-reliance and commitment, funding, secured premises, the employment of young people and elders and the use of learning networks.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2024
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (viii, 141 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
NMU School for Economics, Development and Tourism
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Nxesi-Noxonya, F April 2024.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |