Effects of Democratization of Group Administration on the Sustainability of Agricultural Micro Credit Groups in Nigeria

Sustainability of micro credit groups in developing economies has been a problem associated with low meeting attendance and loan repayment which culminates in disintegration of the group. The study aimed at documenting effects of democratization of group administration proxied as frequency of meeting schedules / attendance, which is a measure of interest in the groups, on their sustainability. The study was carried out in Imo State of Nigeria, using two micro finance institutions that were purposely selected and 54 micro credit groups that were randomly selected using stratified sampling from the two micro finance institutions afore selected. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression technique were used in data analysis. Results show that low market prices, short loan duration crop failure and inadequate loan supervision are major problems limiting peer loan repayment. It was also documented that savings mobilization and repayment of the group loans are dependent on democratization process implicit in frequency of meeting attendance. Minimum savings requirement is also directly related to group loan repayment. One recommendation is that groups should be organised with homogenous members to enhance patriotism, solidarity and cohesion