An Assessment of Agricultural Cooperative’s Leadership Style In IlorinWest Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria

The main purpose of this study was to examine agricultural cooperative’s leadership style among farmers in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria. One hundred and twenty cooperative farmers were randomly selected from different cooperative societies across villages of six political wards in the study area. Data were collected using structure questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and chi square analysis were used to analyse the data collected for the study. Results of the findings showed that majority (65.0%) of the cooperative farmers interviewed were male, adult/primary education (56.7%), farm size of 1-2 hectares (49.2%), and 4 -7 years of farming experience (30.0%). Saving schedule among most (35.8%) of the respondents was monthly while 40% also indicated N100 - N500 was their saving per schedule. Results further revealed that majority (54.2%) indicates that appointment of leaders was by selection. Qualities mostly considered for selection include self-confidence (70%) and intelligence (69.2%). Democratic and transitional leadership styles were mostly practiced as indicated by majority 41.7% and 18.0% respectively. Chi square analysis showed that age and educational status were significantly related to leadership style at p