COCOA FARMERS’ LEADERSHIP DYNAMISM, GROUP RAPPORT AND COHESION IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the effect of leadership dynamism and group rapport on Cocoa Farmers group cohesion in Ogun State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 93 cocoa farmers for the study. Descriptive statistics and linear regression were used to analyse the data. Results showed that the cocoa farmers were mostly male (81.7%), married (85.0%), within an active age (Mean = 49.2 years), had a moderate household size (Mean = 6 persons), a mean annual cocoa revenue per production cycle of ₦2,693,900 and are well experienced in cocoa production (Mean = 21.6 years). A major leadership dynamism, group cohesion and group rapport of cocoa farmers was that the cocoa farmers’ leaders provide guidance and direction to the members of the group (Mean = 4.3), they believed that their group was the best in the vicinity and that regardless of the circumstances (Mean = 4.27) and were exceptionally friendly, courteous and respectful to other group members respectively (Mean = 4.25). The results of linear regression revealed that the cocoa farmers’ leadership dynamism (β = 0.676) significantly (p<0.05) increased the group cohesion of the cocoa farmers. The study recommended that cocoa farmers’ leadership dynamism should be improved through intervention programmes such as training, workshops and seminars as this will translate into better-quality group cohesion thereby enhancing their cooperation and productivity amongst themselves.