Assessment of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of Cooperative Societies in Abia State

Corporate social responsibility in cooperative societies is rooted in the ICA's seventh cooperative principle of concern for community, but the extent to which cooperatives in Abia State actualise this principle through community-facing programmes and initiatives has not been systematically examined. This study assessed the CSR practices of cooperative societies in Abia State, South East Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was employed, with 180 members and leaders from fifteen cooperatives in Aba, Umuahia, and Bende LGAs responding to structured questionnaires. CSR activities documented included community education support, environmental conservation activities, health outreach programmes, and local employment creation. CSR scores were compared across cooperative types (agricultural, consumer, credit, and multipurpose). Results showed that 52.2 percent of cooperatives had conducted at least one community-facing CSR activity in the preceding two years. Education support, primarily through school materials donation, was the most common CSR form (reported by 37.8 percent of cooperatives). Environmental and health activities were rare, reported by fewer than 15 percent of societies. Multipurpose cooperatives showed the highest mean CSR scores across all activity categories. Budget constraints were cited by 73.3 percent of cooperative leaders as the primary barrier to expanded community engagement. The study concludes that CSR implementation in Abia cooperatives is minimal and functionally inadequate. Recommendations include incorporating CSR budgeting into annual cooperative planning and developing a state-level cooperative CSR reporting framework.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, cooperative societies, Abia State, community engagement, South East Nigeria