A Gap Analysis of Empirical Research on Cooperative Sector Performance in North West Nigeria

Despite the North West zone hosting Nigeria's largest cooperative membership and one of its most historically developed cooperative traditions, systematic empirical research on cooperative sector performance in this zone is fragmented, methodologically uneven, and rarely translated into policy action. This study conducted a systematic gap analysis of empirical research on cooperative sector performance in North West Nigeria over the period 2015 to 2024. A systematic literature review methodology was adopted, searching nine academic and grey literature databases for empirical studies on cooperative performance in Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, and Jigawa States. Inclusion criteria required primary data collection and quantitative or mixed-method analysis. Sixty-one eligible publications were identified and mapped against a performance dimension taxonomy covering financial performance, governance, social impact, member service, and digital transformation. Meta-analytic descriptive synthesis assessed research volume, methodological quality, geographical concentration, and policy translation. Results showed that 67.2 percent of studies focused on agricultural cooperatives, leaving worker, housing, consumer, and transport cooperative sectors substantially under-researched. Governance quality was the most studied performance dimension, while digital transformation received no documented empirical attention. Methodological quality was below international standards in 57.4 percent of studies, with convenience sampling predominating. The study identifies eight priority research gaps and recommends a North West Cooperative Research Agenda, coordinated by the Kano-based Federal Cooperative College with university partnerships, to systematically address the identified gaps.

Keywords: cooperative sector research gap, empirical analysis, North West Nigeria, systematic review, cooperative performance