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The focus of this research was to identify the role played by agricultural cooperatives in rural development in the era of liberalization in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. Primary sources were used for data collection. Questionnaires were administered to 329 respondents from 52 agricultural cooperatives in 40 villages with a response rate of 78.7% in the North West Region and 21.3% in the South West Region. Agricultural cooperatives and government officials were interviewed in both regions. Findings from the field show that 80% of the respondents agreed that agricultural cooperatives play a role in rural development especially in the areas of trainings, increased output production, the provision of inputs and marketing of farmers produce. Agricultural cooperatives can effectively and conveniently handle only two major roles in its rural development efforts: Improved Agricultural Production and Capacity Building. Seventy percent of the respondents declared that they were satisfied with the role agricultural cooperatives play in rural development despite the socio-political crisis in the study area. The government should increase investments in agriculture and rural infrastructure and create an agricultural bank to enable agricultural cooperatives play its role fully in rural development. Key words: Agricultural cooperatives, rural development, liberalization, Cameroon. |
