The study examined the performance of farmers’ cooperatives in Dukku local government area of Gombe State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling techniques was used in selecting 72 respondents from the study area.  Data was collected using questionnaire. Sixty-three (63) questionnaires were returned and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result revealed that all the respondents were married, with majority (93.7%) being males. About 38.1% of the respondents fell within the age bracket of 41-50 and farming was their major occupation (77.8%), with 50.8% of the respondents having above 20 years’ experience in farming. The study further showed that 45 of the respondents, representing 71.4% identified ‘encouragement of self-help and cooperation’ as the major benefit they derived as a result of their membership in cooperatives. Socio-economic factors such as age, farm size and income were found to be significant (p˂0.05) factors influencing farmers’ access to cooperative loan. The study showed that ‘unavailability of loan to give out to members’ was the major constraint (88.9%) to loan accessibility by members of cooperatives. It was recommended that cooperative farmers be educated by extension workers on the need to pool the resources at their disposal and grant loans to members rather than wait for government loans.

The study analyzed the economics of cotton marketing in Gusau local government area of Zamfara State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 80 cotton marketers usingrandom sampling techniques. Descriptive statistics and gross margin were the analytical tools used. The result revealed that (31.2%) of the respondents were within the age of 31-40 years. Most (93.7%) of the respondents were males. The results further revealed that more than half (63.75%) of the respondents were married and had family size (43.7%) of 3-9 persons. The results indicated that about 45% of the respondents had non-formal education and 58.7% had 16 and above years of marketing experience. The results also revealed that cotton marketing in the study area was profitable with an attractive gross margin of ₦9,465 and marketers enjoyed a profit of ₦1.04 per Naira invested. However, cotton marketers were faced several constraints in their marketing activities; notable among them were price fluctuation, inadequate storage facilities and transportation costs. The study recommended that cotton marketers in the study area should form cooperative union which will help them stabilize and regulate the marketing activities and help them access adequate storages facilities that will reduce losses due deterioration and damage.