In Africa, Kenya in particular, co-operatives started as vehicles for management and marketing of agricultural products of white farmers and were sole preserves of the colonial settlers (Kobia, 2011). The first co-operative in Kenya was set up by white settlers as a dairy and agricultural co-operative at Kipkelion (formerly Lumbwa) in 1908 (Kobia, 2011). Nevertheless, after the Second World War Africans were allowed to form co-operative societies that resulted in mushrooming of many co-operative societies (Minishi, 2012). From then on, co-operatives became the preferred mode that African farmers connected with the growing market economy hitherto patronized by the colonial settlers. Co-operatives became synonymous with wealth creation and Africans embraced them enthusiastically triggering rapid expansion of the sector that quickly became an important vehicle of development. Read the Research
