ABSTRACT
The Gambia covers an area of over 400 square miles with a population of 493,000. The majority of its people live in rural areas and are engaged in agriculture, the core of the Gambia's economy. Gambian women, 85 percent of whom live in the countryside, have always played an important part in the socioeconomic development of the country. The traditional occupation of the women in the Gambia, in addition to the care of the children, is the growing of rice, vegetables, and other foodstuffs for family consumption. Cooperatives in the Gambia date back to the early 1950s, when the first farmers' cooperatives were formed and later registered. Since then, involvement has grown strongly and the total membership stands at over 70,000. The Cooperative Rice Growers' Society of Macarthy Island Division was one of the first cooperatives to be started in the Gambia. It is a marketing cooperative whose members are mainly men.
