Dr Sanni Abiodun, National Project Coordinator of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises-Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), says the project has impacted youths and women through technology-driven agribusiness in the nine Niger Delta states.
Abiodun stated this in an interview during the two-day Sixth Joint Supervision Mission of the LIFE-ND Project by all stakeholders in Asaba, Delta State.
According to him, the stakeholders are the Federal Government, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and the major donors — the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
He said many communities in the region are yearning to benefit from the project, which has greatly improved the livelihoods of beneficiaries.
He urged the beneficiaries to remain steadfast with what they were given and what they have learnt, and to put them to proper use as worthy ambassadors of the project.
“We are quite sure that if they are worthy ambassadors, those who are financing the project will be willing to put in more funds.
“We can expand what we have done to other youths and women in other communities who are yearning to be part of the project,” he said.
Abiodun said the programme has put sustainability plans in place to ensure that beneficiaries continue to grow their businesses, create jobs and generate incomes to guarantee enhanced livelihoods after the project exits.
“A sustainability plan of the project is enshrined in the institutional arrangement that we have put in place.
“We have the Community Affairs Development Association. We have various enterprise groups whose capacities we have substantially built to interact with others because they are private sector.
“The project has also built the private and public sector actors that will catalyse whatever actions they want to take, so that by the time the project is completed, they will learn to do it on their own.
“The beneficiaries can identify those who are able to give them the support they need and expand and deliver appropriately as a group, so that their businesses will continue to thrive and largely contribute to the food security of the state.
“We have seen the progress, the success stories and all, and we have seen that the collaboration between the Federal Government, IFAD and other partners has greatly impacted the beneficiaries in the nine Niger Delta states of Nigeria.”
Also, Dr Ehimhen Eigbe, Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, NDDC, said the team was satisfied with the field supervision of the projects, adding that evidence of the project’s impact was visible in all the places visited.
“The visit is something really very interesting and I hope that with the success story of this, we can replicate more of these projects in so many other communities within the Niger Delta region.
“It will help in bringing down the cost of food and engage our teeming youths. From other places we visited, we could see the enthusiasm in the youths who are going into farming.”
He acknowledged that with extra funds, the project beneficiaries could go the extra mile to achieve greater milestones in the agribusiness programme.
“It is a programme I would prefer we pump more money into, to support and make it bigger and replicate it in other places apart from this community,” Eigbe said.
On her part, the National Environmental and Climate Change Specialist of LIFE-ND, Benigho Wategire, said the project has adopted technology-driven agribusiness to enable beneficiaries reduce the cost of doing business and enhance their productivity, welfare and income.
According to her, the project has adopted innovations to reduce the cost of poultry and fish production by the farmers.
“The cost of feed has gone up recently, so we had to think of a way to help the farmers stay in business and make sure that their products are actually growing very well.
“So, we came up with Black Soldier Fly Larva Production. Why this is very important is that the larva has everything the feed contains — in fact, it contains even more.
“A 0.5 kg of the larva can feed over 100 birds for a day and all they have to take is water. So that’s how cheap it is. Starting it is very easy and very cheap, and taking care of the birds is less stressful.”
Some of the beneficiaries lauded the project and pledged to sustain the programme while calling for more funds to expand their businesses.
It was reported that the LIFE-ND project is sponsored by the Federal and state governments, financed by IFAD and supported by the NDDC.
The team visited LIFE-ND projects in Agbor Obi and Ekuma Abavo communities in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State and other places.
