The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises – Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) Project in Delta State says it is targeting no fewer than 10,805 beneficiaries in the Additional Financing (AF) phase in the state.
The LIFE-ND project is sponsored by the Federal Government, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Delta State Government.
The State Project Coordinator, Mr Collins Ashoro, disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in Asaba after visiting the newly profiled incubatees/beneficiaries’ outlets in some local government areas of the state.
Ashoro, represented by Mr Damian Omare, LIFE-ND Knowledge Management and Community Communication Officer, said the project had distributed stocks to the newly inaugurated 630 beneficiaries under its incubation model in the Additional Financing phase.
He said setting the target for the second phase had become necessary because the project had, in the past six years from 2019 to March 2025, empowered 4,373 beneficiaries, surpassing the target of 4,250 in the first phase.
Ashoro said: “The LIFE-ND project in Delta State recorded remarkable milestones in youth and women empowerment through agribusiness development.
“Our initial target was to reach 4,250 beneficiaries through the incubation model, but we are proud to report that we have surpassed this goal.
“We successfully trained, mentored and established over 4,373 incubatees across our four key commodities — cassava, fishery, poultry and oil palm — along the value chain of production.
“Building on this success, the LIFE-ND project entered its Additional Financing (AF) phase (2025–2028), a three-year scale-up period aimed at consolidating the gains of the first phase while extending project benefits to more communities and beneficiaries.
“Under this AF phase, Delta State targets to support an additional 10,805 beneficiaries, deepen climate-smart agriculture, and promote innovations in value addition, digital inclusion and sustainable market linkage.”
He said the project had profiled 630 new incubatees and another 2,685 beneficiaries to benefit from business development services in the Additional Financing phase.
“We have successfully screened and selected 630 new incubatees for the AF phase, while an additional 2,685 beneficiaries have been identified in 2025 to benefit from Business Development Services (BDS) support under this second phase,” he said.
He said the newly profiled 630 incubatees were selected from six local government areas and 42 communities in the state based on specified guidelines in the four product areas: poultry, fish, oil palm and cassava, along their value chains.
According to Ashoro, the 630 incubatees have been empowered with fish feeds, medication, juvenile fishes, poultry feed, broiler birds, cassava grinding machines, knapsack sprayers with chemicals, fertiliser and many more.
In an interview, the beneficiaries lauded the LIFE-ND project for directly impacting them with materials and technical support to build sustainable livelihood businesses in poultry, fisheries, cassava and oil palm value chains in their communities.
Speaking, Mr Louis Osogbue, LIFE-ND Desk Officer, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of the state, said the project has adequately engaged the youths and women of the community in gainful businesses in oil palm, cassava, fisheries and poultry value chains.
According to him, over 500 youths and women have been impacted in the areas of financial and food security and job creation, which has ensured a drastic reduction in youth restiveness.
He noted that the youths were initially not interested in the project, but in recent times, with visible impacts on the beneficiaries, their interest in the project has been outstanding.
He thanked the LIFE-ND project and its sponsors for their support and the youths for taking up the programmes seriously.
“Today the beneficiaries who started as incubatees have elevated to incubators and their businesses are expanding daily,” Osogbue said.
Incubatees from Umusam, Ndokwa West LGA, testified that the project had directly empowered them with poultry feeds, chicks, fingerlings and corresponding fish feeds to last from day one to finishing, tools, equipment and contacts for marketing the products.
According to 25-year-old Miss Anita Okoghene and Blessing Uduji, 24, the LIFE-ND project provided fishing tarpaulin, 500 juveniles and 29 bags of different sizes of feed to start and finish production for marketing.
Also, Chioma Onwuka, 23, and Joy Asata, 25, said they received 100 day-old chicks with 20 bags of assorted poultry feeds each to cover from start to finish from the LIFE-ND project.
Incubatees from Agbarho Shell Farm, Ughelli North LGA, Mrs Emuesiri Ikpesu and Mrs Ejiro Okunima, both fish farmers, testified to receiving training, equipment, juveniles and 29 bags of feeds each from the project.
In their separate testimonies, Mrs Francisca Okpologbe and Mrs Angela Ovuakpoaye, incubatees of the project, said they received birds, feeds and all the support needed to grow their poultry businesses at Okulo community, Okpe LGA in the state.
The beneficiaries thanked the LIFE-ND project and pledged to sustain their businesses by restocking to ensure financial stability and sustainability.
They urged other youths to explore successive opportunities in the Additional Financing phase being rolled out by LIFE-ND in the state to build sustainable livelihoods.
