LIFE-ND expands farm ‘Incubators’ and ‘incubatees’ program for youth, women
The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) is expanding the farm ‘incubators’ and ‘incubatees’ training programme to Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Imo states. The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) is a project of the federal government designed in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development […]
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The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) is expanding the farm ‘incubators’ and ‘incubatees’ training programme to Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Imo states.
The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) is a project of the federal government designed in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The project focuses on unemployed and underemployed rural youths (aged 18-35) and women-headed households with children below 15 years who are willing to engage in the production, processing, and marketing of selected commodities in their communities using the incubation model.
The project targets 38,250 beneficiaries in the nine Niger Delta states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers.
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A team went to Rivers, Imo and Akwa Ibom states last week to create a background for the next exercise of profiling potential incubators and incubatees who are the key players in the LIFE-ND incubation model.
As a set target, each state is expected to empower 4,250 beneficiaries, and there is a deliberate effort at ensuring gender balance is achieved.
For Akwa Ibom State, the focus commodities are cassava, oil palm, poultry, and aquaculture, and they are all implemented along the agricultural value chain of production, processing, and marketing.
For Imo, the commodities are cassava, rice, poultry, and aquaculture, while for Rivers, the commodities are cassava, plantain, poultry, and aquaculture.
IFAD is responsible for funding six states, while NDDC is responsible for 3 states of Akwa Ibom, Imo and Rivers.
The LIFE-ND project is planned with a six-year implementation period and another six-year financing gap, making it a 12-year project cycle. The project has a first phase of six years, with parallel finance from NDDC and an additional six years to be financed in the future by IFAD with additional financing.