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…says 320 youths, women, physically challenged has been engaged 

By Festus Ahon, ASABA

DELTA State Coordinator of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta, LIFE-ND, Mr Collins Ashoro, Wednesday, said 58 Incubation centres has been established with 320 incubatees (beneficiaries) in the State.

Ashoro who disclosed while briefing newsmen on the project’s achievement, said the project is co-funded by the Federal Government, in collaboration with the International Funds for Agriculture Development, IFAD, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and the nine states government in the Niger Delta region through counterpart funding was expected to gulp a total of $90 million.

He explained that the 320 incubators were made up of youths, women and persons living with disabilities, saying that the LIFE-ND project was designed in response to the limited and readily available entrepreneurial skills options that focus on youths in the Niger Delta region.

Naming the benefiting states to include; Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers, he said the project began in 2019 in Delta. He added that most of its activities were slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020.

Ashoro said  Governor Ifeanyi Okowa led government has been committed to the payment of its counterpart funds which has enabled the project to run without hitches since inception.

While disclosing that the government was also making plans to make the second tranche of payment, he said the six years project cycle, would close in March 2025 with the targeted direct beneficiaries of 4,250 youths and women including persons with disabilities.

Ashoro said: “10 Local Government Areas are selected to benefit from the project in Delta with 100 communities, 10 communities from each selected Local Government Area to participate in the project.

“The expected beneficiaries are unemployed youths between the ages of 18 years and 35 years; also women headed household with children under the ages of 15 years and persons with disabilities.

“The goal and objective are to realise a transformed rural economy in which the population can drive prosperity and equal benefit.

“And also to enhance income, food security and job creation for rural youths and women through agri- enterprises development on a sustainable base in the Niger Delta region”.

Speaking further, he said in order for the project to achieve its gold, it adopted the Incubator Model, adding that; “the Incubator is the agricultural firm or centre with an expert while the Incubatee is the beneficiary of the project.

“The project has so far established 58 Incubation Centres out of the targeted 100 centres, engaged 320 incubatees out of the 4,250 targeted incubatees of the LIFE-ND project in Delta.

“We have disbursed working capitals to 30 incubation centres out of the 58 established incubation centres in the state and in order to drive the projects, LIFE-ND is embarking on eight infrastructural projects for the incubatees.

“We have registered 39 enterprise groups and have trained 33 enterprise groups on group dynamics, records keepings, conflict management and savings mobilisation.

“The beneficiaries are trained in four thematic enterprises where the state has a comparative advantage which are oil palm, cassava, poultry and fish”, adding that the incubatees would be given a revolving loan as working capital not in cash but as inputs while being mentored to enable them to start their own businesses after the training.

Vanguard News Nigeria