By Gabriel Ewepu

ASABA – THE Federal Government of Nigeria, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, Nigeria, Thursday, disclosed 15,960 unemployed youths in six states of the Niger Delta region benefit from Federal Government/ Niger Delta/ International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, Project tagged the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise in the Niger Delta, LIFE-ND.

The disclosure was made by the National Programme Coordinator, FGN/NDDC/ IFAD LIFE-ND, Project, Engr Abiodun Sani, on the conclusion of the ‘Media Roundtable/Tour of IFAD Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise Project in the Niger Delta’.

According to Sani, LIFE-ND Project is an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria with the collaborative effort of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, including the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as well as the State Governments of the Niger Delta region to ensure the sustainable agricultural development to improve the income as well as job creation within the Niger Delta region among the youth and women.

The Lead Implementing Agency is the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Co-implementing agency is Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, while the implementing partners are the nine State Ministries of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, the Project formulation was in May 2017, and IFAD Executive Board approval was on13 December, 2017, IFAD loan agreement signing was on 24th December, 2018, and the Project was launched 10 December, 2019, and became effective on 21st February, 2019.

The disbursement effectiveness was on 21st February, 2019. The Project duration is 12 years – (1st Phase – 2019 -2025, 2nd Phase 2026-2031), and the Project completion date is September 2025, while closing date is March 2026.

The beneficiaries were strictly unemployed youth and women, who were shortlisted based on merit from the six participating States including Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Ondo.

The beneficiaries were trained as incubatees by incubators using the Master-boy model in fishery, poultry, rice, plantain, cassava, cocoa, and oil palm value chains, after which the beneficiaries were given inputs to start their own business, of which many are now big time agribusiness men and women.

However, NDDC is being urged to pay its counterpart funding of the $30 million commitment it has promised IFAD in order for the Project to commence in Akwa-Ibom, Imo and Rivers States.

He said: “This project has contributed significantly to the economic growth and wealth of the Niger Delta region, and since inception, the Project has been able to inject over $20 million into the rural economy that is substantively close to N16 billion, and likely as a project we have been able to create over 12,000 jobs and ensure that likely we have over 50,960 enterprises running across the six participating States of the region.

“And as a project, we able to ensure that reasonably over 80 per cent of our beneficiaries have access to improved nutritional diet, and we also as a Project met sustainable part of the key performance indicators of the Project, especially in the area of ensuring that beneficiaries have access to climate friendly infrastructure, and also as a project we also ensure that farmers have access to improved technological practices, which over 87 per cent of them are adopting the best agricultural practices in terms of farming techniques within the entire value chains and the seven communities we are intervening.

“So largely, the project has impacted on the lives of the youth and women of the Niger Delta region.

“LIFE-ND Project is a pilot project and for now, the target for the six participating States, 500 enterprises that are expected to be created, while we are talking about nine participating States.

“We are targeting 32,500 beneficiaries but for now, as a Project we have hit over the 60 per cent mark, as we are approaching the fifth year of implementation.

“But we are quite hopeful that within this next year, which is quite a strategy year, the project will be able to achieve its 100 per cent mark because we put in place strategies to overcome the initial challenges we had at the onset of the project, largely the issue of COVID-19 that largely over a year and half of the project lifespan was wasted, we have been able to achieve substantial implementation strategy to ensure that largely this deficit gap is covered in year 2024.

“For now we are moving towards a 70 per cent target in achieving our beneficiary mark. Then in terms of meeting the key performance indicators we are already hitting the 100 per cent mark in those areas.

“Like I said, $60 million loan, so we are close to almost $36 million we have expended, bearing in mind that kind of contributions that have been put in place by the various participating stakeholders and talking about the rural communities and also the private sector concerned that have supported the Project all the way.”

Meanwhile, he (Sani) explained how the project had boosted the rural economy in the Niger Delta region, “As a project, we have a core strategy to ensure that the youths are trained on best agricultural practices, and we are working in the entire seven commodity value chains we are intervening in.

“And to be able to measure this by virtue of value of our much we have injected into working capital frameworks that have been put in place, and we also put in place strategy to measure the outputs that we have gotten on the field in terms of productivity of our farmers, and the income that has been generated over time.

“So if we measure this across the six States where we are working on aggregating the various creating value chains, we have really supported our farmers that is why we are able to come across those calculate figures substantially.”

Speaking on money spent on the project, he said, “We are moving towards the 80 per cent disbursement effectiveness of the Project, which is quite commendable.

He also spoke about the inclusivity of LIFE-ND Project, especially on carrying along Persons With Disabilities, PWDs, “As a project there is a deliberate effort during the process of typing our beneficiaries to ensure that People With Disabilities are not left out.

“Initially, at the onset we made a provision of five per cent of the entire target as we bring on board beneficiaries of the project. Now, we have made efforts to increase to 10 per cent.

“So largely as a project we are PWDs compliant, and deliberate effort of ours and the support we have gotten from the associations of People With Disabilities, and the success stories we have achieved over time has really endeared to the hearts of these specially highly disadvantaged Nigerians to really effectively key into the project. So we are working on a 10 per cent margin framework.”