…beneficiaries express hope over intervention, empowerment

By Gabriel Ewepu, Calabar

AS agribusiness takes centre stage in the economy, the Niger Delta region is to experience massive job creation with the launch of LIFE-ND Agribusiness Innovative Forum, LAbIF, by the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises, Niger Delta, LIFE-ND.

The National Project Coordinator, NPC, LIFE-ND, Engr Sanni Abiodun, in a keynote address during the launch of LAbIF in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, explained why the launch of LAbIF became necessary, pointing out that the launch of the project is in line with the consistent desire of the Federal and State Governments of Nigeria and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, to attain sustainable job and wealth creation as well as ensure food security in Nigeria.

According to Abiodun, LIFE-ND as of today has created and supported 22, 150  enterprises out of the targeted 25, 500 across the participating six States of  Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Ondo, and he made it known that over $30 million has been injected into the rural economy of the participating States while boosting agricultural productivity and value addition across seven commodities’ value chains.

The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for the Niger Delta, LIFE-ND, directly supports Nigeria’s agricultural policy and the strategic framework for youth employment and job creation.

Meanwhile, he explained that LIFE-ND Agribusiness Innovative Forum, LAbIF, basically aligns with Federal Government’s policies on the Mr President’s ‘Renewed Hope’ Agenda encapsulated in the Food System transformation Pathways adopted by  Nigeria, and LAbIF is also a direct implementation response of the Federal Government on innovative financing in the agriculture sector.

The LAbIF launch was also attended by the Bank of Agriculture, BoA, government officials, financial institutions, State Project Coordinators, Agro dealers, farmers, beneficiaries, and others.    

He said: “Today’s event is consistent with the desire of the Federal and State Governments of Nigeria and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to attain sustainable job and wealth creation as well as ensure food security in our nation.

“This event is also to further support the incubation model of agribusiness development being piloted by LIFE-ND in achieving the desired results by ensuring a large number of unemployed youths and women are engaged in profitable agribusiness of various commodities value chains in the Niger Delta. 

“LIFE-ND as of today has created and supported 22,150 enterprises out of the targeted 25,500 across the participating six states of Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Ondo. It has injected over 30 million USD into the rural economy of these states while also boosting agricultural productivity and value addition across our seven commodities chain.

“The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for the Niger Delta, (LIFE-ND) directly supports Nigeria’s agricultural policy and the Strategic Framework for Youth Employment and Job Creation. It can therefore be understood why alleviating poverty and empowering people (especially the youths & women) are the core of our project activities.

 “The launch of LIFE-ND Agribusiness Innovative forum becomes even more compelling when one considers the challenges in the agricultural sector and the start-up status of most of our beneficiaries. Small businesses require enormous support in their formative years to survive even as research shows that 60-70% of Medium, Small and Micro-enterprises (MSMEs) die within the first five years of their existence.

“Let me also reiterate that LIFE-ND Agribusiness Innovative Forum (LAbIF) aligns with the Policies of the Federal government of Nigeria on the Renewed Hope Agenda encapsulated in the Food System transformation Pathways adopted by  Nigeria. It is instructive to note that LAbIF is also a direct implementation response of the Federal Government on Innovative Financing in the Agriculture sector.

“Scaling up Nigeria’s participation and endorsement of the proceeding is consistent with the dominant theme at the World Food Summit held in Rome Italy in December, 2023. On the whole, the deliberate and increased involvement of the private sector in agriculture is the reason why the LAbIF is an ecology of agro-commodity value chain actors who have carved a niche for themselves and are expected to collectively help develop specific value chains they find themselves for the overall improvement in the agricultural and rural development sector.

“LAbIF is intended to be an institutional structure that will address the multidimensional issues of profitability, access to factors of production, control over prices, access to financial resources and non-existent social capital that confront smallholder farmers. Technical support institutions will be extended to strengthen it.”

Meanwhile, he assured that LIFE-ND beneficiaries with skills acquired and knowledge gained under the incubation process will be reliable business partners in the forum.

“However, the acquisition of skills and knowledge by beneficiaries requires appropriate institutional structures serving as the required Social Capital for effective application, especially in any business ecosystem. This is why this event is undoubtedly a milestone worthy of being made known to all stakeholders”, he added.

The Cross River State Commissioner for Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Mr Ntufam Emmanuel, expressed optimism that the LAbIF launch will bring about a boost in feeding Nigerians.

“We are going to give the farmers in Cross River State the support to make sure that the commodities including livestock and fisheries are produced for the State to be sufficient in them, and what I envisage with LAbIF is that good things are coming into Cross River State”, Emmanuel said.

Meanwhile, he also assured that, “The counterpart fund depends on our own contribution from the State, so definitely the State will be encouraged to make sure that counterpart fund is paid.”  

The Agrobusiness Coordinator, LIFE-ND, Esenwa Anthonia, explained that “This launch of LAbiF we did is one of the exit strategies.

“We have succeeded and not undermining the fact that we have some dropouts but on the whole I think we have achieved up to 95 per cent of those we selected that are still in the business, and they are doing well.

“This project’s first phase is coming to an end in 2025, because if we succeed in bringing them together as a group they will be able to relate with themselves, and what we have done now is we have everybody in the value chain of all commodities.”

A beneficiary of LIFE-ND, Miriam Okon, said, “I am very happy today that LIFE-ND has launched the LAbIF programme, and I was an incubatee but now I am going to be an incubator. Before I got in contact with LIFE-ND, I was an orphan, and as a young person as a lady, men would want to molest me but IFAD and LIFE-ND came on to intervene in my life, which they gave me an intensive training of fish farming, and now I have acquired a land which I will start my fish farm on. I will also train other young people, and also sensitize other youth not to get frustrated but should take the opportunity.

“With LAbIF, I have a lot of opportunities based on the involvement of IFAD and LIFE-ND including the Cross River State Government, which also I will have the opportunity to access loans, and life will be better.”

An undergraduate and LIFE-ND beneficiary, John Nakanda, said, “I was not doing anything tangible, but I applied for the LIFE-ND programme and I was selected, I am currently an incubate, and with the knowledge I have acquired on fish farming I can run the business, and currently I have two farms as an incubate and I have a place to run my own farm.

“My message to fellow youth out there is that life becomes easy when you have a skill in a particular business, and with LIFE-ND life becomes easy because you can use your hand to earn a decent living, and not through cultism, kidnapping, armed-robbery, and all these white-collar jobs are not available but you can venture into farming like myself because I am earning money, paying my school fee, and taking care of other things on my own from fish farming, and also I appreciate LIFE-ND for the intervention and transformation of my life.”