Agriculture
THE Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises for Niger-Delta (LIFE-ND) has distributed poultry equipment to 17 youths in Abia.
In a speech at the event on Thursday in Umuahia, the State Project Coordinator, Dr Uchenna Onyeizu, said the items were to help the beneficiaries begin their agribusinesses.
Onyeizu said the beneficiaries, otherwise called incubatees, were among the 250 youths that graduated from the one-year apprenticeship and mentorship programme of the project.
The items included drinkers, feeders and pots for heating up their budding birds.
He said: “This is the second batch among the 250 graduate beneficiaries and we have already done a lot for more than 150 of them.
“We have already supported them to rehabilitate or build poultry houses within their communities.
“We built a system where we have continuous mentorship so that they can continue their businesses in a sustainable manner.”
LIFE-ND project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development for Niger-Delta, in collaboration with the Federal Government and Niger Delta Development Commission.
Onyeizu said that the mandate of the project included capacity building and economic empowerment of youths in agribusiness, especially cassava and rice production, oil palm processing and poultry in the nine Niger-Delta states.
He said that the project was working in 100 communities in 10 local government areas of the state.
He said that the beneficiaries would be supplied with other agricultural inputs, such as 350 birds each, feeds and other things they needed to succeed.
The State Agric-business Promotion Officer, Mr Godwin Chukwuekezie, said that the beneficiaries included those that had upgraded their facilities.
Chukwuekezie said that other beneficiaries would receive theirs once their facilities were ready.
He said that those in cassava and oil palm processing, which are other value chains being developed by the project, would also benefit from the gesture.
Mrs Oluchi Friday, a beneficiary from Ohanzi Isiaha, Obingwa Local Govermnent Area, expressed gratitude to the project for making positive impact in her life.
“I have already prepared a place to start my poultry business and with all the support that LIFE-ND has given me, I know I will succeed,” Friday said. (NAN)
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Tags: Godwin Chukwuekezie Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises for Niger-Delta (LIFE-ND) Ohanzi Isiaha Oluchi Friday Uchenna Onyeizu
