Beneficiaries of the Federal Government Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises, Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), a project in three Edo communities, on Thursday, said that the project had impacted them and their families positively.
The LIFE-ND is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)in collaboration with the Federal government and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),
The Beneficiaries recounted the progress they had made during the tour of the project sites by the IFAD/FG mission to the benefitting communities in Edo.
The Mission inspected a ten-pen poultry facility constructed at Ugbineh in Ovia North-East and two hybrid gas kiln processors in Uteh in Ikpoba Okha. Other facilities visited included the cassava processing facility and large hectares of cassava farm at Obiogba community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo.
Speaking to the Mission, a visibly elated, physically challenged woman, Mrs Grace Nwaozuzu, 37 years old, and an incubator in the project, said that the intervention had lifted her family out of poverty.
Nwaozuzu, who was trained and empowered in poultry farming, told the visitors that there was a lot of untapped potential in poultry farming in the state, noting that she started the business in 2022 after undergoing the training and had now expanded to stocking between 250 to 350 day-old-chicks in six circles of two months each in a year.
” I make up N180,000 to N200,000 per one circle of stock after removing the cost of feeds and other expenses. Within two years, I and my husband bought a small car with which we use in making supplies to our customers. I have off-takers like Amo and Uwa farms who come here to buy off my poultry birds, so I have a ready market for my business,” she said.
According to Nwaozuzu, “there is ability in disability. I have become what I never thought I will be. For the first time in my life, I entered an airplane to Abuja and slept in a hotel room courtesy of the IFAD/ LIFE-ND. We can conveniently pay our children school fees and settle other bills. Benefitting from this project is a dream come true for my family.”
She added that she had trained over ten persons from the Ugbineh community on poultry farming under the project.
At Uteh community fish clusters, Mrs Efe Ehanire, 40, a beneficiary of IFAD/LIFE-ND fish processors, thanked the Mission for the empowerment and intervention.
Ehanire stated that the project had made fish processing very easy, adding that she had graduated from using charcoal and firewood to using the hybrid gas kiln to process her fish and package them for sale.
“We are about 32 women using these facilities to make a living and it has helped us to build confidence in ourselves and also contribute to paying bills our various homes”, she said.
Mrs Anthonia Esenwa, an agribusiness promotion coordinator, IFAD/LIFE-ND project, who spoke on behalf of the Mission, said the mission from Rome, were in Edo to principally see what had been done with the funds released.
“We want to achieve global visibility of our projects. We have been sending reports to them, but they want to see evidence. That is why they are in Nigeria. They are impressed with what we have done so far because as much as possible we try to cover the value chain of every commodity. Every state is dealing with four communities and Edo state has chosen fish, poultry rice and cassava. So for this visit we are showing them fish, poultry, rice and cassava”, she said.
Also speaking, Mr John Omoruyi, Acting State Coordinator, disclosed that the project had over 28 infrastructural facilities constructed by the project adding that about 2,250 people had benefited from the project in Edo
According to him, the mission visited just three out of over 28 rural projects executed in the state. “”, he enthused.
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