By Ignatius Chukwu
Communities in Rivers State are said to have embraced the long-awaited agri-preneurship scheme aimed at boosting rural economy with promotion of chosen products.
Rivers State has adopted cassava, poultry, plantain, and aquaculture. Other states in the nine Niger Delta states are said to have also chosen their own products for specialization.
Now, 46 new communities have been reached in fresh sensitization scheme launched by the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND).
The project is funded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Products of focus for Rivers State are said to be cassava, poultry, plantain and aquaculture.
LIFE-ND says the 46 falls into the second batch in the Federal Government’s programme with international and local partners including state governments.
The 46 new communities are said to be across eight local government areas.
The sensitization is the first stage of the implementation of the $90m programme which saw IFAD contributing $60m six years ago which allowed LIFE-ND kickstart activities in six states of the Niger Delta while the $30m from the NDDC began to come in October 2024 to allow Rivers, Imo, and Akwa Ibom states join. That is why while some states have proceeded to the phase two, Rivers and the two others are still at early stages of either sensitization or training of incubators or incubatees.
Speaking to the press, JD Horsfall, the Agric Business Promotions Officer for the LIFE-ND project in the state, revealed that the newly concluded sensitisation marks the beginning of the second batch of beneficiary selection under the project.
“For this past week, we sensitised 46 communities as part of the second batch. The first batch covered 20 communities across five pioneer LGAs, and those beneficiaries are already undergoing training at the incubation centres”.
“Now, we’ve expanded the programme to three more LGAs, bringing the total to eight, and we’re reaching more communities within the initial LGAs as well.”
Horsfall noted that although turnout was modest due to limited prior notice, the project team ensured communities received vital information through posters and direct engagement.
“We dropped three sets of posters in every community, one explaining the project, another calling for trainers (incubators), and the last calling for interested trainees (incubatees) in cassava, poultry, plantain and aquaculture”.
The LIFE-ND project adopts an incubation model rooted in Nigeria’s traditional master-apprentice system, aiming to create jobs, improve food security and enhance rural livelihoods through sustainable agribusiness. The model engages established agro-entrepreneurs (incubators) to train young people and women (incubatees) in selected agricultural value chains.
Community leaders have hailed to adoption of the incubation/incubatee model, saying it borrows energy from traditional systems already familiar in parts of south-south and south-east.
According to Horsfall, the next stage will involve validating the facilities of proposed incubators, followed by the selection of incubatees.
The LIFE-ND project was launched in 2019 with a goal of transforming rural economies in the Niger Delta through youth- and women-led agribusinesses. It is jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), IFAD, and NDDC, and targets 38,250 beneficiaries across nine Niger Delta states.
While IFAD funds implementation in six states, NDDC is financing Akwa Ibom, Imo, and Rivers. The three states began full implementation in 2024 following an initial $5 million funding commitment by NDDC. The project is structured into two phases over a 12-year cycle, aiming to empower 4,250 beneficiaries per state during the first six-year phase.
The second batch sensitisation exercise, which ran from 25th March to 2nd April 2025, is said to be a crucial step in identifying new trainers and trainees to continue the momentum of rural agri-entrepreneurship development across participating communities.
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