LIFE-ND project Trains 200 Agribusiness Beneficiaries for 4th Batch in A'Ibom

 

The Federal Government/NDDC/IFAD-assisted Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) project has trained 200 unemployed and youths for its 4th batch in Akwa Ibom State.

The training, held simultaneously in Uyo and Mbo Local Government Areas, took place on Friday, October 30, 2026.

Addressing the beneficiaries, the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Offiong Offor, urged them to take the enterprise development training seriously.

"This is an enterprise development project. It has an incubation model. It is a model used by our Igbo brothers which has worked for them over time. If you apply yourself to it, you will profit maximally," she said.

"It is not a jamboree. You are here to improve your capacity, knowledge base and finances. Whatever you are learning, please take it seriously."

Offor thanked the NDDC, IFAD and other funders for supporting the project and commended Governor Umo Eno for providing an enabling environment for agribusiness development under the ARISE Agenda.

"Out of a population of 7.9 million people, you have been privileged to be chosen. Don't take it as a mean feat," she told the beneficiaries.

"We have seen success stories in this project. The LIFE-ND means this project is to make your life better."

She described the incubation model, where beneficiaries are tutored by established agribusiness owners before receiving starter packs, as a more sustainable way of youth empowerment, similar to the model used at the Ibom-LED Centre.

In his remarks, Director 3 at NDDC Akwa Ibom State Office, Elder Brown Norbert, who represented the State Director, Engr. Evong M. Evong, said the NDDC is funding the project in Akwa Ibom, Imo and Cross River States.

He said the NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, graciously approved the funds because of his passion for grassroots development and youth empowerment.

"The progress report is commendable. The operators and LIFE-ND project National and State officials are making judicious use of the funds and impacting the people of Niger Delta. The money is being used judiciously and yielding positive results. We have seen youths and women who are now agri-entrepreneurs through this project," he said.

Also speaking, Engr. Evong M. Evong, in a message delivered on his behalf, conveyed the commitment of the NDDC leadership to sustainable development in the Niger Delta, describing the incubation model as innovative and capacity-building.

"The goal is not just to make you an employee, but to make you an employer of labour, creators of wealth," he said.

Speaking to journalists, the State Project Coordinator, Solomon Joe, said the project uses the incubation model where people are trained in various enterprises to improve their livelihood.

He said the project started on September 13, 2024, and has recorded success stories, with some former incubatees now incubators.

"First batch was 350 beneficiaries, second batch 500, third batch 570 and now 200 for the fourth batch, making 1,620 incubatees. We are targeting 4,250 beneficiaries at the end of the first six years," Joe said.

On selection, he explained that the team goes to communities, sensitises them and conducts interviews using an app that scores applicants based on parameters, including age (18yrs-35years), educational qualification, female headed household and disability status etc.

He said the decline in number for the fourth batch was due to time frame, monitoring demands and availability of funds.

The LIFE-ND project aims to enhance income, food security and job creation for rural youth and women through agri-enterprise development in the nine Niger Delta States — Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Ondo (IFAD-funded) and Akwa Ibom, Imo and Rivers (NDDC-funded).

It targets 900 matured enterprises (incubators) and 38,250 apprentices, working on seven priority commodities — rice, cassava, plantain, oil palm, cocoa, poultry and fishery — along production, processing and marketing value chains.

Some beneficiaries expressed gratitude for the transparent selection process.

Clinton Isong from Awa Iman, Onna LGA, said: "The selection process has been very transparent. We believe at the end of this program, we will be independent in agribusiness."

Kate Inyang from Mbo LGA said: "This program will teach me how to be an entrepreneur, not just a farmer. They just came to our community and picked us transparently without needing contacts. I thank IFAD, NDDC and LIFE-ND for this program."