Over 4,563 youths and women in Ondo State have been trained and empowered in poultry, fisheries, cocoa and cassava across the value chains of production, processing and marketing.
They have also received support in vegetable homestead gardening under the first phase of the project, which spanned five years.
The efficient implementation of the project and the achievements recorded over the five-year period paved the way for additional financing, hence the need to bring on board a new set of incubatees to sensitise them on their roles and the laws guiding the project.
The orientation and technical sessions were held on Tuesday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, with participants drawn from Akoko North-West, Owo and Akure North Local Government areas, including the hardworking staff of Ondo LIFE-ND.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, Engr. Leye Akinola, stated this during the flag-off ceremony of the orientation training for 612 newly selected incubatees of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) Project.
Engr. Akinola explained that the event marked another milestone in the state’s collective efforts to transform the agricultural landscape and create viable opportunities for young people and women through agribusiness.
According to him, the phase tagged Additional Financing aims to consolidate and expand on the successes recorded under the initial IFAD/LIFE-ND implementation.
“Under this Additional Financing phase, the project will provide apprenticeships for 13,050 youths and women across the six IFAD-funded states. Specifically, Ondo State will accommodate 2,175 beneficiaries who, upon graduation, will establish profitable enterprises, secure decent livelihoods, and eventually serve as incubators for others,” he said.
Earlier in her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Foluke Tunde-Daramola, urged the incubatees to utilise and maximise the opportunity provided by the IFAD/LIFE-ND Project to grow and become employers of labour. She emphasised that opportunities in the agricultural sector remain limitless.
In his welcome address, the State Project Coordinator, Dr. Olawale Ademola, explained that Additional Financing is a new phase expected to last three years.
“Thereafter, the second phase will follow, depending on the good performance recorded during the Additional Financing. The first phase ended in March. This is not the second phase,” he clarified.
Similarly, the National Coordinator for Institution, Youth and Gender Mainstreaming, Dr. Clement Uwem, who represented the National Project Coordinator, Engr. Sanni Abiodun, PhD, explained that the incubatees were being trained to understand their obligations and responsibilities.
“We have made them realise that this is a very serious agribusiness training. They are being taught how to develop business plans, work and manage groups, understand their environments, and apply the incubator model — a new innovation in agribusiness development in Nigeria,” Dr. Uwem stated.
The orientation programme culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the distribution of the young farmers to their incubation centres for training and mentoring.
Some of the newly enrolled incubatees expressed joy and commitment, thanking IFAD, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Ondo State Government for the opportunity to become entrepreneurs. They said they were confident that, in no distant time, they would be self-employed, earn income and enjoy decent livelihoods.