The International Fund for Agricultural Development – Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in Niger Delta (IFAD-LIFE-ND) said it secured additional financing of $32 million to expand the project across six states in the Niger Delta region.

National Project Coordinator (NPC) of the Federal Government/IFAD-LIFE-ND project, Abiodun Sanni, said this in Abuja on Friday.

Mr Sanni said the additional financing was approved by the federal government and IFAD, adding that the implementation of the fund would commence at the end of September.

The NPC identified the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) as the lead implementation agency, while the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is a co-lead implementation agency.

He said the project, which will span three years, would be implemented in six states: Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Ondo.

According to him, it is targeting the establishment of over 13,000 young agro entrepreneurs while also providing business development support services to over 51,000 existing farmers.

Giving an appraisal of the project’s impacts in the past five years, Mr Sanni said that over 26,470 farmers had benefitted in the six Niger Delta states and have contributed significantly to supporting the national food systems.

He stated, “The NDDC is funding LIFE-ND project implementation in Akwa Ibom, Imo and Rivers states. So far, over 4,000 beneficiaries from these additional three states have been engaged. We are moving at a fast tempo, and in the next two years, we will have over 12,750 direct beneficiaries who are youths and women in the region that have benefited substantially from the LIFE-ND project courtesy of NDDC support. At the end we will be targeting over 110,000 direct beneficiaries across the nine Niger Delta states.’’

The IFAD-LIFE-ND project goal is to create job and wealth opportunities for rural youth and women through sustainable agribusiness in the Niger Delta region.

It is implemented by IFAD in collaboration with the federal government of Nigeria and NDDC.

The project’s focus is to support agribusiness activities in value chains such as cocoa, rice, fisheries, cassava, oil palm, plantain, and poultry, utilising an incubator model to provide training and support.

(NAN)