Stakeholders in Abia State have highlighted how the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises–Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) programme is driving job creation, strengthening agribusinesses and reducing processing costs across rural communities.
Speaking to AgroNigeria during a tour of LIFE-ND intervention sites in the state, Chairman of the Community Apex Development Association (CADA) in Obingubi, Mr. Erimia Chiemela, said the project has significantly improved agricultural processing and enterprise management in the community.
Chiemela explained that CADA serves as an umbrella body coordinating all enterprise groups, including cassava processing, poultry, homestead farming and fisheries, with each commodity operating as a registered enterprise.
“Under CADA, our responsibility is to coordinate all these enterprises, while each commodity has its own registered group,” he said.
According to him, the cassava processing mill provided by the LIFE-ND programme has created employment opportunities for youths and women in the community, who are actively engaged in processing activities.
“Our members are the ones running the business here. Many of the people working in the cassava processing mill were employed from this community,” Chiemela noted.
He added that the intervention has reduced the stress and cost of cassava processing, as farmers no longer travel long distances to grind their produce, while profitability across enterprises has improved.
“Beyond profit, the project has helped tackle unemployment by engaging people who were previously idle in productive ventures,” he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Marizu Godswill Nkemakolam, a 30-year-old cassava processor from Obingubi, said he learned about the programme through social media and applied.
“I was selected as an incubatee in cassava processing and have been in the programme for two years,” he said.
Nkemakolam, a former commercial motorcycle rider, said LIFE-ND empowered him with a cassava grinding machine, hydraulic presser, safety boots and other equipment, enabling him to start and expand his business.
“With the support I received, I have acquired over five plots of land for cassava farming and now employ workers for clearing, heaping and harvesting,” he said.
He disclosed that proceeds from the business have improved his financial stability, adding that he currently has over ₦2 million in his bank account, has registered his farm with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and operates a company account.
“With additional financing, I can expand to between 10 and 15 plots and harvest yearly,” he added.
Mrs. Ogbonna Violet Oluchi, an incubator trained under the 2023/2024 cycle, said she currently mentors 27 incubatees in vegetable and root crop production, particularly orange-fleshed sweet potato.
She said the crop, which is rich in vitamin A, can be processed into various products, including juice and doughnuts, and has helped her incubatees achieve economic stability through dry-season farming.
Ogbonna also commended LIFE-ND for upgrading community infrastructure, noting that residents previously travelled to neighbouring communities to process garri, but now enjoy increased patronage at the local facility.
In Ohambele Community, Ukwa East LGA, another beneficiary, Mr. Baba Godfrey, a cassava farmer, said he was among 15 incubatees selected under the youth-focused programme, which also included persons with disabilities.
He explained that LIFE-ND supported the farmers by preparing the land, making ridges and providing agro-chemicals, while training them on proper planting techniques and spacing.
According to him, each participant was allocated four hectares to cultivate the TME 419 cassava variety, an eight-month species planted in November, with expectations of good yield.
Godfrey said beneficiaries underwent two weeks of classroom training in Umuahia, followed by three months of on-site training, which will continue until harvest.
Another beneficiary, Miss Onyedinachi Favour, a 20-year-old cassava farmer from Ohambelendoke in Ukwa East Local Government Area, said she joined the programme after learning about it through her traditional ruler.
She said LIFE-ND supported her with farm inputs, agro-chemicals and funds to employ labourers, noting that proceeds from the farm would help her expand production and support her education.
On his part, Abia State LIFE-ND Project Coordinator, Dr. Ezeji Rowland Onyizu, said the programme has recorded significant milestones across the state.
He disclosed that about 4,700 beneficiaries were empowered across 10 local government areas and 100 communities during the first phase of the project, which ended in March 2025.
“With the additional financing phase, we currently have about 630 incubatees undergoing training and capacity building across various incubation centres and farms in Abia State,” Onyizu said.
He explained that LIFE-ND operates an incubator–incubatee model, where established agribusiness operators train beneficiaries who are later supported with inputs and working capital to start their own enterprises.
“About 40 to 50 per cent of our beneficiaries have grown to become incubators themselves and are now training new participants,” he said.
According to Onyizu, the project focuses on cassava, rice, poultry and fisheries, covering production, processing and marketing value chains, while linking beneficiaries to off-takers.
He added that Abia State’s payment of counterpart funding enabled it to access additional financing under the programme, noting that sustained implementation could position the state as a leading producer of cassava and rice in Nigeria.
“Most of our beneficiaries were unemployed or underemployed before joining LIFE-ND. Today, many of them are independent and have become employers of labour in their communities,” he said.
