The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has stated that Nigeria’s goal of attaining food sovereignty is unattainable without fully harnessing the potential and capacity of its youth.
Dede Ekoue, Country Director, IFAD, said this in Benin on Thursday at the 5th Supervision Mission of a Federal Government, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and IFAD—Lifelihood Improvement Family Enterprises —Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) Project.
Ekoue, who said LIFE-ND is aimed at empowering youth and women with practical skills in agric business in the Niger Delta region, noted that to achieve this, the programme adopted a model where all trainees pass through what is referred to as incubation.
The country director, while stating that IFAD invested over $30m in the first phase of the LIFE-ND project with over 26,000 beneficiaries, added: “LIFE-ND is a unique programme to us at IFAD. We are committed to empowering youth in the agric business and to generate jobs.”
She stressed: “We are talking about agric food system transformation; it is a key topic on the global platform. And food sovereignty cannot be achieved without fully harnessing the potentials of the youth in agric. Youth has the largest population. So, LIFE-ND is aimed at empowering youth with practical skills using a model of business incubation. By the time they go through the incubation process, they come out as business owners. They are able to set up an agric business.”
“And we have a good story in terms of linking these agric business owners to the market. So, income generation and sales are not issues to them.
“Creating jobs for youths is the key to enabling growth; it is the key to peace; it is the key to development; it is the key to business growth.”
In empowerment of women, the country director said: “LIFE-ND also emphasises on women. Women are key to food production; they are key to food transformation; they are key to food sovereignty; they are key to proper nutrition. This is what LIFE-ND is delivering.”
Ekoue, while expressing satisfaction at the 4th supervision of the project, said the supervision, which was carried out by an independent team was to “access progresses, identified the challenges and opportunities for improvement, and to develop some recommendations for further enhancing,” adding that this would give a cue either to continue with the project or discontinue.
In his remarks, the National Coordinator of LIFE-ND, Dr. Abiodun Sanni, noted that the first phase of the programme spanned six states — Ondo, Edo, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Delta — benefiting 26,470 participants, including young agro-entrepreneurs, women, youths, and persons with disabilities across various commodity value chains.
