Communities in Akwa Ibom State are enthusiastic over the incubator-incubatee system of Agricultural entrepreneurship introduced in the Niger Delta by the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises – Niger Delta (LIFE-ND).

The model involves experts in particular agricultural value chains who have been contracted to train young persons and women including persons with disabilities (PWD) in the rural areas.

The leaders of Ikot Ikpa and Ui Ikot Monte communities in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State endorsed the programme as the most suitable in the oil-rich State.

Chairman of Ikot Akpa Village Council, Chief Friday Johnson described the programme as a laudable initiative by the Federal Government aimed at addressing food insecurity in the country, expressing the hope that it would boost the local economy and enhance the livelihoods of the rural dwellers.

“I so much like this initiative and I thank God that this kind of thing is happening in our community for the first time. Our prayer is that God will bless administration that brought this initiative and sustain it because we the rural community members are going to benefit greatly.”  

He said the way it works is that people will be selected for training and when they come back, they will train other members of our community, adding that “they will be better and I believe God will help us”.

Also speaking, Youth Leader of the community, Akaniyere James expressed confidence that the programme would revolutionise the local economy of the affected communities.

“We the people of Ikot Akpa so much appreciate all of you for coming. We need development and we believe that this programme will bring the needed development to our community. The incubator/Incubatees model will boast the rural economy.”

They also expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu in the area of tackling food security challenges and boasting local economy in the country.

They also expressed confidence that the FGN/NDDC/IFAD assisted Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises – Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) Project would boast local economy and promote sustainable livelihood of the rural dwellers.

They made the commendation during the sensitization and identification of potential (trainers) incubators and Incubatees (trainees) of the Project held in the communities on Thursday.

Over $90m agriculture fund is being injected into the Niger Delta’s agricultural sector by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

A community leader of Ui Ikot Monte, Bassey Okon, commended the Federal Government’s initiative and promised to mobilize his subjects to support it in order to derive maximum benefit from the programme.

The consultant to LIFE-ND, Dr Uwem Clement, had during the sensitization exercise urged the people to key into the programme as it would enhance their livelihoods and better their lots.

He explained that the design of the project was such that beneficiaries’ engagement begins with sensitization of the community members and leaders as well as identification of potential (trainers) incubators and incubatees (trainees) within the participating communities and LGAs.

“The overall goal of the LIFE-ND project is to realize a transformed rural economy in the Niger Delta from which the rural population can derive prosperity and equal benefit.”

“The project development objective is to enhance income, food security, and job creation for rural youth and women through agri-enterprise development on a sustainable basis in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.”  

“The Project has two main components; enhancement of economic opportunities for rural youth/women and project management and coordination” he said.

He explained further that Project came into force on February 21, 2019, with the Federal Ministry Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) as the lead implementation agency, while the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is the implementing partner to the FMAFS.

According to him the target number of beneficiaries for the nine Niger Delta states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers is 38,250 beneficiaries. IFAD is responsible for funding six states while NDDC is responsible for three states of Akwa Ibom, Imo, and Rivers.

“The LIFE-ND project is planned with a six-year implementation period and another six-year financing gap, making it a total of 12 years project cycle.”  

“The project has both a first phase of six years, with parallel finance from NDDC and an additional six years to be financed in the future by IFAD with an additional financing.”

“For the first phase IFAD has released $60m which has enabled the implementation of the project in the six states of Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Ondo from 2019 to 2025.”  

“The NDDC funded states commenced implementation in 2024 when NDDC made the initial commitment of $2.5m in August, 2024 and another $2.5m in January 2025 to enable the three states of Akwa Ibom, Imo, and Rivers swing into full implementation.”

He said these releases were part of the $30m NDDC pledged at inception for the three states to impact lives through agri-entrepreneurship empowerment. “This fund is programmed to be released in tranches as the years progresses.”

The orientation exercise of the project was flagged off in 2024 where the first batch of the 4,250 agripreneurs have started their training.