Abia LIFE-ND Holds A-2 Day Stepdown Training For Desk Officers, Staff, Pushes Sustainable Dividend

The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises-Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) Project in Umuahia, Abia state on Friday held a 2-day stepdown training for Desk Officers and staff of the  coordinating offices of the project in Abia state.

According to the State Project Coordinator, Dr Uchenna Rowland Onyeizu, “the training is basically for the sustainability of the project were issues about Commodity Apex Development Association,(CADA) is addressed”.

Dr Onyeizu added that  “the project is forming the association, CADA across the community”  where they are intervening so that they can continue from where they  stop in terms of empowering young persons within the selected rural areas .

Candidreporters.com also gathered that the positive effect of the idea is to step down those trainings to Desk Officers and staff of Abia LIFE-ND who are directly involved in building capacity of the communities and also ensure that the activities practiced in the communities are sustained. 

Thus, “after the training, the staff and Desk Officers  are expected to deploy all sustainability strategy acquired from the training to the community level”. Dr Onyeizu added.

The LIFE-ND State Rural Institution, Gender and Youth Officer, Mr Anthony Nwaobilor, in charge of the training, added that the whole idea is to build capacity around the project’s rural institutions in order to take  ownership of projects in various community of intervention and also to train the CADA to the standard of International Fund for Agriculture Development, IFAD.

Nwaobilor also added that the usefulness of CADA is to be seen as a governing body of all farmers organization in the project which supervises the projects in the community.

“CADA’ responsibility is to ensure that every beneficiary behaves well, maintain every infrastructure of the project in the community to ensure sustainability and the responsibility of resolving conflicts between individuals and beneficiaries”. Nwaobilor added.

Mr Chukwuekezie Godwin,  the state Agric Business Promotion Officer of Abia LIFE-ND, an instructor of the training also  added that the importance of the training was to have sustainable dividend of the project for it to reflect as an impact when the project is over.

In his words: “It is for us to strengthen the incubation centres in  the communities where we have the CADA, so that they can be properly equipped to sustain this project’ exit”.

The training packages of the event include; social capital, group dynamics and  management which will form stability of the project in future.

One of the Desk Officers, Ofor  Chiadikobi of Bende Local Government area expressed satisfaction from the training and added that as a Desk Officer, it is multi-tasking but will live up to expectation.

“We are from the grassroot, we can effectively supervise the program at the incubation centres” Ofor said.

Mrs Nwazoke Chidinma, a participant of the training, also  the Desk Officer of Obingwa Local Government Area  expressed joy from the benefits of the training and promised to impact the knowledge in her area of assignment.

“I will ensure that CADA function very well by discharging my duties”. Chidinma said.

Chidinma also added that it is part of their responsibility to monitor revolving loans among the enterprise groups engaged by LIFE-ND, to link enterprise groups with the buyers of the farm produce, knowledge sharing and prompt loan management.

The LIFE-ND Project is being funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD). The project is ongoing in the nine Niger-Delta States.

Also involved in the project is the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, The Federal Ministry of Finance, budget and National Planning, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the United Nations.