Fresh Batch of Abia LIFE-ND Beneficiaries Jubilate Over Gifting of Poultry Equipment, Applauds Agro Coordinating Team, Government

In the unwavering desire to maintain the leading position of enacting the blueprint of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises-Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) project in Abia state, the Umuahia coordinating office of the project on Wednesday gave poultry equipment to her beneficiaries.

The event which had blissful beaming faces of incubatees(beneficiaries)who expressed their satisfaction as they were handed the poultry equipment remained grateful to Abia LIFE-ND coordinating staff and the
Abia state government.

Enlightening newsmen about the blissful event witnessed at the agro project coordinating office in Umuahia, Uchenna Rowland Onyeizu, PhD, the State Project Coordinator (SPC) of Abia LIFE-ND said giving the equipment to the beneficiaries is part of the many things the project is doing to ensure that the beneficiaries hit the agro business horizon to enact the knowledge they have gathered from the project’s training program.

The basic equipment given to empower the beneficiaries who graduated from the poultry training program of the project are the feeders, drinkers and coal pots to heat the pen in cold weather. According to Dr Onyeizu, a-day old chicks and feeds will be handed over to the beneficiaries the following week.

While appraising the success of the project in Abia so far, Dr Onyeizu also gave the challenges of managing the incubatees which he said was the inability of some of the incubatees to make frantic effort to compliment what the project has to provide. Such efforts required according to Dr Onyeizu involves providing a place where the poultry can be cited and acquiring of the drinkers.

Dr Onyeizu said, the project’s management in it’s wise decision and consideration recalculated her budget to provide what the incubatees has received.

Dr Onyeizu also revealed that despite graduating from the agro training, the beneficiaries also has the opportunity to continuously receive mentorship from the incubators(trainers).

In his words; “It is expected that when they encounter problems in the course of running their poultry business, they can reach their incubators for advice and directives. That is the understanding we had with our incubators.”

As a training that has ran for over a year to put the incubatees through apprenticeship and mentorship, Dr Onyeizu task the beneficiaries to be serious with their businesses adding that in as much as the project has been able to provide the required inputs, they need to do their business, they should be prudent in the management of their resources.

Chukwuekezie Godwin, the Agric Business Promotion Officer of Abia LIFE-ND also spoke to newsmen about the beneficiaries. He affirmed that “the incubatees are good to go.”

Mr. Chukwuekezie added that apart from the inputs received, the 17 beneficiaries of this batch will be given 350 birds each.

Mr. Chukwuekezie also added that the first and second batch has been empowered with such inputs, and the system continues until all graduands of the poultry training program receives theirs.

In his words; “This is not the end, we are going in batches, once the rural engineer finishes with the infrastructure upgrade, he furnishes me with their names, then I will verify that it is conducive to rear birds, we call them and empower them.”

Ezekwese Promise, one of the beneficiaries of the project expressed his satisfaction. Promise said he has been mocked by his peers and community members that he was wasting his time because the project will not see the light of the day as other projects in the country comes and go without yielding results.

In his words; “I have heard so many statements that Abia LIFE-ND will not empower us, but as it has reached this level, LIFE-ND have surprised us and I will surprise all who mocked me. Immediately I get these poultry equipment home, I will begin to call them one after the other from their houses to come and see what LIFE-ND has done for me.”

Ezekwese Promise thanked Abia LIFE-ND and Abia State government for the opportunity and promised to give his best in the business.

Mrs.Oluchi Friday also a beneficiary of the agro project trained at East Goshen farm was also part of the beneficiaries. She expressed satisfaction and revealed that she has a place already to house the birds and promised to be committed to the business as it will help her stabilize the financial lapses of his immediate family.

“I thank Abia LIFE-ND coordinating staff and I also want to thank Abia state government for giving me this opportunity. I can now stabilize my family financially.” Oluchi said.

The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) is a project of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) designed in collaboration with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The project is in response to the limited readily available options for the “disadvantaged” (youth and women) in the rural and suburban communities to improve their means of livelihood and help them to live decent lives.