Life-ND State Project Coordinator(SL) Dr. Uchenna Rowland Onyeizu, Abia Commissioner for Agriculture(SR) Prof. Ikechi Mgboji, Programme Manager, Abia ADP, Chief Israel Amanze and National Agribusiness Promotion Coordinator, Mrs. Esenwa Anthonia during the training at Kolping Society Hall, Umuahia.
Abia State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof. Ikechi Mgboji, has declared open the training sections of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise in the Niger Delta ( Life-ND ) for the incubatees.
The training, Mgboji said, is designed for the incubatees to understand that agriculture is now business with lots of opportunities.
The idea of Life-ND using the incubator/incubatee model is to impact the business side of agriculture and at the same time produce agribusiness entrepreneurs who with time become incubators to others.
In his speech, the Abia State Project Coordinator, Life-ND, Dr. Uchenna Onyeizu, said that Abia Life-ND office, has successfully identified at it first phase, 25, incubators and concluded the process of selecting the first potential incubatees in the 25, communities that spread across the 10 Local Government Areas in Abia.
Onyeizu, explained that Life-ND, projects is an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria, with funding from International Fund for Agricultural Development ( IFAD ) and the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC ) whose aim is to enhance income, food security and job creation for rural youth and women, through Agribusiness enterprise development on a sustainable basis in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
In the training, Onyeizu maintained that participants would receive business planning and management in order to equip them with basic entrepreneurship knowledge and skills.
This business development orientation, he explained will cover the business cycle of specific agro-commodities, cash management, climate – smart agriculture, food and nutrition and other topics in agricultural entrepreneurship.
By the end of the training, the incubatees will have a business plan to guide their business operations during the incubation period.
However, the Abia State Project co-ordinating boss, posit that upon successful completion of the training, the incubatees will be attached to incubators to gain hands on experience before start up and warned that any incubatee who does not play to the regulations of the programme would be dropped and thanked Governor Ikpeazu for his passion towards stabilising Abia economy through agriculture.
Contributing, the National Agribusiness Promotion Coordinator, Mrs. Esenwa Anthonia, said the project is in line with President Buhari’s vision for national food security, especially in the Niger Delta region.
She expressed that agriculture is no longer a past time business but a business through which the Federal government is looking forward to engage in transforming the economy and encourage the participants to take the training serious.
Meanwhile, the programme manager, Abia State Development Programmes, Chief Israel Amanze and Barrister Uzoamaka Ikonne, added that it is a life changing opportunity that can not be ignored by the youths and women in the Niger Delta region.
They encourage the participants to use the opportunity to better their lots.
