Imo to benefit from FG’s agro empowerment program
Photo: Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono, minister of Agriculture
By Athan Agbakwuru, Owerri
Imo State and the other eight states in the oil-producing Niger Delta region have been listed to benefit from the “Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise for the Nine Niger-Delta States, LIFE-ND, programme initiated by the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Federal Government, in its determination to ensure good life for the people has set up a project steering committee for actualization of the programme which is meant for disadvantaged youth and women in the rural and suburban communities with the view to improving their means of livelihood.
According to a statement; released by the Imo State Public Enlightenment bureau, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono has inaugurated the project steering committee in Abuja.
The bureau said, “The LIFE programme adopts a cluster model at the ward level of the local government areas, targeting core commoduties of comparative advantage in such communities.
“The implementation arrangement has nine benefiting oil-producing states of Cross-Rivers, Rivers, Edo, Bayelsa, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Abia and Delta states. The value chain identified includes Cassava, Plantation, Rice, Fish, Cocoa, Oil Palm, and Poultry.
“The overall goal of the programme is to contribute to the attainment of food security and economic growth of Nigeria through job creation, value addition, and promotion of business enterprises in agriculture, increasing rural income generation and improved livelihoods for youths and women.
“The development partners include the World Bank, African Development Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the French Development Agency.”