The Federal Government’s Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises–Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) project has recorded gains across the Niger Delta region, enabling over 21,000 farmers to save more than $478 million and supporting thousands of youth and women agripreneurs with skills, finance, and technology-driven opportunities.

The achievements were unveiled on Tuesday at the National Event on Scaling Up Youth Agripreneurship for Food Systems Transformation, held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.

The forum brought together federal ministries, development partners, state governments, private-sector actors, and hundreds of young agripreneurs to review the project’s impact and chart a national scale-up strategy.

An executive summary of the project revealed large-scale infrastructure interventions that are transforming rural livelihoods, including the development of 130.77 km of access roads, six climate-resilient bridges, 71 culverts, and two jetties.

LIFE-ND also established 82 solar-powered water schemes, developed 5,305 hectares of farmland, and constructed multiple market, processing, and storage facilities.

These investments, officials said, form a comprehensive ecosystem enabling smallholder farmers and rural enterprises to thrive.

Financial inclusion remains one of the project’s strongest pillars. Through partnerships with financial institutions and off-takers, LIFE-ND facilitated $1.2 million in loans and credit for 18,668 beneficiaries, while 22,981 individuals accessed insurance, remittances, and other services, many for the first time.

Over 21,498 farmers collectively mobilised $478 million in savings, while mobile wallets and POS services integrated more than 10,000 rural farmers into Nigeria’s formal financial system.

The project also strengthened food security and community nutrition. More than 12,900 households received targeted nutritional support, including training on bio-fortified crops.

LIFE-ND established 117 school agricultural programmes and nutrition clubs, attracting over 6,300 students, while 525 women gained new skills in cassava processing and value addition.

With climate change posing growing risks to agriculture, LIFE-ND trained over 1,600 stakeholders on climate-smart practices, planted 27,145 agroforestry and economic trees in 104 communities, and promoted waste-to-wealth technologies such as biogas digesters.

Digital transformation has also expanded rapidly. Over 3,000 smallholder farmers now use FarmerChat.AI for real-time digital advisory, while more than 17,000 receive market, climate, and nutrition information via SMS. A new market information system provides weekly commodity price updates, improving transparency and farmer income.

Presenting the project’s scorecard, LIFE-ND National Coordinator, Dr Abiodun Sanni, said the programme has trained 29,620 youths and women across priority value chains, including cassava, rice, aquaculture, poultry, horticulture, and oil palm.

The project also created 23,751 new jobs and increased household incomes by an average of 50 percent.

Dr Sanni outlined lessons learned, including the need to reposition agriculture as a business, deepen value chain integration, and expand digital tools.

He announced a bold strategy to scale LIFE-ND nationwide, including a proposed Youth Agripreneur Growth Fund, expanded public-private partnerships, and a national agripreneurship incubation framework across all 36 states and the FCT.

“With the right model, Nigeria can convert its youthful population from job seekers to agripreneurs and wealth creators capable of transforming the nation’s food system,” Sanni said.

IFAD Country Director, Mrs. Dede Ekoue, commended the Federal Government for expanding LIFE-ND, describing the programme as an internationally recognised model that has already supported nearly 24,000 youth-led agribusinesses.

Ekoue called on stakeholders to close financing gaps, scale incubation and mentorship, eliminate barriers to land and market access, and prioritise youth and women inclusion.

“Together with youth agripreneurs, we can transform agriculture into a driver of prosperity and resilience,” she said.

In his remarks, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari noted that the FederalGovernmentofNigeria/NDDC/IFAD assisted Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta is a testament and strong evidence that showcases this concept and strategy.

The Minister noted that the challenge now is to scale up quickly, inclusively, and sustainably.

While addressing the youths whonare beneficiaries of the project, Kyari said “your ideas, your courage to take calculated risks, and your commitment to building resilient livelihoods are what will drive transformation in our agri-food systems.

“We are here to listen to you, to specially note your challenges, and to create the enabling environment that allows your various ventures to grow, thrive, and create impact in quantum scale”.

He said to ensure the success and sustainability of youth-led agripreneurship, the government will re-engineer and strengthen “a land access and tenure assistance program that prioritizes youth eligibility and transparent processes. An innovative fund/financing mechanism with blended finance options and simplified access for youth-led agribusinesses, including maximum timelines for decisionmaking.

“An expanded set of business development services, including mentorship networks, virtual incubation, and market linkages, with measurable success metrics. A digital platform for youth agripreneurs to showcase products, access buyers, and receive real-time market intelligence.

“A practical and proactive climate adaptation and risk management framework integrated into all youth-led programs, with training on sustainable farming, post-harvest handling, and value-added processes.

“A robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system that tracks progress by age, gender, region, and value chain, and shares lessons learned publicly”.

In his welcome remarks, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, described LIFE-ND as a national model of transformative agripreneurship and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to competitive, climate-smart, and youth-driven food systems.

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