Some young farmers trained by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)/LIFE-ND Project in Ondo State have lauded the project and their empowerment.
The farmers said that the training and empowerment had given them the opportunity to be self-reliant and employers of labour.
They made this known on Sunday during an assessment tour organised by Prince Olawale Ademola, Project Coordinator of the IFAD/LIFE-ND Project in the state.
Akintoye Oluwatosin, a graduate of computer science, said she was given N1.2million for start up for an empowerment after being trained as a poultry farmer.
She appreciated the LIFE-ND Project and state coordinator for the gesture and said the project changed her life.
According to her, stipend was given at the IFAD/ LIFE-ND training every month, and it motivated me to be a good business woman, which has changed my life.
“In spite of the challenges my group encountered as incubatees (trainees) during the training where our incubator (trainer) died, we were still remembered.
“I fell in the category of marketing area of poultry farming and I was empowered with the N1.2million. With this money, I hope, I will be able to enlarge my business in future.
“LIFE-ND has really changed my life because being a graduate looking for a job without seeing any is not easy at all.
“But IFAD/ LIFE-ND really made an impact in my life by establishing me, I say thank you,” she said.
Also, Fashakin Abiodun, from Otasan Community in Ondo East Local Government, applauded the IFAD/LIFE-ND for opening ways for the youths by ensuring they were employers of Labour “rather than chasing shadows of looking for white collar job”.
Abiodun, who said he was trained from an incubatee (trainee) before becoming an incubator (trainer), said the time had come for youths to key into any private or government programme that could lead them to success.
He stated that anybody who finds him or herself in LIFE-ND project should see it as their carrier because there is no work anywhere.
Abiodun, who said that he was trained on how to raise fish, said he had added fish processing and his product was sold beyond the country.
“After being trained by IFAD/ LIFE-ND as a fish famer and being paid stipend for some months, I was given 1,500 Juveniles with bags of fish feed to feed them till table sizes, and many other things as an empowerment.
”So, I started to raise fish, but now, I am into processing in which my product has gone far, even to other countries.
“As of today, I have a stock of over 1million of fish feed for my personal use and sales because I have taken LIFE-ND as a carrier.
“Without LIFE-ND, I will not be where I am today and I want to be a successful fish famer.
“As I am talking now I have graduated from the incubatee (trainee) to incubator (trainer) where 10 people are undergoing training under me.
“I have attended many programmes, but LIFE-ND is different and its real. If you see LIFE-ND as a carrier, you will become an employer, not an employee and you will continue to smile to the bank everyday,” he said.
Similarly, Michael Awoniyi, an incubatee from Igba Community in Ondo East Local Government, explained that God used the IFAD /LIFE-ND Project to safe his live during the EndSARS struggles.
He explained that he would have been involved in the protest and might have been killed, being one of the youth leaders in his area.
Awoniyi, who said that he was shortlisted without knowing politicians or having a god-father, called on unemployed youths to see the IFAD LIFE-ND Project as an opportunity for self- reliance and contribution to the growth of the nation.
“I was trained for one year as a poultry farmer with the monthly stipend and at the end I was empowered with 302 layer birds, feeds, and money for medication.
“The training wa so helpful, and it made me a successful poultry farmer and consultant. I am one of the poultry farmers that supplied eggs to schools for school feeding programme in Ondo Senatorial District.
“I have five people working in my farm as at today and the least I am paying them is N35,000. I have also trained many people.
“So, I am calling on youths to be focused on what they can do by themselves because if you work for a year, what you will reap within a year will be more than what a employer will pay you in the next 10 years,” he said.
Earlier, Prince Olawale Ademola, Ondo State Project Coordinator of IFAD/ LIFE-ND, said that the programme was designed to take youths and women out of the streets.
He said the project was targeted especially at those living in rural and sub-urban communities in order to give them a means of livelihood.
He disclosed that no fewer than 2,180 youths and women had benefited from the programme between 2020 and 2023, which cut across the 10 selected Local Government Area of the state.
Ademola explained that the objectives of the project was job creation, increased income and food security for the youths and women in the Niger Delta region, to enhance sustainability through agribusiness development in the state.
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