Over 21,000 Farmers Save $478 Million with LIFE-ND Project

News in Brief:

-The LIFE-ND project has enabled over 21,000 farmers to save $478 million while supporting youth and women with financing, skills, technology, and market access.

-Officials announce a national scale-up strategy, including a Youth Agripreneur Growth Fund, digital tools, and expanded public–private partnerships.

The Federal Government’s Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises–Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) project has achieved major milestones across the Niger Delta, enabling more than 21,000 farmers to collectively save over $478 million while supporting thousands of youth and women agripreneurs with skills, finance, market access, and digital tools.

These achievements were highlighted on Tuesday at the National Event on Scaling Up Youth Agripreneurship for Food Systems Transformation, held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja. The forum brought together federal ministries, development partners, state governments, private-sector leaders, and hundreds of young agripreneurs to assess the project’s impact and design a nationwide expansion strategy.

Infrastructure and Rural Development Gains

An executive summary presented at the event revealed significant infrastructure investments that are reshaping rural economies. These include 130.77 km of access roads, six climate-resilient bridges, 71 culverts, two jetties, 82 solar-powered water schemes, 5,305 hectares of developed farmland, and multiple market, storage, and agro-processing facilities.

Officials noted that these investments form a comprehensive ecosystem that enables smallholder farmers, youth-led agribusinesses, and rural enterprises to scale sustainably.

Financial Inclusion and Farmer Empowerment

Financial inclusion has emerged as one of LIFE-ND’s strongest pillars. Through strategic partnerships with banks and commodity off-takers, the project facilitated $1.2 million in loans for 18,668 beneficiaries. Another 22,981 participants accessed insurance, remittances, and other financial services, many for the first time. Over 21,498 farmers have mobilised a combined $478 million in savings, while mobile wallets and POS platforms have integrated more than 10,000 rural farmers into Nigeria’s formal financial system.

LIFE-ND also strengthened food security and household nutrition, reaching more than 12,900 households with nutrition support and training on bio-fortified crops. The project introduced 117 school agricultural programmes and nutrition clubs, attracting 6,300 students, while 525 women gained new skills in cassava processing.

Climate Adaptation and Digital Transformation

With climate change posing growing risks to agriculture, LIFE-ND trained 1,600 stakeholders in climate-smart agricultural practices. The programme planted 27,145 agroforestry and economic trees across 104 communities and promoted waste-to-wealth innovations, including biogas digesters.

Digital expansion has also accelerated. More than 3,000 farmers now use FarmerChat.AI, a real-time digital advisory tool, while 17,000 others receive SMS-based market, climate, and nutrition updates. A centralised market information system now provides weekly commodity prices, improving transparency and boosting farmer income.

Youth Agripreneurship and Job Creation

Presenting the project’s performance scorecard, LIFE-ND National Coordinator, Dr Abiodun Sanni, announced that the programme has trained 29,620 youths and women across high-potential value chains such as cassava, rice, oil palm, aquaculture, poultry, and horticulture.

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

Dr Sanni outlined key lessons for national expansion, including repositioning agriculture as a business, strengthening value-chain integration, and scaling digital advisory tools. He also unveiled the project’s next steps, a nationwide expansion strategy anchored on a youth agripreneur growth fund, stronger public–private partnerships, and a national agripreneurship incubation framework across all states and the FCT.

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

Global Support and Government Commitment

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

She called for increased financing, expanded mentorship, reduced barriers to land and market access, and strengthened inclusion of youth and women.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to scaling the initiative. He said LIFE-ND stands as clear evidence of what well-designed, youth-centred agricultural programmes can achieve.

“Your ideas, your courage to take risks, and your commitment to building resilient livelihoods will drive transformation in our agri-food systems,” he stated.

Kyari outlined the government’s next steps to sustain and expand youth agripreneurship, including a land access and tenure assistance programme prioritising youth, an innovative blended-finance mechanism for youth-led agribusinesses, and expanded business development services and mentorship.

• It will also introduce a digital platform for agripreneurs to access buyers and market intelligence, and climate adaptation and risk-management frameworks integrated across all youth programmes. The project targets strengthening monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems.

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