Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project

Cassava production is vital to the economy of Nigeria, as the country is the world largest producer of the commodity. The crop is produced in the 24 out of the 36 states.

In the LIFE-ND project, All the 6 (IFAD funded) states practice cassava as an enterprise. The project has impacted the lives of its beneficiaries in cassava production, processing and marketing of the value chain (Garri Marketing).

The variety of cassava used in the LIFE-ND project is the TME 4-19 variety. This variety is very popular in the Niger region for its high quality in starch and processed garri.

Success Story

Mr. Okoro is an indigene of Ossissa community, Ndokwa East LGA in Delta state. Mr. Okoro is a small cassava farmer prior to the intervention of the LIFE-ND project. He was producing and processing cassava locally for family consumption and selling the remaining to support himself and the family. He is a school dropout, married with two children.

Mr. Okoro is one of the first 5 benefiting youths selected in Ossissa, his capacity has been built on recordkeeping, planting time, weeding and harvesting. After undergoing mentorship, he was provided with a working capital of 1,023,797 naira which was used in providing TME 4-19 fortified cassava stem, fertilizer for the production of cassava stem in 3 hectares of land given by the community

In his words
“I never would imagine myself embarking on large-scale farming, I didn’t have the capacity and funds to even try on my own, but because of LIFE-ND I now can. Our community leaders gave us 15 hectares of land and 3 hectares were apportioned to me. The project brought in tractors and other equipment to cultivate the land and after that we planted”.