Imo State special cassava farmers that may number up to 4,250 under the International Fund for Agric Development (IFAD) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) may storm the garri export market soon.
This is because they are being trained by the best hands to produce and process garri under global best practices which may make their products meet international standards, thus non-oil export may be a huge opportunity staring at them.
The project is by the Federal Government, the International Food & Agricultural Development (IFAD) with the implementation agency, the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). It is called the FG/IFAD/NDDC scheme.
The project began over six years ago but three states, Rivers, Imo, and Akwa Ibom did not start because the NDDC then that was to support their own funding with $30m failed until the coming of the Samuel Ogbuku-led management which reaffirmed commitment to it and has so far released $5m to the scheme.
The NDDC and IFAD have also insisted on regular inspection to ensure the prompt delivery on timelines.
The inspection which was witnessed by media men also led to Izombe town in Oguta LGA where Okorie Emmanuel, an incubator hinted of the export possibility.
He admitted that the NDDC impacted very well on Izombe community. He said: “Things we didn’t know before, we now know. We want to tell you to continue this. Nigeria will be a garri-exporting country and would be a hub of the garri industry with huge value chain”.
The regular inspections are to ascertain how well the incubators/incubatees are doing at the centres, find out their challenges and capture good practices for upscaling in the course of the incubatees passing through the incubators’ tutelage.
This was after the process of sensitization, profiling and selection targeted at meeting the set goal of 4,250 beneficiaries in each of the states of Akwa Ibom, Imo and Rivers over the six-year implementation window for the first phase. The identified beneficiaries are profiled and prospective incubatees and incubators are selected. Imo State has focus for Cassava, Rice, Poultry and Aquaculture.
The NDDC/LIFE-ND project inspection team to Imo State was led by Wale Oretan, a deputy director, Agric & Fisheries from the Port Harcourt head office which commended the incubator and the incubatees of cassava and aquaculture at Nnebukwu town in Izombe, Imo State.
The incubatees at aquaculture and its value chain under Uchegbu Chijioke (incubator) said they were happy with the enterprise and its value chain now that they have been exposed to it and have learned much.
Corroborating one another while speaking, they said: “We have now discovered ourselves and can stand on our own. We commend and thank NDDC, and we say, God bless them.
“We can now do direct and indirect fish marketing businesses as well as handle digitalized fish marketing business”.
Nwoke Ifeanyi said: “We have learned a lot and now, we can feed fish, we can hatch fish, and we can manage the business. We can use the enterprise to feed our families.
“We have learned so much from hatching, how to separate and handle fingerlings, processing, fish smoking (drying), packaging, and marketing. In marketing, we have face-to-face marketing and advertising, and customer service that boosts business relationships. We have also known how to make the price affordable for both the rich and the poor”.
Their appeal to the NDDC and LIFE-ND is to help them form cooperatives in the various commodities they have trained on and to help them explore export market. They also pleaded for modern farming tools to make it more modern and even more scientific.
Ifeanyi, an incubatee, appreciated NDDC for bringing this kind of opportunity to the rural areas, especially the rural dwellers in Izombe to ensure that they had food to eat, do business, and earn money”.
Uchegbu Chijioke,an incubator, who is the national vice president of the Catfish and Allied Fish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFFAN) described the project as life enhancement-driven devoid of nepotism, tribalism, and devoid of political influence.
At Nnebukwu in Oguta LGA which is the cassava hub with its full value chain, Oretan from the NDDC explained that the NDDC was the major financier of the project (in Imo, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom).
Emmanuel Okorie, an incubator, explained that the programme started around March 2025, adding that they were into cassava production, processing, and marketing. He added that the incubatees have learned a lot about cassava production processes and its value chain enterprise.
They have also known varieties of cassava stems, (sticks) that can give good yields and the incubatees can now process cassava to gari, extract starch, and prepare fufu to sell in the market and make some money.
“LIFE-ND has impacted a lot on them and the incubatees can stand on their own and do very good gari business”, he said.
Some incubatees that spoke in turns explained very well to the satisfaction of NDDC and IFAD teams what they have learned and how they have started practising on their own from land clearing, cleaning, procuring the cassava stems, cutting them into the required measurement (20 cm and 26 cm), spacing (which is one meter apart) and planting the stems in a slanting way.
The incubetees in turn appreciated NDDC and the Federal Government for the empowerment brought to the rural dwellers. The incubatees noted that this has already changed their method of cassava farming. They said with this enterprise, they will see it as a good occupation and can use it to feed their families as well as earn money”. The Nnebukwu cassava hub is made up of 27 incubatees, 15 males and 12 females.
Responding, NDDC’s Oretan said: “Carry on with the zeal you had when it was first introduced to you. In cassava, no part of it is a waste. Try as much as possible to invest more. I can see that this programme has come to add value to your life”.
Oretan said that funds injected into this project was not a waste because it has evidently impacted well on the lives of the people.
Some of the incubatees in the marketing segment explained some of their success stories and much profits they have made.
Oretan commended them, saying; “We are so impressed with what you are doing to be complete business men and women. LIFE-ND wants success stories from you”.
Nigeria is pushing from $2.5bn in 2021 to $5.5bn in 2024 in non-oil export, getting to 15% of the export market for Nigeria.
The FG wants non-export to head to up to 50% in the coming years to wean Nigeria from oil forex dependence.
Experts from the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Institute of Export Operations and Management (IEOM) have said Nigeria’s best hope in boost non-oil export is in agric value chain.
They said improving the planting, harvesting, and processing methods to reduce toxins would reduce rejection of Nigerian agric products at entry ports of those importing from Nigeria and help Nigeria play bigger in the international commodity market.
This may be where the IFAD/NDDC scheme may come in with a new army of export-minded farmers especially in cassava.
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