Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project in the Niger Delta of Nigeria

In Nigeria, a decline in oil exports, which make up 70 per cent of government revenue, has resulted in a steady decrease in the growth rate of the country’s GDP. Nigeria is now in a financial recession, with 42 per cent of youth either unemployed or underemployed. Agriculture remains underdeveloped but has the potential to provide decent employment to thousands of women and young people.

The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project in the Niger Delta of Nigeria (LIFE-ND) aims to address the growing numbers of restive youth by sustainably enhancing incomes and food security, and by creating jobs for rural women and youth in the Niger Delta. The project will build on the successes of earlier IFAD-supported projects to develop the supply of skilled youth labour, and it will strengthen the capacity of institutions at the state and community levels to work with private-sector actors.

LIFE-ND will be implemented in the nine Niger Delta states: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers. It will engage 25,500 youth and women, as well as 600 established and potential enterprise incubators. The beneficiaries will be youth aged 18 to 35 years and women-headed households with children under the age of 15. Overall, the project aims to have a 50 per cent female participation rate.

President's report

Proposed loan to the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project in the Niger Delta

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