Mbah releases N60m counterpart fund for World Bank’s livestock project in Enugu

Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State, has approved the immediate release of N60 million counterpart fund for the World Bank-assisted Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), in Enugu.

The State Project Coordinator, L-PRES, Dr Ifeyinwa Nnajieze, disclosed this on Thursday in Enugu.

Nnajieze expressed delight over what she described as the governor’s “innovative and deliberate policy” seeking to achieve food sufficiency, balanced diet and exports of agro-allied produce from the state.

She equally commended Mbah’s determination to grow the state’s economy from US$4.4 billion to US$$30 billion, eradicate poverty, scale up agro-allied activities and engage women and youths in the livestock value chain.

She said the six-year project which commenced in 2022 would not only be domesticated in the state but would continue to receive attention and support from the governor.

This, the coordinator said, would ensure that the vision and mission of the administration to turn the economy around, empower livestock farmers and create jobs were achieved.

“This project is just a step away from achieving our mandate. If you look at the programmes of the governor, and the way he has been unpacking them, you will understand that the L-PRES is an important part of the projects that will scale up production.

“It will also train farmers, encourage modern livestock farming methods, and complement other critical subsectors of the economy.

“The governor is talking about achieving a zero per cent poverty headcount through disruption of the status quo, and to us, this is not a joke as it is achievable with the right policies,” he said.

Nnajieze added that the payment of the counterpart fund would enable the state partner with the World Bank to fight hunger and malnutrition.

“Today, we are seeing the right policies across different spectrums of the economy. The value chain in production has had a far reaching effect on the standard of living of the people,” she said.

She further explained that the L-PRES seeks to improve the performance and sustainability of livestock production, value addition by the deployment of productive infrastructure and technological interventions along the livestock value chain.

The coordinator said the proposed project would support government’s new policy thrust and boost newly-developed state priorities by enhancing livestock productivity, creating the right environment for the attraction of youths and the private sector players into livestock farming.

“There are huge opportunities which members of the public, particularly, investors, can consider in this sector.

“The state is open for business, having enabled the right and appropriate environment and derisked investment flow with the right framework and attractive incentives.

“This programme potentially guarantees capacity building among relevant administrators and also initiates an effective crisis management system for the livestock subsector,” she added.

It would be recalled that Mbah had committed N274 million as its counterpart fund payment to the state’s International Fund for Agricultural Development/Value Chain Development Programme (IFAD/VCDP).

Others are the N450 million counterpart fund for the Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP) both in August, geared towards boosting food security in the state.