₦airaland Forum

The Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Programme, L-PRES, in partnership with the Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, and Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, FMLD, have kick-started the Livestock Accelerator and Mentorship Programme, LAMP, aimed at giving selected beneficiaries of livestock MSME loans in L-PRES participating states in the South East part of Nigeria the needed knowledge to thrive.

Speaking with newsmen in Enugu on Monday during day one of the five-day LAMP training programme, the State Project Coordinator of L-PRES, Dr. Ifeyinwa Nnajieze, said the programme was a step in the right direction for livestock farmers in the state, as it would enable them to acquire the knowledge and access to finance needed to expand their businesses.

She stated that Enugu State, under the administration of Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, was one of the states at the forefront of livestock development and had continued to provide support for the implementation of L-PRES programmes.

Nnajieze said the selection of Enugu to host the South East programme was an indication of the important role the state plays in the development of the livestock sector.

She pointed to several projects and interventions being implemented in the state, including the Integrated Livestock Development Centre at Ubahu, veterinary services, farmer training and other programmes aimed at improving livestock production.

According to her, the state has also profiled more than 15,000 livestock farmers across the pig, poultry, cattle, goat and sheep value chains.

She said selected farmers, academics, veterinary professionals and extension workers had received training in various areas, including artificial insemination, animal husbandry, business development and One Health.

The Enugu L-PRES Coordinator also stated that the LAMP programme would complement these interventions by helping selected MSMEs develop the practical business skills required to access finance and expand their enterprises.

In his address, the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, who was represented by the Director of Livestock, Dr. Adedoye Adeniyi, said the Federal Government remained committed to improving productivity, commercialisation and resilience in the livestock sector.

He stated that access to finance was an important part of livestock enterprise development, noting that farmers needed the right knowledge and business structures to benefit from available financial opportunities.

The minister said the LAMP programme would provide participants with practical knowledge and mentorship to enable them to improve their businesses and contribute to the growth of the livestock value chain.

He urged the beneficiaries to take advantage of the training and apply the knowledge acquired to their businesses.

Dr. Adedoyin also called on state governments to do more to take the benefits of the programme to livestock farmers at the grassroots.

According to him, the capacity building organised by DBN and its partners could only reach a limited number of farmers, making it necessary for state governments to extend the knowledge to MSMEs across their local government areas.

He further asserted that many livestock operators were still unaware of the requirements for accessing government-supported credit facilities.

“States need to do more because this training can only reach a certain number of people. The knowledge needs to be taken to the local government areas so that more livestock businesses can understand what they need to put in place to access credit. Many operators are still confused about the process. State governments should therefore cascade this knowledge to more MSMEs across their various local government areas."

Also speaking, the Value Chain Consultant at the L-PRES Project National Office, Hedarun Kairkone, described LAMP as a further intervention aimed at helping livestock SMEs overcome challenges associated with access to finance.

She stated that the programme was building on the regional capacity building programme earlier organised for livestock farmers and would provide participants with mentoring and coaching for six months.

She also explained that some of the participants had previously taken part in regional training on access to finance and were now being supported to apply the knowledge to their businesses.

“The LAMP programme is a step further in the intervention for SMEs. Access to finance has been a major challenge for livestock farmers. This programme will give them deeper knowledge on accessing finance, managing their businesses and scaling up. They will also receive mentoring and coaching for six months. Our goal is to ensure that what they have learnt is applied to their businesses so that they can expand, become independent and access more finance on their own,” Kairkone said.

Moreover, the Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, also explained that the programme was designed to make livestock MSMEs stronger, bankable and capable of attracting finance.

Speaking about their involvement and impact in the LAMP programme, the Lead of the Project Implementation Unit at DBN, Mrs. Ekene Ezigwe, said the bank's vision is to ensure that livestock businesses could meet the requirements of financial institutions and access funds for expansion.

She asserted that the programme was not centred on grants, but on preparing businesses to access loans and repay them through sustainable business operations.

“Our vision is to have strong, investable and bankable MSMEs at the end of the six-month programme. We want livestock farmers to be able to walk into a bank with proper documentation and provide the evidence required to access funds. Grant is limited and not sustainable. We want to build businesses that can access finance, use it to grow and repay it. That will create stronger businesses and a stronger livestock sector."

She also disclosed that the interest rate for the loans available under the programme could be as high as 16 per cent for MSMEs, describing it as a competitive rate compared with many commercial loans.

Ezigwe said the training would also help banks understand the seasonal nature of livestock businesses and assess farmers based on their cash flow patterns.

In his remarks, the Ebonyi State Project Coordinator of L-PRES, Julius Victor, said 10 farmers from the state are currently participating in the LAMP programme.

He stated that the programme would help farmers address gaps identified during the earlier capacity building exercise, particularly in the area of proper business documentation; stressing that the documentation would make the farmers better prepared to access loans from DBN and other financial institutions.

He also commended Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State for his support for livestock development, noting that the state had provided ₦150 million as counterpart funding to kick off the L-PRES project, an act he said placed the state at the top among the 20 participating states in the L-PRES project in Nigeria.

Mr. Victor also stated that the state government had developed the Ezza-Mgbo Integrated Ranch, which includes facilities covering different livestock value chains.

“The LAMP programme is geared towards putting into practical use the things the farmers were taught previously. Those who do not have the required documentation will be shown how to generate them. This will make them ready to access loans, not only from the L-PRES/DBN programme but also from other financial institutions. I advise the beneficiaries to take the training seriously and make themselves available mentally, emotionally and physically throughout the programme,” he said.

However, the five-day training, which is taking place in Enugu, brings together selected livestock MSMEs from Enugu and Ebonyi States as part of efforts to strengthen businesses within the South East livestock value chain.

The programme is expected to combine practical training, mentoring and business support to help participants improve their enterprises, become more prepared for financing and create employment opportunities within their communities; even as the organisers believe that the success of the programme will ultimately depend on how well participants apply the knowledge acquired to their businesses and use available financing opportunities to improve production, expand their operations and contribute to food security and economic growth.