Leventis Foundation Spends over N30bn on Empowerment, Agro-Business

  • Sets up agricultural institute in Edo

    By Paul Obi in Abuja
    The Leventis Foundation Nigeria Tuesday said it has spent about N30 billion in promoting agro-business and empowering farmers across the country.
    This was made known in Abuja ahead of the 30th anniversary of the foundation.
    Speaking to journalists, the Executive Director of the foundation, Dr Hope Usieta, explained that over the last 30 years, the organisation has expended about N30 billion to assist farmers and engaged in other humanitarian services in the country.
    He said: “The annual budget of the foundation is about N1 billion. Calculate that in 30 years, it gets to about N30 billion within the last 30 years.”
    Usieta said the theme of the 30th anniversary: ‘Three Decades of Service and Enhanced Livelihood’ reflects all of the foundation’s commitment to society in its continued efforts to give back and create well-meaning lives for participants of its training courses.
    He also announced that there will be a formal call to present a business plan for the “LFN@30 Agribusiness Pitch” – a platform for people with great ideas to win up to N2,000,000 seed money for their business pursuits in agriculture.
    He added that the competition will be graded into three categories and will produce winners who will comprise students, past students of the training schools and the general public.
    He highlighted the milestones achieved over the three-decade period of the Leventis Foundation Nigeria’s existence, stressing that “the foundation has so far set up nine training institutes in Nigeria and Ghana, with over 25,000 youths and farmers benefitting from the training programme in modern and sustainable agriculture practices.
    “The training schools in Nigeria are located in Osun, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Ondo and FCT. Just recently, the Leventis Foundation had a ground-breaking ceremony in Weppa, Edo State for the establishment of an Agricultural Management Institute in Edo State.
    “The Agricultural Training Institute was commissioned by the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and becomes the nineth location for the foundation to set up its training and empowerment scheme for enhancing livelihoods,” Usieta stated.
    The Chairman of the Leventis Foundation Nigeria, Alhaji Ahmed Mantey, who unveiled the anniversary logo, explained that plans are underway by the organisation to venture into other sectors ranging from sports, retailing and trade.
    Mantey further stated that the foundation will expand its outreach in humanitarian service across the country.

Related Articles