Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
As part of measures to fulfill the Godwin Obaseki mandate of ensuring prosperity for Edo people, wife of the state governor, Mrs Betsy Obaseki has commenced the second phase of the Edo Women for Agriculture and Enterprise initiative which will empower 18,000 women across the 18 local government areas of the state.
The project, which started in March 2017 with its pilot that empowered over 350 widows, is expected to boost the state economy with over N2.5 billion.
This second phase implementation which is in collaboration with Market Development in the Niger Delta (MADE), was kick started with training by Amo Farms who are the suppliers of birds for poultry owners in Benin City with the capacity to breed over a thousand birds each.
The poultries are expected to serve as mother units from where the day old Noiler birds, a special breed of birds would be raised to four weeks for onward distribution to women across the state.
On this premise, the women will be empowered to take the birds and grow them for business purposes thereby keeping the economic benefits in the state.
Emmanuel Azubuike, Technical Assistant with MADE on Noiler birds while speaking with journalists in Benin City, disclosed that the project will boost the state’s economy with over N2.5 billion in addition to bringing in at least N630 million benefit to the value chain in the first phase of breeding from day old to four weeks.
“This project is aimed at creating employment opportunities for vulnerable women and youths and returnees as a means of counteracting the popularity of regular and irregular migration”, she declared.
