Enugu, Sept. 1, 2026
The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) and Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), on Monday began second phase capacity building for life stock farmers in Enugu and Ebonyi states.
The five-day Livestock Accelerator and Mentorship Programme (LAMP) for selected livestock farmers in Enugu, is part of the second phase of the L-PRES capacity building focusing on business management, financial literacy, productivity, documentation and access to credit.
Speaking, the Director and Project Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, Dr Adeniyi Adedoyin, said LAMP evolved from the Nigerian Livestock Growth and Acceleration Strategy developed by the Minister and Permanent Secretary of the ministry.
Adedoyin said the strategy was aimed at building a sustainable, inclusive and globally competitive livestock sector in Nigeria.
According to him, one of the 10 pillars of the strategy is access to finance and credit.
He said developing a critical mass of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the livestock sector required ensuring that operators had access to affordable credit.
The director commended DBN for successfully implementing the first phase of the capacity-building programme across the six geopolitical zones.
He said the first phase provided livestock entrepreneurs with foundational knowledge and skills, including the documentation required to access credit from financial institutions.
He explained that LAMP was a continuation of the first phase, designed to deepen participants’ understanding of how to operate profitable and sustainable businesses.
Adedoyin said the financing being made available under the programme was subsidised at about 16 per cent as against the commercial lending rates of about 30 per cent.
Also speaking, Mr Fortune Granville, Capacity Building Manager, DBN, said the programme was funded by the World Bank through the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development under L-PRES.
Granville said DBN was implementing Component 2.2 of the project, which focused on capacity building and access to finance.
He said DBN was providing expertise through training while partner financial institutions would provide access to loans for qualified MSMEs.
The manager said many small business owners lacked critical documents, licences and statutory filings required by financial institutions to access loans.
Granville said no fewer than 60 livestock entrepreneurs participated in the first training conducted in January for the South-East zone, while 20 top-performing participants were selected for the current accelerator and mentorship programme.
He said the beneficiaries would receive a five-day intensive training followed by six months of mentorship and hand-holding by experts.
On her part, the National Value Chain Consultant for L-PRES, Mrs Heather Akanni, said the initiative would provide further mentorship and support to enable beneficiaries to apply the knowledge acquired to expand their businesses across different livestock value chains.
She noted that access to finance had remained a major challenge in the livestock sector.
She said participating financial institutions were now being encouraged to consider other areas of the livestock value chain beyond production, including processing, packaging and marketing.
She also encouraged livestock businesses to embrace insurance as a means of protecting their investments and improving their eligibility for financing.
The Enugu State Project Coordinator, L-PRES, Dr Ifeyinwa Nnajieze, said the state hosted the first L-PRES Small and Medium Enterprise/Participating Financial Institution (SME-PFI) regional training for the South-East from Jan. 26 to Jan. 30, 2026.
Nnajieze said the training engaged selected farmers in mandatory BizAid online training, practical sessions and expository teaching, with grants awarded to some livestock farmers who emerged first to third in a test conducted by DBN.
She said Enugu was selected as a pilot state for the programme, adding that the outcome was encouraging.
According to her, Enugu was again selected to host the South-East geopolitical zone for the implementation of the L-PRES Livestock Accelerator and Mentorship Programme.
She attributed the development to the strategic role of the state in Nigeria’s livestock sector and the support of Gov. Peter Mbah’s administration for livestock development.
Nnajieze listed some of the state’s livestock development initiatives to include the ongoing construction of an Integrated Livestock Development Centre at Ubahu, comprising an irrigation plant, grazing land, feedlot and meat processing facilities.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr Christopher Okeke, who received a grant of N500,000 during the first phase of the programme, said the intervention enabled him to return to pig farming after financial challenges forced him to temporarily suspend the business.
Okeke said he used the money to purchase piglets and restructure his business.