By Leonard Okachie
The Abia Livelihood Improvement and Family Enterprises, Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), has organised a step-down training on the use and application of standards, weights, measures, and packaging for selected beneficiary farmers.
The training is aimed at equipping participants with practical knowledge to improve product quality, packaging, and marketability.
Speaking at the event, the Abia State Project Coordinator for LIFE-ND, Dr Uchenna Onyeizu, said the programme was part of ongoing efforts to strengthen capacity across agricultural value chains.
“One of our many programmes for beneficiaries is focused on building their capacity on packaging so they can sell their products on time and make the profit they need.
“The sustainability of any agribusiness depends on the profit it makes,” Onyeizu said.
He noted that many farmers currently sell at farm gates for low returns due to limited knowledge of value addition.
The training, he said, would help them process, package, and rebrand their products to command higher market value.
The State Agribusiness Promotion Officer (LIFE-ND), Mr Godwin Chukwuekezie, said accurate measurement and branding were key to building investor confidence and sustaining businesses.
“If you sell 20kg and the buyer receives 15kg, they won’t come back.
“Proper measurement, packaging, and labelling give your product identity and make you traceable and credible,” he explained.
Mr John Gabriel, one of the resource persons from the State Ministry of Agriculture, urged farmers to brand products with their own identity rather than using foreign names.
“We encourage them to have the confidence to brand their products with their own name so that in time, the product can be known and even go international.
Pricing should also be based on the value you bring to the table, not just what your neighbour is selling,” he said.
The LIFE-ND Marketing Specialist, Nkechi Kalu-Chukwu, who organised the training, said it became necessary after off-takers during negotiations asked farmers for the kilogramme price of their products, which many could not provide.
“We encourage social mobility in agriculture. The training gives them knowledge on pricing, branding, packaging, and measurement so they don’t sell below value,” she said.
She said that the 50 participants, including the incubators and incubatees, are expected to step down the training to other beneficiaries, extending the knowledge to LIFE-ND’s 4,379 beneficiaries across state.
A participant, Mr Kingsley Odemelam, an incubator from Uzuakoli in Bende LGA who is into rice production and processing, said the programme had already helped him improve his business.
“Before LIFE-ND, I wasn’t doing packaging. They taught me why it’s important and helped me get branded bags.
“They also taught us record keeping and how to track prices,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that LIFE-ND is a Federal Government project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development with the support by the Niger Delta Development Commission.
It is designed to enhance income, food security, and job creation for rural youth and women in the Niger Delta through agribusiness.
(NAN)
