Aladinma Umukabia Ogodo Multi-purpose cooperative society is an association of over 200 women cassava farmers operating in Imo State. These women come together to help each other pursue economic prosperity for a simple reason: to take better care of their children. Veronica Njoku is the Vice President of the Association.
Stanley Agbuebu has been a palm oil processor in Imo State for more than 20 years.
‘’I started from using the local mill’’ he recalls. ‘’We cook the palm fruits ten foot from the ground. From there we will call people that will carry it to the place that they are going to digest it. From digestion, we proceed to where we will process it and from there we will extract our oil. It is labor intensive, and the cost is too much’’.
When Youth Alive Foundation (YAF) relocated from Lagos to Akwa Ibom State, Uddy Okon, the Executive Director said it was like starting a new Niger Delta grown organization from the scratch. She had to recruit new staff who didn’t have enough skills to support projects. As she was weighing how to solve the problem, she learnt about the PIND Capacity Building for Local Empowerment (CAPABLE) institutional and technical training opportunity for regional non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like herself.
When we forayed into the palm oil sector in 2012, we found palm oil farmers were losing about 50% of their available fresh fruit bunches (FFB) for processing due to shortage of and high cost of hiring climbers who face serious health and safety hazards from climbing the palm trees.
Under aquaculture, PIND’s strategy remains facilitating aquaculture service providers (ASPs) to make a business out of selling services to new and existing fish farmers on business skills and best pond management practices.