Conceived by the government to increase rural income and reduce poverty in the North West region, the Livestock and Fisheries Development project, (LIFIDEP), is on course with great expectations from a region in dire need of increased livestock production and productivity in poor rural households.
It also targets improved animal health, improved pasture management and animal feed supply, improved marketing of livestock and livestock products etc...
In effect, the pioneer steering committee of LIFIDEP spent June 27, 2014 defining the roles of stakeholders, examined and adopted its budget and plan of activities.
Steering committee Chairman, Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, (MINEPIA) Dr. Taiga was in the chair in Bamenda with instructions for the North West Development Authority, MIDENO, to ensure success of the project in its capacity as overseer of rural development in the region.
It was also a moment to present the Coordinator of the project, Mbipeh Pius Sidiki.
Co-financed by the Islamic Bank and the government of Cameroon, the FCFA 26 billion LIFIDEP emerges as the project of hope for the livestock and fisheries sector.
The six-year project expected to stretch from 2014 to 2019 features a livestock development component, fisheries development, micro-finance, consultancies, project management and audit components.
Away from that, LIFIDEP was also conceived to rehabilitate some 500 km of rural roads in the North West, organise and train road maintenance committees, improve social infrastructure for livestock and fisheries communities, facilitate access to modern techniques of fish farming, construct and rehabilitate ponds and facilitate fish marketing etc...
It was against this backdrop that that the steering committee Chairman, Dr Taiga, challenged LIFIDEP to rise up to expectations especially with the Bamenda-Enugu Corridor which opens the North West and Cameroon to a larger market in West Africa.
