Managers of Islamic Bank Livestock Project told to sit-up

Livestock farmers in the Northwest Region are already weary and disappointed that the over FCFA 26 million Islamic Bank project, known as Livestock and Fisheries Development Project, LIFIDEP, is taking too long to take-off and yield results.

This was disclosed at the 2015 first quarterly coordination meeting of the implementing partners of the LIFIDEP project that was held at the conference hall of the Regional College of Agriculture Bambili, Tubah Subdivision, on May 5.

Emmanuel Ndeh, Director of Technical Department, representing theDirector General of the Northwest Development Authority, MIDENO, John B. Ndeh, expressed gratitude to the LIFIDEP Project Coordinator Pius Mbippe Shidiki, for organising the meeting which he considered as, “the springboard for the effective launch of project activities in the field.”

He recalled that, in his opening speech during the 2014 3rd quarterly coordination meeting that was held in Ndop, he stressed on the genesis of LIFIDEP, the institutional framework for the implementation of the project and synopsis of the role expected from each actor in the implementation of the project.

He reiterated that the success of the LIFIDEP lies in the hands of the various implementing partners.

“For the implementing partners to effectively deliver the goods, expectations and responsibilities must be clearly defined and streamlined; that is why you are here to do,” he said.

MIDENO, as the executing agency and the supervising and contracting authority of the project, considers the proper establishment of these instruments that constitute a fundamental framework on which the relationship between the Project Management Unit, PMU, and the implementing partners hinge and are indispensable, to ensure, not only accountability for results, but the quality of the working relationship.

The Director of the Technical Department was happy to recognise the efforts of the PMU to have had the draft protocol agreements establishing, especially, the implementation plans. He urged the stakeholders to ensure that these draft instruments are finalised and ready to go into real action with the farmers.

He told the stakeholders that it was time to seize the opportunity offered by the Government to “transform the vast livestock and fisheries potentials in the Region into wealth for both the present and future generations...”

Stating that the expectations of the Executing Agents, EA, in the implementation of the project is immense, Ndeh, said the six years lifespan project, that will end in 2018, must be executed in such a way so as to compel the Government and the Islamic Development Bank not to hesitate to scale-up its impact. He said MIDENO was determined to ensure that the project is well guided through the right path to a successful end.

Admitting that there has been a long wait for the project to fully go operational for farmers to benefit, Project Coordinator, Shidiki, allayed all fears saying, in few weeks to come, the farmers will see, touch and feel the impact of the project.

He said, after the meeting, they expect the level of realisation of the first quarter of 2015 activities established and from lessons learned, they will swing into action.