Foundation for Partnership Initiative in Niger Delta (PIND), on Tuesday, shared its success stories in its various interventions in the Niger Delta to a cross-section of stakeholders at the 2018 edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) 24, holding in Abuja.
Giving an insight into PIND’s activities, the organisation’s Executive Director, Dr Dara Akala, told the meeting that PIND has achieved its specific objective of improving the capacity of the people of the region, to fight poverty in a manner that promotes inclusive economic development.
He said various evaluations conducted showed there was great improvement in the lives of the people of Niger Delta, owing to PIND’s innovative approach, which has made communities in the region more independent in the way they deal with issues of economic prosperity.
“Individuals and communities empowered through our projects are now able to perform their core functions efficiently and sustainably, and they develop over time, such that they no longer depend on government support or donations,” Alaka said.
He said such sustainable human capacity development goes beyond skills acquisition or development.
“It is evidence-driven, not a one-off process that requires time. It is systemic, rather than individualistic, and is a bouquet of mutually supporting interventions,” he added.
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He said such a human capacity development approach should be sustainable and one that identifies, inspires and empowers individuals, organisations and systems within the productive sectors to make change happen on their own, and to cascade that change among their peers, such that many more adopt it and spread its benefits system-wide.
He said: “Our unique approach ensures that economic gains occur in a systemic and an inclusive manner, which advances the population, especially youths and women, and prevent a workforce and civil society, that continues to experience joblessness and fails to advance aims targeted at strengthening institutions and tackling poverty.”
He said the interventions have led to the emergence of business and aquaculture service providers, who sell advisory services to farmers and MSMEs with over 50,000 farmers and processors recording higher yields from using improved agricultural practices introduced to them by PIND..