The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), in partnership with the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Programme (L-PRES), has concluded a five-day Livestock Accelerator and Mentorship Programme (LAMP) for selected micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) livestock farmers from Enugu and Ebonyi states, culminating in a competitive examination that awarded ₦1,000,000 grants each to the three highest-scoring farmers from each state.
The LAMP training was designed to strengthen business capabilities across the South-East livestock value chain by equipping beneficiaries with practical skills in enterprise management, financial literacy, record-keeping, and access-to-finance readiness. The initiative aligns with L-PRES’ broader mandate to improve livestock productivity, resilience, and market participation through targeted capacity building and credit facilitation in partnership with DBN.
Over five intensive days, participants engaged in modules covering livestock business planning, cost management, biosecurity and herd health basics, value addition, and strategies for approaching formal financial institutions. At the close of the training, an examination was administered to assess knowledge retention and practical understanding of the concepts taught. Based on performance, the top three farmers from Enugu and the top three from Ebonyi were selected as grant winners.
Each of the six winners received a one-million-naira grant as seed capital to scale their livestock enterprises, purchase inputs, improve housing or equipment, and implement better management practices learned during the training. The State Project Coordinator, Dr Ifeyinwa Elizabeth Nnajieze, commended the winners and urged them to become ambassadors of the programme by sharing what they have learned with other farmers and promoting awareness of L-PRES opportunities in their communities.
Beyond the grant, the winners will be enrolled in a six-month mentorship track, where they will receive continued guidance, monitoring, and business support to ensure proper utilization of funds and sustainable growth of their enterprises. This mentorship component is intended to consolidate gains from the training, improve bankability, and prepare participants for future access to larger DBN-backed credit facilities as they expand.
The event underscores the commitment of both state governments and the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development to transforming the livestock sector through public–private partnerships, with DBN providing the financial architecture and L-PRES delivering on-the-ground technical support. By focusing on MSMEs, the programme targets the segment of the value chain with the highest potential for job creation, food security impact, and local economic multiplier effects.
