Assemblies of God Church Nigeria

I am applying for Elevate Prize to solve the problem of mass youth unemployment ravaging my community through an empowerment project i have captioned, 'HELPING ONE TO HELP OTHERS'. This project intends to achieve the following:

 To train 200 youths in pig farming.

Build 200 holding farms for 200 beneficiaries

Stock each farm with five inpigs seed stocks for 200 beneficiaries respectively.

Provide free feeds to the 200 beneficiaries for six months for the feeding of the pigs.

And to monitor the farms until after the first harvest.

As an agric coach owing to my over twenty years in practical livestock farming, i just believe the best empowerment to give to the youth is giving them a skill and helping them to start it without them paying anything for it except their time and commitment.

If i am selected as a winner, the whole sum will be channeled toward training 200 youths on pig farming; building farms for them, providing pigs and feeds that will take them for six months.  In fact, 'Helping One To Help Others' is purposed to take many homes out of poverty permanently. 

Because of the plight of these youths who have taken to crime as the only option to overcome their poverty when all other genuine means of making out a living is almost not available, i have decided to enter into this competition for their sake, so that if finally i win i can provide an opportunity for them to have a decent life again.

I am a Pastor, a farmer and the CEO of Nnachim International Farms Limited. My company runs an integrated farm covering Pig, fish, poultry, snail and grasscutter farming. I have been in  the field of farming for over 20 years.

My church has a charity department where the downtrodden are taking care of.  Through our activities, i have come to terms that many families are really dying of hunger as a result of poverty.  All they need is a little financial help for them to stand on their feet and survived on their own.  This is what has formed my vision to see that every vulnerable and downtrodden receives a skill and empowerment through agriculture to stand.

So, through Assemblies of God church charity department which i am the head, we can achieve this vision if support is given to us in the area of finance. 

My name is Pastor Smart Nnachi, the Resident Pastor and director, compassionate ministry of Assemblies of God Church, Imo Modern Market, In Owerri District. I am a farmer and a livestock coach. I run agric training on radio and hold public seminars on livestock farming with my videos on youtube. I was provoked into action aimed at alleviating the suffering of poor and vulnerable Nigerians when Nigeria was declared as the poverty capital of the world in 2020 by IMF. This concern propelled me to declare my integrated livestock farm a demonstration farm and have since then been training youths and widows in my locality on pig, fish, poultry farming, etc.

However, i discovered that after the training, the trainees can not still start  up a farm owing to lack of finance. Upon this, i have to lunch a programme i call,  " Helping One To Help Others". This very programme is designed to train 200 youths and widows annually from the poorest homes,  on odourless pig farming. Thereafter, equip them by building a small holding pig farm for them, stocking the farm with in-pigs and supplying them feeds, drugs and expert supervision free of charge until they begin to make sales.

Since there is high level of unemployment in Nigeria and as a result many able bodied youths have resorted to crime just to find food to eat, and some dying of hunger and diseases caused by poverty and lack of good medical care, i believe taking 200 people from the poorest background and providing a means of livelihood to them annually will go along way to reduce poverty and criminality associated to it.

My Programme, "Helping One To help Others". is unique in the sense that though we have had people train youths and widows in various skills to make them relevant,  but many of such empowerment programmes did not change anything because when they give skills to these poorest of the poor, many of the organizers do not consider whether these beneficiaries of the training have money to start it up. Some of them who provide money or tools to the beneficiaries after the training, do not follow them up to ensure they are duly applying the skills they have learnt.  These and many more are the reason why such empowerment programmes do not yield the desired result.  This poverty alleviation programme i have captioned, "Helping One To Help Others" is unique for the following reasons:

1.  We will give them one month long intensive on the field practical training right in the farm.

2.  While on the training, for the duration of one month, we will provide accommodation and feed them throughout the duration without them paying anything.

3.   After the training, we shall build a small holding farm of ten pens for each participant with our money and our workers.

4.   We shall stock the farm with 5 In-pigs seed stock for each participant.

5.   We shall provide PKC, Spent grain and bloodmeal for the feeding of the pigs for 3months.

6. We shall supervise each of the farms for six months when the beneficiaries must have mastered the trade.

7.  And as the name imply, "Helping One To Help Others", we shall ensure other people are trained under the farms set up. That is to say, while the beneficiaries are doing the farming they will be asked to bring in 3 poor people around them who will also be trained during the time we are supervising.  

A Chinese adage says, instead of giving someone fish, teach them how to fish. The reason for this saying is that when you give a person fish, he will come asking for more, but when you teach a person how to fish, whenever he needs fish instead of coming to beg for fish he will rather go fishing.

Assemblies of God Church Compassionate department is in the business of identifying the poorest people around us, especially in the rural areas and teach their hands to work.  We do not only teach their hands to work, we also ensure we establish it for them and lead them through it by the hand until they become a master in that skill.

Through this means, we have brought succor to widows, orphans, and youths who hitherto have lost hope in life because of acute poverty.  Many are in the business of  giving out used clothing to the poor.  Others shares food to them.  Then i ask, for how long are we going to be giving clothing and food to these poorest of the poor when if we empower them to come out of that impoverishment, they can buy clothes of their choice and buy for those around them; they will eat quality food and also feed those around them.