By Niyi Onabanjo, Team Leader

The Ikaram cluster, a stand-alone peri-urban Millennium Village site, was plagued with myriad challenges at the onset; agricultural production on the decline due to the inability of farmers to access subsidized inputs, an ageing farming population, subsistence farming practices and limited access to financial services. School buildings were severely dilapidated with no teaching aids and inadequate desks and textbooks. Health facilities were grossly ill-equipped, lacked adequate skilled manpower and offered a poor working environment with resulting low clinic attendance. There were no safe drinking water points in 14 out of 16 primary schools and at the health centers. These challenges informed the robust strategic interventions adopted after an initial Millennium Development Goals (MDG)-based assessment complemented by community efforts, dialogue and engagement.

Galvanizing increased agricultural production, creating a conducive learning environment in schools, improving health care delivery systems and increasing access to safe water ranked highest among key priorities identified by the Millennium Villages project. The project has continued to improve rural livelihoods and the socio-economic wellbeing of

community members by building strong links with the local and state governments, while investing in capacity building for community members. Diversification of agricultural activities to further enhance food security and business opportunities is an evolving priority. To this end, youths are being trained at the Leventis Foundation, an agricultural training school, and the cluster is networking with micro-finance institutions to increase its portfolio of financial services and economic activities.

Thus, in Ikaram, the project results to date are truly remarkable. Malaria is down due to the use of bed nets and schools have higher attendance rates due to the renovation and the construction of additional classrooms. Clinics provide better services because of the availability of free medicine, more qualified health care workers and a good working environment. The four ICT and Youth Friendly Centers established in the cluster and the sixteen resource rooms created in the primary schools are helping to bridge the digital divide and provide community-wide computer education for the old and young. In other words, through the Millennium Villages project activities, rural villagers’ lives have been drastically transformed in a very short period of time as a result of increased funding, science based interventions in all sectors, knowledge sharing and commitment of stakeholders.