EmpoweringLivesThrough Integrated Development

IRAID focuses on six core areas: Community Development, Economic Empowerment for women and youth, Capacity Building for community leaders, Family Health and Reproductive Health including HIV/AIDS programs, Agricultural Support for peasant farmers, and Education for Change through skills acquisition and vocational training.

IRAID's microfinance scheme uses the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) framework to empower low-income women. We facilitate the formation of Associate Savings and Credit Associations (ASCAs) where members mobilize savings, provide micro-loans through collective appraisal, and use peer pressure cross-guarantee to ensure repayment. This approach helps recipients invest in productive ventures that generate sustainable income and drive poverty reduction.

The Graduate Youth Empowerment Scheme addresses rising unemployment among university and polytechnic graduates in Abia State. The program provides technical and vocational skills training, creates employment opportunities, and empowers beneficiaries to start profitable businesses either individually or as cooperatives. Training includes bakery, retail business, cassava processing, and other income-generating skills.

Our community development follows a structured approach: Community Engagement with leaders and members, Needs Assessment to identify priorities, Baseline Surveys to establish benchmark indicators, Environmental Assessment of biophysical conditions, Project Implementation with community participation, and Impact Evaluation to monitor progress. This methodology was successfully applied in the World Bank-assisted Abia NEWMAP project in 2018.

IRAID provides agricultural training, improved farming methods and technology, support for cocoa farming, poultry production, and piggery, extension services, market linkage support, and capacity building for agricultural cooperatives. The program targets low-literate women and men, as well as unemployed youth, helping them achieve economic independence through agriculture.

IRAID primarily operates in Abia State, Nigeria, working with rural and urban cooperatives and community-based organizations across Local Government Areas including Umuahia North, Bende, Ohafia, and Isiala Ngwa South.

You can support IRAID through financial donations, corporate or development partnerships, volunteering your professional skills, sponsoring programs like youth empowerment or women's microfinance, spreading awareness, or providing equipment, training materials, or technical expertise. Contact us at officiallyiraid@gmail.com.