NAMSAI, Aug 14: The National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) launched its livelihood & enterprise development programme (LEDP) in Namsai district on Friday.
The programme, which aims at creation of sustainable livelihood for SHG members, was inaugurated by NABARD District Development Manager (DDM) Kamal Roy, in the presence of officials from the ArSRLM and members of SHGs and FPOs of Namsai and Diyun.
“The project will focus on providing skilled training for value addition of spices and aloe vera, scientific cultivation of turmeric and its organic certification,” the NABARD informed.
It will be implemented by the Namsai Organic Spices and Agricultural Products (NOSAAP) Producer Co Ltd, a farmers-producers company based in Namsai.
NOSAAP CEO Chau Athina Chauhai stressed on sustainable development of the selected 14 SHGs (with a total of 150 members) and “providing end-to-end solution, especially in regards to packaging and marketing of the value-added products in the market.”
He said organic certification will be carried out for 350 farmers of the FPC in collaboration with the APEDA-authorized certifying body.
The ArSRLM’s Namsai block BMM, Onam Tamut, appealed to the SHGs to take the project seriously.
The NABARD DDM in his address said that the bank has been promoting SHG-bank linkage programmes throughout the country, and added that “poverty alleviation through livelihood creation is one of the stated goals of this microfinance movement.”
