THE INITIATIVE

• Providing innovative livelihood options to women

THE BENEFICIARIES

• Farmers and villagers in Tamenglong district, Manipur

THE CHALLENGE

• Time-consuming and strenuous method of processing turmeric
• Woefully inadequate infrastructure, resulting in poor quality turmeric and post-harvest losses

THE SOLUTION

• NABARD extended assistance for establishment of a Common Facility Centre for solarbased micro spice processing with technical support from the Central Agriculture University, Imphal
• Women were organised into SHGs and allotted turns to use the facility
• Capacity-building efforts made to bring women closer to the banking system and market dynamics

THE IMPACT

• Livelihood opportunities for 95 women and tangible increase in their income
• Significant improvement in production quality and efficiency of turmeric processing
• End of post-harvest losses