The NEN Farmer’s Market at Kohima on February 12. (Photo Courtesy: NEN Nagaland)
Dimapur, February 12 (MExN): The NEN Farmers’ Market in Chizami and Kohima town on February 12 brought together women farmers from nine villages namely Ciechama, Phekerkriema, Ziezou, Jotsoma, Rusoma (Kohima district), Lower Khomi, Chizami, Enhulumi, Sumi (Phek district) to sell a range of diverse food items – cultivated and wild edibles, traditional snacks and tea, and hand-woven textiles.
According to a press release received here today, the Farmers’ Market is an initiative of North East Network (NEN) Nagaland, which started in August 2019, in an effort to promote local, clean, and healthy food, while supporting the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers who practise biodiverse farming.
The release stated that Farmers’ Market is organised periodically in different locations of Phek and Kohima district, where farmers bring diverse food produce from their homestead gardens, jhum, terrace fields and forests, and handicrafts to sell. However, due to the COVID pandemic, NEN Farmers’ Market were discontinued for several months but has resumed now with two Farmers’ Market events held at Chizami in Phek district and Kohima Town. NEN plans to continue facilitating the periodic Farmer’s Market in the coming months across different locations in Nagaland with the farmers they work with, it added.
The market promotes zero plastic packaging, indigenous food products, tapping into the ever-growing demand for organic produce among other things. These Farmers’ Markets are efforts to bridge the gap between famers and consumers, and to ensure the availability and accessibility of quality, seasonal, organic, healthy food and more, it said.
NEN has, over the years of their engagement with local communities in Nagaland have been advocating and promoting local, sustainable and climate resilient food and farming systems. Towards self-reliance and wellbeing of communities, NEN is actively involved with creating awareness amongst the producers and consumers on food and nutrition, facilitating market linkages for women farmers, re-orienting young people to local food through NEN Farm Schools, supporting conservation of traditional seeds through community seed banks, facilitating seed and knowledge exchanges through biodiversity festivals, etc., the release stated.
Meanwhile, the NEN, in recognition of the pressing need for such local markets for local producers, has invited likeminded farmer collectives, SHGs, NGOs for future collaborations. Interested parties may contact at +917085037383/0370-2260550/nagaland@northeastnetwork.org, the release stated.
