Whether eaten hot and steaming as part of every meal, or made into cakes and crepes and eaten with sweet red tea, rice occupies a central place in Khasi cuisine and indeed the cuisine of all tribes in Meghalaya. But the unique thing about rice dishes in Meghalaya is how their taste varies across different regions of the state, deriving as much from the innumerable indigenous varieties of rice grown here as from a particular recipe.

Almost a decade ago, Balje N. Sangma was a home maker, who occasionally tended to paddy and vegetable farming mainly for self-consumption. Today, this woman in her thirties has beautifully grown into an entrepreneur who is successfully running a tea stall at the block office of Betasing Block in South West Garo Hills District and dreams of owning a piggery farm one day. Her husband still works as a Chowkidar at the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, but is no longer burdened by the responsibility of being the sole bread earner for the family of seven.

A Marketing Conclave of business service providers was organized by the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency, under the Meghalaya Livelihood and Access to Markets Project (Megha-LAMP), at the RRTC (Rural Resource & Training Centre) Umran on the 2nd of September, 2017. The aim of the conclave was to bridge the gap between various market actors – the market committee, the traders, aggregators, farmers, value chain group members and supporting institution. A key objective of the Conclave was to promote networking and partnership between the various actors along the value chain.

A Marketing Conclave of business service providers was organized by the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency, under the Meghalaya Livelihood and Access to Markets Project (Megha-LAMP), at the RRTC (Rural Resource & Training Centre) Umran on the 2nd of September, 2017. The aim of the conclave was to bridge the gap between various market actors – the market committee, the traders, aggregators, farmers, value chain group members and supporting institution. A key objective of the Conclave was to promote networking and partnership between the various actors along the value chain.

As part of improving access to markets for producers in the state, under the Meghalaya Livelihoods and Access to Markets Project (Megha-LAMP), a 1km road was constructed at Kyrphei village, under Mawsynram C&RD Block to link the farmlands to existing roads. This is expected to ease transportation of farm produce to nearby markets and enhance outflow of goods from the area leading to overall improvement in income for local farmers.

In the year 2014, when NGT banned rat hole mining in Meghalaya, deeming it as ‘illegal’ and ‘unscientific’, the livelihood of several people who were directly involved in the practice were