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.