A network of women’s groups in Nagaland’s Phek district is doing what many transporters struggle to do – deliver value-added farm products to markets.
Marketing was a challenge when Phek Flavours, a rural food processing brand, was launched by 26 women from Phek village on International Women’s Day on March 8. Half the battle was won when another group of women from the same village formed a marketing team named Rashe Society to find retailers and wholesale avenues.
They began with Phek, the district headquarters nearby. In less than two months, such marketing teams have been put together in Dimapur, Nagaland’s commercial hub on the border with Assam, about 190 km away, and the State’s capital, Kohima, about 120 km away.
While the State depends largely on road for transportation, the bad condition of roads makes travel time-consuming. Hence, perishables are left with a short shelf life by the time they reach the destination.
“The high cost of transportation is primarily the reason why remote areas of Nagaland are organic by default. Had marketing or offloading their chemical-free produce been easy, this would have worked to the advantage of farmers in a district like Phek bordering Myanmar,” the district’s Superintendent of Police, Pritpal Kaur, said.
She mobilised the women into forming self-help groups (SHGs) to make pickles, candies, and other value-added products from surplus vegetables and fruits grown locally. “Women here are very good at any craft, including food processing. What they needed was a business model to produce on a large scale and market their products,” she said.
Apart from integrating farming, processing, and marketing in a specific area, the model entails creating a chain of SHGs of equally empowered women along the supply lines to collectively sell their products in bigger markets.
“When a district police chief from a faraway State (Punjab) becomes the driving force, it becomes our responsibility to overcome the challenges and make Phek Flavours a household name in Nagaland and beyond,” Huvekholu Keyho, a key member of the SHG that makes products under the brand told The Hindu.
Among the other members of the particular SHG is Vepalu Khesoh. while Chitsolu and Dzuthovolu are at the helm of Rashe Society. A major responsibility of these groups is to engage victims of domestic violence towards their economic independence.
“Phek Flavours should be able to expand and cater to a larger volume of consumers after some food processing machines arrive by June,” Dr. Kaur said.
