Chumoukedima, 10 July (MTNews): Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio met with Ulac Demirag, the Hub Head at International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), South Asia, along with the Country Director of IFAD India and their team in Chumoukedima today. The meeting primarily focused on reviewing the status and progress of the IFAD-supported project in Nagaland, known as Fostering Climate Resilient Upland Farming System in the Northeast (FOCUS-Nagaland), as well as charting a way forward for its further implementation.
IFAD is an international financial institution and specialized agency of the United Nations, focused on poverty eradication in rural areas of developing countries. They provide grants and low-interest loans for projects aimed at improving the livelihoods of rural communities.
FOCUS-Nagaland, which has been implemented since 2019, aims to improve the agricultural practices, particularly Jhum cultivation, in the state. The project covers 645 villages and is designed to enhance the income and resilience of approximately 118,000 households, addressing the challenges posed by climate change. Ultimately, the project aims to transition the traditional Jhum/Shifting/Slash & Burn Farming to Permanent Settled Farming in the project villages by gradually increasing the duration of the Jhum cycle.
To achieve its objectives, the project employs various interventions to make agricultural practices more climate-resilient, ecologically sustainable, and economically rewarding. This is accomplished by providing support to farmers through different components and subcomponents of the project, empowering and capacitating the farming community to plan and manage their resources in a scientific and sustainable manner.