Reported by Bhadra Gogoi
Dimapur: The Nagaland Forest Management Project (NFMP) has reached 185 villages and 440 SHGs across 11 districts in Nagaland so far and channelled more than Rs 2 crore through revolving fund support, said M. Senthil Kumar, Additional PCCF and Chief Project Director, NFMP, on Wednesday.
Through this, he said, the SHGs have generated over Rs 6 crore in earnings and Rs 2.4 crore in profits.
Kumar was speaking on the concluding day of a two-day workshop at the State Environment & Forestry Training Institute (SEFTI) in Dimapur, held from May 12.
The workshop was organised to formulate a comprehensive strategic roadmap to transition the project from primary activities to scalable, cluster-based secondary activities for SHGs. It also aimed to ensure long-term sustainability through institutionalised management frameworks and market linkages.
The NFMP, an autonomous non-profit organisation under the Nagaland Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department, is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Kumar said the project is nearing its final phase, emphasising the need to focus on scaling up livelihood activities through the formation of clusters and a state-level federation.
He urged participants to actively share their insights and collectively formulate a roadmap for the project’s remaining two-year implementation period.
During the inaugural session, CCF and Project Director (Asia Forest Partnership), NFMP, Temjenyabang said the project remains committed to providing all-round support to all components, including the livelihood component, which plays a crucial role in enhancing community-based economic development.
Temjenyabang urged participants to contribute their field experiences to develop a roadmap for transitioning livelihood interventions from primary income-generating activities to secondary activities.
He further stated that, besides the main objective of forest conservation, the project also aims to establish an “NFMP brand”.
Altogether, 70 participants attended the workshop.