In Nagaland and Mizoram, FAO organized trainings of Master Trainers in September and October 2019, on Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT), Soil and Water Conservation (SWC), Agronomy of sustainable Jhum, Terrace Rice Cultivation (TRC), Sustainable Fruits and Spices production, and Livestock Development (Piggery and Poultry). The trainings involved use of audio-visual aids (such as videos and photographs etc.) and on-site demonstrations. In all, 70 male and 23 female Master Trainers in Nagaland; and 47 male and 31 females in Mizoram were trained. Additionally, FAO prepared training manuals, in each of the project states, to support the Master Trainers when they train district and sub-district teams.

This initiative is part of FAO’s technical assistance to the Governments of Nagaland and Mizoram on the “Fostering Climate Resilient Upland Farming Systems in the North East (FOCUS)” project. The project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The objective of this technical assistance is to strengthen capacities of government institutions and extension services in Nagaland and Mizoram to support local communities in improved jhum management, land-use planning (fallow management and community conservation area), Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT), settled agriculture, livestock management, and monitoring and evaluation. Part of the FAO technical assistance is also being supported by financial resources from FAO’s Technical .

In addition to training the Master Trainers, FAO is also providing technical backstopping them when they train the district and block level officers. Aside from that, FAO is providing technical support to strengthen / develop value chains for select crop and livestock commodities viz. Turmeric, Ginger, Chili, Pigs and Poultry in the two states. Furthermore, FAO is developing a Management Information System (MIS) for the project.