Livelihood Based Agri Business and Market Studies for North East Rural Livelihood Project Final report, Mizoram April 2011 Submitted by MART A-32, 1st Floor, Sector 17, Noida - 201 301 Tel: 0120-2512140, Fax: 0120-4273995 Website: www.martrural.com Livelihood based Agri Business and Market Study in Mizoram Acknowledgement We take this opportunity to extend our thanks to Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) for giving us this opportunity to undertake this important livelihood study under North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP). We sincerely thank Mr. Alok Kumar Shrivastava, IAS, Project Director, NERLP and his entire team at Guwahati for their constant guidance and unconditional support during the entire study period. A number of meetings with him and his team at Guwahati and Delhi helped in smooth completion of the assignment. We would again like to thank him for his and team support for facilitating the stakeholders’ workshops in states. NERLP feedback on draft report has helped us improve it suitably to make it a useful project document. We thank Mr. Biswajit Sen, Senior Rural Development Specialist and Mr. Nathan M. Belete, Senior Rural Development Economist at World Bank for their constant support in ensuring completion of the study particularly in finalizing the report templates and selecting 5 economic activities for value chain analysis in the state. We would also like to thank Mr. Varun Singh, Social Development Specialist at World Bank and Dr. Amarendra Singh for their valuable feedback on the study. We are indebted to Shri. Lalremthanga, MCS, Director, RD, Government of Mizoram and Ms. Ramdinliani, MCS, RD, Government of Mizoram for their support and coordination in making field work meaningful and organizing very fruitful stakeholder consultations. We sincerely thank all the stakeholders who spared their valuable time to provide us important information and relevant documents. We particularly thank all the stakeholders present in the two highly informative and participatory workshops conducted at Aizawl on 27th August 2010 and 11th February 2011 for their invaluable contributions and feedback in guiding and finalizing the study. We would like to thank all the state level officials and Block Development Officers of Lunglei, Lungsen, Thingsulthliah, Phullen blocks who not only facilitated our field visits but also earmarked competent personnel to support us in the field work. Our thanks are due to Vanapa Society who provided support in carrying out field work during the course of the study. Last but not the least our heartfelt appreciation to villagers, SHG members, entrepreneurs, market players, wholesalers and retailers, processing units at Aizawl, Lunglei and other markets who spared their valuable time and shared invaluable information to provide credibility to the research and developing implementable strategies. MART Team MART, Noida 1 Livelihood based Agri Business and Market Study in Mizoram Contents Abbreviation ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 1: Background and Methodology ............................................................................................... 8 1.1. Background ......................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2. Objectives of the study ........................................................................................................................ 8 1.3. Approach of the study ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.4. Limitations of the study ..................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2: State Profile and Livelihood Issues ................................................................................... 12 2.1 Mizoram at a glance .......................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Aizawl District ................................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Lunglei District ................................................................................................................................. 15 2.4 Livelihood Issues .............................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 3: Livelihood Profile .................................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Demographic Profile ......................................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Population Profile ............................................................................................................................. 21 3.3 Land Holding Pattern ....................................................................................................................... 22 3.4 Land based livelihoods ..................................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Livestock based livelihoods ............................................................................................................. 30 3.6 Service based livelihoods .................................................................................................................. 32 3.7 Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) based livelihood ................................................................... 33 3.8 Existing amenities and infrastructure in villages............................................................................ 37 3.9 Skill Status ......................................................................................................................................... 39 3.10 Credit Scenario ................................................................................................................................. 40 3.11 Village Level Markets ....................................................................................................................... 40 3.12 Marketing Infrastructure ................................................................................................................. 40 3.13 SHG information ............................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 4: Value Chain Analysis .............................................................................................................. 44 4.1 Selection of activities ........................................................................................................................ 44 4.2 Summary of suggested interventions for the shortlisted activities ................................................ 45 4.3 Turmeric (Curcuma longa) ........................................................................................................... 49 4.4 Mandarin Orange (Citrus reticulata) ........................................................................................... 58 4.5 Piggery .......................................................................................................................................... 68 4.6 Poultry ........................................................................................................................................... 78 4.7 Stick making (used for making incensed sticks) ........................................................................ 90 Annex – 1: List of persons met .................................................................................................................. 96 Annex – 2: List of Secondary sources / References ........................................................................... 99 Annex – 3: List of wild life trade prohibited under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 .... 100 Annex – 4: Stakeholders’ Consultation Workshop .......................................................................... 101 MART, Noida 2 Livelihood based Agri Business and Market Study in Mizoram Abbreviation APMC Agriculture Produce Market Committee BDA Bamboo Development Agency MDoNER Ministry of Development for North Eastern Region DRDA District Rural Development Agency FGD Focus Group Discussion GNP Gross National Product GoM Government of Mizoram Kg Kilogram MAMCO Mizoram Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd. MART A leading livelihood and marketing consultancy agency MFI Micro Finance Institution MIFCO Mizoram Food and Allied Corporation MT Metric Ton NABARD National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development NERCRMP North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project for Upland Areas NERLP North East Rural Livelihood Project NREGA National Rural Employment Guarantee Act NREGS National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme NSDP Net State Domestic Product PIGFED Mizoram Pig Producer Co operative Federation Ltd. RBI Reserve Bank of India ROI Return on Investment Rs Rupees SGSY Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana SHG Self Help Group Tin Local measurement unit for area and production in Mizoram VC Village