EMN
Dimapur, June 2
To promote local piggery farmers and local pork in the market, a commercial piggery programme under the Impact 5000 by 18 Campaign – a collaboration of YouthNet and Department of Youth Resources and Sports, Government of Nagaland, is conducting a month-long mentoring activity from May to June for farmhands attached to the earlier trained piggery farmers under the campaign.
Young educated Nagas, who are business graduates, hotel management graduates and MBAs came forward as farmhands who do manual work in their respective farms. A group of 60 young, educated and uneducated farmhands and interested small farmers have participated in an on-farm practical observation programme where they have discussed issues of daily farm management challenges, the general economic scenario in the State and why we need to be more productive and not be ashamed of manual work.
The month long mentoring activity, farmhands would be assessed on their maintenance of basic records and management of daily tasks under the supervision of trained farmers.
The YouthNet project led by Abokali Jimomi and mentor of the programme, Dr. Simon Ao, along with five young veterinary doctors namely Dr. Unikali Jimomi from Veterinary Hospital, Dimapur; Dr. Bongtok of Longleng; Dr. Manjan; Dr. Pangdun from Mon; and Dr. Yanben Kikon from Wokha have been working with the farmhands and sharing knowledge on how to vaccinate pigs, administer medicine and general farm management economics. In the process, they are also learning the challenges and opportunities of these farm hands.
Apart from working towards a goal to deliver hygienic local pork as compared to the many stories of unhygienic pork that is being imported to Nagaland on a daily basis, Abokali mentioned ‘The initiative aims to help build an entrepreneurial ecosystem – an inclusive support system for all stakeholders involved in the piggery sector.’ A participant also remarked that educated unemployed is a very easy and old excuse, while he suggested that it is time we started adding value to ourselves and family. He also said it is time that the government supports them with basic requirements such as constant power supply, better roads for transportation, basic infrastructure and keeping away people in the excuse of social taxation. He viewed that such action would push young generation to stay motivated, decrease unemployment and produce better for Nagaland.
