A major concern for the state of Meghalaya has been growing unemployment rate of the youth.
The youth unemployment ratio in the age group of 15-29 years is 115/1000. As of March 2018,
there were 43,000 registered unemployed youth in Meghalaya. The present pandemic is also not
a good news for almost 86 per cent of the people living in the rural areas and predominantly
dependent upon land and agriculture for their livelihood. With most of the markets closed
coupled with almost no transportation available, the agriculture produce is lying unsold rotting
and not generating any income whatsoever. The unprecedented crisis has also seen a large
number of migrant workers coming back to Meghalaya from across the country. This has added
to the already existing unemployment issue that burdens the state.
The need of the hour is to reboot the rural economy, generate local livelihoods and create a local
self-sufficient sustainable model in the shortest possible time to tide over this crisis and the nest
way is to leverage Agriculture and Agro processing to do it. And for this very reason, the idea of
A•bani was born.
*A•bani* which means "Of the Farm" in the Garo language and "Earth" in Sanskrit, is aptly
named to represent the community that is closest to Nature - our farmers, and also the organic
produce that the state of Meghalaya is known for. A few months ago, when the Covid – 19 crisis
hit the world, it trickled into our cities, towns, villages and our homes. Everyone has been
impacted in one way or another and we continue to see its devastating effects even today. Our
governments and non-government organizations, including concerned individuals have joined
hands to fight this global disaster in their individual capacities and to ensure that no one is left
behind in the efforts to help those affected.
In contribution to the collective efforts, this initiative has been launched to help the farmers’
community of Meghalaya, especially those in interior villages, whose livelihoods depend on the
sale of their produces in the markets. With the lockdown on all activities including markets, the
farmers face the dangers of going into huge losses and losing their main source of income.
This initiative has been designed to not only ensure that fresh farm produces do not go to waste
for lack of markets and that the farmers are not exploited especially during the Covid-19 crisis,
but also to create livelihoods related to the local agro-businesses. This includes non-farming jobs
opportunities such as food processing and packaging, transportation and logistics, media and
marketing among others. Keeping in mind that Meghalaya has one of the largest numbers of
unemployed youth in the country, this initiative strives to transform the community and create a
big impact by acknowledging the inter-dependent collective of all members of the community
through its various activities.