The North-Eastern part of India is among the most critical in the world regarding climate change sources and impacts. Heavy dependency on the environment for food and livelihood makes the locals vulnerable to climate change impacts. The socioeconomic setup of this area also adds to its vulnerability to climate change.
For Example, if you will take a look at the State Action plans of the North-Eastern states of India, you will see that the area is highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly to disease outbreaks in the islands of the Brahmaputra River. They are isolated from the rest of Assam, have no permanent healthcare facilities, and are prone to frequent flooding. As climate change continues, these islands will become increasingly vulnerable, and hence public health facilities need to be extended to such areas effectively. Constant flooding and diminishing freshwater sources are also adding to land degradation.
Not just that but the North-Eastern part of our country is home to a diversity of wonderful plant and animal species that have already shown poleward movement (poleward movement is when any plant or animal species start moving towards the poles/ higher altitude to find a suitable temperature to grow). This shift can be seen in the Lachung Apples of Sikkim, and this is just one such example of the problem.
Similarly in Manipur, the state is facing problems of crop failure due to high rainfall variability and increased crop water needs (Manipur’s state action plan). Even though the state does not suffer from floods usually, but has witnessed some in recent years due to climate change! People living in rural areas and those dependent on nature for their livelihood face the biggest challenges of all. And one thing that we wish to highlight here is that this is just a small portion of the actual problem that we can discuss, but there is HOPE! The startup buzz has caught the fancy of this region’s locals as well.
Entrepreneurs from the region have made their mark in different parts of the country with their unique solutions in different sectors. And the best part of that is most of them have ventured to set up their enterprises in the region itself. They understand the local problems and are trying to leverage the uniqueness of the region in terms of the available raw material and human resources. From the export of pineapple (the region produces more than 40% of the total pineapple), biotechnology (northeast being the world’s largest biodiversity hotspot), organic products (having abundant organic capital- including red rice and black rice), export of processed food, etc.
Emerging India Acceleration Program (EIAP), AIC-Sangam’s in-house acceleration program, is in its third iteration to promote institutional cooperative structures and rural agriculture SMEs. The program supports start-ups and farmer-producer organizations (FPOs) that leverage indigenous produce and natural resources to meet local demand or export high-value agricultural produce with Geographical Indications (GI) to global and regional markets. We believe these SMEs can provide livelihood opportunities for local communities and drive local wealth creation while aiding sustainable energy technology adoption and climate change resilience at scale.
EIAP 3.0 was launched this year in month of August, the diverse cohort is under the guidance of their internal and external mentors. Due to the pandemic, we were forced to conduct the program sessions virtually. But now, we are again conducting field visits to the cohort companies to understand their on-ground operations. We were also able to successfully organize an in-person off-site in Guwahati, Assam from 25th October-27th October 2021. The main agenda of the off-site visit was to provide the cohort members (both startups and FPOs) with in-person training and mentorship support and encourage peer-to-peer learning and identification of potential collaboration opportunities.
During the offsite to bring the cohort companies to the spotlight we organized a Mini-Buyer Seller Meet. Many notable personalities, exporters, and sellers were present. Ms. Archana Nath (APEDA), Mr. Pranjal Konwar (Assam Startup), and Ms. Anuradha Bhavnani (AIC-Sangam) were the Guests of Honour. The event was a great success, most of the startups and FPOs got sold out in just a few minutes! The visitors got the opportunity to taste these products as well. The products on display were: deep-water paddy, turmeric, pineapple, Black rice bhujia, black rice gulab jamun, black rice muffin, fruit candies, jams, organic seeds, wild honey, etc. The event was also covered in the media by a well-known local newspaper ‘Pratidin Times’ and helped bring the startups and FPO of the North- East in light. Mini Buyer-Seller Meets are highly important to introduce new products in the market. It also helps startups and FPOs to understand what products are in high demand and what the current market wants. After the Pandemic, there has been a rise in the number of people looking for healthy organic food alternatives and therefore such meets are highly crucial to understand the new trends in customer preferences.
During the Buyer-Seller meeting, we were also able to discuss the startup ecosystem in the North-East with Mr. Pranjal Konwar and Ms. Archana Nath. Mr. Pranjal Konwar who is the CEO of Assam Startup which is Assam’s first state-owned startup incubator located at Ambari, Guwahati, is dedicated to working to helping the startups grow into master entrepreneurs.
He discussed the importance of special emphasis on the startup culture in the Northeast and the pivotal role of Assam Startup in nurturing the ecosystem. He mentioned that even though the region has a rich treasure of natural resources, previously the people in the region were majorly job-seekers. The main reason to nurture the startup ecosystem here is to provide a platform for people, especially the youth to become job creators.
Ms. Archana Nath, consultant at ‘The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)’ highlighted the role of Agripreneurs in providing food security. She mentioned that the Northeast has potential particularly in the Agri-Sector as it has a unique variety of indigenous crop species. Along with this nature’s gift, the agriculture practices in the Northeast use fewer chemical fertilizers, so it’s safer for the planet as well!
The role of experienced individuals like Mr. Konwar and Ms. Nath, who have played a key role in mentoring the youth and startup owners in the region, are instrumental in encouraging innovation and technology in the Northeast. Apart from them, Mr. Aritra Bhowmik and Mr. Suhale Nadeem Quddus from the Sangam Team have played a crucial role in understanding the challenges at the grass-root level of the startup ecosystem in the Northeast.
Given the time that we spent in Assam during these 3–4 days, we think that creating the right ecosystem for startups is the first step of a long journey toward creating sustainable startups to fight climate change. Startups have the opportunity to create new markets that did not exist before. For developing the startup ecosystem in the Northeast, one needs to find entrepreneurial talent and nurture them. This should be supported by a collaborative mentality. But the most important thing to understand is that the mindset perspective for entrepreneurship is still growing. Therefore, we need ‘Champions’ who will be the role models for the new budding entrepreneurs.
Blog Credits: Shikhita Gupta
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