Empowering Rural Tribal Youth Through Agripreneurship – Evidence from a Case Study in North East India

A case study of successful rural tribal youth on agrienterprises in Wokha district, Nagaland, North East India, under a project on Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA) is presented here. A total of 200 rural, tribal, unemployed, educated youths between 18 and 35 years of age were selected for the programme. Four enterprises, viz. quality piglet production, poultry farming with hatchery unit, mushroom production with spawn production unit and cut-flower production were promoted. The output and outcome of the study over the last four years (2016– 2020) revealed that a total of 194 rural tribal youths from 22 villages have been running the various enterprises successfully and generating a handsome income of Rs 61,000–460,000, and providing the employment opportunity of 213–1150 man-days in the villages. The number of rural youth who migrated to urban areas was reduced from 458 to 284 with a 37% reduction in migration rate after implementation of the project.