Agriculture and Food Sovereignty: Challenges and Opportunities in North East India

Agriculture continues to be the main livelihood activity in the North East (NE) Region, both in the valleys and the mountains. The share of agriculture in the State Domestic Product (SDP) in various states in the region ranges from 19 to 37 percent. As with the rest of India, the contribution of agriculture to the economy in the NE also declined during the neoliberal reform period. Intra country trade imbalances have also negatively affected the NE region, especially during the Green Revolution.

This report is an output from a two day workshop that brought together farmers and peasant groups, fish worker unions, academics and researchers to discuss the existing trends and problems in agriculture from states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Tripura. The report highlights issues such as plantation economy, upland agriculture, impact of trade policies on agriculture and fisheries.