Guwahati: Seventeen agroecology enterprises from across five Northeast states (Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland) came together to exchange ideas, discuss shared challenges, and build connections with potential investors and other stakeholders, as part of an initiative by the Investments in Agroecology Value Chains Project (IAVCP).Examples include enterprises that are turning agricultural waste into affordable fish feed, developing bamboo-based injection moulding granules as an alternative to plastic, and producing and promoting quality paddy seeds.IAVCP is funded by the Government of Germany (BMZ) through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with a total project investment of EUR 16.7 million, to support at least 15,000 small-scale producers, collectives and rural enterprises to build economically viable, agroecology-based businesses by connecting them to markets, strengthening value addition and integrating them into sustainable food systems through grants and technical assistance.Speaking at the event, Dr Jeevan B, Secretary, Department of Innovation, Incubation and Start-Ups, Government of Assam, said, “Assam’s economy, along with the rest of the Northeast region, is largely dependent on agriculture. We must support agri-business in the region to expand to different markets in India and beyond. This can only be done by putting the right structures in place - linking enterprises to value chains, finance institutions, technology, and investors - and I hope today’s gathering will help catalyse us in that direction.”IFAD convened a Working Group session for the grantees alongside representatives from the Government of Assam, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and leading incubators to address the challenges that define agri-entrepreneurship in the region.“The Northeast has the products the world wants, what missing are the systems to get those products out there,” said Marc de Sousa-Shields, IFAD Country Director in his opening remarks. “These enterprises are already doing what most agroecological businesses aspire to do.To go further, they need resilient infrastructure and reliable access to finance and markets, so they can build value chains that help farmers grow bigger, produce better, and put more money in their pockets.” A region central to India’s agroecology ambitions, the 17 enterprises from the Northeast account for around one-fourth of all IAVCP grantees.