Written by Nicholas Jason Iangrai
What began as a simple seed exchange in 2021 from Nongtraw village in East Khasi Hills has blossomed into a story of resilience and revival. That year, millet and arrowroot seeds were shared with the villages of Mynriah and Khapmaw. In Mynriah, a single arrowroot seed yielded an impressive 40 kilograms within a year, and farmers there are now working to scale up production. However, in Khapmaw, the journey took a more remarkable path, with both seeds being put to use. Led by Kong Ambious Umsong, a farmer, entrepreneur, and member of the Khapmaw Agroecology Learning Circle (ALC), shaped something more. Her efforts moved beyond cultivation, breathing new life into traditional crops through processing and innovation. While Mynriah focused on growing the crop, Kong Ambious combined production with value addition, building a homegrown initiative that speaks to the power of community-led change.
Kong Ambious’ journey began not out of will but out of necessity, a quiet resolve born from the financial hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I started this because of financial difficulties when my husband had lost his job,” she shared. With no prior experience, she turned to YouTube to learn how to make snacks she could sell. It was then that she had the idea to use locally available millet and tapioca, tapping into the resources of her village to create something of value.
After some time, the staff of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) reached out to her, and life began to shift. “I stopped buying food from the market. I just made my own, using millet and tapioca,” she says. Through their support, she gained access to markets and fairs both within and beyond the state. She also expressed her gratitude to NESFAS for promoting local foods, which aligned with her growing focus on health and sustainability.
Support from several organisations has played a crucial role in building her capacities and expanding the reach of her products, which include millet powder, pineapple and coconut cookies, as well as tapioca and jackfruit chips. Today, she cultivates a whopping 3000 kilograms of millet and 5 kilograms of arrowroot annually. Her motivation, however, goes beyond income.
“My aim in processing millet is to create awareness of its ingenuity and to improve the health of those who are unwell,” she explained. NESFAS’ partnership with the village strengthened her vision to shine a light on indigenous foods that grow in their own backyards. In doing so, Kong Ambious has not only nourished others but also sustained her household with dignity and purpose.
As her work with millet flourished, she turned her attention to another crop close to home: arrowroot, a quiet yet promising addition to her basket of innovations. What makes her journey remarkable is that she doesn’t only process these crops; she cultivates them herself, growing both Sorghum and Finger millet with care. Just like millet, she tends to arrowroot using knowledge passed down through generations. The method, she says, is much like how she cultivates ginger. But unlike millet, arrowroot brings its own set of challenges, with pest infestation remaining a stubborn hurdle.
With support and ideas from NESFAS, she began experimenting with arrowroot, turning it into fine powder and baking it into cookies. These small steps are shaping into something larger, a vision for the future. Yet she knows that to encourage other farmers to embrace arrowroot, she needs more than just recipes. “I want to understand its nutritional value,” she says. “If I can show that arrowroot is good for our health, more farmers might be willing to grow it.” If demand for arrowroot increases, she will also have to rely on the growing efforts of farmers in Myriah to source the raw harvest.
Despite her progress, Kong Ambious continues to face challenges, particularly when it comes to improving labelling and packaging, where financial constraints remain a barrier. Her vision for the future is to acquire proper infrastructure so that she can empower the youth and farmers around her, and ensure her work becomes a testimony for others looking to set up entrepreneurial ventures.
For Kong Ambious, the greatest accomplishment is not just the products she creates, but the lives she’s touched along the way. Through her initiative, she has not only been able to provide for her family but has also created employment opportunities for the youth in her village. When asked what advice she would give to others wanting to follow in her footsteps, she offers three simple truths, “Work hard, be patient, and stay determined, whether the task is big or small, it is perseverance that carries you forward.”
Stories like hers show that with the right support, change goes beyond project timelines. Her journey is a marker of sustainability—community-led, purpose-driven, and built to last.
