The Millet Bakery Women of Jashpur

Anational nutrition push, ina village kitchen

- ‘TDG NETWORK NEW DELHI

Representative image. Participants learned to make millet, ragi, barnbari, nutbars and cookies, to experiment with different grains, so well as a base; high in fibre, rich in minerals, slow to release energy.

‘The oven door opens with arush of warmair ina hall in Jashpur, northern Chhattisgarh. Inside, trays of small, cracked biscuits are just turning golden at the edges. They look like nankchatai, smell faintly nutty—but the flour is not wheat. It is a blend of ragi, jowar and other millets, mixed, weighed and shaped by women who, until recently, had never measured ingredients on a digital scale.

Around thetable, 25 women from different Self-Help Groupswipe theirhandson aprons and lean forward as a trainer explains how long the cookies should cool before packing. They take notes, ask about shelf life, and discuss whether schoolchildren will prefer chocolate chips or chopped nuts. Thisis notjustacooking lesson; it is a crash course in becoming food entrepreneurs.

Over the past week, these women have been part ofa millet-based bakery training program conducted in Jashpur district by the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), Haryana. The sessions, held ata Centre of Excellence for mahua, were designed to turn local familiarity with “mote anaj” into business skills.