Context: 

Launching MEGP Initiative, a compendium of field stories to help countries learn and invest in traditional climate resilient crops such as millet, etc was launched recently.

MEGP Initiative Elevates Millet Adoption with Best Practices from Asia and Africa

• Showcasing Experiences: The compendium showcases experiences from Asian and African countries, including India.
• Scaling Up Best Practices: It will help in capacity building and scaling up the best practices in the adoption of millets across the world.
• Successful Implementation of MEGP Initiative: It also signifies the successful realization of the Mapping and Exchange of the Good Practices (MEGP) Initiative for Millets Mainstreaming in Asia and Africa.

NITI Aayog and WFP Collaborate in MEGP Initiative for Sustainable Practices

• About: It is implemented through the collaboration of NITI Aayog and the World Food Programme (WFP).
• Documenting Good practices: The initiative will support the documentation of good practices and present an opportunity of experience sharing amongst Asian and African developing countries. 

• Entries for the MEGP Initiative: They are invited in two main categories as per the following millet mainstreaming framework.
• Millet value chain (production, storage & transportation, processing, packaging & branding, distribution & consumption)
• Mainstreaming dimensions (institutional commitment & coordination, multi-stakeholder partnership, sustainable and innovative financing, gender & inclusion, and enabling environment for safety nets inclusion).

MEGP Initiative’s Benefits for Millet Startups, Networking, and Scale-Up

• Access to bridge initiatives like back-supporting millet startups
• Access to regional platforms for learning dissemination
• Access to networking platforms, including donors, innovation labs, research institutes, government departments etc.
• Linkages with government departments for potential scale-up

News Source: PIB