“Can villagers pollute the environment? That’s the doing of city dwellers”, this was Kavitha’s thought until she attended the Buzz Green training. For this 35-year-old woman from Manighatta village of Anahalli GP, Kolar, Karnataka, the Green training was an eye opener. She realized how much damage chemicals and fertilizers used in agriculture were causing the environment. The thought that these chemicals cause imbalance in nature disturbed her.
Sitting at the Buzz Green training, she resolved that there should be something that she can do about this. Long time ago, a friend had suggested that she could take up beekeeping to create a source of income, an idea Kavitha brushed aside. Now when she heard how bees are disappearing from the environment because of excessive use of chemicals, cell phone towers and modernization, Kavitha seriously considered beekeeping. She thought beekeeping could be the right initiative to earn money while saving the environment!
Kavitha went home and sought her husband’s support. The idea impressed him, but he said he had no money to offer her support. Kavitha then approached her Self-help group and requested for a loan. She also enrolled herself for beekeeping training at the horticulture department.
With support from the horticulture department and her husband, Kavitha started her beekeeping journey with 20 beekeeping benches in January 2022. Kavitha and her family collect honey once every three months and get 4-5 kgs of honey each time. They earn Rs 400-500 per kg of honey.
Standing amongst the trees next to her flower garden, these beekeeping benches are quietly improving the village environment. Kavitha’s neighbours say that the yields from flowering plants and farms have increased.
With a small step Kavitha has created a source of income for herself and contributed to the environment. If a woman like Kavitha, who lives in a small village, doesn’t have much education, and faces financial difficulties, can be empathetic towards climate change, what’s stopping the rest of us?
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