Buzz Women: Of women, by women, for women!

Life hit the brakes for Vijayalakshmi when she was forced to move from Bangalore to her husband’s village in Tumkur, leaving her career as a nurse in the dust. She was asked to give up her career and stay at home by her family. 

Vijayalakshmi felt lost, but instead of giving up, she looked for ways to shape her life on her own terms. Through Buzz Women, she was introduced to climate-resilient practices, which equipped her with the skills to launch her own organic kitchen garden.

In the unused courtyard of her house, she planted sapotas, brinjals, tomatoes, lady’s fingers, moringa trees, lemon trees and Kanakambara flower. Grown organically, without using chemical fertilisers and pesticides, the fresh produce from the garden changed the flavours of her kitchen. Soon, there was extra produce that she could sell. She started selling drumsticks, lemons and the Kanambara flowers in the local market, earning her Rs 10,000 every month.

A lot happened here:  Vijayalakshmi learned about climate change, adopted sustainable food habits, gave her community access to organic food, became a financially empowered eco-preneur, and, most importantly, changed her life for good.

What’s buzzing?

Buzz Women is an NGO that works towards empowering rural women with knowledge that can set them free from their financial and personal limitations. Through their interventions, rural women learn how to save money, how to start businesses, how to solve problems, how to take climate-action, and more. 

Buzz Green, their climate-resilience programme, brings climate action to rural India. “A climate-conscious rural India, led by women – that’s what we want to achieve”, says Uthara Narayanan, co-founder, Buzz Women.

Buzz Women makes it a unique intervention by not just bringing climate awareness but also bringing a financially beneficial angle for rural women to take climate action. That’s how their rural eco-preneurs are born.

While closely observing how women can find new opportunities to earn a living, Buzz Women found a surprising fact. Most rural families own small land parcels, courtyards and backyards in their houses that are hardly utilised. Most families end up spending money on buying vegetables for everyday use from the market while they could use these land parcels to grow their everyday vegetables and greens - a rather surprising blind spot.

Buzz Women decided to use this opportunity by inspiring the women to start organic kitchen gardens. Apart from becoming a sustainable source of good food, the women can save money they spend on buying their vegetables and then sell the extra produce to add to their income. Buzz Women inspired the beginning of over 1700 kitchen gardens in rural Karnataka, a number that’s increasing every day.

Kitchen gardens may seem like a Lilliputian effort in tackling climate change, but imagine: 1,700 households have shunned chemically grown vegetables. They follow water-efficient practices and maintain soil health. For a large portion of their food needs, they are no longer dependent on external food supply chains. Such gardens also add to local biodiversity. Overall, they represent a low-cost, actionable response to climate change at the individual level.

Success stories

Like Vijayalakshmi, many women are thriving by embracing organic farming. Chaitra, a 35-year-old woman from Kadrinenahallli village, initially started growing vegetables for her family after the Buzz Green programme. “By expanding to multi-crop agriculture, we started earning at least Rs 14,000 every month from our land. We now have a sense of financial stability and security”, says Chaitra.

Saraswathi, from Budidhamitte village in Kolar district, is an Anganwadi teacher. She started her organic kitchen garden and the Anganwadi now procures her produce. “I’m happy that the children of my Anganwadi are getting to eat healthy, chemical-free food”, says Saraswathi.

Shylaja works with her village Panchayat as a Master Bookkeeper. Her job requires her to visit several villages and is a popular public figure in the villages of Kolar. During her off days, Shylaja takes the initiative to visit the villages and inspires women to adopt sustainable food practices. She alone has inspired over 110 women to start kitchen gardens in their homes!

Women in the Buzz network save and earn money by being climate conscious. What we managed to create here is a crucial link between food security and financial health of rural communities.

And it’s not just kitchen gardens. There is more to the good-food practices that the women are adopting. The women who undergo this programme understand soil nutrition, use of organic fertilisers, organic pest control, water conservation, waste management and sustainability. 

Sujata started an organic cold-press oil unit in her village and has become a local voice who encourages farmers to adopt organic practices. Kantalakshmi of Kadaripura village in Kolar district suffered a liver infection and a miscarriage after consuming unsafe meat. After this dreadful experience, she started her own organic desi poultry farm. Bhagyamma produces a chemical-free tooth powder that is produced with natural ingredients. Interestingly, she also uses biodegradable packaging. When Kavitha of Manighatta village, Kolar district heard about how bees are disappearing due to indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers at the Buzz Green programme, she became a bee-keeper and grows a flower garden. She earns Rs 400 to 500 per kg for organic honey that she sells.

“What we should remember here is that these are women who have had very little exposure to education. Many of them never stepped out of their houses before attending the Buzz Women programmes nor did they earn money for their families. Women in the Buzz network save and earn money by being climate conscious. What we managed to create here is a crucial link between food security and financial health of rural communities,” says Venkatesh GS, head of operations, Buzz Women.

Changing mindsets

Beyond taking climate-action in their own lives, 9,700 women now volunteer as 'Green Motivators' in their communities. These climate change agents are active in over 5,000 villages across Karnataka. They take out time to share the knowledge they have gained with the women in the village and inspire climate conscious behaviour among other women in the communities. Buzz Women’s survey says 96% of its trained women use less plastics, 76% women started carrying a cloth bag when shopping for vegetables, and 86% of the women have mobilised others in their community to pursue a green goal.

Initially, many people told us rural women will not be able to relate to an issue like climate change. But the women surprised us. They have a lived experience of climate change without the vocabulary on it or the knowledge to respond to it.

When the Buzz Green programme decided to bring awareness about climate resilience, they weren’t sure how the women would respond. “Initially, many people told us rural women will not be able to relate to an issue like climate change. But the women surprised us. They have a lived experience of climate change without the vocabulary on it or the knowledge to respond to it. When we share how they can become responsible climate change agents, they see it as an opportunity to do something bigger than themselves, for the next generation, for their communities and for the planet. And the results are beyond heartwarming,” says Uthara.

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