K Madhabi: An Entrepreneur in the making
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Authors
Ananta Prasad
Issue Date
2016-06
Type
Language
en
Keywords
Energy
Alternative Title
Abstract
In India, for every woman, cooking is a primary job. In villages and the countryside, women take care of the household work including cooking, collecting firewood and preparation of food. Using the traditional cook stoves causes respiratory diseases for women and children. In addition women collect firewood from the local forest which is life threatening and lots of physical toil for them. It also creates a threat for the forest and its conservation. A study in 2014 supported by Practical Action, ‘Gender and Livelihoods Impacts of Clean Cook stoves in South Asia’ states that, “women largely shoulder the majority of the burden they naturally become exposed to allied hazards while cooking. They also additionally get exposed to hazards collecting fuel.” All these questions and problems have a solution now with the efforts of a group of tribal women in Koraput district in Odisha. K Madhabi, the leader of the group has earned accolades for their honest efforts. A low smoke project, prepared by K Madhabi and her group, ‘Access Grameen Mahila Udyog’ won a prestigious Youth Innovation Fund Award from the Chief Minister of Odisha. 12 women gathered together and formed this female group under the leadership of Madhabi. At 26 years old Madhabi is now a successful entrepreneur and a role model for people in her community. The cook stove prepared by the group is energy efficient which has reduced the smoke to zero level and the cooking time by up to 50%. It also consumes less firewood in comparison to other traditional cook stoves. As well as manufacturing, Madhabi is also instrumental in knitting together women from different villages and disseminating knowledge about using low smoke cook stoves. She advocates for better living for all women. “Life is not the same as before. We have been treated with much respect in our community,” says Madhabi. The group has been getting regular orders and they are working hard to meet the demands. Practical Action’s India office provided technical and financial support for this group through a project called ACCESS (Access to Clean Cook-stoves for Economic Sustainability and Social Wellbeing) funded by the Johnson Matthey. Blog about K Madhabi: http://practicalaction.org/blog/programmes/climate_change/k_madhabi_access/
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All rights reserved
All rights reserved