๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ: ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข’๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฒ
Kamala Devi, from Khaira village in Nalanda District of Bihar, is an entrepreneur and leader who is transforming her community with innovative clean energy solutions! Faced with high LPG costs and financial struggles, Kamala used cow dung for cooking, despite its health risks. In 2022, she discovered the benefits of biogas through Swayam Shikshan Prayog and convinced her family to install a unit on their farm. Thanks to training from SSP and technical partner Sistema.bio, Kamala now enjoys better health and saves money each month.
Kamala also uses the biogas slurry as biofertilizer, transitioning to organic farming. Inspired by her success, she promotes biogas in her village, hosting meetings and farm visits. In 2023, she hosted an exposure visit for the NABARD-supported Silao Farmer Producer Company, inspiring more women to embrace clean energy. Today, 16 farmers from 6 villages have installed biogas units, creating 500,000 litres of organic slurry annually, reducing chemical dependence on their farms. Kamala Devi’s journey highlights the power of affordable clean energy in rural India and the incredible impact of grassroots women leaders.
Kamala Devi’s inspiring work is being carried out with the ongoing support of SSP through USAID’s South Asia Regional Energy Partnership (SAREP) Partnership Fund, which aims to empower women leaders in Bihar and Maharashtra, India by scaling up access to innovative energy efficient solutions for rural populations through a women led micro-entrepreneurship model.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
September 12, 2024