Empowering Women and Conserving Biodiversity in the Himalayas: The Bedri Kedar Swayyat Sahakarita Cooperative

The Himalayan region is experiencing the impacts of climate change at a faster rate than the rest of the world. This region is warming up faster, resulting in the retreat of glaciers, extreme weather events, desertification, and shifts in precipitation patterns, among others. These changes are affecting the region's ecosystems and biodiversity, particularly medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), which are facing extinction due to unsustainable harvesting practices.

To address this issue, Udyogini, an organization that promotes micro-enterprise, has established a cooperative of women in Uttarakhand called Bedri Kedar Swayyat Sahakarita.

The cooperative aims to bring sustainable change to the lives of women in the hilly district of Chamoli by engaging them in the procurement, sale, and value addition of agricultural commodities grown in Uttarakhand, including the development of herbal green teas, juices, squashes, pickles, etc.

The cooperative also provides training, capacity-building exercises, workshops, and exposure visits to its women members and collaborates with other similar cooperatives.

Through its activities, the cooperative has benefited thousands of women in more than fifty villages in the Chamoli district. Its focus on women's participation in enterprise activity and the establishment of micro-enterprises led by women has empowered women to make decisions, create an identity of their own, and invest additional income from the enterprise on themselves.

Udyogini's framework for "value chain-oriented entrepreneurship promotion" consists of five stages, including

1. Organizing and mobilizing women into organizations or institutions,
2. Identifying and training active, interested women to serve as service providers,
3. Strengthening the capacity of micro-entrepreneurs and their institutions to form alliances,
4. Promoting larger institutional forms to the community, and
5. Reaching out to new producers through local NGOs and entrepreneurs.

Udyogini's intervention has proven effective in bringing sustainable change to the lives of women and in promoting the conservation of MAPs in the Himalayan region.

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