Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

Vol 27, May Suppl. Issue, 2021; Page No.(155-165)

ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY INITIATIVES OF KUDUMBASHREE MISSION: THE GATEWAY FOR GREEN MICROFINANCE IN KERALA

AT Abdul Jabbar and Muhammed Fazal

Abstract

Green microfinance is the practice of weaving the principles of environmental sustainability into the daily operations of microfinance institutions and promoting environmentally-friendly practices and solutions (Allet et al., 2015). Kerala is a state which sacrificed its environment for its development and advancement in human development indicators. Though Kerala was a consumer state with enough local agriculture and food crops’ production, it imports food crops from the neighbouring states which begot its concern in food security and safety and health issues. So, the state is in dire need of organic farming and environment friendly initiatives in all sectors for which efforts have been started and run in full swing. Green microfinance is a way for this salvation as the majority are from middle and poor classes. Kudumbashree is a female based successful and fruitful enterprise in the state with more than 44 lakh women from various background. Microfinance and micro-entrepreneurship activities are run successfully all over the state in almost all fractions of the society needs, Kudumbashree is a proper gateway for implementing green microfinance in the state. This article enquires the prospects through which green microfinance can be implemented in the state analyzing its environmental friendly initiatives especially paddy cultivation and organic farming. This study explored Kudumbashree website for acquiring required data.