Baroda, India

Named after the Banyan Tree and situated alongside the banks of river Vishwamitri , the city of Vadodara is the industrial and cultural hub of Gujarat. Home to multiple large-scale petrochemical and transportation industries, the city has witnessed rapid economic and urban growth in the last few decades and has become the second most populous city in the state.

Owing to its population growth, Vadodara has one of the highest per capita carbon footprints in India and has a huge waste disposal issue. The city generates 750 tonnes of waste per day*, the environmental effects of which disproportionately impact low-income families.

The Baroda team has been working with groups in low-income communities to create decentralised composting units for organic food waste.

They are designing systems of waste-to-wealth livelihood generation to tackle the environmental crisis – while empowering those most negatively affected by it.
Our community champions are local Sakhi Mandals (women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs)) who have the ability to think well beyond what was expected and a natural inclination towards knowledge sharing.
By tapping into their informal networks, (and with our support) one SHG was able to independently compost 12,400kgs of food waste, abating 31 tonnes of CO2e in just under 5 months, while keeping the community at the centre of their work.