Impact of community based waste management effort in the socio-economic upliftment of a rural tourism village in Kerala

This paper outlines the importance of community based initiatives in managing the waste generated in the rural as well as urban areas of India. The study was carried out in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala to analyze how the lifestyle of people residing in a small village changed because of farming using the compost prepared from biodegradable waste generated in Kovalam rural tourism area. Fifty beneficiary farmers of the initiative were selected as respondents of the study. Results showed motivation and support of a non-government organization working in the locality as the major factor behind the waste management move. They created awareness about the need of composting to keep their surroundings clean and localization of chemical free food to stay healthy. It was observed that farmers adopted bio-pesticides and biodynamic preparations along with compost in their small home garden. The low cost farming not only provided chemical free food for the family and society but also improved the net income of the farmers' families. The effort taken by the promoting agency to popularize composting along with farming among the members of the society in the right time to a group of appropriate beneficiaries made the difference here