"Today there are not enough opportunities in villages, we see a lot of migration to urban areas where they do menial jobs and climate change impacts them the most," says Nupur Poharkar, a 28-year-old social entrepreneur in India.
"I wanted to address these problems and so far in two years we have sold 8,000 products under Pirul Handicrafts."
Poharkar's idea is to teach local women how to make things out of dried pine needles, which have been known to cause forest fires and groundwater table depletion, the Times of India reports.
Poharkar has trained 100 women to make trays, planters, baskets, coasters, and fashion accessories using dried pine leaves.
She says she was inspired by the plight of women in rural India, who often "do menial jobs and climate change impacts them the most," per TNIE.
Poharkar's idea was one of nine social enterprise pitches made Sunday at a live funding round for SBI Youth for India, the CSR arm of the State Bank of India.
Out of the nine, five received funding of more than $1 million.
"The projects spearheaded by our fellows have not only accelerated rural development but have also fostered inclusive and sustainable growth across 20 states in the remotest corners
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