Bibifathima Swa Sahaya Sangha SHG works in 30 villages, supporting over 5,000 farmers to grow millets, conserve seeds and process crops with solar-powered machines.
The group blends traditional farming wisdom with modern sustainability to restore biodiversity and create jobs.
The Equator Prize, launched in 2002, honours Indigenous and local communities using nature-based solutions.
This year’s 10 winners were selected from 700+ nominations across 103 countries, with a focus on women- and youth-led climate action projects.
A women farmers’ collective in Karnataka has been named among the ten global winners of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Equator Prize 2025, one of the world’s leading community awards for protecting nature and tackling climate change.
Announced on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the prize honours Indigenous peoples and local communities using nature-based solutions to improve livelihoods, protect the environment and build climate resilience.
This year’s theme, ‘Nature on climate action’, focused on projects led by women and young people. Winners were selected from more than 700 nominations across 103 countries, with recipients from Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Tanzania. They were recognised for restoring ecosystems, safeguarding biodiversity and food sovereignty and creating inclusive, nature-based economies.
India’s laureate, Bibifathima Swa Sahaya Sangha SHG, is a women-led group working in 30 villages across Karnataka. Supporting more than 5,000 farmers, it promotes millet cultivation through mixed cropping, conserves traditional seeds and operates solar-powered processing machines. By combining age-old farming knowledge with sustainable innovations, the group has helped restore biodiversity, improve food security and generate jobs for women and young people.
Its leader, Bibifathima, was named a ‘Change Maker’ by the newspaper Deccan Herald in 2023. The self-help group began with support from the seed conservation network Sahaja Samruddha, which in a statement said: “This prestigious recognition honours the tireless grassroots efforts of women’s groups, now celebrated on a global stage.”
Launched in 2002, the Equator Prize is awarded every two years and has so far recognised more than 300 community-led projects in 84 countries, from forest protectors in Nepal to women restoring mangroves in Myanmar and Indigenous cooperatives in Mexico.
Past winners have included women’s craft cooperatives in Argentina, Indigenous açaí producers in Brazil, youth-led forest defenders in Ecuador, dryland restorers in Kenya and coral reef protectors in Papua New Guinea.
Each of this year’s winning groups will receive $10,000 and will be honoured in an online ceremony later in 2025. They will also be invited to participate in global events, including the UN General Assembly and the 30th Conference of Parties (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Brazil later this year.
“On this important day, the 2025 Equator Prize winners are a reminder of the importance of recognising the vision and leadership of Indigenous peoples and local communities,” said Marcos Neto, UN assistant secretary general and director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.