Cattle-dung and dung-work: an aspect of the value of women's work in rural north India
Jeffery, R.; Jeffery, P.; Lyon, A.
Internationales Asienforum 20(1/2): 21-42
1989
Document Number: 362109
The transformation of cattle manure into economically-valued products has not been an issue which has attracted particular interest from economists and analysts of the Indian rural scene. In discussions of fuel, dung-cakes are dismissed as an inappropriate use of potential fertilizer. In debates on fertilizers, the activity of transforming dung into manure is usually ignored. In discussions of female labour, work associated with farmyard manure is rarely focused on. Drawing on research in Bijnor District, Uttar Pradesh, conducted in 2 villages, it is argued that dismissing the subject of farmyard manure in this manner has been a mistake. A significant economic activity with considerable worth is being ignored which takes up a substantial proportion of women's time. Dung collection is work for women, and men are highly reluctant to take on any tasks related to this activity. The uses of cattle dung are briefly described: as plaster and as building material; as fuel; and as fertilizer. Attention turns to women's work, dowry and female survival. It is suggested that the lack of research in this sphere is related to women's status in society.