The cultural economy of human waste reuse: Perspectives from peri-urban Karnataka, India

cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Instituteen
cg.coverage.countryIndia
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2IN
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Asia
cg.coverage.subregionKarnataka
cg.coverage.subregionDharwad
cg.coverage.subregionBangalore
cg.creator.identifierPay Drechsel: 0000-0002-2592-8812
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2021.196en
cg.identifier.iwmilibraryH050316
cg.identifier.urlhttps://iwaponline.com/washdev/article-pdf/11/3/386/889973/washdev0110386.pdfen
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn2043-9083en
cg.issue3en
cg.journalJournal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Developmenten
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.volume11en
dc.contributor.authorBurt, Z.en
dc.contributor.authorPrasad, C. S. S.en
dc.contributor.authorDrechsel, Payen
dc.contributor.authorRay, I.en
dc.date.accessioned2021-03-31T09:18:38Zen
dc.date.available2021-03-31T09:18:38Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/113170
dc.titleThe cultural economy of human waste reuse: Perspectives from peri-urban Karnataka, Indiaen
dcterms.abstractSafely managed waste reuse may be a sustainable way to protect human health and livelihoods in agrarian-based countries without adequate sewerage. The safe recovery and reuse of fecal sludge-derived fertilizer (FSF) has become an important policy discussion in low-income economies as a way to manage urban sanitation to benefit peri-urban agriculture. But what drives the user acceptance of composted fecal sludge? We develop a preference-ranking model to understand the attributes of FSF that contribute to its acceptance in Karnataka, India. We use this traditionally economic modeling method to uncover cultural practices and power disparities underlying the waste economy. We model farmowners and farmworkers separately, as the choice to use FSF as an employer versus as an employee is fundamentally different. We find that farmers who are willing to use FSF prefer to conceal its origins from their workers and from their own caste group. This is particularly the case for caste-adhering, vegetarian farmowners. We find that workers are open to using FSF if its attributes resemble cow manure, which they are comfortable handling. The waste economy in rural India remains shaped by caste hierarchies and practices, but these remain unacknowledged in policies promoting sustainable ‘business’ models for safe reuse. Current efforts under consideration toward formalizing the reuse sector should explicitly acknowledge caste practices in the waste economy, or they may perpetuate the size and scope of the caste-based informal sector.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.audienceAcademicsen
dcterms.audienceCGIARen
dcterms.audienceDevelopment Practitionersen
dcterms.audienceDonorsen
dcterms.audienceExtensionen
dcterms.audienceFarmersen
dcterms.audienceNGOsen
dcterms.audiencePolicy Makersen
dcterms.audienceGeneral Publicen
dcterms.available2021-03-01
dcterms.bibliographicCitationBurt, Z.; Prasad, C. S. S.; Drechsel, Pay; Ray, I. 2021. The cultural economy of human waste reuse: perspectives from peri-urban Karnataka, India. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 11(3):386-397. [doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2021.196]en
dcterms.extent386-397en
dcterms.issued2021-05-01
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherIWA Publishingen
dcterms.subjectwaste managementen
dcterms.subjecthuman wastesen
dcterms.subjectfaecal sludgeen
dcterms.subjectexcretaen
dcterms.subjectresource recoveryen
dcterms.subjectorganic fertilizersen
dcterms.subjectcultural factorsen
dcterms.subjectperiurban areasen
dcterms.subjectcaste systemsen
dcterms.subjectfarmers' attitudesen
dcterms.subjectagricultural workersen
dcterms.subjecteconomic aspectsen
dcterms.subjectbusiness modelsen
dcterms.subjectsanitationen
dcterms.subjectpollutionen
dcterms.subjectdevelopmenten
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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