The Not-So-Sweet Smell of Success

What would you do with over 20 tons of fresh dung per day?
(A) Build a giant dung castle complete with dung drawbridge
(B) Fill many large paper bags that will be left flaming on the front step of the neighbor that kicked your dog
(C) Add earthworms and make compost

(A) and (B) sound more exciting, but (C) is actually what 12 women in Sauraha, Nepal, did with support from the UNDP GEF/Small Grants Programme and Pesticide Monitor Nepal, an NGO.

Each elephant in the elephant jungle safari in Sauhara produces 130kg of dung per day. The women found a way to manage the waste by making vermicompost. In two months, the women sold 2 tons of vermicompost and earned Rs. 24,000. It has led 60 other women to start similar enterprises. The composting has also given rise to organic farming in the community.

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