Gujarat village turns cattle waste into clean cooking and steady incomes

Zakariyapura, a small village in Gujarat, has shown how everyday solutions can create big, lasting change—especially when local women lead from the front. For years, many households here depended on traditional wood-fired chulhas for cooking. The smoke inside kitchens caused persistent eye irritation and breathing discomfort, while the time spent managing firewood and cooking often fell heavily on women.

Alongside the health burden, families also faced rising household costs. In many homes, financial stress added to domestic tensions. Residents describe it as a cycle that felt hard to break.

That cycle began to shift after one villager, Madhuben, visited a biogas plant in a neighbouring village. Watching the system work in real conditions helped her see that what most people treated as waste—cattle dung—could become a practical resource.

A simple idea, taken village-wide After Madhuben shared what she had seen, momentum grew within Zakariyapura to adopt biogas at scale. The initiative received support from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), and biogas plants were installed across all 368 cattle-owning households in the village.

Each unit uses a straightforward process: cattle dung is mixed with water, and the mixture produces biogas that can be used for cooking. Along with gas, the plant also generates a slurry—a nutrient-rich byproduct that can be used as organic fertiliser.

Once the plants began operating, the impact became visible in everyday routines. Families reduced their dependence on smoky wood stoves. Many homes also lowered spending that would otherwise go towards cooking fuel, easing pressure on monthly budgets.

For women, the difference was immediate and personal. Kitchens became cleaner, and the persistent smoke that once made cooking physically uncomfortable reduced significantly. Residents also associate the shift with fewer day-to-day health complaints linked to smoke exposure.

From cleaner kitchens to new livelihoods The biogas plants did more than improve cooking conditions—they created an additional income pathway through the slurry.

Women in Zakariyapura organised themselves to process and sell organic fertiliser made from the slurry. According to the account, they formed the country’s first all-women manual cooperative focused on this work. What had earlier been discarded as waste gained value in local markets as an input for agriculture.

Households reportedly earn between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 each month from the sale of this organic fertiliser. For many families, that extra income helps with school expenses, healthcare needs, and day-to-day stability.

Equally important is the shift in time use. With less effort spent collecting firewood and dealing with smoke-heavy cooking, women have more time for productive activities beyond household chores. The change also supports girls’ education by reducing the unpaid work that often pulls them away from studies.

A replicable model for rural sustainability Zakariyapura’s experience offers a practical lesson for other cattle-owning communities: clean energy transitions do not always require complex infrastructure. With local leadership, technical support, and a workable market link for byproducts, even small villages can improve health outcomes and strengthen incomes.

The story also underlines the importance of women-led institutions in rural development. When women organise around a shared resource—such as biogas slurry—they are not only improving household welfare but also building confidence, skills, and collective bargaining power.

**Why it matters:** Zakariyapura shows how renewable energy at the household level can reduce indoor smoke, cut fuel expenses, and create new rural livelihoods—turning waste into wealth, and making progress feel both practical and inclusive.