With the child in tow

In rural areas women carry out essential services and work, sometimes exclusively, sometimes sharing, while the toughest jobs like ploughing and threshing are usually done by the men. Only 25% of women are part of the workforce, as compared with 74% of men. The woman carries a son of nearly two years old, who weighs around 12.5 kg and can already move about on his own. They are usually carried and breastfed by their mothers until the birth of the next child. Then, especially in the more isolated settlements, if there is an elder sister aged six or more, she takes on caring for him.