Simultaneous Labor Demands

The arrangement of labor demands through time can be even more important than the total labor input. Farm operations that can be accomplished by low labor inputs over an extended time are said to have linear labor demands. Operations that require a large number of workers at once have simultaneous labor demands; this includes operations that simply require that a lot of work is accomplished in a short time (simple simultaneous), and those that require that different tasks are completed at the same time (complex simultaneous ). Barn raising and field burning are well-known examples of simultaneous labor demands that are usually handled with group labor.


© G. D. Stone 		The Kofyars' use of group and household work details to meet differing labor demands is seen most clearly in the harvesting and storing of millet. Millet is harvested in August. The work of cutting the grain heads, tying them into bundles, and carrying them back to the compound can be done piecemeal, and the job is done almost entirely by household labor, not larger work details .

© G. D. Stone 		But the harvest is immediately followed by the lang maar storage operation, the Kofyars' example par excellence of complex simultaneous labor demands.

The marmuos accomplishes more than 72% of the work of millet storage. . Millet storage parties can put away millet for several households in one day, often beginning early in the morning and working into the late afternoon

The only time a Kofyar asked me for help on his farm was when I stopped by to talk with a man who was alone in his courtyard, tying millet into bundles. This man was a member of Protestant church, which forbade production and consumption of the muos (millet beer) that is the lifeblood of festive labor arrangements. Group labor has been greatly reduced (but not eliminated) among the Protestants, and he was faced with the problem of both throwing and catching the bundles---the epitome of complex simultaneous labor demands.