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30 mountain families of Yaghnob Valley, Tajikistan receive energy-efficient equipment sets

24.10.2022

On 19-21 August 2022, staff of the non-profit organization Little Earth – a member of the Mountain Partnership –visited six remote mountain villages in the Yaghnob Valley, Tajikistan, where they distributed sets of energy-efficient equipment to 30 families. Each set included a parabolic solar cooker, a portable lantern with a detachable solar panel, and a pressure cooker. The new devices will help the families reduce their fuel consumption, save money and reduce pressure on mountain ecosystems.

The six villages of Dehbaland, Kashe, Nomitkom, Piskon, Polaravot and Rovt are located at an altitude of approximately 2500 metres above sea level. The villages are located in the Ayni district of the Sughd region. The distance from the regional centre of Ayni to the villages is about 100 kilometres. They are so remote that there is not even a grocery store.

Traditionally, the rural residents used metal stoves to heat their homes and cook. The main types of fuel used are dry manure, firewood and coal. In many villages, there are micro-hydropower plants that provide enough energy for basic lighting. However, some of them stop working in wintertime due to the decrease in the water level of rivers and streams.
As there are no roads to the villages of Dehbaland and Piskon, Little Earth had to transport the equipment there by foot with the use of donkeys.

The village residents, together with representatives of the administration of the Yaghnob National Nature and Ethnographic Park and heads of villages, decided which families would receive the equipment. Before distributing it, the Little Earth employees demonstrated how to operate the devices, explaining in detail how they function and providing instructions.

“There were no questions about the pressure cookers or the solar lanterns, but many residents were skeptical about the parabolic solar cookers,” said Anton Timoshenko, Executive Director of the Little Earth. “Only after we showed them how to boil water with them did they happily begin to help assemble the new devices.”

By using the devices, the residents will not only consume less fuel and improve their living conditions, but they will also save the family budget while helping to reduce the pressure on the local mountain ecosystems.

“Our family has become the owner of a parabolic solar cooker, a lantern and a pressure cooker. Now we will see the smoke from the stove much less often. We will use the energy of the sun instead,” said Atobulloev Saymurod, a resident of the village of Piskon.

The distribution of energy-efficient equipment in the Yaghnob Valley is a joint initiative of the Little Earth and the German non-profit association SunHelp International.

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News by Timur Idrisov, The Little Earth
Photo by ©The Little Earth/Shodibek Sharipov