Green technologies are helping families in Yagnob

Another 20 vulnerable families in 10 different villages of the Yagnob Valley in Tajikistan have received sets of energy-efficient equipment. Each set includes a portable solar home lighting system, a solar parabolic cooker, and a pressure cooker. The equipment was handed over at the end of October 2024.

The remote mountain villages in Yagnob are located at an altitude of about 2,400 meters above sea level. All of them are situated within the Yagnob National Nature and Ethnographic Park, established in 2019. Residents of the valley face a number of challenges typical of high-mountain settlements, including a lack of energy for cooking and heating. Lack of access to services such as electricity negatively affects the livelihoods of local communities and diminishes their capacity for further development.

Affordable and reliable devices given to families will help reduce firewood, dried dung and coal consumption, improve sanitation, save money and create a safer environment. Approximately 90 people will directly benefit from the use of the equipment.

Installing solar lighting systems will allow families to avoid using unsafe candles and kerosene lamps, reduce the risk of eye problems, and make evenings more productive. Pressure cookers will reduce cooking time and save fuel. Solar parabolic cookers will serve mountain residents for cooking and boiling water on sunny days. They will help reduce harmful emissions and fuel consumption, and will also ease the labor associated with collecting firewood and manure.

During the distribution of the equipment, the employees of the Little Earth explained to the recipients how the devices function and demonstrated how to assemble and install them correctly.

The transfer of inexpensive and easy-to-maintain "green" technologies was part of a joint initiative between the Little Earth and the German organization SunHelp International.

Timur Idrisov