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Hirat_Province_Reference_Map_DD_20140209FEB09_A0.pdfHerat Provincial Profile
Herat Provincial Profile
The Herat Provincial Profile uses information and data from the Afghanistan Central Statistics Organization (CSO) Socio-Demographic and Economic Survey (SDES) and subsequent reports, unless otherwise noted. The SDES was a survey conducted by the CSO with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFP) in Herat in 2016.
The provincial information from the SDES was cross-referenced and compared with findings from Samuel Hall’s six provincial community profiles. The cross-reference helped consolidate and validate much of the initial data gathered in the Community Profiles and provided a provincial-level counterpoint to the village-level research conducted in the Community Profiles.
Provincial Overview
Herat Province is one of the largest provinces in Afghanistan by population and is an important trading province. It is located in the west of the country and shares a border with Iran in the west and Turkmenistan in the north. It is also bordered by Badghis in the North East, Ghor in the East, and Farah in the South. Herat is situated at an elevation of 920 meters above sea level. Its capital is Herat City and the 15 districts are Enjil, Nizam-E-Shahid, Pashtun Zarghun, Karrukh, Kushk (Rubat-E-Sangi), Gulran, Kohsan, Ghoryan, Zendajan, Adraskan, Shindand, Fersi, Obe, Chisht-E-Sharif and Kushk-E-Kuhna. Herat is famous for the cultivation and production of saffron, grapes, pistachios, cashmera and wool.
Provincial Demographics
Herat has a population of over 1.7 million people (Al Jazeera Herat Profile). Herat City district has 40% of the entire province’s population. The other two districts in the Energy Study, Karukh and Zindajan have 3.2% and 2.4% of the province’s population respectively. The average household size in the SDES survey was 5.7 person, lower than the national average of 7.4 person. Zindajan (5.4 persons per household) and Karukh (5.5 persons per household) were amongst the lowest average household number in Herat Province.
The literacy rate in Herat Province for people aged older than 10 was 47.9%. Male literacy was higher than females (55.4% for males, 40.5% for females). Herat City had the highest literacy rate in the province and also the highest female-male literacy ratio, with 79 literate women for every 100 literate men.
85.4% of those surveyed in Karukh district (where Majghandak and Qala-e-Sharbat communities in the energy survey are located) had no schooling. This compared to 79.6% of Zindajan (Malikiha community) and 59.9% of Herat City.
Close to one in two persons in Herat City (47%) were migrants – defined as having resides in another district, province or country within the last 6 months. This number fell to 23% in Zindajan and only 11.6% of people in Karukh. For Herat City, 43.2% of these migrants were from other districts of Herat, 17.3% other provinces and 27.5% abroad. By contrast, 67.7% of the migrants in Zindajan had resided abroad within the last 6 months.
Herat Province economic overview
42.1% of workers in Karukh and 42.1% of workers in Zindajan were in the skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery sector, aligned with the community profiles. There were also sizeable proportions working in elementary occupations (29.1% and 24.8% respectively). In Herat City, there were hardly any agricultural workers, but an even spread (all above 20%) across the service and sales, craft and related trade, and elementary occupation sectors. 14.3% of workers in Herat City worked as managers, professionals, technicians or clerks.
Provincial Energy Usage
Of households surveyed in the SDES, 96.1% of households had electricity (from solar, generator, hydropower and/or gridline). In Herat City, 98.4% of households had electricity.
According to the SDES, 46.9% of households surveyed in Herat Province use LPG for cooking. This rises to 85% in Herat City, closely aligned with the Community Profiles and key informant interviews. Wood was used by 27.4% of households, straw/shrubs/grass by 12.8%, animal dung by 9.1% and the final 3.8% using other fuel types which includes kerosene, charcoal, electricity, biogas, coal/lignite and agricultural crop residues.
However, 54.3% of households in Zindajan District (where the Study Community of Malikiha is located) uses wood as the main energy source for cooking.
For heating at the provincial level, 39.3% of households used wood, animal dung/bushes were used by 21.8%, charcoal 19.9% and electricity 8.2%.
In Zindajan and Karukh, the majority of households used wood for heating (67.4% and 55.7% respectively.
For lighting, electricity (by gridline, generator or hydro) was the leading source of energy across the province used by 3 in 5 households (63.7%). This was followed by solar energy (31.8%) and kerosene (3.7%). However, there was significant variation by district.
Herat City had 90.7% of households using electricity for lighting, while Zindajan had 66.1%. However, Karukh had 76.6% of households using solar to light their households.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) and UNFPA, Herat Social-Demographic and Economic Survey, 2016, available at: http://cso.gov.af/Content/files/SDES/Highlight%20Herat%20Fr%204%20March.pdf
All graphs and tables on the Provincial Profile taken from the CSO/UNFPA SDES
Al Jazeera, Herat Province in Depth 2012, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/02/201221512133033128.html
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