Embedded Files
A street in Lab-e-Aab with electricity poles installed awaiting cables to connect to the grid
Shura Leader on changes occurring in the community -
"Today, the villagers have gotten familiar with the technology, they have mobile phones, they have TVs, they operate their TVs using solar energy, they have internet, about 30% of the villagers have Facebook accounts, they video chat with their friends and relatives in Turkey and Iran...
As soon as we get connected to the DABS grid, further changes will occur, then 50% of our fuel expenditure will be saved using the electricity. We will be able to use high capacity power to light our houses, operate wells and extract water using power, we will boil water and run heaters, these things will become prevalent in the village."
Electricity pole awaiting cables
1. Community demographics
According to key informant interviews conducted with local authority figures, there are approximately 220 households with 1320 people living in the village of Lab-e-Aab. The village is comprised entirely of Tajiks and people speak Dari (1). The health profile of the community is good with declines in disease and health problems due to education in nutrition and hygiene. Local authority figures said there is no IDP or returnee population in Lab-e-Aab, and did not expect people to move away from the community in the next few years.
(1) Following up on cross-check with question 3.4 in KII
2. Community geography
Lab-e-Aab is located in a valley with mountains rising in the west. The village is surrounded in the north, east and south by farms and orchards/vineyards. Beyond the fertile lands in the south-west stretched a large desert. 8 in 10 houses are built of adobe clay, with wooden roofs covered in mud. The remaining 20% have family members working in Saudi Arabia and use the remittance to build houses with hard bricks and usually have electrical wiring systems. The community accesses water through potable water wells and a river runs near the village which is used for irrigation and watering animals.
There is a 4-classroom primary school that provides schooling up to grade 5 for both boys and girls, with 3 teachers and 1 cleaner. After grade 5, children attend the high school in the village.
The high school has 10 classrooms. The boys section has 1 director, 2 head-teachers, 16 teachers and 2 cleaners. The girls section has 1 director, 2 head-teachers, 10 teachers and 2 cleaners. The nearest medical facilities are in the district centre. There is a 1-storey village hall made of concrete.
Agricultural fields (fallow in the winter)
A man standing in the entrance-way to his electronics store
Shura Leader on the multiple jobs and sectors a household might engage in -
"Many families have more than one person working, they start another work when they are done with the first one, until it starts snowing in the winter. This is not like the cities in which people have a single stable job... the locals are doing multiple works. In agriculture, they grow wheat, millet, corn etc. In gardening, they mostly have grape gardens. In livestock, they nurture lambs and sell it."
3. Economic profile
The majority of people in Lab-Aab work in agriculture (approximately 70%) and livestock (20%). Some people work as civil servants (approximately 25 people were said to work for the Department of Education, which could also be referring to the teachers), or for the police and army. There are also community members who work as daily wage labourers, either in Lab-e-Aab or other provinces around Afghanistan.
A major agricultural sector is grape vineyards, along with wheat, millet and corn. Almost everyone was said to own sheep, poorer families have 3-5 sheep while richer families have up to 300-500 head herds. People sell agricultural produce in Aybak/Samangan (the provincial centre) and Mazar-e-Sharif. Some elderly women process wool.
Key informants stated that the only business in the village is a shoe-maker who has established a small workshop to produce and repair shoes. The shoemaker imports materials from Pakistan and employs children to produce shoes that are then sold in Mazar-e-Sharif for approximately 400 Afs.
The shoe-makers workshop with children making and repairing shoes
DABS Operations Manager -
"The grid electricity for the Feroz Nakhchir district is funded by the Germany, it is about 6 million Euros. A Tajikistani firm has won the bid to extend it. The works are ongoing, standard gridlines, cables with high capacity of 400W and power junctions are being installed. All the central parts of the Feroz Nakchir and the neighboring villages will be covered."
Electrician installing and maintaining cables in Samangan
4. Energy profile
Grid extension to the village of Lab-e-Aab and the wider district is currently underway and the community expected to begin connection in March 2018. Gridlines, junctions, meters and cables are currently in place in the village but no households have yet been connected. Community leaders did not know the price of connection yet but a DABS representative said it would be 5000 Afs (approximately US$72) and then 6.25 Afs/kW for usage. The electricity will be imported from Tajikistan.
Currently, most people in the village use solar panels to operate TVs and charge their mobile phones. A solar home system costs approximately 5000-12,000 Afs including associated devices and accessories. Most people use animal dung, wood and thorns for cooking while a very limited number of well-off families use gas cookers. People use the same fuel sources (animal waste, wood and thorns) for heating because of its abundance.
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