Talkhaki

1. Community demographics

Local authority figures noted that Talkhaki consisted of two councils and that a survey was conducted a few years ago that had an estimate of 500 families and 3500 people living in the community. Almost the entire village is Uzbek and converse in Uzbek, but almost the entire community can also speak Dari except for a limited number of women. The majority of community members are children and young people (under the age of 24). Key informants spoke about a previous high prevalence of diseases including tuberculosis but recent health organisation efforts have raised awareness and the health profile of the village. Local authority figures said they had no knowledge of IDP or returnee populations living in the community. They considered the population to be stable and did not expect people to move over the coming years.

2. Community geography

Talkhaki lies on a wide plain with a hill called Kata Qeshlaq Masjid abu bakar sediq at its’ centre. A river runs down the east side of the village and it is surrounded on all sides by agricultural lands and almond farms. There are hills to the south of the village. Homes are single-storey and made from mud with timber roofs. Some houses are built of concrete.

There are two large concrete water storage units in the village. Two potable water wells were built by the National Solidarity Program (NSP), but the village also dug two more water storages wells connected to the river. There is a school for boys and a school for girls, and a clinic runs out of a rental house.

3. Economic profile

Approximately 80% of the village work in agriculture and livestock. The remaining community members work for the government (usually for the police or military), as labourers or as shopkeepers. School teachers work part of the day and then in agriculture for the other part of the day.

During the agricultural season, employment increases and more people are hired to work on farms. The nature of agriculture is also highly season. Goats are born at a specific time of year for harvesting their coats, while cumin, wheat, barley, peas and almonds are also grown at different times of the year.

1 in 10 females work as carpet and/or mattress weavers, along with tailoring and embroidery. Approximate half the village engage in vocational work including producing leather products, leather jacket sewing as well as selling dairy and eggs.

4. Energy profile

Power bases were installed by DABS but the grid extension project has not been completed, with lines, transformers and stabilisers yet to be brought to the community and installed. A DABS representative said 4 transformers and a high voltage line were currently under consideration to complete the connection to Talkhaki.

Most of the community use solar power with varying capacities. With more powerful systems, solar panels and batteries can run fans, televisions, lights and chargers in the summer.

6 families have received improved cookstoves in a trial program. Apart from this, almost the entire village use animal waste (usually from cows and goats), collected from farms or wood collected from the forest for cooking in village-made mud stoves. Community members use the same materials for heating in sandalis (Afghan heating method using a benchtop and blanket).