Context and challenges

In Afghanistan, the mountain regions are cold deserts where temperatures frequently fall below -10°C in winter.  The isolation of communities in these regions and the absence of reliable energy sources mean that the sale of farm produce is hindered by technical and economic constraints.  In addition, the lack of efficient storage facilities leads most producers to sell their harvests directly from the field at a lower price than they could obtain in winter when demand is higher.  Moreover, they suffer considerable losses due to frost in the winter season.

Objectives and solutions

With this in mind, Geres launched a programme in 2003 designed to improve food preservation by installing bioclimatic storage facilities.

Statistics show that producers with inadequate equipment lose 80% of their stored crops. The pilot-project to disseminate bioclimatic storerooms has demonstrated its value as the proposed equipment and methods can completely eliminate losses of potatoes and apples. Beneficiary families have also been able to generate new income through the selling, which benefit from a capital gain in winter. A kilo of potatoes selling for $0.20 at harvest time could be sold for more than $0.40 at the height of winter.

Partners

Financial partner

• French Development Agency (AFD)

Technical partner

• Afghan Ministry of Agriculture

Context and challenges

Extreme winter climate in the Central Highlands of Afghanistan: due to lack of house insulation and low efficient heating devices and despite large expenditures on fuel, indoor temperatures can dip down -30°C.

Challenged access to energy for cooking and heating: fuel collect practices have a strong negative impact on the environment, and energy-saving solutions are not adapted and affordable.

Degraded environment: due to fuel collection that increase erosion and negatively impacts soil fertility as well as toxic indoor smokes significantly affect people’s health.

Government agencies and public institutions have insufficient means to fulfil their mandate, whereas they are key stakeholders for the development and the sustainable management of natural resources of Central Highlands of Afghanistan

Objectives and results

Over its 30 years of experience in cold Asian countries Geres has developed locally-adapted technologies to improve energy performances of households and their living conditions in winter. The approach is based on capacity-building of local artisans and retailers, with no or low direct subsidies.

Currently, Geres aims to enhance sustainable economic development of Central Highlands by disseminating appropriate technologies and know-how:

Increasing the interest in Energy Saving Solutions (ESS) through awareness and communication campaign at community and school level.

Increasing the affordability of ESS through the development of saving plan at household level:

• Strengthening small entrepreneurs in the private sector through technical, business management, and marketing support.
• Identifying the vulnerability and resilience capacities of communities to climate change
• Establishing bridges between governmental and non-governmental stakeholders through production and transfer of knowledge, experience-sharing, awareness-raising and institutional dialogue.

Project’s partners

Funder partners

• French Development Agency
  
• Abbé Pierre Foundation
  
• Lord Michelham of Hellingly Foundation

Technical partners

• Solidarités International
• MADERA

Context and challenges

Kabul has seen a major influx of population in the last decade peaking from ca. 1 million to 5 million inhabitant in 2018. Despite the security context but also because of the impact of decades of war on the infrastructure, construction and re-construction have been booming to meet the growing demand. While Kabul housing sector encompasses traditional houses built of mud and straw together with modern buildings made of reinforced concrete or sometime a mix of both, the energy efficiency concern is largely underrated in the planning and construction of building.

This could seem paradoxical given the harsh and long winter the capital faces and the relative cost of energy for most families. As direct consequences of this situation, health issues rise due to thermal discomfort, economic vulnerability and energy poverty increase for households and, last but not least, air pollutants level rise to critical levels for all Kabul inhabitants. Indeed, more than 90% of low- to middle-income families use biomass (wood,coal, dung, sawdust,etc.) for heating purposes in largely inefficient stoves, putting pressure on natural resources and dramatically decreasing air quality inside their houses but also city-wide. (Source: Social Energy Assessment of Domestic Energy Practices (SEADEP) 2014 & baseline study  KGHP 2016)

The levels reached in winter have qualified Kabul as one of the most polluted capitals in the world and Afghan Government has highlighted air pollution as second biggest challenge after security related matters.

Electricity cannot be seen as a short to medium term solution for heating because of  limited connectivity to the grid for a significant part of Kabul population, a very high cost and limited structural  availability in winter (low production or import of regional hydropower). On the civil society scene, the overall people awareness on climate change and environment issues is fairly very low but however action can be built on a limited number of organisations active in the energy efficiency sector and a larger network of active NGOs and agencies working in the renewable energy and environment protection sectors.

The project

The “Scaling up green homes in Kabul towards sustainable energy consumption and low emission development”,  more simply named Kabul Green Homes Project is a four year initiative, implemented by  Geres, in partnership with Afghan NGOs, Rural Movement Organization and Afghanistan Microfinance Association, in close collaboration with Kabul Municipality.

With broader objective to produce large-scale and market driven Energy Savings Solutions (ESS) and ensure uptake of their consumption by individual households in Kabul, the project intends to contribute to :

• Economic growth by supporting SMEs, business intermediaries and entrepreneurs
• Poverty reduction by targeting vulnerable households, in a fragile position in regards to energy poverty
• Climate change mitigation & Adaptation by promoting Energy Savings Solutions in Kabul and beyond as a good practice for other cold climate areas in the neighbourhood regions.

The typical Energy Savings Solutions promoted by Geres and its partners range from solar passive verandas, thermal insulation packages, improving local kitchens, renewable energy solutions such as biogas digesters and solar cookers.

With 15 months of arduous work remaining, KGHP so far reached those key results:

• More than 4000 houses are equipped with energy saving solutions
• 132 small and medium enterprises or craftsmen are trained and 79 are actively engaged in ESS disseminations
• 700000 people of targeted areas are informed of ESS and project through awareness campaign
• A specific Green loan design and system has enriched the product portfolio aimed at microfinance institutions (MFI), to date, two MFIs provide green loan and 10 SMEs have been granted loans totalling 2461000 Afn (equivalent to 31551 USD)
• A business intermediary, the Solar House Technician Association is supported on governance and business development for further uptake of the solutions after completion of the project.

Partners

Implementing partners

KGHP is implemented by Geres together with its Afghan partners the Rural Movement Organization (RMO) and Afghanistan Microfinance Association (AMA) in collaboration with Kabul Municipality in 15 urban districts of the capital

Financial partners

European Union, SWITCH ASIA Sustainable Consumption and Production programme and French Agency for Development (AFD)