Heat exchanger installed on chimney to retain heat and for cooking. (Firuza Hafizova (40, Shamsiddin Shohin, app.32, Kulob city))

Energy efficiency measures to increase the application of organic fertilisers. (Tajikistan)

Бехтар намудани хосилнокии замин ба воситаи амалигардонии чорахои самаранокии истифодабарии неру

Description

The implementation of several low cost energy efficiency measures to reduce the amount of organic material used as fuel within rural households.

In many cases local inhabitants of rural areas depend heavily on locally available natural resources, contributing to, and accelerating deforestation. As a low cost fuel source, local households often use cow-dung and wood. Taking these from the local area contributes to decreased soil fertility and erosion processes. Most of the dung collected from livestock is burnt in a very inefficient manner for cooking, baking and heating purposes. Based upon assessments by Welthungerhilfe in 600 households (HH) who were using cow dung as the only fuel material, on average one HH uses 4.6 tons of cow dung annually when using traditional cooking stoves, 6 tons for heating and 4.5 tons for bread baking. This means almost 15.1 tons of cow dung is burnt annually per HH.

Using a simple modification of the traditional cooking stove, approximately 50 - 60% or 2.3 tons of fuel material can be saved. This saving can be further increased by the utilisation of a pressure cooker that decreases the cooking time by 50%. Not all local hot meals can be cooked with a pressure cooker but it can contribute to an additional saving of 0.7 ton of organic matter.

The introduction of a metal heat exchanger on the exhaust pipe of a cast iron stove can help save a household 3 tons of fuel material per year, the effectiveness can be further increased by the incorporation of bread baking compartment.

Further savings can be made by using straw, mud and wood to improve the thermal insulation of the exterior walls, ceiling and floor in the house.

Through the integration of all above measures approx 60% of the current usage rates of organic material used for fuel can be saved. In addition it will keep the house warmer for longer, reduce the smoke in the air, and help retain organic material in the soil.

Purpose of the Technology: The main objective of the energy efficiency technology is to address one of the root causes of the deforestation process and to improve soil fertility i.e. to decrease the demand from the local population for organic fuel. This project used a range of technologies to address this issue which in combination provided substantial savings in organic fuel.

Establishment / maintenance activities and inputs: Cooking stoves: For centuries local populations have been using traditional cooking stoves for cooking, especially during the warm seasons of the year. These were made from a mixture of mud and straw. The modification of these involves improving the aeration process during the burning of the fuel. This is achieved by putting a metallic cover with one inflow cutting and six small smoke outflow holes surrounding the cooking pot. The only input needed which is not locally available is the metallic cover.
Pressure cookers: As maintenance is required 1-2 times per season to keep the cooking stove functioning efficiently, the utilisation of pressure cookers can be easily integrated with the modified cooking stoves.
Heat exchangers: The heat exchangers installed on top of the iron ovens, can be produced by local tradesmen and need to be cleaned every 1-2 months. They have to be installed before the start of the winter season when the heating is needed.
House installation: The house insulation, using locally available materials does not need maintenance once it is installed. However, the storage of dry fruits or bread in the attic should be avoided as it could attract mice which can destroy the insulation.

Welhungerhilfe provided subsidies for all the above work, except for the heat exchangers.

Natural / human environment: The geographical area served by the project is mainly hill slopes, covered in low grade pasture fodder with wheat crops planted in loess soil. Although the soils have the potential to be very fertile, they are overused and not well managed and thus have become degraded and denuded. One of the main contributing factors to this is the removal of organic material from the biomass cycle. Trees, bushes and organic material is cut and collected to be used as fuel.

The main source of income in the area is from semi-subsistence farming, and the removal of organic material has a significant impact on their crops and livestock.

The houses are made from concrete foundations and mud bricks, these and the current stoves are all energy inefficient and fail to retain heat.

Location

Location: Temurmalik . Davad, Tajikistan / Khatlon, Tajikistan

No. of Technology sites analysed:

Geo-reference of selected sites
  • 69.1343, 38.8906

Spread of the Technology: evenly spread over an area (approx. > 10,000 km2)

In a permanently protected area?:

Date of implementation: less than 10 years ago (recently)

Type of introduction
Modified cooking stoves and pressure cookers (Tahmina Hafizova (40, Shamsiddin Shohin, app.32, Kulob city))
Heat exchanger installed on chimney to retain heat and for cooking. (Firuza Hafizova (40, Shamsiddin Shohin, app.32, Kulob city))

Classification of the Technology

Main purpose
  • improve production
  • reduce, prevent, restore land degradation
  • conserve ecosystem
  • protect a watershed/ downstream areas – in combination with other Technologies
  • preserve/ improve biodiversity
  • reduce risk of disasters
  • adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts
  • mitigate climate change and its impacts
  • create beneficial economic impact
  • create beneficial social impact
Land use

  • Cropland
    • Annual cropping: cereals - wheat (spring), fodder crops - other
    • Tree and shrub cropping
    Number of growing seasons per year: 1
  • Settlements, infrastructure -
Water supply
  • rainfed
  • mixed rainfed-irrigated
  • full irrigation

Purpose related to land degradation
  • prevent land degradation
  • reduce land degradation
  • restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land
  • adapt to land degradation
  • not applicable
Degradation addressed
  • chemical soil deterioration - Cn: fertility decline and reduced organic matter content (not caused by erosion)
  • physical soil deterioration - Pc: compaction
SLM group
  • n.a.
SLM measures
  • agronomic measures - A2: Organic matter/ soil fertility
  • structural measures - S11: Others

Technical drawing

Technical specifications

Establishment and maintenance: activities, inputs and costs

Calculation of inputs and costs
  • Costs are calculated:
  • Currency used for cost calculation: TJS
  • Exchange rate (to USD): 1 USD = 4.5 TJS
  • Average wage cost of hired labour per day: 11.00
Most important factors affecting the costs
The price of the construction materials are dependent on many different external factors, and prices are generally increasing seasonally and annually.
Establishment activities
  1. Cook stove modification (Timing/ frequency: any)
  2. Pressure cooker (Timing/ frequency: any)
  3. House insulation (Timing/ frequency: once in the beginning)
  4. heat exchanger (Timing/ frequency: once in the beginning)
Establishment inputs and costs
Specify input Unit Quantity Costs per Unit (TJS) Total costs per input (TJS) % of costs borne by land users
Labour
Labour per stove 1.0 5.5 5.5 100.0
Labour per room 1.0 37.8 37.8 100.0
Plant material
Wheat straw bales 12.0 4.9 58.8 100.0
Construction material
Metallic cover per stove 1.0 5.1 5.1 34.0
Earth per stove 1.0 0.5 0.5 100.0
Wooden lath per room 1.0 72.0 72.0 15.0
Nail, lime, brush, emalen per room 1.0 30.75 30.75 100.0
Veneer and glueing silicone per room 1.0 43.8 43.8 100.0
Other
Pressure cooker piece 1.0 22.2 22.2 80.0
heat exchanger per stove 1.0 30.0 30.0 100.0
Transportation cost 1.0 44.0 44.0 100.0
Total costs for establishment of the Technology 350.45
Total costs for establishment of the Technology in USD 77.88
Maintenance activities
  1. adjustment of modified cook stove (Timing/ frequency: twice per year)
  2. cleaning of heat exchanger (Timing/ frequency: twice per year)
Maintenance inputs and costs
Specify input Unit Quantity Costs per Unit (TJS) Total costs per input (TJS) % of costs borne by land users
Labour
Labour per stove 1.0 3.3 3.3 100.0
Total costs for maintenance of the Technology 3.3
Total costs for maintenance of the Technology in USD 0.73

Natural environment

Average annual rainfall
  • < 250 mm
  • 251-500 mm
  • 501-750 mm
  • 751-1,000 mm
  • 1,001-1,500 mm
  • 1,501-2,000 mm
  • 2,001-3,000 mm
  • 3,001-4,000 mm
  • > 4,000 mm
Agro-climatic zone
  • humid
  • sub-humid
  • semi-arid
  • arid
Specifications on climate
Thermal climate class: temperate. 3 months below 5 degrees, 7 months above 10 degrees
Slope
  • flat (0-2%)
  • gentle (3-5%)
  • moderate (6-10%)
  • rolling (11-15%)
  • hilly (16-30%)
  • steep (31-60%)
  • very steep (>60%)
Landforms
  • plateau/plains
  • ridges
  • mountain slopes
  • hill slopes
  • footslopes
  • valley floors
Altitude
  • 0-100 m a.s.l.
  • 101-500 m a.s.l.
  • 501-1,000 m a.s.l.
  • 1,001-1,500 m a.s.l.
  • 1,501-2,000 m a.s.l.
  • 2,001-2,500 m a.s.l.
  • 2,501-3,000 m a.s.l.
  • 3,001-4,000 m a.s.l.
  • > 4,000 m a.s.l.
Technology is applied in
  • convex situations
  • concave situations
  • not relevant
Soil depth
  • very shallow (0-20 cm)
  • shallow (21-50 cm)
  • moderately deep (51-80 cm)
  • deep (81-120 cm)
  • very deep (> 120 cm)
Soil texture (topsoil)
  • coarse/ light (sandy)
  • medium (loamy, silty)
  • fine/ heavy (clay)
Soil texture (> 20 cm below surface)
  • coarse/ light (sandy)
  • medium (loamy, silty)
  • fine/ heavy (clay)
Topsoil organic matter content
  • high (>3%)
  • medium (1-3%)
  • low (<1%)
Groundwater table
  • on surface
  • < 5 m
  • 5-50 m
  • > 50 m
Availability of surface water
  • excess
  • good
  • medium
  • poor/ none
Water quality (untreated)
  • good drinking water
  • poor drinking water (treatment required)
  • for agricultural use only (irrigation)
  • unusable
Water quality refers to:
Is salinity a problem?
  • Ja
  • Nee

Occurrence of flooding
  • Ja
  • Nee
Species diversity
  • high
  • medium
  • low
Habitat diversity
  • high
  • medium
  • low

Characteristics of land users applying the Technology

Market orientation
  • subsistence (self-supply)
  • mixed (subsistence/ commercial)
  • commercial/ market
Off-farm income
  • less than 10% of all income
  • 10-50% of all income
  • > 50% of all income
Relative level of wealth
  • very poor
  • poor
  • average
  • rich
  • very rich
Level of mechanization
  • manual work
  • animal traction
  • mechanized/ motorized
Sedentary or nomadic
  • Sedentary
  • Semi-nomadic
  • Nomadic
Individuals or groups
  • individual/ household
  • groups/ community
  • cooperative
  • employee (company, government)
Gender
  • women
  • men
Age
  • children
  • youth
  • middle-aged
  • elderly
Area used per household
  • < 0.5 ha
  • 0.5-1 ha
  • 1-2 ha
  • 2-5 ha
  • 5-15 ha
  • 15-50 ha
  • 50-100 ha
  • 100-500 ha
  • 500-1,000 ha
  • 1,000-10,000 ha
  • > 10,000 ha
Scale
  • small-scale
  • medium-scale
  • large-scale
Land ownership
  • state
  • company
  • communal/ village
  • group
  • individual, not titled
  • individual, titled
Land use rights
  • open access (unorganized)
  • communal (organized)
  • leased
  • individual
Water use rights
  • open access (unorganized)
  • communal (organized)
  • leased
  • individual
Access to services and infrastructure
health

poor
x
good
education

poor
x
good
technical assistance

poor
x
good
employment (e.g. off-farm)

poor
x
good
markets

poor
x
good
energy

poor
x
good
roads and transport

poor
x
good
drinking water and sanitation

poor
x
good
financial services

poor
x
good

Impacts

Socio-economic impacts
Crop production
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: 12 t/ha
Quantity after SLM: 21 t/ ha

risk of production failure
increased
x
decreased

expenses on agricultural inputs
increased
x
decreased

farm income
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: TJS 100
Quantity after SLM: TJS 1200

Socio-cultural impacts
food security/ self-sufficiency
reduced
x
improved

health situation
worsened
x
improved

conflict mitigation
worsened
x
improved

Ecological impacts
soil loss
increased
x
decreased

soil compaction
increased
x
reduced

biomass/ above ground C
decreased
x
increased

reduce fuel costs
None
x
None

warmer houses, health benefits
None
x
None

pressure cooker
None
x
None


Not possible to cook all meals in this

Off-site impacts

Cost-benefit analysis

Benefits compared with establishment costs
Short-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Long-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Benefits compared with maintenance costs
Short-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Long-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

As it uses mainly locally available materials, it is a low cost approach which increases energy efficiency and improves resource use.

Climate change

Gradual climate change
annual temperature increase

not well at all
x
very well
Climate-related extremes (disasters)
local rainstorm

not well at all
very well
Answer: not known
local windstorm

not well at all
very well
Answer: not known
drought

not well at all
x
very well
general (river) flood

not well at all
very well
Answer: not known
Other climate-related consequences
reduced growing period

not well at all
x
very well

Adoption and adaptation

Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology
  • single cases/ experimental
  • 1-10%
  • 11-50%
  • > 50%
Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have done so without receiving material incentives?
  • 0-10%
  • 11-50%
  • 51-90%
  • 91-100%
Has the Technology been modified recently to adapt to changing conditions?
  • Ja
  • Nee
To which changing conditions?
  • climatic change/ extremes
  • changing markets
  • labour availability (e.g. due to migration)

Conclusions and lessons learnt

Strengths: land user's view
  • It is very affordable

    How can they be sustained / enhanced? By involving local relevant authorities and departments
  • It saves and minimises expenditures for electricity, gas, and firewood procurement
  • The rooms are warmer and I can cook bread inside and save more fuel.
Strengths: compiler’s or other key resource person’s view
  • It is a low cost measure using locally available materials. The heat exchanger can improve the heating capacity of the room threefold, for example.

    How can they be sustained / enhanced? replication rates could be increased through promotion to larger audiences with support of local authorities or by law.
  • It is environmental friendly and increases the amount of organic material that stays within the soil.

    How can they be sustained / enhanced? There could be further awareness raising of the benefits of keeping organic materials in the soil.
  • It saves time for collecting fire material wood and cow dung.
  • It presents an opportunity to increase land productivity through application of organic fertilisers
  • The technologies do not have a large initial financial cost and can be implemented progressively as funds become available.

    How can they be sustained / enhanced? Training of more local teachers to provide demonstrations to the community.
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: land user's viewhow to overcome
  • More labour needed to cut fuel into smaller pieces Behavioural change
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: compiler’s or other key resource person’s viewhow to overcome
  • Not all meals can be cooked in a pressure cooker
  • Heat exchangers can get very hot for cooking purposes

References

Compiler
  • Daler Domullojonov
Editors
Reviewer
  • Laura Ebneter
  • Alexandra Gavilano
  • Fabian Ottiger
  • Joana Eichenberger
Date of documentation: April 30, 2011
Last update: Nov. 2, 2021
Resource persons
Full description in the WOCAT database
Linked SLM data
Documentation was faciliated by
Institution Project
Key references
  • Brochure "Soil improvement starts with efficient cook stoves! low cost options to increase energy efficiency in Southern Tajikistan": Weltgungerhilfe projects in Khatlon region, Temurmalik district
  • Welthungerhilfe project final narrative report (144-912): Weltgungerhilfe projects in Khatlon region, Temurmalik district
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareaAlike 4.0 International