• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • #innov8aid

    How to quake-proof homes: Try mulberry

    A versatile plant, mulberry provides material that has protected many homes in Tajikistan’s rural communities from earthquakes. An official from Habitat for Humanity tells us more about this award-winning solution.

    By Eliza Villarino // 06 November 2013
    Men attach a net of mulberry branches to a timber frame to reinforce an existing mud brick wall in Tajikistan. Mulberry is ideal for making structures resilient to temblors. Photo by: Habitat for Humanity

    It’s a source of nutritious food and medicinal tea. But perhaps unknown to many, the mulberry plant boasts another powerful quality: Its branches have tensile strength enough to withstand earthquakes.

    That makes mulberry ideal for making structures resilient to temblors. In Tajikistan — a country that endures more than 5,000 tremors a year, with many reaching magnitudes over 7 — a technology using harvested mulberry branches and twigs, along with a timber framework covered and finished with a plaster of mud, straw and wool, has become a standard in rural house reconstruction.

    The mulberry-based solution for retrofitting mud brick walls is the brainchild of Habitat for Humanity, the Tajikistan Institute of Seismology and other local partners. It was conceptualized following a series of earthquakes that hit the Kumsangir district a few years ago.

    The partners initially tested the innovation on a few hundreds of houses in eight local communities. And compared to unreinforced houses, those covered by the project had little or no damage from subsequent earthquakes.

    “It is entirely possible to find appropriate technological solution to reduce the vulnerability of people living in rural disaster-prone areas, and that investment in mitigation pays off with a significant return of investment,” Mario Flores, director of field operations in disaster risk reduction and response at Habitat for Humanity International, told Devex.

    The solution won Habitat for Humanity the 2013 FedEx Award for Innovations in Disaster Preparedness. The award comes with a cash prize that the nonprofit says it will use to expand its efforts in Tajikistan, bringing the technology to more local communities.  

    Part of the plan is to help families gain access to financing. Reinforcing rural homes valued at $4,000-$10,000 with mulberry branches and timber framing requires an investment of $300-$750 in a country where about 95 percent of the Tajik rural population lives on $2 per day.

    “Challenges for the application of the technology are in the field of economic realities in Tajikistan,” noted Flores. “Many families do not consider the reinforcement of their homes to be the most pressing priority in front of them.”

    Exportable model

    To help change perspectives, Habitat for Humanity provides beneficiaries and members of the community with disaster preparedness training. This covers hazards identification and awareness, an analysis of community assets, community surveys and mapping, the development of a disaster preparedness action plan for the community and identification or linkage of the community plan to wider government plans and agencies.

    Evidence of the innovation’s effectiveness, said Flores, also has helped make a case with locals.

    With the success of the technology, Habitat for Humanity hopes its peers in the aid community will take it up and spread its use to other developing countries, and think seriously about providing more funding for mitigation and preparedness programs, which would “achieve a better balance to the amounts of funding they provide for response after a disaster strikes.”

    “The success of this type of interventions is measured by the houses that didn’t collapse, or the lives that were spared, or the livelihoods that were not affected by disaster,” Flores said.

    Habitat for Humanity, according to Flores, is also exploring other materials for similar applications. In Nepal, the nonprofit is testing and developing bamboo as an alternative, with the advantage of being able to integrate the material into a full housing solution.

    Read our previous #innov8aid and let us know what you think about this innovation by leaving a comment below.

      Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

      About the author

      • Eliza Villarino

        Eliza Villarino

        Eliza Villarino currently manages one of today’s leading publications on humanitarian aid, global health and international development, the weekly GDB. At Devex, she has helped grow a global newsroom, with talented journalists from major development hubs such as Washington, D.C, London and Brussels. She regularly writes about innovations in global development.

      Search for articles

      Related Jobs

      • Individual Consultant: Sales and Market Development – Burkina Faso
        Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
        Burkina Faso
      • Individual Consultant: Analysis of the Regulatory and Political Framework for Marketing in Agri-Food Systems in Burkina Faso
        Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
        Burkina Faso
      • AGRA Communications and Advocacy Associates
        Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
        Mozambique
      • See more

      Most Read

      • 1
        How low-emissions livestock are transforming dairy farming in Africa
      • 2
        Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
      • 3
        Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
      • 4
        How AI-powered citizen science can be a catalyst for the SDGs
      • 5
        Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters

      Trending

      Financing for Development Conference

      The Trump Effect

      Newsletters

      • News
      • Jobs
      • Funding
      • Talent
      • Events

      Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

      A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Post a job
      • Careers at Devex
      • Contact us
      © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement