Women in rural parts of Kenya are now finding more time to bake their cake and eat it too!
Thanks to the introduction of solar cookers which has changed their lives; from time consuming firewood collection, to making products in solar cookers and selling it in the market. Their lives have been revolutionalised by the solar cooker.
It is a simple device, beneficial to both environment and health. It doesn’t require charcoal, firewood, open fires or smoke filled rooms.
In just five minutes a simple model is built and in about US$6/7, a much harder glass and aluminum models are available.
Unlike traditional cooking this type of cooking requires just two steps, of putting the food and then taking out cooked food. It doesn’t require frequent check ups of watching, stirring. It even pasteurizes water and milk.
Various types of solar cookers do different type of cooking and can even be used for deep frying but the models are different from simple ones.
Sunny weather being a prerequisite, it complements traditional cooking in night and during unfavourable weather conditions.
It still takes long hours of cooking in a simple solar cooker, an hour longer than the normal, but the women are free from continuous stirring during the cooking process. Although sun’s power is at its best between 10 am and 2 pm, at least two meals can easily be cooked using a solar cooker and rest of the time can be used for other activities.
Valuable time is getting saved so the women can now spend time on their farms, or even make and bake products in another solar cooker to sell in the markets and earn money.
The cookers have numerous benefits:
1. Sun’s energy comes for free, so the valuable fuel is saved for evenings or during rough weather conditions.
2. Leaves time to do other things as cooking can be done unattended
3. Pots and utensils are easy to clean as they don’t gather any soot.
4. No smoke is produced, so juicy foods gets cooked without causing injuries to eyes and lungs
5. The cookit gets folded easily so is portable.
6. They are pollution free and help aforestation as there is less dependence on firewood or fossil fuels.
A UN report indicated that about 2 billion families spend nearly 30-50% of their income in buying fuels as fuels are becoming scarce and prices are rising worldwide, so introduction of solar cookers can help save dependence on fuels.
7. Pasteurizes milk and water, which reduces Cholera and other water borne diseases.
8. One ton of wood can be saved every year if solar cookers are used in sunny climates.
The task of teaching about solar cooking and how to make one is being taken up by various non profit organizations like AVIF, who teach rural and dependent women and to become independent while taking the social restrictions into consideration.
Via: AVIF
