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Solar Cooking
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| On St Valentine's weekend,
February 14th 2009, Terry Umbach
of the One
Village At A Time project, organised a
demonstration of solar cooking at Ndandini Village, about
50km by road from Kitui town. The demonstration was
facilitated by the Development Department of the Diocese of
Kitui. |
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This page
describes the advantages of solar cooking, and tells a
brief story of the demonstration.
A huge turnout of villagers saw a
demonstration by Solar Cookers International of two types
of cooker- a smaller one for home cooking, and a larger
parabolic cooker suitable for schools and large groups.
Seen left, the women prepare food for cooking as the
trainers (in Red uniforms) tell them all about the
technique. |
| Right
now, there is a severe drought in Kitui. Among the coping
strategies adopted by the people to deal with the food
shortages, the practice of charcoal burning has a
devastating effect on the environment. This is not just an
academic issue- by cutting down trees to make charcoal for
sale, the process of desertification occurs.
Desertification
is the degradation of land in arid and dry areas, resulting
in this case from man's actions. A major impact of
desertification is biodiversity loss and loss of productive
capacity.
In
Africa, if current trends of soil degradation continue, the
continent will be able to feed only 25% of its population
by 2025, according to UNU's
Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa.[1]
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An open fire for cooking
at a Kitui school
Most families in Kitui- and schools- use
open fires fuelled by firewood cut from the local area.
Efficiency is low, and large quantities of a precious
resource used. In addition, low temperature combustion
gives rise to dioxin production. |
Enhancing household and
women’s economic status:
- Solar cooking saves time as there is
less need to tend a fire or collect firewood. A person
can cook while at work, at the market, or tending
crops. Young girls can attend school instead of
searching for fuel-wood.
- Solar energy is free and abundant in
Kitui, providing a safe, clean, healthy supplement to
traditional fuels.
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In
1994, a volunteer group of engineers and solar cooks
associated with Solar
Cookers International developed and produced the CooKit,
based on a design by French scientist Roger Bernard.
Elegant and deceptively simple looking,
it is an affordable, effective and convenient solar cooker.
It requires a dark, covered pot and one plastic bag per day
or one high-temperature plastic bag per month.
With a few hours of sunshine, the CooKit
makes tasty meals for 5-6 people at gentle temperatures,
cooking food and preserving nutrients without burning or
drying out. Larger families use two or more cookers.
CooKits are now produced
independently in 25 countries from a wide variety of
materials at a wholesale cost of $3 - $7 US.
You can either buy, or build your own
CooKit from heavy cardboard covered with reflective foil,
using the plans
from Solar Cookers International |
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Panel
solar cookers are the first to be available to the world's
neediest. |
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Shown right is the large
parabolic solar cooker with two pots cooking away gently. |
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Preparing the food for
cooking |
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The solar cooker, which uses no fuel at
all, for obvious reasons can only be used in daytime
in full sun. But cloudy days are infrequent in Kitui!
- The CooKit can pasteurize household
drinking water, making it safe to drink.
- The solar cooking process is
smokeless, reducing respiratory diseases and eye
irritation
- Solar cooked foods retain vitamins,
nutrients and their natural flavours; there is no smoky
taste; the foods cook slowly in their own juices.
Nutritious, slow-cooking traditional foods (beans, root
crops, and some grains) are restored to the family diet
- Clean up is easy as the food never
burns or sticks to the cooking pot.
- Solar cooks frequently report that the
money they save on cooking fuel purchases is used to
for many essentials, such as extra food, school
supplies, and medical care.
- Without having to gather wood or dung,
breathe smoke, and tend a fire – all associated with
traditional cooking – solar cooking is easy and safe
for people with AIDS and other illnesses, the elderly,
disabled and young orphans.
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Terry enjoys the final
results! |
Rapt attention for the
trainers |
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(Above) After the first
period in the solar cooker, the container is placed in an
insulated basket where it continues to cook. (Above right)
Close up of the cooking container showing the plastic
cooking bag which retains moisture and steams the food. |
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