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The Somali culture and way of
life based on pastoralism is under threat. The trees which are so necessary to
maintain that way of life are disappearing due to massive cutting for charcoal
production. Somali families use an average of four large sacks of 25 kgs each
of charcoal per month (100 kgs), the equivalent of one large tree. In the arid
to semi-arid environment of Somalia, large trees can take 30 to 50 years to
grow. If charcoal production is to be stopped, Somalis must have an alternative
to using charcoal for household cooking. Sun Fire Cooking has an alternative:
an
efficient solar cooker.
Trees, our trees,
Oh my people, save our trees
and use solar cookers instead.
Let our trees grow and be free
from charcoal makers and buyers
so that we can live a secure life.
by Shukria Dini, Bosaso, Somalia,
2005
Solar Cooking in
Bander Beyla, Somalia
From
December 2006 to March 2006, Sun Fire Cooking, in partnership with Horn Relief
and with a grant from the United Nations (UNOCHA), distributed 950 butterfly-design
solar cookers to five villages in the tsunami-affected region of Somalia, along
the Indian Ocean coast. In August 2006, four Sun Fire Cooking research team
members revisited the largest of the five villages, Bander Beyla to find out
how the villagers were using the solar cookers. Here is a summary of what they
found, based on participatory action research.
Most of
the solar cookers are used between 8 am and 4 pm, giving eight hours of
cooking. The types of food cooked include rice, beans, fish, meat and tea with
some families also making injeero (a type of flat bread) with the solar cooker.
Families use the solar cooker to boil water for children. Families who
previously used 3 bags of charcoal (25 kgs each) now use only one, saving about
US$14 per month (US$7 per bag of charcoal). Larger families who previously used four bags now use one,
saving US$21 per month. The families use the savings for food, medicine and
childrenšs education.
In
the focus group discussions: Question: How has your life changed since the solar
cooker?
There
was a big change in the economy of the family as the money we saved from the
charcoal we are using for medicine
and for educating our children. Question: How has women's health changed since the solar cooker? The
house remains cleaner. There are no ashes or smoke and the dishes need less
cleaning because the black soot of the dishes is less now. Question: What do you think is
the effect of solar cooking on the environment? We think the trees that used
to be burning for charcoal will be spared and we shall have more trees in the
locations where the charcoal used to be produced.
Two
Stories about Solar Cooker use in Bander Beyla Somalia
One
morning Dahir, the Sun Fire Cooking technician went to visit a family to see how
they were using the solar cooker. He met a woman with two children, but she was
not feeling well and was not using her solar cooker. Dahir then set up her
solar cooker and working with her, he cooked tea, porridge, and heated water
for making powdered milk. Then he
cooked fish. Dahir then invited the neighbors over. That same women talked to
the women telling them how the solar cooker saved her family. Next morning all
those women were cooking with their solar cookers.
Most of
those men whose wives are not in Bander Beyla this time of year go to the sea
in the morning. They come back late in the afternoon carrying their fish. When
they return, they set up their solar cooker and cook their fish together with
their other food. These men said that the solar cookers are ideal for their
life. They do not deal with ashes or collect firewood or buy charcoal.
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