SCI Highlights Solar Cooking's Impact on Refugee Families at COP29 Humanitarian Hub
Solar Cookers International (SCI) hosted a session at the Humanitarian Hub at COP29 in Baku on November 21, showcasing the transformative impact of solar cooking technology in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, where solar box ovens are helping refugees address cooking fuel shortages while delivering economic, environmental, and health benefits. The event featured presentations by SCI Strategic Partnerships Manager Keith Wingeard, and SCI Program and Science Director Alan Bigelow, Ph.D., who highlighted the ovens’ ability to save costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve health outcomes, alongside a short film illustrating the empowerment of refugee women adopting the technology. Guest speaker, Rosemary Atieno, Founder of Community Mobilization for Positive Empowerment, emphasized the importance of community involvement in ensuring the success and sustainability of such initiatives. Speaking from personal experience, Rosemary said,
"I would confidently say that solar cooking is a good model of cooking for our rural women... The beauty of the box oven is, one, it is clean, so you are not touching a lot of soot. Two, the foods that are cooked in the solar cookers are locally available. These are the foods that we use on a day-to-day basis. Three, our women are very busy. Women in Africa are very busy because they start work early in the morning and end in the night. So if they are able to get their food well done in good time, they'll be able to do other things. In my opinion, solar cooking has improved the leadership of our women locally. They are able to put the food in the solar cooker, and as it is cooking, they're able to do other household chores and be able to get more time to attend meetings... It has also improved the health outcomes for our women."
We thank our supporters for making this work possible and helping SCI advocate for clean cooking solutions for women and girls worldwide. We hope you enjoy the event!