Alewijn van Asperen is a Solar Cooking KoZon Board Member and the East-Africa Coordinator. He supports Solar Cooking KoZon’s main objective of promoting solar cooking and the use of clean energy at the lowest possible cost. To achieve this, Solar Cooking Kozon uses a business approach where women are encouraged to participate in the local economy. Solar Cooking KoZon encourages the use of Integrated Solar Cooking (ISC) that allows women to prepare food and to pasteurize water in all types of weather. They place emphasis on the use of the Solar CooKit, the Solar Box, the Hay basket, a water pasteurization indicator and wood-saving appliances.
Mr. van Asperen and Solar Cooking KoZon have led impactful projects in East-African countries of Kenya and Uganda. In Kenya, Mr. van Asperen works with the local group, Farmers with a Vision, to start a business selling solar ovens and hay baskets. He also works with the Asulma Centre school in Nairobi to bring solar cooking to that area as well. In Uganda, Solar Cooking KoZon and Van Asperen have worked with Solar Connect Association to expand their social enterprise of selling solar cooking appliances in Gulu, North Uganda, as well as spread the technology to the residents of the Nakivale refugee camp.
In addition to their East-Africa activities, Solar Cooking Kozon and van Asperen support partners in the West-African countries of Burkina Faso and Mali. In Mali, their ongoing involvement with Togo Tile enabled a rapid expansion of their ISC business by establishing a new ISC production facility to produce the full suite of ISC products.
Alewijn has had a successful career in the oil and energy field. After graduating as physicist, he joined Shell International Exploration and Production. His interest in Africa grew while working for Shell for a few years in Nigeria. In 2000, he started his own consultancy firm providing training and consultancy on Production Technology for the oil industry until 2017.