SHE’s 11-person focus group in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya

SHE collaborated with Solar Education Project (SEP) and other partners to carry out an 11-person focus group solar cooker project in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya in May 2022 and a follow-up evaluation in April 2023, 11 months later. This small project provided 11 beneficiaries with solar cookers, heat-retention baskets, ten days of training, and at least 6 months of virtual support by Solar Education Project and local staff via a WhatsApp group with all beneficiaries. 11-month evaluation results showed all women were using their solar cookers,  4.6 times per week on average, and all women reported saving fuelwood and charcoal. For more information, please see the Project Proposal, SEP’s Solar Thermal Cooking Instruction Manual in English, the SolarThermal Cooking Workbook in Swahili, the 2022 Solar Cooker Training Evaluation Report and data and the 2023 11-month evaluation report and data. Below are key points taken from these reports.

Kakuma Refugee Camp was established in 1992 in Northwestern Kenya and houses almost 200,000 people. It is  one of the largest refugee camps supporting families from South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda. The climate is not well suited to agriculture, however, it sports almost 300 sun-filled days each year.

The Haines pop open solar oven focus group program was initiated and designed by a SHE/SEP/Haines collaborative program, designed and implemented with a focus on long term impact, accountability, continuous improvement and  to introduce a sustainable and environmentally friendly, renewable cooking method. Eleven trainees were selected by the Youth Education Development Association (YEDA) Manager to participate and receive a Haines Pop Open Solar cooker and heat retention basket in a 10-day focus group training.

The materials to make the new cookers were already in Kakuma and were free by Haines Solar Cookers LLC, and were made into cookers by YEDA. The trainers were Camily Ramonyi and Grace Chepkemei, who have been teaching solar cooking for many years. They used a ten-day curriculum for solar cooking developed for this project by the Solar Education Project’s Mary Buchenic  and Jennifer Gasser.  The curriculum teaches the science behind solar cooking as well as how to cook local foods using the Haines 1 Pop-Open Solar Cooker. People are more likely to use a solar cooker if they can cook the evening meal and keep it hot until after dark by placing the pot in an insulated basket.  Grace Chepkemei provided training in how to use these insulated baskets, which were made from locally-sourced materials. At the end of the training, participants were awarded a Certificate in Solar Cooking.

The trainees agreed to remit photos of foods cooked, share recipes, and their journey during the 6 month follow up period.  At the 11-month mark, the group was able to meet, cook together and share their solar cooking journey.

Some key findings from the 11-month evaluation include:

1. The program provided training to eleven women, ten from Kakuma 3 and one from across the river in Kakuma 2, (the YEDA Office Manager also received and oven and sat in on the training). All who learned how to use solar cookers efficiently and effectively, received a Haines pop open oven. 100 percent of the women trained continue to use their solar cooker on a regular basis after almost 1 year. 73% of the trainees sent photos of foods cooked through the WhatsApp group for the first six months.  100% of the trainees completed the 11-month survey update. 100% of the women agree that using the solar cooker has reduced their charcoal and wood use.
2. One of the women reports using her solar cooker every day the sun is shining. Her husband is involved with solar cooking and uses her oven for demonstrations in Kakuma Two.
3. Six of the women report using the solar cooker 4 to 5 times a week (weather permitting), three of women report using the solar cooker less than three times a week, and one had the pot stolen and didn’t solar cook until she found a replacement (she is solar cooking again 4 to 5 times a week). *This information was received after the meeting. There are days that they do not have food to cook, and they eat leftovers, eat bread or nothing.