Fondo Mexicano Para La Conservación de la Naturaleza
From Solar Cooking
Mexico has been a focus of Solar Household Energy’s solar cooking promotion efforts since 2003, when it partnered with the Mexican Nature Conservation Fund (Fondo Mexicano Para La Conservación de la Naturaleza) in a pilot project to introduce HotPots in the Sierra Gorda preservation area north of Mexico City. SHE co-founder Louise Meyer makes regular trips to Mexico to oversee projects in several Mexican communities, supported by grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Bank’s Development Marketplace.
The EPA project seeks to analyze the potential for solar cooking devices to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution – specifically smoke caused by cooking indoors over wood-fueled stoves. Project results will be published in late 2006.
At present, SHE and FMCN are employing both NGOs (including the Grupo Ecologico Sierra Gorda) and individual private distributors to bring HotPots to rural and urban consumers. In addition, approximately 3,000 HotPots have been distributed in Mexico to date throughout the country. An environmental affairs agency of the state of Zacatecas recently purchased 500 HotPots for distribution there, and SHE is helping to guide that process.
SHE is also directing and underwriting a targeted distribution, training and solar cooking utilization study in Nogales, Mexico, being carried out by a team from the University of Arizona led by Dr. Diane Austin, an associate research anthropologist with the University.
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Categories: NGOs | Mexico
