Changes: Malawi

Revision as of 02:55, 3 January 2009

News and Recent Developments

April 2007: McDonald Ganisyeje reports that a solar cooker construction workshop has opened in Nkhotakota, with three employees. Solar CooKits cost about $5.40 to produce, using heavy cardboard that is cut by hand. Ganisyeje hopes to open additional workshops in the Chiradzulu District and the Mchinji-Lilongwe area. Contact: McDonald Ganisyeje

Solar cooker production in Nkhotakota

November 2006: McDonald Ganisyeje of Malawi teamed up with Dr. Jan Snyder of United States in mid-2006 to build 53 panel-type solar cookers similar to the CooKit. These cookers will be sold, with the proceeds used to purchase supplies to build greater numbers of solar cookers to reach ever greater numbers of families. The project will target the Lilongwe and Nkhotakota areas first, and if all goes well will expand to other areas. Contact: McDonald Ganisyeje, Land & Lake Safaris, Box 2140, Lilongwe, Malawi. E-mail: mcdonald@landlake.net

November 2006: As part of a teaching program to promote pasteurization of drinking water, Earl Stanley sent 100 of Solar Cookers International’s water pasteurization indicators (WAPIs) to the Touching Hearts organization for use in Malawi. The WAPIs were distributed by Rev. Max Jawati. "It fills me with great joy and satisfaction," Jawati said, "to report to you that the WAPIs we received … were successfully tested by 50 families in the rural villages and are life and cost effective." He noted that the WAPIs not only worked well when pasteurizing with solar energy, but also when pasteurizing over wood or charcoal fires. Contact: Michele Dixon, Touching Hearts, Inc., P.O. Box 761, Novi, Michigan 48376, USA. E-mail: mailto:hallen@touchinghearts.net

July 2005: In the first year of his latest solar cooking project, Mr. Hosana Nyirenda hoped to train 30 women to make and use solar cookers. Ultimately, 42 women and eight men were trained. (Forty of them learned how to teach others.) Sixty-seven solar cooking demonstrations were conducted, raising solar cooking awareness of some 4,500 adults and children. A few communities are considering solar cooker projects of their own. Mr. Nyirenda’s project was supported by the Lilongwe Rotary Club. Funds are sought to extend the project to other areas of Malawi and to focus on serving those who suffer from HIV/AIDS. Contact: Hosana Nyirenda

The History of Solar Cooking in Malawi

An unusual sponsor of solar cooking in Malawi is the non-profit organization, Peace Child International. One of its programs called Be the Change (BTC) challenges young people to make a difference in their communities. In Malawi the youth action work focuses on solar cooking. One young man proposed to his colleagues that they make and sell solar cookers as a BTC project. With a very small budget, they did all planning and implementation of the project. By 2001,the group has been able to provide 50 village families with solar cookers in 9 different villages. The group has reached out for support from organizations in Germany and Austria, and has also been aided in locating reflective materials by a Malawian business, Universal Industries. (Source: Solar Cooker Review, November 2001)

A quite different type program in Malawi was reported on at the [[Kimberly meetings]] in South Africa in 2000. The country has excellent solar insolation and severe deforestation in some areas. The Department of Energy Affairs has established a Renewable Energy Program, which intends to promote a range of renewable devices, including solar cookers. Using box cookers sold through a micro-financing scheme, the project intends to establish distribution centers across the country. A private business, the Zako Solar Cookers Industry is the principle manufacturer of ovens, and nongovernmental organizations are assisting in the distribution.

To begin, a national planning workshop was held. Various stakeholders came together to divide up the tasks involved in presenting a series of demonstrations on energy saving measures. Participatory principles were stressed and a choice of optional renewable energy modes offered to people. The foci of the project included both arresting environmental degradation and the reduction of poverty.

Information presented at Kimberly described the program at a very early stage. Follow up to ascertain results of the project had not yet been accomplished. This project, started by governmental initiative, is an important development in Africa where the bulk of solar cooking work has been done through non-governmental organizations, many from outside the continent (Kimberly, p. 67).

Climate, Culture, and Special Considerations

Solar Cookers International has rated Malawi as the #20 country in the world in terms of solar cooking potential (See: The 25 countries with the most solar cooking potential). The estimated number of people in Malawi with fuel scarcity but ample sun in 2020 is 2,700,000.

Malawi has a renewable energy component in its school curriculum.

Documents

Reports

Articles in the media

December 2007: Malawi Moves to Limit Charcoal Use - Voice of America

November 2006: Rotary Club hands over solar oven to orphanage - Nation Online

Web pages

September 2008: Energy in Malawi - EcoAfrica Blog

Contacts

A complete list of NGOs and individuals working in Malawi is available in the International Directory of Solar Cooking Promotors.

NGOs based in or working in the Malawi

Individuals

Paul Munsen

@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 ===Reports===
 ===Articles in the media===
+*'''December 2007:''' [http://voanews.com/english/Africa/2008-12-09-voa37.cfm Malawi Moves to Limit Charcoal Use] - ''Voice of America''
 *'''November 2006:''' [http://www.nationmalawi.com/articles.asp?articleID=19493 Rotary Club hands over solar oven to orphanage] - ''Nation Online''