Zimbabwe

The History of Solar Cooking in Zimbabwe

A project in Zimbabwe was started in 1997 in conjunction with the meeting of the World Solar Summit Commission, a group of Heads of State from representative nations of the world, announcing the start of the World Solar Decade, 1996-2005. Prior to that time, SCI, with the aid of a financial grant from UNESCO, had quickly initiated a project in Zimbabwe, in collaboration with the Development Training Center, a unit of the University of Zimbabwe. The history of the project, while having an auspicious beginning, is not altogether a rosy one.

Initially, the project went very well. A corps of experienced trainers traveled to Zimbabwe, to two selected areas, one rural, the other a peri-urban area near the nation's capital, Harare. Staff from DTC assisted in organizing local contacts with appropriate organizations; training of women in both sites was accomplished swiftly and effectively. The Commission meetings went well; they were able to enjoy solar cooked food produced by Zimbabwean women, pronounced as excellent by the national Heads of State and other high officials present. In the years following, between 1996 and 2003, over 6,000 cookers had been sold and their buyers trained in solar cooking methods. However, after the "brass" departed, the Commission's work accomplished, the project was less secure financially and promised funds for future years were not made available to SCI and the DTC. Adjustments had to be made in expenses, the projects were considerably curtailed and new modes of operating were sought. Over time, the peri-urban project was dropped, while the other, located near Zimbabwe's second major city of Bulawayo, was changed to one that conceptualized individual trainers as independent entrepreneurs, selling the cookers plus a training program for a fee, which generated a small income for the trainer. While still in existence, many difficulties ensued in latter stages of the project: transportation in rural areas is difficult and erratic, supplies were not always available in timely manner, and staff changes at DTC required continuous reorientation to the project. Kindhearted trainers sold cookers on time, and then had trouble collecting the funds from buyers. Misunderstandings were occasionally present between the two major sponsors, separated by 8,000 miles. Funds for use of the solar cooking programs from Solar Decade money allotted to the Department of Energy never became available. And finally, as backdrop for the work, the nation has been in extraordinary political and economic turmoil for several years with no end in sight. Many hours have been spent re-examining what went wrong with this project, which though continuing to operate on a small scale, surely might have been more effective (Kimberly, p.217). A small Rotary funded project however now operates in the same area of the country, near Bulawayo, utilizing a number of the trainers from the SCI project.

[Information for this section was taken originally from State of the Art of Solar Cooking by Dr. Barbara Knudson]

Climate, Culture, and Special Considerations

See also

• Discussion of southern Africa's suitability for solar cooking
  
• Solar cooker dissemination and cultural variables

Contacts

Individuals

• A complete list of Solar Cookers International's solar cooking contacts is available in the International Directory of Solar Cooking Promotors

See Also

• Click here for the complete list of Solar Cooking Wiki articles related to Country page