Climate Stewards supports A Rocha Uganda to help families in Kiteezi, a poor community in a northern suburb of Kampala, to make and use fireless cookers. Families come to the A Rocha center in nearby Gayaza where they are taught how to make the fireless cooker, which is a heavily insulated basket made from local materials. They are also trained how to use and maintain their new cooker.
Based on information from a detailed monitoring survey carried out in 2020, we confirmed that each fireless cooker saves an average of 0.74 metric tons of CO₂ per year. Climate Stewards has funded 210 fireless cookers with A Rocha Uganda.
The staple meals in Uganda and other African countries often require a long period of boiling. Fireless cookers act as slow cookers. In the morning, someone prepares a meal of stew or beans on a conventional fire, bringing it to boiling. They douse the fire and place the stew pot in the fireless cooker to cook slowly for a few hours. Women are freed up to go out to work and know that food will be ready to eat when the family returns home in the evening.
The difference a fireless cooker can make…
Eseza is a 74-year-old grandmother who lives with her husband, Edward, and two grandchildren. She is very happy with her fireless cooker and says, “Ever since I got my fireless cooker I save time, water, and fuel. I no longer get too tired because I spend less time in the kitchen, I also get time to visit my neighbors and friends. Before I got a fireless cooker, we used to spend UGX 2,000 daily to buy firewood but currently, we spend UGX 1,500 or less. The money saved is used for other household needs. My husband and I are very grateful.”
