Solar Bakery at Kifuru-Kisarawe

In the remote district of Kisarawe and Pwani region in Tanzania, at Kifuru Village a truly innovative project has been deployed. The project aim is to empower women while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation.

On the 18th of August, 2017 Kifuru women group known as Voice of Women Entrepreneurs at Kifuru (VOWEK) inaugurated their solar oven. Solar oven will be deployed for the local bakery. The project was funded by the Energy and Environment Partnership Program (EEP). While R20 is the international project manager and Rural Urban Development Initiatives (RUDI) of Tanzania served as project manager at the national level.

A solar oven has many advantages over their electrical or coal fired counterparts. In Tanzania only 32.8% of all households are electrified by any form of electricity [Tanzania Rural Energy Agency, Dec-2016]. In rural, remote areas the situation is worse. Additionally electrical ovens are relatively expensive to run, thus making the acquirement of an electrical oven for many an unfeasible option. Therefore, charcoal fired ovens are often the first choice. But these ovens have several disadvantages. The most obvious one being that they emit greenhouse gases and are therefore directly contributing to the climate change. Secondly the smoke from charcoal ovens can lead to diseases such as lung cancer.