Evaluation of a Solar Oven Promotion Program in Ethiopia, 1997-2001
Background
Aisha refugee camp is in northeastern Ethiopia near the Somali border. It was established in 1990 by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and is administered by ARRA, the Ethiopian agency for displaced persons. It has a population of approximately 14,000. NGOs conduct various projects there to improve living conditions and deal with increasingly serious environmental degradation in the area.
One of these NGOs is Solar Cookers International. SCI introduced solar cooking in 1997. The goal was to reduce the drudgery of foraging for fuel wood and the environmental damage it caused. Inexpensive solar ovens called CooKits were distributed and refugees trained in their use. An annual evaluation by UNHCR in 1998 documented fuel, labor and money savings, high acceptance and high usage. By1999 almost all families in the camp had earned solar cookers, and about half of them had also purchased a second cooker at a subsidized price.
Evaluation Protocol
To measure the longer-term impact of this project, an independent consultant was retained with the support of UNHCR, ARRA and SCI. He conducted a thorough survey over 30 days in October and November 2001, documenting the level of solar cooker use, and resulting fuel wood savings.
Survey findings
A baseline survey had been conducted in 1997, before the SCI project started. At that time, 75% of households in Aisha camp used only fuel wood. An additional 20% used a combination of fuel wood and charcoal. At the end of the SCI project, the evaluation survey of 180 households found that 94.3% now solar cook in combination with other cooking devices and 2.2% of households report using the CooKit exclusively.
The impact of the CooKit’s introduction was measured by comparing fuel wood use before the project was launched and at its completion. Frequent users of the CooKit consumed 44% less firewood and 78% less charcoal. For occasional users, the average was 27% less firewood and 22% less charcoal. The refugee camp is using approximately 32% less fuel wood than before the introduction of the CooKit.
Overall, Aisha residents were pleased with the performance of the CooKit. They found it easier to use than cooking on an open fire and believed the food tasted better. They were not concerned with the slower cooking time or the limitations of bad weather.
On the other hand, residents expressed marked displeasure with the CooKit’s lack of durability, complaining that none of the recent reflectors lasted more than 5 months. (The reflectors made in Ethiopia starting in 2000 were less durable than the ones manufactured in Kenya which last for two years on average.) These refugees’ purchase of second cookers, though subsidized, suggest market potential.
Finally, interviews confirmed refugees recognize the benefits CooKits have for the environment.
Conclusions of the Evaluation
The evaluation team concluded SCI had great success disseminating the CooKit and teaching refugees how to use it, which resulted in significant adoption of it by the target community.
The evaluation team also believed that the project could have been better planned and that SCI should have better defined its partnerships with UNHCR and ARRA. Finally, the team predicted that the project’s accomplishments will not be sustained without the continuing participation of SCI in this refugee setting.
