1. Environmental

Deforestation
People in Uganda are using wood at a much faster rate than it is growing back, with the result that the total amount of forested land is shrinking rapidly.  As forests disappear or recede, the ecosystems that are dependent upon the trees also recede or disappear.  As ecosystems disappear, the country risks the loss of bio-diversity. Deforestation is reducing the Earth’s natural ability to regulate the amounts of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air.  Trees and other plant life take carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen.  As deforestation accelerates, there are fewer trees to use the growing amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in our atmosphere - a condition that contributes to global warming. 

A Ministry of Energy and Mineral Dept. Report on SUSTAINABLE BIOMASS ENERGY PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION IN HOUSEHOLD AND INDUSTRY IN UGANDA, Josh Mabonga-Mwisaka, December, 2000, [Project funded by the Royal Netherlands Government for the Department of energy in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development] indicates that “fuel wood, charcoal, and crop residues (biomass energy) account for more than 90% of the energy used in Uganda, making it the most important energy resource in Uganda’s economy compared to electricity and petroleum.” Uganda is blessed with an abundance of sunshine; the sun can be used as the fuel source for the majority of cooking.  With the growing problem of deforestation, solar ovens will make a big difference.  Many Ugandan households depend on wood and charcoal to prepare food, and the supply of wood is rapidly disappearing.  The demands of  population growth and the inefficient conversion of wood to charcoal have outstripped much of the forests’ ability to regenerate.

A Study of Woody Biomass Derived Energy Supplies in Uganda, Energy for Sustainable Development, Ltd. September 1995, [An EU financed Natural Forest Management and Conservation Project, Service Contract No. FRP/94/1, Forest Department, Ministry of Natural Resources] reported that Uganda consumed 400,000 metric tonnes of charcoal in 1994,with an estimated 7 million cubic metres of solid wood used to produce these volumes of charcoal. In rural areas, 10 million metric tonnes of wood fuel is utilized for domestic purposes annually. Given a population currently growing at 6.4% per annum, this level of deforestation to meet cooking needs cannot be sustained; hence the need for alternative cooking energy sources. 

The Government of Uganda’s New Strategic & Implementation Plan of the Energy Sector, June 1999, [In 1997,the Government of Uganda formulated a comprehensive and detailed Strategic Plan for transforming the Uganda Energy sector into a financially viable industry, the New Strategic & Implementation Plan of June 1999, fundamentally revises and updates this plan] sets widening the base of exploited energy resources particularly the renewable including mini & micro hydro, solar, wind, geothermal and crop residues as its first priority. Uganda countrywide receives relatively high isolation levels averaging about 5 kwh/m/day.

The plan recommends the supply of energy for cooking purposes through small modular units as the most competitive and viable for most urban working class families and rural communities. 

The demand surveys conducted as part of the EU financed Natural Forest Management & Conservation Project in 1994 revealed that 400,000 MT of charcoal were commercially traded in Uganda; of this the urban population used 70%.  

This volume at the time was estimated to grow at the same rate as the population at 6.4% per annum. Therefore, the current demand for charcoal in Uganda is estimated at slightly more than 25 million MT per annum. With a population of about 2million people, Kampala alone was consuming 217,689 MT of charcoal per annum by 2000.

“In most parts of Africa, annual wood consumption for cooking is about .5 ton per person (1.32 kg per day), or about 3 tonnes per family of six.)” Assuming that each oven is used for only 50% of the total cooking a family of six, it would save 1.5 tons of wood a year.  Over the 20-year life of each SUN OVEN, each family will eliminate the need to cut down 30 tonnes of wood. 

Many of Uganda’s problems have environmental origins and/or effects.  Deforestation, and the resulting soil erosion, are Uganda’s greatest environmental threat and have had a severe impact on plants, animals, soil and water resources.  If deforestation is not reversed, there is little hope that negative environmental and economic trends that have plagued Uganda can be reversed.  A major environmental rehabilitation and reconstruction process must begin immediately.  This process cannot begin if every tree that is planted is not allowed to grow to maturity.  If the people of Uganda can be taught to use the solar resource we have in abundance, and financing is supplied to allow this to be accomplished, there is brighter hope for the future of Uganda. 

Global Warming
The above-normal heating of the Earth's atmosphere is caused by a greenhouse effect where carbon dioxide and other gasses emitted from the burning of fossil fuels trap heat in the atmosphere and cause a rise in Earth’s temperatures.  Global warming is thought to cause erratic weather patterns with more storms.  If global warming is allowed to continue, it will cause an accelerated melting of polar ice caps capable of raising sea levels to the point of flooding many coastal cities around the world.   

The burning of wood, charcoal, or dung releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming.  The use of solar cookers does not release gases causing the greenhouse effect. The combustion from wood fires releases greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere with potentially serious costs to the global economy and environment.  Increasing GHG concentrations are likely to cause large negative economic impacts in the future.  Each SUN OVEN  will reduce the amount of GHGs, which would otherwise have been emitted.  

2. Health

“Indoor air pollution – generated largely by inefficient and poorly ventilated stoves burning biomass fuels such as wood, crop waste and dung, or coal – is responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.6 million people annually. More than half of these deaths occur among children under five years of age. In developing countries with high mortality rates overall, indoor air pollution ranks eighth in terms of the risk factors that contribute to disease and death.” The use of SUN OVENS will reduce the amount of indoor air pollution by 70% decreasing the risk of disease and death. 

3. Social

The use of SUN OVENS will help give women and children more control over their lives.  In areas of Uganda, where wood is the primary cooking fuel, it is the traditional duty of women and children (mostly female children) to gather wood and cook the food.  Often it is these family members who also have the fewest opportunities for education and earning income. Once they have wood and are cooking with it, they often spend a lot of time tending the fire.  With solar cooking, once food is prepared, it is often placed in the oven and left alone for several hours.  The only care needed is to turn the cooker every hour or so to follow the sun's path across the sky.   By saving the time needed to gather wood, and tend fires women and children may have more time to focus on education, health, agricultural, or business issues that will improve their lives and afford them new opportunities.

4. Economic

The SUN OVEN  is designed to meet up to 70% of the cooking needs of a typical family, entirely with the power of the sun.  Cooking temperatures of 360° F (183° C) can be maintained in this easy-to-use unit.  This ruggedly built oven weighs only 21 lbs./9.5 kg. and will last more than 20 years. As its name implies, the SUN OVEN  is a solar-powered appliance that can bake, boil, or steam food.  This oven captures and focuses the sun's energy into its black interior via adjustable aluminum reflectors. 

The SUN OVEN  is often compared with box cookers made out of aluminum foil and cardboard.  While the energy conversion principles are the same, the materials utilized in manufacturing a SUN OVEN  have been carefully researched to include the most efficient materials available.  In order to capture the maximum amount of energy, achieve the highest possible temperature, and retain the greatest amount of heat possible, while minimizing the weight, the materials utilized have been selected based on efficiency and quality. 

NGOs which have worked with SUN OVENS  have found it easier getting people to use them because the ovens work so well and maintain cooking temperatures that are significantly higher than other alternative solar cooking devices. 

Due to its long life and ability to cook a larger volume of food in a shorter time, SUN OVENS are less expensive on a cost-per-meal basis than any other solar cooking device.  The high-quality materials required to make a SUN OVEN® make its initial cost higher, but its overall cost lower than any other solar cooking device available anywhere in the world.

The Villager In addition to the family-size Sun Oven, we offer the Villager Sun Oven, which can accommodate the needs of entire communities.