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Last edited: 21 November 2024
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The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) uses the power of the sun to fight poverty and climate change. Energy access is at the root of some of our biggest global inequities—from education to food security to public health. SELF works with communities around the world to establish solar projects, with a focus on environmental justice, community ownership, and scalable outcomes. (From the SELF website)
Their Solar Cooking Program in Uganda trains women to become culinary entrepreneurs. An initiative of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), the program equips participants with skills in solar cooking and baking, as well as marketing and accounting, to create career pipelines in the culinary space.
The participants gather the ingredients to begin a baking session
For the pilot program, SELF partnered with the Rape Hurts Foundation (RHF), a Uganda-based organization that provides refuge and support to survivors of sexual- and gender-based violence. According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey, up to 22 percent of Ugandan women aged 15 to 49 have experienced some form of sexual violence. SELF and RHF developed the program to create career pathways for survivors on their healing journeys.
The organizations created two solar bakery businesses in Uganda, one in Jinja at the RHF head office and one in Kamuli at the RHF Bukyerimba vocational school. These locations, known as the Sanyu (or “happiness”) bakeries, are equipped with Lytefire commercial-scale solar array appliances that can bake, roast, dehydrate, and cook a variety of foods at scale. Lytefire held a series of initial trainings on-site. Local partners at RHF then took this knowledge, and are training program participants on a rolling basis. SELF helped assess needs, direct the curriculum, manage logistics, and fund the trainings and ovens. The year-long pilot phase recently concluded in the Busoga rub-region. Initial results show hundreds of women earning income from the program, with additional benefits to clean cooking locally.
Removing cakes from the oven
Ready for sale at the bakery
Sampling the baked goods at the event
People can come to the bakeries and receive skills trainings in solar cooking. Once graduated, participants can apply to work at one of the two bakeries. They can also utilize the units, free-of-charge, to set up their own cooking or catering business.
As of November 2024, the program has trained 1,738 people. It has also raised awareness for the importance of clean cooking, and raised local demand for clean alternatives such as solar. In a region of Uganda that remains largely without electricity, stand-alone solar appliances offer a sustainable and practical solution for food production.
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Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF)
2021 L Street NW Suite 101-344
Washington, DC 20036
USA
Tel: +1 (202) 234-7265
Email: Contact form
Web: https://www.self.org
Georgia Lawson
Communications Director
georgia@self.org