Rakai women embrace cheap cooking method
Dec 08, 2008
GLADYS Nandaula beams with excitement as she holds pieces of smokeless charcoal made from waste. Her smile is as refreshing as the fresh air in the one roomed house where she is cooking her meal in Kyotera town, Rakai district.
By Gerald Tenywa
GLADYS Nandaula beams with excitement as she holds pieces of smokeless charcoal made from waste. Her smile is as refreshing as the fresh air in the one roomed house where she is cooking her meal in Kyotera town, Rakai district.
For this mother of three, finding firewood for cooking was previously difficult. She looks up and recalls the hard times.
“Fetching firewood used to take much time. In addition; the firewood would produce a lot of choking smoke,†she says.
Life turned round for Nandaula and other women when the Kyotera- based women’s group, Rakai Women’s Effort to save the Environment, mobilised them to do something to uplift their wellbeing.
Now charcoal briquettes made from waste are readily available. “There is no need to spend a lot of time looking for the scarce firewood,†says Nandaula.
Rose Nantongo, one of the founders of the group, says necessity is the mother of invention.
“It was difficult to prepare meals for most women and some of them would choose to for-go some meals,†she says.
But now, one of the means of producing energy source lies in the hands of Kyotera women.
“Waste that used to be thrown away is used to provide fuel for cooking. This means cutting fewer trees to make firewood and charcoal,†says Nandaula.
The charcoal briquettes provide more energy than the charcoal traditionally used for cooking.
“For the traditional charcoal, one may use a sack. But the charcoal briquettes less than half a sack is needed to cook the same quantity of food,†says Nantongo Kaweesi, the mobiliser of the group.
She says it is easy to use and store charcoal briquettes.†“I used to spend sh3,000 a week to buy fuel wood and charcoal but now I use only sh500,â€he adds.
Charcoal briquettes are turning into brisk business for the women who have mastered the art of making them. The bakers and fish smokers are also getting interested in the charcoal briquettes.
The women who are making charcoal briquettes collect raw materials such as charcoal dust (locally known as olusenyente), banana peelings, ash, saw dust, cow dung and old boxes, which constitute some of the most common waste in Kyotera town, and mould them into charcoal briquettes.
Kaweesi says some of the boxes are soaked in water until they become soft and the crushed dry banana peelings are added together with the charcoal finings. The banana peels act as a binder, helping some of the raw materials to stick together. The mixture which makes up a paste is turned into small round balls. It is dried for at least three days after which it is ready for use as a cooking material.
She says the women embraced this approach when they discussed with Minister of Water and Environment Maria Mutagamba the environmental issues affecting the rural women and urban areas. Participants at the workshop complained of poor soils , depleted fuel wood supplies and shortage of water.
GLADYS Nandaula beams with excitement as she holds pieces of smokeless charcoal made from waste. Her smile is as refreshing as the fresh air in the one roomed house where she is cooking her meal in Kyotera town, Rakai district.
For this mother of three, finding firewood for cooking was previously difficult. She looks up and recalls the hard times.
“Fetching firewood used to take much time. In addition; the firewood would produce a lot of choking smoke,†she says.
Life turned round for Nandaula and other women when the Kyotera- based women’s group, Rakai Women’s Effort to save the Environment, mobilised them to do something to uplift their wellbeing.
Now charcoal briquettes made from waste are readily available. “There is no need to spend a lot of time looking for the scarce firewood,†says Nandaula.
Rose Nantongo, one of the founders of the group, says necessity is the mother of invention.
“It was difficult to prepare meals for most women and some of them would choose to for-go some meals,†she says.
But now, one of the means of producing energy source lies in the hands of Kyotera women.
“Waste that used to be thrown away is used to provide fuel for cooking. This means cutting fewer trees to make firewood and charcoal,†says Nandaula.
The charcoal briquettes provide more energy than the charcoal traditionally used for cooking.
“For the traditional charcoal, one may use a sack. But the charcoal briquettes less than half a sack is needed to cook the same quantity of food,†says Nantongo Kaweesi, the mobiliser of the group.
She says it is easy to use and store charcoal briquettes.†“I used to spend sh3,000 a week to buy fuel wood and charcoal but now I use only sh500,â€he adds.
Charcoal briquettes are turning into brisk business for the women who have mastered the art of making them. The bakers and fish smokers are also getting interested in the charcoal briquettes.
The women who are making charcoal briquettes collect raw materials such as charcoal dust (locally known as olusenyente), banana peelings, ash, saw dust, cow dung and old boxes, which constitute some of the most common waste in Kyotera town, and mould them into charcoal briquettes.
Kaweesi says some of the boxes are soaked in water until they become soft and the crushed dry banana peelings are added together with the charcoal finings. The banana peels act as a binder, helping some of the raw materials to stick together. The mixture which makes up a paste is turned into small round balls. It is dried for at least three days after which it is ready for use as a cooking material.
She says the women embraced this approach when they discussed with Minister of Water and Environment Maria Mutagamba the environmental issues affecting the rural women and urban areas. Participants at the workshop complained of poor soils , depleted fuel wood supplies and shortage of water.