Laikipia, Kenya
Wonderbag and Zeitz Foundation teamed up to demonstrate the Wonderbag to people from the Laikipia community. We started at a popular local market with Sarah Collins (Wonderbag Founder) giving an introduction. Patrick, the headmaster at the 1 st Waterbank school in Kenya explained in the local language how the Wonderbag would make their cooking fuel and water last longer, saving precious, hard-won resources.
We prepared Ugali (maize meal) which is a local staple, that traditionally requires 30 minutes on a fire with constant stirring. Using a Wonderbag, one only needs to stir the ugali over the fire for 10 minutes, then seal the pot in the bag to finish cooking.
Skepticism turned to delight as the ugali came out of the Wonderbag perfectly cooked, and was shared with the children.
More women now came to see how it is possible to have hot food coming out of this Wonderbag.
Nancy sells rice, dried beans, maize and other food staples at the market. She saw the maize meal going into the Wonderbag as a soft, hot porridge and did not believe it would continue cooking in the Wonderbag, hardening into the firm meal they call ugali
She was amazed that ugali out of the Wonderbag is exactly like the ugali she would have had to stir continuously on the fire for 30 minutes!
Nancy is a believer. We traded the Wonderbag for a few kilos of rice to use in our next demonstration. Nancy now plans to add cooked rice to her selling activities. Rice needs only 5 minutes to boil before sealing in the Wonderbag too finish cooking (vs 40 minutes on a continuous heat source). A future Wonderbag entrepreneur in the making
Nancy is already spreading the word bringing more women over to the demonstration to see how the Wonderbag could reduce the amount of precious firewood they use for every meal
There was much ugali and many insights shared that day
Children lined up to get a portion of sukumu wiki (local kale dish) from the Wonderbag
From disbelief to smiles as they discover hot food being served out of a cloth bag. Magic!
One little boy shared his ugali with some others
who then danced their way over to the demonstration to get a bit more!
We hope she grows up to be another Wonderbag entrepreneur. But first, she needs to stay in school. We will pursue a program with the waterbank school that gives stars for school attendance. Based on the number of stars, a child can earn a Wonderbag for their family. The Wonderbag will also be incorporated into the school: used for meals to reduce energy and water use; used in lessons to teach children about conservation.
After the market we demonstrated the Wonderbag to a women s beading group We will pursue a project where the women sew beads onto Wonderbags to be displayed and sold at the Segera cultural center
We demonstrated rice and ugali in the Wonderbag at the Segera Mission, which looks after children (many of who have been orphaned by AIDS) and provides the only medical care within 50 sq miles. The director filmed the demonstration so that they could educate more people how to use a Wonderbag to conserve fuel and water, and increase nutrition They feed over 150 children per day. We ll make a large Wonderbag to test with this pot.
Seven women from surrounding communities spent a focused morning at the Zeitz Foundation office to provide a local perspective around cooking and the relevance of the Wonderbag. We demonstrated the Wonderbag technique at the start of the session, set the bags aside to cook while we conducted our discussion.* 2 hours later we enjoyed a hot Wonderbag lunch of rice, ugali and a vegetable stew. The women were very positive that the Wonderbag is well-suited for the local market, and will improve their lives in terms of time and fuel. In exchange for their time, we gave them each a Wonderbag which they will test at home, and represent to their neighbors. *Their insights into costs and time of cooking are on the following pages
Look at the following numbers as if you made 150 shillings per day income 150 Kenyan shillings = 1.77 USD 1.35 EUR 1.09 GBP
Charcoal costs 700 shillings for at 50kg bag that will last a family a week. That s 100 shillings per day Paraffin costs 90 shillings for 1 liter, which will last a family 1 day Wood sold at the market costs 50 shillings per stick, sold in bundles of 10 for 500 shillings. That will last the family one week, a cost of 70 shillings per day The taxi-bus to town to buy paraffin is 300 shillings round trip 100 Kenyan shillings = 1.18 USD.90 EUR.73 GBP LPG is currently inaccessible: The 2-burner stove costs 3,000 shillings The first canister of gas costs 10,000 shillings The refills are 4,000 shillings
Water is gathered in 20-liter jugs Sometimes they can afford charcoal or paraffin, but the most common fuel is firewood they collect themselves The most common cooking method is a 3- stone fire Due to deforestation, the women must go farther, spending anywhere from 2-3 hours per day foraging for wood a wage opportunity cost of 27-40 shillings per day* *based on 150 per day wage for 8 hours of work
Maize meal (for ugali) is 45 shilling per kg. Dried maize cost 45 shilling per kg Dried beans cost 80 shilling per kg Many have large families ranging from 6 to 10 people in the household (7-8 is a good average) A 10-person household will go through 2kgs of maize meal per day, eating ugali at every meal. Cost per meal = 30 shillings Githeri is a dish that combines dried maize and dried beans. A one-kilo blend of maize and beans will make 1 meal for 10 people. Cost per meal = 63 shillings
Conventional Cooking Ugali costs ½ of their daily wage Ugali needs to cook for at least 30 min Ugali requires constant stirring Beans cost ½ of their daily wage Beans need to cook for at least 3 hours Beans require water to be added every 30-45 minutes Beans cannot be left unattended Beans require 3 hours of cooking fuel Wonderbag Cooking Ugali still costs ½ of their daily wage Ugali needs to cook for only 10 min, a 60% reduction in cooking time/fuel Beans still cost ½ of their daily wage Beans need to cook for 30 min Beans require only the initial water Beans can be left unattended after 30 min Beans require 30 min of cooking fuel, 90% less than conventional method Beans are nutritious The Cost of Time These women find work in the fields and odd jobs. They average 150 shillings per day for an 8-hour work day. That is 19 shillings per hour They spend 2-3 hours a day collecting firewood and water usually after they feed their children and send them off to school Making Cooking Efficient A 60% reduction in firewood needs could create 16 shillings per day in disposable income via income-generating activities 16 shillings per day is 4,000 shillings per year. That could buy 50 kgs of beans additional meal of beans each week. Across 50,000 households in Laikipia, that could be 2.5m kgs of beans. The Multiplier Effect Increasing local productivity Increasing nutritional content of meals Stimulating the local economy Preserving the ecosystem 100 Kenyan shillings = 1.18 USD.90 EUR.73 GBP
Insights from the Women s Focus Group Their Perceived Benefits: Time and Resources A hot meal cooking safely in the bag at home while they were working Minimizing the time they needed to stand over the fire stirring and adding water Decreasing the number of days they had to gather firewood and extending their water Increasing the output of the food (no burning) Their Feedback: Product and Cost They would like a liner for the bag so that the insides would not get destroyed from the black soot of their pots They would also like a baby Wonderbag to carry with them into the fields so that they could have a hot lunch (cold ugali is not nice) Sell the Wonderbag bundled with a pot 2,000 shillings for a WB is steep - like to see if can be cheaper, but they will pay for a bag if there was a way to pay in installments. Will need to explore micro-financing and/or community pools (like stockvel). Might be difficult to manage via M-PESA (mobile phone payment) in terms of collecting. They would pay more if the price included a pot. They would aspire to have more than one standard Wonderbag
Laikipia Pilot: 400,000 people 100% penetration: 50,000 Wonderbags Objectives Conservation: Decrease energy needs, protect trees and reduce water consumption Community: Culture: Commerce: Expected Outcomes Jobs: 100+ Empower women through social ventures and capacity building; empower the community to look after their environment Introduce the Wonderbag in a way that supports local diets, customs and lifestyle; Reflect Kenyan culture though global Wonderbag reach (recipes, fabrics, beading, etc.) Create sustainable businesses for local entrepreneurs to produce, distribute and sell the Wonderbag Capacity Building: Water and Energy Management, Production, Distribution, Promotion, Sales, Business Management Disposable Income: Potential of 4,000 shillings per household (from increased work hours & decreased fuel costs) Across 50K households: Potential of 200M shillings back into the local economy each year (that could buy 2.5M kgs of nutritious beans)