Uganda

==Events==
====
*Self-sustaining and profitable, a solar cooker business thrives in Uganda - The Solar Connect Association, under the direction of Kawesa Mukasa, reported in July 2017 that they have been able to sell monthly over 250 solar cookers, 100 retained heat cookers, and 250 improved combustion stoves. These results, and the profits they have generated, have made it possible for the business to be self-sustaining. With guidance from Solar Cooking KoZon, their approach has been to hire local employees, and to make a long term commitment to the areas where they work. 
====
*November 2024: Solar Cooking Program by SELF - The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) uses the power of the sun to fight poverty and climate change. 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. The organizations deployed 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 solar cooking units. 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.
:
SELF 1, 11-20-24.png|The participants gather the ingredients to begin a baking session 
SELF 5, 11-20-24.png|The Lytefire solar array oven
SELF 8, 11-20-24.png|A tray of rolls are ready for sale
 
*December 2023: NJUBA solar cooking introductory project - The NJUBA Children Relief project took place within the Mpigi and Zombo districts, and ran from January 2022 until June 2023. Women from these areas were surveyed to assess their cooking needs and preferences. A solar box cooker design was developed and and distributed to the participants in the study, and a group of local women were trained to help teach and follow-up with the new solar cooker users. Meticulous records were keep during the study trial period. The cookers were enthusiastically endorsed by study participants, but changing weather patterns provided challenges. Read more... 
:::
NJUBA 1, 11-16-23.png|Built on a base with wheels, the solar stoves are easily moved to various locations
NJUBA 2, 11-16-23.png|The exciting arrival of the NJUBA Solar Stoves
NJUBA 3, 11-16-23.png|Arranging different size cooking pots inside the solar cooker
 
:::::::::::Photo credit: Daniel Plattner, CEO NJUBA Children Relief
*September 2023: ECOCA pilot stove program: - Mercy Corps in partnership with the Danish company Pesitho, has initiated a pilot program at the Bidibidi Refugee Camp in Uganda to make PV-powered ECOCA induction stoves available to residents of the camp. The program will provide a pay-as-you-cook method of payment for residents. As in other refugee camps, the women are usually the most vulnerable, having to go the edges of the camp and beyond to gather what little firewood is available for cooking. This leaves them open to possibly becoming victims of violence. The new stoves will help relieve that stress. When fully charged, the ECOCA has enough energy to cook three meals a day. The need for time-intensive firewood gathering disappears, as does the carcinogenic smoke and pollution produced by wood fires. Women have more time to attend community meetings, socialize with friends, care for their families, or invest in income-generating opportunities. Read more...
::::
ECOCA induction stove by Pesitho, 4-11-22.png|The ECOCA induction stove with its cook pot and integrated battery, Photo credit: Pesitho
Bidi Bidi ECOCA stove delivery, 9-29-23.png|The New PV-powered stoves arrive at the Bidi Bidi Refugee Camp Photo credit: Guya Francis 
 
*December 2022: Visit to Farmers with a Vision by Joshua Katagwa of Mayunge, Uganda and Maimuna Nangobi of Jinja Renewable Consult, Uganda. They were shown how the solar box cooker and the evacuated tube solar cooker are operated, and assembled. 
::
Farmers with a Vision is visited, 12-30-22 copy.png|Using the solar box oven is explained
Farmers with a Vision is visited, 12-30-22 (2).png|Visiting the FWAV facility
Farmers with a Vision is visited, 12-30-22 (3).png|The operation of the evacuated tube solar cooker is demonstrated
 
:::::::::::::::*Photo credits: Farmers with a Vision
*October 2022: Solar Connect Association update - Kawesa Mukasa, director of the Solar Connect Association, is still making and selling solar cookers at his shop in Uganda. He mentioned he prefers the Haines 2.0 for overall performance, and that it is in great condition after many years of use. The new conical solar cooker cooks faster, but they have not solved the problem of how to keep the pot stable when moving the reflector to follow the sun. He does not use glass lids, but wishes they were available. A lady in his shop makes insulated baskets, selling for USD26. He primarily sells CooKits, because he can easily get the materials to make them.
*August 2022: Bernhard Müller reports Ingelore Kahrens, board member of Lernen - Helfen - Leben e.V., is in Uganda for a SES mission. She introduced the Kiin household size solar dryer already and is presently educating the women about making and using fireless cookers.
*January 2022: Solar tunnel dryer design for Kenya and Uganda: - Bernhard Müller offered his design skills in helping to create a new solar tunnel dryer for his partners in Kenya and Uganda. A 10W solar panel powers a fan providing air flow, and enables the people who work with the dryer to charge their phones simultaneously. 
*November 2021: Esther Nattabi now has a website for her social enterprise, UGwal Clean Energy Ltd., in Mengo Kampala, Uganda.
*May 2021: Building a business - Bernhard Müller reports that Esther Nattabi has recently purchased an acre of land near Kampala, Uganda to build a workshop for the production of improved combustion cookstoves, biomass briquettes, and fireless cookers. The plan includes renting and opening a retail store in Kampala for sales of their products.
*November 2020: Hunger Aid Uganda - organized by Lernen - Helfen - Leben e.V. - The project is part of Hunger Aid Africa, which after a year in planning, began implementation this November. The main focus of the program is the reduction of fuel costs, leaving more resources for food, and also the reduction of exposure to toxic emissions. The project will be administered with help from Esther Nattabi. They will distribute solar cooking equipment and bio-mass briquettes for fuel. Read more detail of the project at: 
*August 2020: New solar restaurant - The solar restaurant at the Hajjat Zam Hotel located in Kampala, Uganda, is operated by Kawesa Mukasa of the Solar Connect Association, and is now open on a limited basis due to Covid-19. 
*June 2020: Fireless cookers for Kampala Uganda: - Esther Nattabi produces and delivers fireless basket cookers during the lockdown in Kampala. She has the Facebook group: fireless cookers /baskets. 
*January 2020: Haines 2.0 Solar Cookers for Refugees in Uganda - Thirty-three women in the Palabek Refugee Community in northern Uganda received Haines 2.0 Solar Cookers and were extensively trained in how to use them. The project was organized by the Gulu-based Alliance for African Assistance in partnership with the African Refugee Education Project, the San Diego Rotary Club, Solar Household Energy and the Solar Connect Association of Uganda. The goal is to establish 33 women in the community as long-term solar cooking enthusiasts. Three of the women will be selected by their peers as to conduct periodic surveys to evaluate the long term use and adoption of the cookers, and the possibility of establishing a sustainable solar cooker enterprise in the community. 
*December 2019: Solar Cooking KoZon update (text borrowed from Solar Cooking KoZon December 2019 newsletter): In August Solar Cooking KoZon brokered a deal with WISE to co-sponsor the project proposal ‘Clean and Energy Efficient Cooking Program’. The proposal was created after a visit by this group to SCA, with a request for support for their ISC programme. The first step has been made: five ladies from five different communities received basic ISC training at SCA in Biharwe. Each lady received two cooking appliances. The next step would be that the women organise an ISC demonstration day in their own community in order to further scale up. SCK pays for a large part of SCA’s costs, about € 1,000. Triodos Foundation bears the costs of the local WISE organisation, approx. € 2,500.
*July 2019: Green Day celebration in Kampala - Bernhard Müller reports that Esther Nattabi, an active solar cooking advocate in Uganda, presented solar and fireless cookers at the "Green Day“ organized by the leading NGO Joint Energy and Environment Project in Kampala on Saturday, July 27th. Photo credit: Bernhard Müller
::
Ester Nattabi, Ugandan promoter, 7-29-19.png|Ester Nattabi presents solar and fireless cooking concepts at Green Day in Kampala, Uganda.
Green Day demo, Uganda, 7-29-19.png|Solar cookers on display at Green Day.
Green Day demo 2, 7-29-19.png|An interested group follows the cooking demonstration.
*October 2018: Community solar baking oven commissioned in Gulu -  A new solar array style oven has been installed by Lorin Symington of GoSol.org. GoSol reports the new oven is capable of baking 30-35 kg of bread per day. GoSol has trained 12 local youths from Smart-up Factory, a local NGO, in operating the oven. More information... 
*July 2018: Haines Cooker evaluation - Solar Household Energy has joined with a number of organizations to evaluate acceptance of the Haines 2.0 Solar Cooker in refugee camps in Northern Uganda. Partners include the Rotary Clubs of San Diego, , USA and Gulu, Uganda, the Alliance for African Assistance, African Refugee Education Project, Solar Connect Association, and the U-Touch Technology Center. Last April, eight Rotarians, including SHE board member Roger Haines, traveled to northern Uganda to demonstrate the cooker. The Alliance for African Assistance will produce the cookers in Gulu, and hopes to scale up to make more cookers available in northern Uganda. 
*June 2018: AfriShiners workshop a success in Kampala - The three-day international workshop on clean cooking and food processing included 23 participants, from various countries around the world. This was the second year for the workshop, which was hosted by the Giving Hope Foundation. The event organizer and Lernen - Helfen - Leben e.V. board member was Bernhard Müller. Faustine Odaba led a workshop on fireless cookers. Other activities included a visit to a local solar stove testing facility. 
*October 2017: Dedicated solar cooking proponent visits Kenya and Uganda  - Roger Haines, CEO of Haines Solar Cookers, spent most of the first half of 2017 by attending and networking at the 6th SCI World Conference 2017 in India, and then traveling throughout central Africa to promote various solar cooking projects. The seeds for the Kakuma festival began at the conference. Next he met with solar cooker entrepreneurs Camily Wedende, Dinah Chienjo, and John Amayo in Nairobi, Kenya, and then toured the situation in Uganda. He met with the Alliance for African Assistance in Gulu to find ways to distribute subsidized Haines Solar Cookers. At the end of April he was back in Kenya at the Kakuma Refugee Camp to help with the planned festival. Faustine Odaba was on hand to help the student participants use their new solar cookers to best effect. Read in more detail about Roger's trip at: 
*June 2017: World Environment Day celebration - Edward Sembajjwe of Disabled Technicians Uganda Limited built and demonstrated the Heliac Solar Cooker at the 5 June 2017 national World Environment Day celebration in Ibanda, western Uganda. This partnership was formed at the 6th SCI World Conference 2017 at Muni Seva Ashram in Gujarat, January 2017. With materials and instructions from Heliac, Sembajjwe and Disabled Technicians Uganda manufactured the Heliac Fresnel-lens solar cooker locally.
*June 2017: Sustainable solar cooker business in Mbarara - The Solar Connect Association, under the direction of Kawesa Mukasa, has been able to sell 280 solar cookers, 110 hay baskets, and 260 fuel-efficient wood stoves monthly. These results, and the profits they have generated, have made it possible for the business to be self-sustaining. Read more...
*March 2017: Disabled Technicians Uganda Limited and Heliac, Denmark began a technology-sharing partnership at the 6th SCI World Conference 2017 in India. Edward Sembajjwe is constructing Heliac’s Fresnel lens solar cooker in Uganda.
*March 2017: The Solar Connect Association reports: "If you are going to western Uganda to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for Mountain Gorilla tracking, the SCA is located nine miles away on Mbarara-Masaka Highway from Mbarara at the Biharwe trading center just opposite the Igongo Country Hotel and Cultural Museum. Their building is just opposite the gate of the hotel. Many tourists also stop there for lunch and sightseeing. They have a Renewable Energy Center Building there selling and displaying solar cookers and other energy saving stoves Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m."
*January 2017: Solar Cooking KoZon reports: A very prominent project right now is the Nakivale refugee camp. It is located in South West Uganda in the Isingiro district. Approximately 60,000 refugees from neighbouring countries live in the Nakivale camp and have lived there for many years. Our programme, in cooperation with other organisations, contributes to better living conditions. The project objectives have been set down in a Memorandum of Understanding and its formal launch was held on Thursday, 22 September 2016. The kickoff took place in a celebratory mood in the presence of the district governor and the camp commander. This is a 12-month project, a period during which at least 1,000 Solar CooKits will be supplied. The refugees will thus have access to solar cooking tools. At the same time a group of about 20 people received training in the use and upkeep of CooKits, hay baskets, WAPIs and eco stoves. The "instructor" represent their village(s) and will in turn pass on their knowledge to others.
*November 2016: Makerere Students Assemble 'Made in Uganda' Solar Cooker - A solar cooker was unveiled last week at this year's annual general technology innovation exhibition organised by the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), Makerere University. Dan Maire, the group leader, says they decided to pursue the idea of making a solar cooker last year. With everything needed in place, the group went on to assemble 80 units of solar cookers in July based on the Blazing Tube Solar design. Read more...
*September 2016: The Solar Connect Association (SCA) visited the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda where they met with the Assistant Camp Commander, Mr. Kintu Khalid. SCA instructors trained 20 people from different villages to be instructors themselves. The training dealt with solar CooKits, Water Pasteurization Indicators, Heat-retention cooking, improved combustion stoves, and the maintenance of same. Continued efforts at Nakivale, and also at the Oruchinga Refugee Settlement, will be the priority for SCA in 2017. At Nakivale, SCA is currently working with the Julu camp that has about 22,000 refugees. They have distributed 60 solar cookers and 14 improved combustion stoves. In the Oruchinga Refugee Settlement, they have distributed 70 solar cooker cookers and 12 improved combustion stoves. SCA plans to sell 1,000 solar cookers in the two settlements by end of August 2017. Solar Cooking KoZon has contributed additional funding to help with the projects at Nakivale and Oruchinga.
*September 2016: The Solar Connect Association reports: "We had a staff meeting with the key players of manufacturing in Biharwe. We kicked off the project in the Oruchinga Refugee Settlement with the presence of the district governor, camp commander, and the project leader Mr. Buyinga Boaz. Additional information was handed over and demonstrations were made for many people. A local radio station broadcast an interview with one of our team members."
*September 2016: Outreach demonstrations in Uganda - Solar Cooking The Netherlands - KoZon with the Solar Connect Association conducted solar cooking demonstrations with parabolic solar cookers, and heat-retention cooking with hay baskets, in the Isingiro district of Uganda during the month of June. Read more...
*April 2016: Training future trainers of solar cooking - Camily Wedende, group leader of Eldoret Student Projects in Eldoret, Kenya, and member of Rotary Club of Eldoret, leads a Train-the-Trainers Workshop for the Rotary Club of Gulu, Uganda. The Uganda Rotary Club is preparing to distribute 500 Haines Solar Cookers in northern Uganda and is learning more about solar cooking from Camily's years of experience building, teaching, and cooking with solar.
*January 2016: Since 2007 Wilde Ganzen and Solar Cooking The Netherlands - KoZon have supported the Solar Cooking project in Uganda, implemented by Solar Connect Association (SCA). In mid-2013 a business plan was decided on, including a schedule of Integrated Solar Cooking (ISC) activities during the following five years. In the course of 2014 it became clear that the objective of financial independence had been achieved. The business expanded from Mbarara in the South West. In 2014 construction of a Renewable Energy Centre with larger ISC production, training, and distribution facilities was started with financial support from Wilde Ganzen and SCN-KoZon. In its beautiful location on the main road between Uganda, Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Rwanda, the building, fitted out with solar panels, is ready to continue and expand its activities. In short, SCA is the owner of a social Solar Cooking business for the production, marketing, and sale of solar and other energy-saving cooking appliances. The small Solar Cooking enterprise is doing well. In 2014 it sold 5,460 CooKit sets, 2,540 hay baskets and 5,040 wood-saving cooking appliances. A promising development. In the year ahead solar lamps and very small solar panels will be sold as well. SCA is investigating which other energy-friendly appliances could best be marketed and included in the assortment of clean energy cooking appliances. In the coming years serious efforts will be made as well to expand the market into other regions in Uganda.
*September 2015: Katherine Russell, a 21-year-old woman from Summerville, , USA, is working to bring solar cookers to the Nazareth Children’s Home in Nyendo, Uganda. After her initial visit to Uganda in 2014, Katherine met John Martin, who lives in Walterboro, South Carolina, and is an experienced solar cooker builder. Katherine and John have held workshops to build solar cookers in South Carolina and plan to distribute them to the Nazareth Children’s Home along with pots, pot holders, and oven bags in 2016. Read more...
*February 2015: "Mama Solar" celebrates 20 years of spreading solar cooking in East Africa - To mark 20 years of work to disseminate solar cooking in Africa, Faustine Odaba, Director of Natural Resources and Waste Management Alliance (NAREWAMA), traveled to Uganda for 10 days to give presentations on solar cookers, fireless cookers, and gasifiers. Esther Nattabi of Awamu Biomass Energy, Kampala, assisted Faustine with the presentations.
*January 2015: The Solar Connect Association continues to increase its sales of Integrated Solar Cooking (ISC) products. The objective is to distribute 10,000 ISC cooking appliances per year. This includes parabolic reflectors! SCA operates independently from SCN. New construction in Biharwe continues to be delayed. SCN is sponsoring this new construction. HoAREC works together with six NGOs on the construction of 20 centres. In six of the 20 centres, CooKits, hay baskets, and WAPIs will be produced. Nine centres have been completed of which six are ready to start. Fikirte Regassa, SCN's representative at HoAREC is making tremendous efforts in assisting the work of the NGOs. This includes training sessions that she organises in the provinces where the centres will soon start production and sales. She also carries out many coordination tasks. Awara Amba has now produced enough ISC products to start focusing on sales. NGO ORDA is currently finalising its advisory tasks, including the organisation of a meeting with all Awara Amba authorities that will in future support the market development efforts.
====
A number of small- and medium-scale projects have been initiated in Uganda, a 
country frequently touted as making good development progress, economically and 
politically.
Several small projects were started by 
organizations serving disabled persons. One, led by Amos Byakagaba, coordinator of the Welfare Society for Disabled People, arranged demonstrations of several solar cooker types held at various public locations. They targeted 23,000 families in Uganda as appropriate for training in the use of solar cookers.Solar Cooker Review, November 2001 A similar organization, Disabled Technicians of Uganda, also conducts workshops to introduce solar cooking within the country (Solar Cooker Review, September 1997).
Another project included the efforts of UltraTech, a company selling Global Sun Ovens, with plans to collaborate in manufacturing when demand was sufficient. 
The Creative Center of Mbale, has taught many people to make and use solar cookers in the Mbale Solar Cooking Project.
Substantial momentum appears to have occurred in this country with the creation 
of a national promotional group, the Solar Connect Association (SCA), headquartered in the Kampala area. This group, in existence since 1994, reported in 2003 that they had taught 20,000 persons to solar cook and had produced 10,000 solar cookers by that time. They even recruited and trained employees of the Virunga National Park 
Environment Project, located in Democratic Republic of the Congo, home of the famous mountain gorillas. 
SCA has utilized solar box cookers and also has assisted in the distribution of the 
parabolic cookers of EG Solar in Germany. The most commonly used through the 2000s was the real "workhorse," the inexpensive cardboard CooKit that can be made by individuals from inexpensive materials. In 2004, 1,161 new trainees were reported, with 1,354 various types of cookers made. Efforts continue to be made to find other more durable solar cooker options. The solar devices are not only used to feed households, they are also employed in 
income-generating activities, including baking cakes and bread, canning fruits, and 
pasteurizing water. The group's leader, Kawesa Mukasa, credits the work to his meeting Ulrich Oehler, a legendary figure in solar cooking and the founder of the ULOG group, in Switzerland.
The Health Technology Development Centre of the Ministry of Health of that nation reported successful use of solar cookers as sterilizers, as well as cooks in hospital and health centers. They also developed a pasteurizer for use in purifying water for hospital use. 
In 2002 it was noted that in the villages of Kikokwa, Ruharo, Biharwe, and Oruchinga Refugee Settlement in Mbarara in western Uganda, women trained by Solar Connect Association used solar cookers quite frequently in the dry season, and even during the rainy season when the sun came out. 
====
Solar Cookers International has rated Uganda as the #8 country in the world in terms of solar cooking potential (See: ). The estimated number of people in Uganda with fuel scarcity but ample sun in 2020 is 7,500,000.
In rural areas, access to energy services remains very poor as the appropriate mechanisms are still missing. Only 5% of the rural population is connected to an electricity supply and 93% still rely on biomass for cooking.
See also
*
*
*Discussion of eastern Africa's suitability for solar cooking
*Solar cooker dissemination and cultural variables
==Resources==
*See also general guidance on raising funds through grants and donations
===Reports===
*June 2023: The NJUBA Children Relief 2022-2023 solar cooking introductory project took place within the Mpigi and Zombo districts of Uganda (Project summary), - NJUBA Children Relief
*October 2016:  - Solar Connect Association
*March 2010: by SCN, Uganda, 2008
===Articles in the media===
*September 2024: Solar powered cooking stoves gives new life to users (using solar PV-powered fan to control even burn of fuel) - The Independent
*December 2017: Arkansas Sixth-Graders Design Ovens for Uganda Community - USNews
*October 2017: The Avon Ladies Of Renewable Energy – Solar Sister Bringing Light & Jobs To African Women - GirlTalkHQ
*November 2016: Uganda: Makerere Students Assemble 'Made in Uganda' Solar Cooker - allAfrica
*August 2011: Uganda: Invest in Renewable Energy - New Vision
*April 2011: Uganda: Sun Smiling on Renewable Energy Initiative - Inter Press Service
*August 2009: Uganda: Solar Oven Launched - New Vision
*April 2009: Kiwatule Rotarians donate solar oven to women inmates - New Vision from internet archive
*June 2008: Uganda: Let the Poor Have Their Own Energy Sources - The Monitor (Kampala)
===Audio and video===
*October 2018: 
::none|400px
*January 2017:
::none|400px
*January 2012:
::none|400px
*January 2010:
::400px|none
*August 2003: An audio interview with Kawesa Mukasa, Director of the Solar Connect Association
Category:Countries
Category:Africa
Category:East Africa
Category:Uganda
Category:Countries with the greatest solar cooking potential