Projects › South Africa Heat-Retention Cookers

South Africa Heat-Retention Cookers

This project involves the free distribution of heat-retention cookers (also known as wonder-boxes) to people living in impoverished areas of South Africa. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by reducing the amount of fuel used by South African households for cooking.

A heat-retention cooker is essentially a box that retains the heat of a pot of food with insulation material similar to that used for bean-bags.  Boiling is the most common cooking method in South Africa – often with staple foods that take a long time to cook.  People cooking with a stove can bring their food to the boil and then place it into the insulated heat-retention cooker to continue simmering. This is instead of continuing to simmer the pot on the stove, which households tend to do normally.

This project, in addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, also reduces the amount of money needed for cooking fuel by households. Consequently, it improves the livelihood of impoverished South Africa, which is currently particularly relevant in light of rising global fuel and food costs.