Having walked through the Nairobi Agricultural Society of Kenya(ASK) show - probably for the sixth or seventh time in my life with the usual crowd and dust having been dragged there by my son who could hear nothing about not going to the show. One of my favourite stands is that of the ministry of agriculture. And recollected how fascinated we would be growing up to see how silk material is woven from silk worms. Another popular lesson was to watch the bees and learn . The attendant said bees work all the time even at night there is some work going on. I make a mental note to create time to study the bees and their lifestyle!
I admire the well maintained big cabbage and kale farms. Somebody else was sharing about the rabbit meat and selling pieces of fried rabbit meat at price which literally costed an arm and a leg - he was quick to add that its a wonderful delicacy with low fat and cholestral content.
The Ministry also had on its display a wide array of many energy saving devices mostly jikos stoves . Why hadnt I seen this before!" This is thought that struck me when I looked at the basket branded the fireless cooker insulated inside and with a black cloth as its covering. Here was the fireless cooker which promised to save you 40 per cent of your domestic expenditure on fuel and I hadnt seen it!. How could have been so blind. So I decided to purchase one. I fished the 30$ about 2500Ksh and bought the basket. On arriving home I was anxious to test my new find and whether the impulse buying would pay off!
I prepared the rice measured the water two cups of hot water for every cup of rice and let it simmer for while in the gas cooker and then transferred it to the basket and went on do other chores and catch up with news. 30 minutes later the rice was ready. Not only was the rice well cooked but there was not a piece of rice stuck to the cooking pan. The rice having been cooked with the trapped heat from the insulated material and black cloth.
Why then wasnt the fireless cooker in every house I wondered with such savings. The more I thought of it the more I realised that much more can be achieved for example, it can save many forests if used in the rural areas where many still rely on firewood. In the urban areas it will save your electricity or gas if you cook with an electric cooker or gas cooker.
Alice Musau from the Urban food security section of Ministry of Agriculture shares that when it was introduced it was perceived to target only the poor as opposed to all households.
I conclude that solutions to some of our fundamental problems might be simple and within reach. I thought of the story of the man who sold his farm and went to search for his acres of gold yet his farm was endowed with gold! Look around your environment!
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| Alice Musau prepares to offer tips on making the fireless cooker she says you can cook many food items including legumes, vegatables, meat as well as Ugali(made from maize flour and hot water stirred and turned) |
These are just some of the steps in making the basket. So why doesnt everybody have one in Kenya or many parts of Africa. For it has a big role to play in addressing climate change issues.
For these reasons.
1.Saves you time
2.Saves you money.
3.Saves forests
4.Reduces carban emissions
