The Global Need: Cooking Fuel is in Short Supply

Woman cooking in home
Kitchens in Zambia are often smoke-filled health hazards tothe women and children who use them.

"I thank you for the oven I received and I already try it.
It is wonderful. I cooked on it wheat and vegetable. The day after I cooked banane (green plaintain) and sweet potatoes.
It was great. It took three
hours for the wheat not much and five hours for banane and sweet potatoes. I will try again with others food. Thank you so much."

Carmel in Haiti

woman carrying wood
Searching for and gathering
firewood takes up to 7 hours
a day in some parts of the world.

In Guatemala, a woman with
her child cooks indoors over a
smoky open fire.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more than 2.4 billion people lack adequate cooking fuels. (2.4 billion people is 2,400,000,000 people - nearly 8 times the population of the United States of America.) In developing countries, many people spend as much money on fuel to cook their food as they spend on buying food. Others spend over 40 hours a-week gathering scarce firewood. Total regions have been stripped of trees.

Solar cooking has been researched and tested for the past twenty-five years. The SOS Sport is one of the best, low cost solar ovens to come out of this era of research and development.

For developing nations that are sun rich and fuel poor, the Solar Oven Society (SOS) Sport Solar Oven can use free sunshine to cook meats, vegetables, breads and cakes and cut down on the need for cooking fires.

Afghanistan Project

In 2003-2004, 450 Sport solar ovens were distributed in Afghanistan as a test program to see how they worked for the Afghan people.

See Video report by George and Grace Magney, Project Leaders.

High ban
Low ban
(slide show version)

To contribute to the next phase of the Afghanistan Project, go to the Donate page and write in Afghanistan Project on the printable form.

Cooking fires contribute to deforestation and pollution

Countries like Haiti and Nepal have less than 2% of their original forests remaining.
Cooking fires pollute the atmosphere at significant levels that contribute to global warming and the greenhouse effect.

There are serious health implications

Cooking fires and smoke contribute to:
- Lung disease
- Eye disease
- Burns
In cooking huts - family members inhale smoke equivalent to 10 or more packs of cigarettes per day.
Contaminated drinking water causes one billion children each year to suffer from diarrhea. Of those children, seven thousand die each day.
Many people, primarily women and children, suffer eye and lung disease caused by smoke that is inhaled from cooking fires.

This problem affects people everywhere

Developing Countries - fuel poor but sun rich
- Budgets are stretched - high percentages of family incomes go to fuel.
- Limited access to credit.
- People scavange for cooking fuel
Developed Countries
- Global warming
- Less money from developing countries available to purchase goods

A Solution: Sunshine & Solar Cookers

The SOS Sport will:

Cook entire meals every day the sun shines in the tropics
Reduce the use of firewood, charcoal and dung for fuel
Pasteurize water
Eliminate smoke