“I would buy a second one” – coffee farmer from Rakai

Interview from our visit in Rakai in May 2021. We met with one of the beneficiaries who purchased an ECOCA through the local coffee cooperative partnership.

Together with CIDI we established a partnership with a local Coffee Cooperative in Rakai District in Southern Uganda, where coffee farmers, local producers and members of the cooperative had the chance earlier last and this year to buy our ECOCA solar cookstoves. 

The stock was limited and selling out fast, due to the great interest in the new technology and convenient appliance.

At our company field trip in may this year, we had the chance to speak to one of the beneficiaries, a blind coffee farmer from Rakai area, who got hold of an ECOCA solar cookstove as part of this pilot initiative.

Alongside the interview, he showed us around his property; a coffee farm outside Rakai town with his house in the middle the coffee plant, where he lives together with his wife and children.

The family lives off the coffee production and previously had to spend significant amounts of monthly income on charcoal and firewood, which not only included the monetary cost of spending each month, but also the inconvenience of traveling to the town center, which involves a longer trip by car, since the coffee plant is located outside the city.

He recalls for us what it was like to hear about the new technology available through the cooperative membership, and being excited and thrilled to see that what sounded almost like magic actually worked and could be integrated in the family’s household.

The farmer has mounted the solar panel on the roof of his home, so that it is exposed to the direct sunlight at all times, and safe from damages from laying on the ground.

He describes his experience with the solar cookstove as incredibly convenient and pleasant. His wife demonstrates her cooking for us, showing us the tea she prepared earlier in the morning for the entire family, in just a few minutes.

He even goes so far as to state, that he would buy a second unit if more were available, to cook even more on his ECOCA.

Since the stock in Rakai was limited, as it was part of a pilot project with CIDI and the local cooperative, there are currently no further units available in the area, but we are looking forward to expanding our business in Rakai and surrounding, so that even more families can profit from their solar cooking system, such as this one!