Dans le cadre du Programme pour l'utilisation d'experts retraités, un spécialiste de l'énergie solaire des États-Unis, M. Hanna Daoud, a effectué une mission de 10 jours en Guinée et enseigné à 1 000 personnes, dont 95 pour cent de femmes, à utiliser du matériel de cuisson fonctionnant à l'énergie solaire. Cette mission démontre avec quelle facilité la technique simple utilisée pouvait être enseignée aux populations rurales locales.
M. Daoud était à la tête d'une équipe d'instructeurs qui ont procédé à neuf démonstrations, réunissant plus de 100 personnes chaque fois. Les séances ont eu lieu à Conakry, dans des villes et des villages du nord, du centre et de l'est de la Guinée. Ont participé à ces démonstrations des fonctionnaires et des représentants d'associations féminines, d'entreprises privées, d'organismes bénévoles et d'organisations nationales et internationales ainsi que des universitaires, des particuliers et des journalistes.
Dentro del Programa para la utilización de expertos jubilados, el experto americano en energía solar, Hanna Daoud, realizó una gira de diez días por la República de Guinea y formó a unas 1 000 personas, de las cuales un 95 por ciento eran mujeres, en la utilización de equipo de cocción solar. Con la misión se demostró lo fácil que resultaba que las poblaciones rurales del lugar tuvieran acceso a una tecnología tan sencilla y demostrada como ésta. Las demostracionens tuvieron lugar en la capital Conakry y en ciudades y aldeas de las regiones septentrional, central y oriental de Guinea. Entre los asistentes había funcionarios, represen-tantes de asociaciones de mujeres, de la empresa privada, de organismos de beneficencia y socorro y de organizaciones nacionales e internacionales, así como de personal de centros académicos, ciudadanos privados y periodistas.
Under the Programme for the Use of Retired Experts, American solar energy expert Hanna Daoud undertook a ten-day tour of Guinea and trained about 1 000 people in the use of solar cooking equipment, 95 percent of whom were women. Daoud's mission successfully demonstrated how easily the simple and proved technology can be conveyed to local rural populations. Technical backstopping to the mission was provided by Peter Steele, Senior Agricultural Industry Officer in FAO's Agro-Industries and Post-Harvest Management Service (AGSI). Funding was provided by AGSI and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Conakry.
Guinea is rich in natural resources and minerals but, unfortunately, poor in conventional energy resources such as petroleum and natural gas. Despite its potential wealth, the country has an estimated per caput income of only US$520 - one of the lowest in the world. Most Guineans are engaged in the daily struggle for subsistence and, by gathering fuelwood for cooking their food, rural families are contributing heavily to deforestation and desertification.
For at least half the year, during the dry season from November to June, the country is rich in solar energy. Thus, solar cooking technology has considerable potential for use as a partial substitute for conventional energy, particularly fuelwood for cooking, water pasteurization and heating. The technology has been successfully demonstrated in other
American solar energy expert Hanna Daoud demonstrates box and panel solar cooking kits in Guinea |
Daoud led a team of trainers who carried out a total of nine demonstrations, training more than 100 people on each occasion. The training sessions took place in Conakry and in towns and villages in northern, central and eastern Guinea. Participants included government officials and representatives from women's organizations, private enterprise, charitable and relief agencies and national and international organizations, as well as academics, private citizens and journalists. The team was interviewed by local radio and television stations.
The team provided training with the construction and use of the box-type and panel-type solar cookers. The box-type cooker is suitable for family cooking, as it normally holds two or three pots. It comprises a heavily insulated box lined with aluminium foil, fitted with a glass lid and reflector roof panel. The panel-type cooker is of a far simpler design comprising a template cut from cardboard, faced with foil and folded into shape. It can cook a single pot enclosed in an oven bag. During the demonstrations both types of cooker were assembled from materials obtained locally, including recycled corrugated cardboard, aluminium foil, glue, window glass and heat-resistant plastic bags.
A kit for each type of cooker was also constructed by groups of local women and men, and a variety of local dishes including rice, fish, chicken, beef, vegetables, potatoes and yams were prepared and cooked with tasty results. In each community visited, small groups of women and men were trained as trainers in the use of solar cooking techniques. At the end of each demonstration, the equipment and surplus materials were left with the organizers for that site, usually the Women's Development Training Centre.
The demonstrations were well attended and received enthusiastically by an audience who seemed convinced of the many practical applications of solar energy, of the types of cookers available and of the range of foods that can be easily cooked. A follow-up action plan was recommended by Daoud and his team, including the preparation of a project document to attract donor funding.