LocationsAuthors: Judite Toloko da Silva (Head of Exploration) & Heila Monteiro (Communication and Advocacy Specialist)
Solar Kitchen: Time to cook with the Right Energy!
December 17, 2024
UNDP Angola
Access to energy is essential for sustainable development, but for many rural communities, it’s still out of reach. In Angola, according to the 2019-2020 agricultural census, most rural villages in the country lack access to electricity. Over 83% of villages have no electricity at all, while 11% rely on private generators. These numbers highlight the urgent need for better energy solutions to support rural communities and boost their development.
Hence, earlier this year, three teams from UNDP Angola UNDP joined the dedicated Crowdfunding Academy for Nature, Climate, and Energy projects in Africa supported by the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) and the IRH- Alternative Finance Lab. Through this experience, Angola launched the first-ever crowdfunding campaign: "Solar Kitchen: Cooking with the Right Energy."
This campaign is part of a regional effort, which will count with more campaigns in the region under the same thematic area. Alongside other countries, the Solar Kitchen campaign becomes part of the newly UNDP Africa #SwitchIt crowdfunding initiative. This is a pan-African push to address the UNDP Energy Moonshot that aims to provide sustainable, affordable, and reliable energy to an additional 500 million people by 2025 while advancing a fair energy transition and also being a pathway to economic empowerment, gender equality, and improved quality of life.
How can these Solar Kitchens make a difference?
Many women in Angola dedicate their lives to farming and transforming crop production to support their families. However, they face significant challenges due to the lack of electricity. For example, in Huila, a southern province of Angola, in the Cacula municipality, women are facing challenges in effectively producing and storing their harvests, such as pumpkin and sweet potato, resulting in regular lost.
The "Solar Kitchen: Cooking with the Right Energy" is our offer through solar-powered kitchens and essential resources, including improved access to water and processing equipment, to boost agricultural production and create sustainable livelihoods through enhanced crop transformation.
Women like Isabel and Maria, who lead their local cooperatives, stand to benefit directly. With access to energy, they can enhance productivity, expand cultivated areas, and invest in their economic growth.
The pilot project in Cacula is expected to positively impact directly 47 women, providing them with better living and working conditions, benefiting also 78 families, improving food security and income generation, and an estimated 468 people, including local students, will gain access to clean energy. Furthermore, with access to better tools and training, cooperatives could see a 250% increase in cultivated areas and agricultural production, as observed in other regions in Huíla.
These women are key to the success of the Solar Kitchen initiative. In rural Angola, they lead much of the agricultural work, manage their crops, and run households and cooperatives. Unfortunately, without access to energy, their potential is limited by unpaid, time-consuming labor and few opportunities to grow.
UNDP Angola
The Solar Kitchen campaign helps by reducing the time and effort women spend on difficult tasks, giving them more freedom improve businesses and focus on personal development. Again, by addressing the gaps in infrastructure and access to resources, the initiative creates an ecosystem where rural communities can thrive.
How can you help?
The success of the "Solar Kitchen: Cooking with the Right Energy" campaign depends on collective action. Whether through donations or by sharing the campaign within your network, your support can create lasting change. Together, we can empower women like Isabel and Maria, strengthen their rural economies, and foster sustainable development in the country.
Let’s cook with the right energy and pave the way for a more sustainable Angola—one solar kitchen at a time.
This campaign forms part of a larger initiative for UNDP in Angola, "Kurima – Embracing the Transformation of Rural Economies," which focuses on improving access to clean energy, enhancing agricultural productivity, and promoting inclusive financial and digital services. This holistic effort aims to empower rural communities, particularly female-led cooperatives, by addressing the systemic challenges they face.
