Turning rubbish into fuel - Nairobi's community cooker
The community cooker is powered by dried rubbish, collected by local residents in Nairobi's Kibera slum
© Peter Greste
In 2008, the Jiko ya Jamii, or Community Cooker, won an award from the World Architecture Festival, because of its innovative use of waste products as a source of fuel. The brainchild of Nairobi-born architect James Archer, the cooker is powered by dried rubbish, collected by local residents in Nairobi's Kibera slum. In return for supplying rubbish, the residents can cook for free, or heat water for drinking and washing. As a result, the environment in the slum is becoming cleaner, protecting groundwater sources from pollution, and residents are reducing their expenditure on fuelwood. Drying and sorting rubbish to fuel the cooker is also creating an employment opportunity for local youth. Geoffrey Onditi speaks to James Archer and to two project workers about this exciting new initiative which is having such wide-ranging benefits.
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