NGO donates solar powered oven to comsip cooperative

Community Energy, an organization championing clean and renewable energy has donated a solar powered oven to Sakata Community Savings and Investment Promotion (Comsip) Cooperative in Zomba.

Speaking during the handover ceremony in Traditional Authority (TA) Nkagula on Tuesday, Community Energy Country Director, Edgar Bayani, said the organization was concerned with the rate at which community members were depleting natural resources including forest depletion.

“We are doing this on a pilot phase and should we see some positive change, we would increase our production and make more to save our natural resources.

“The two cooperatives we have targeted are into bakery business which means they used lot of firewood. The donated oven would, therefore, reduce dependence on firewood; thereby, protecting our natural resources,” Bayani said.

He described solar power as a free and clean energy that must be adopted and encouraged at all levels in the country to save the almost depleted natural resource.

Comsip Limited Operations Manager, Susan Kondowe, hailed Community Energy for supporting the cooperative with a solar oven, saying it would apart from reducing forest depletion also boost the group’s income.

“We thank Community Energy for collaborating with Comsip and for supporting the two cooperatives. The solar oven would improve the group’s production since bakery requires a lot of energy and continuous use of firewood meant more trees being cut down therefore the oven to increase income,” said Kondowe.

Director of Planning and Development for Zomba District Council, Walter Chikuni, commended the organization for bailing out the cooperative.

Chikuni said the solar oven would, apart from improving production also reduce hazards that group members were exposed to such as High Blood Pressure.

“Cooperatives have potential to develop the country especially when they engage in agribusiness. As council, we commend Community Energy for the donation that has the potential to develop the group and transform this society,” said Chikuni

Sakata cooperative is one of the oldest cooperatives in the country. In a month, the group makes about K134, 400 as profit from the business translating into K1, 612, 800 per year.