Laikipia, Kenya

Wonderbag and Zeitz Foundation teamed up to demonstrate the Wonderbag to people from the Laikipia community. We started at

a popular local market with Sarah Collins (Wonderbag Founder) giving an introduction.

Patrick, the headmaster at the 1st Waterbank school in Kenya explained in the local language how the Wonderbag would make

their cooking fuel and water last longer, saving precious, hard-won resources.

We prepared Ugali (maize meal) which is a local staple, that traditionally requires 30 minutes on a fire with constant stirring.

Using a Wonderbag, one only needs to stir the ugali over the fire for 10 minutes, then seal the pot in the bag to finish cooking.

Skepticism turned to delight as the ugali came out of the Wonderbag perfectly cooked, and was shared with the children.

More women now came to see how it is possible to have hot food coming out of this Wonderbag.

Nancy sells rice, dried beans, maize and

other food staples at the market.

She saw the maize meal going into the

Wonderbag as a soft, hot porridge…

…and did not believe it

would continue cooking in

the Wonderbag, hardening

into the firm meal they call

ugali

She was amazed that ugali out of the Wonderbag is exactly like the ugali she would have had to stir continuously on the fire for

30 minutes!

A future Wonderbag entrepreneur in the making…

Nancy is a believer. We traded the Wonderbag for a few kilos of

rice to use in our next demonstration.

Nancy now plans to add cooked rice to her selling activities. Rice

needs only 5 minutes to boil before sealing in the Wonderbag too

finish cooking (vs 40 minutes on a continuous

heat source).

Nancy is already spreading the word…bringing more women over to

the demonstration to see how the Wonderbag could reduce the

amount of precious firewood they use for every meal

There was much ugali

and many insights shared

that day…

Children lined up to get a

portion of sukumu wiki

(local kale dish) from the

Wonderbag

From disbelief to smiles as they discover hot food being served

out of a cloth bag. Magic!

One little boy shared his ugali with some others…

…who then danced their way over to the demonstration to get a bit more!

We hope she grows up to

be another Wonderbag

entrepreneur.

But first, she needs to stay

in school.

We will pursue a program

with the waterbank school

that gives stars for school

attendance.

Based on the number of

stars, a child can earn a

Wonderbag for their family.

The Wonderbag will also be

incorporated into the

school: used for meals to

reduce energy and water

use; used in lessons to

teach children about

conservation.

After the market we demonstrated the Wonderbag to a women’s beading group

We will pursue a project where the women sew beads onto Wonderbags to be displayed and sold at the Segera cultural center

We demonstrated rice and ugali in the Wonderbag at the Segera Mission, which looks after children (many of who have been

orphaned by AIDS) and provides the only medical care within 50 sq miles.

The director filmed the

demonstration so that

they could educate more

people how to use a

Wonderbag to conserve

fuel and water, and

increase nutrition

They feed over 150

children per day.

We’ll make a large

Wonderbag to test with

this pot.

Seven women from surrounding communities spent a focused morning at the Zeitz Foundation office to provide a local perspective

around cooking and the relevance of the Wonderbag.

The women were very positive that

the Wonderbag is well-suited for the

local market, and will improve their

lives in terms of time and fuel.

In exchange for their time, we gave

them each a Wonderbag which they

will test at home, and represent to

their neighbors.

We demonstrated the Wonderbag technique at the start

of the session, set the bags aside to cook while we

conducted our discussion.*

2 hours later we enjoyed a hot Wonderbag lunch of rice,

ugali and a vegetable stew.

*Their insights into costs and time of cooking are on the following pages

Look at the following numbers as if you made

150 shillings per day income

150 Kenyan shillings =

1.77 USD

1.35 EUR

1.09 GBP

Charcoal costs 700 shillings for at

50kg bag that will last a family a

week. That’s 100 shillings per day

Paraffin costs 90 shillings

for 1 liter, which will last

a family 1 day

Wood sold at the market costs 50

shillings per stick, sold in bundles of

10 for 500 shillings. That will last

the family one week, a cost of

70 shillings per day

LPG is currently inaccessible:

• The 2-burner stove costs 3,000 shillings

• The first canister of gas costs 10,000 shillings

• The refills are 4,000 shillings

The taxi-bus to town to buy

paraffin is 300 shillings round trip

100 Kenyan shillings =

1.18 USD

.90 EUR

.73 GBP

Due to deforestation, the women must go

farther, spending anywhere from 2-3

hours per day foraging for wood…

…a wage opportunity cost of 27-40

shillings per day*

Sometimes they can afford charcoal or

paraffin, but the most common fuel is

firewood they collect themselves

Water is gathered in 20-liter jugs

*based on 150 per day wage for 8 hours of work

The most common

cooking method is a 3-

stone fire

Dried maize cost 45 shilling per kg

Dried beans cost 80 shilling per kg

Many have large families – ranging from 6 to 10 people in the household (7-8 is a good average)

A 10-person household will go through 2kgs of maize meal per day, eating ugali at every meal. Cost per

meal = 30 shillings

Githeri is a dish that combines dried maize and dried beans. A one-kilo blend of maize and beans will

make 1 meal for 10 people. Cost per meal = 63 shillings

Maize meal (for ugali) is 45

shilling per kg.

The Multiplier Effect

Beans cost ½ of their daily wage

Beans need to cook for at least 3 hours

Beans require water to be added every

30-45 minutes

Beans cannot be left unattended

Beans require 3 hours of cooking fuel

Beans still cost ½ of their daily wage

Beans need to cook for 30 min

Beans require only the initial water

Beans can be left unattended after 30 min

Beans require 30 min of cooking fuel,

90% less than conventional method

Beans are nutritious

Ugali costs ½ of their daily wage

Ugali needs to cook for at least 30 min

Ugali requires constant stirring

Ugali still costs ½ of their daily wage

Ugali needs to cook for only 10 min, a

60% reduction in cooking time/fuel

Increasing local productivity

Increasing nutritional content of meals

Stimulating the local economy

Preserving the ecosystem

Conventional Cooking Wonderbag Cooking

These women find work in the fields and

odd jobs. They average 150 shillings per

day for an 8-hour work day.

That is 19 shillings per hour

They spend 2-3 hours a day collecting

firewood and water…usually after they

feed their children and send them off to

school

The Cost of Time

Making Cooking Efficient

A 60% reduction in firewood needs could

create 16 shillings per day in disposable

income via income-generating activities

16 shillings per day is 4,000 shillings per

year. That could buy 50 kgs of beans –

additional meal of beans each week.

Across 50,000 households in Laikipia, that

could be 2.5m kgs of beans.

100 Kenyan shillings =

1.18 USD

.90 EUR

.73 GBP

Their Perceived Benefits: Time and Resources

A hot meal cooking safely in the bag at home while they were working

Minimizing the time they needed to stand over the fire – stirring and adding water

Decreasing the number of days they had to gather firewood and extending their water

Increasing the output of the food (no burning)

Their Feedback: Product and Cost

They would like a liner for the bag so that the insides would not get destroyed from the black soot of their pots

They would also like a baby Wonderbag to carry with them into the fields so that they could have a hot lunch

(cold ugali is not nice)

Sell the Wonderbag bundled with a pot

2,000 shillings for a WB is steep - like to see if can be cheaper, but they will pay for a bag if there was a way to

pay in installments. Will need to explore micro-financing and/or community pools (like stockvel). Might be

difficult to manage via M-PESA (mobile phone payment) in terms of collecting.

They would pay more if the price included a pot.

They would aspire to have more than one standard Wonderbag

Insights from the Women’s Focus Group

Laikipia Pilot: 400,000 people 100% penetration: 50,000 Wonderbags

Jobs: 100+

Capacity Building: Water and Energy Management, Production, Distribution, Promotion, Sales, Business Management

Disposable Income: Potential of 4,000 shillings per household (from increased work hours & decreased fuel costs)

Across 50K households: Potential of 200M shillings back into the local economy each year (that could buy 2.5M kgs of

nutritious beans)

Objectives

Expected Outcomes

Conservation: Decrease energy needs, protect trees and reduce water consumption

Community: Empower women through social ventures and capacity building; empower the community to look after

their environment

Culture: Introduce the Wonderbag in a way that supports local diets, customs and lifestyle; Reflect Kenyan culture

though global Wonderbag reach (recipes, fabrics, beading, etc.)

Commerce: Create sustainable businesses for local entrepreneurs to produce, distribute and sell the Wonderbag