Very dynamic solar bakers in Tanzania

Buy what’s available, refine it, sell it for profit. Do it over and over again and support your family and community. This seems to be the operating model of the Tujijenge group working in the Makoko neighborhood in Musoma, Tanzania. They do all kinds of value-adding food processing, depending on what is available to them. That’s exactly the entrepreneurial spirit we like at GoSol!

When GoSol’s Heikki and Lorin met the Tujijenge group for the first time in May 2017, they were making their own charcoal to roast fish, cassava, and peanuts, as well as for baking. During this meeting we realized that this is an ideal group for Lytefire hybrid baking oven/roaster model. As they were running diverse entrepreneurial activities already before tapping into solar energy, we were sure they’d come up with many, many uses for their Lytefire so they can save money and stop using charcoal.

Tujijenge is a group of ten women and three men. They get all kinds of fresh foods, process them and sell them for a better price.

Teach a man to fish and he'll feed himself for a lifetime, they say. At GoSol we want all of humanity to have free solar energy.

And we were not disappointed: The group adopted the technology within the first two days. The men in the group grabbed wrenches to learn how to assemble and maintain the solar concentrator. Meanwhile, the ladies of the group gathered to discuss what uses they have for it. Baking was an obvious starting point, as they were already very experienced with it. But as they are also roasting, we are eager to return to the group soon and see what uses they have come up for the roasting drum!