credit Peter Greste words Christopher Turner The Community
Cooker was the winner of the inaugural World Design Impact Prize
for socially responsible projects, awarded at the launch of
Helsinki World Design Capital in February. Developed by Kenyan
architect Jim Archer, who was looking for an answer to Nairobi’s
rubbish problem, the community cooker turns waste to energy. The
unemployed, who can’t afford kerosene or other fossil fuels,
bring rubbish to be incinerated in exchange for time on the
cooker, where they can boil water and prepare food on hobs or in
one of two ovens large enough to roast a goat. The cooker might
later be used for water distillation and electricity generation.
Archer estimates that the burning of rubbish will save 2,400
mature trees a year being destroyed to make charcoal. The
prototype was built in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, and
it is hoped that the project will be rolled out soon to other
areas and developing countries. The cooker needs to reach high
temperatures in order to