IN an effort to promote clean energy adoption, curb deforestation and improve livelihoods, a Chinese renewable energy company has partnered people with disabilities in Zimbabwe in an innovative solar cooking project.
The development comes at a time when calls are being made to push renewable energy adoption to achieve energy self-sufficiency, reduce reliance on volatile fossil fuels, while combating climate change.
The project, being led by students from China under the Education 5.0 Framework, aims to reduce deforestation by providing an alternative to firewood and electricity.
Addressing the media on Monday this week, Chinese renewable energy firm Sunflower Technologies director Feihan Li said the idea was conceived during a visit to Zimbabwe in 2024.
“When I visited my father, who was working in the country in 2024, I realised that most people depended on electricity and firewood,” Feihan said.
“I partnered my colleagues to create a project that could be a lasting solution.”
He highlighted the project’s dual focus on empowerment and sustainability.
“We want to ensure that people with disabilities gain both the equipment and the skills to assemble solar cookers and earn an income,” he said.
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Initially, the initiative has a capacity to produce at least 100 cookers per month.
Meanwhile, disability rights advocate and former senator representing persons with disabilities, Annah Shiri, has lauded the project as the product of strong bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and China.
“This initiative reflects the benefits of years of co-operation between our countries. In the era of climate change, alternative energy is essential,” she said.
“If these young students can create such technology, we can also adopt and adapt it through our own Education 5.0 model.
“I will be engaging the ministries of Higher and Tertiary Education and Foreign Affairs to see how we can harness this knowledge for wider use.”
Project beneficiaries welcomed the initiative, adding that it obviated the need for reliance on unsafe cooking methods using gas or depending on electricity while others said the imparted skills would open income-generating opportunities.
