CLAY POT COOLERS
Household scale solutions using locally available materials
Clay Pot Coolers
Practical, affordable, and effective devices
By providing a cool and humid environment, clay pot coolers improve the shelf-life of many common fruits and vegetables in dry regions.​These simple devices can be quickly and easily assembled using locally available materials and typically cost between $2 and $10, depending on their size.
​​​
CoolVeg's cost-effective and scalable clay pot cooler training program leverages existing information networks in communities. With adoption rates over 80% there is clearly a strong need for this impactful solution. To date, an estimated 200,000 people have experienced reduced food loss, spent less time traveling to the market, and gained greater access to nutritious fruits and vegetables as a result of CoolVeg’s clay pot cooler training program.
Training Program
Increasing usage of clay pot coolers
CoolVeg is dedicated to scaling a training program to raise awareness and build local capacity to construct and sell clay pot coolers in dry regions. Using a cascade training approach, agricultural extension agents, farming cooperative members, community health workers, and school teachers conduct village are trained by the CoolVeg team to lead village level training sessions. These village level training sessions consists of training sessions lasting between 2 and 4 hours and by including vegetable farmers, vendors, and consumers along with clay potters, this approach creates both supply and demand for the clay pot coolers. Participants in the village level training sessions then share information about how to make and use clay pot coolers with members, neighbors, and friends. This approach yields a highly cost-effective, sustainable and scalable dissemination effort can be created, with an average cost of less than $1 per person impacted.
Training Program Outcomes
An estimated 35,000 households are now using clay pot coolers.
Scaling Impact
Expanding the reach of the training program
There are several features of clay clay pot coolers and our cascade training approach that enable rapid scaling:​
-
Clay pot coolers are simple devices that can improve fruit and vegetable shelf-life and provide households with economic and health benefits.
-
The ability to make pot-in-dish clay pot coolers with inexpensive and locally available materials reduces barriers to adoption.
-
CoolVeg’s training program yields high adoption rates (over 80%), indicating a demand for the solution.
-
The cascade training program leverages existing and trusted information networks as a cost-effective channel for introducing clay pot coolers into communities.
-
Informal information sharing further amplifies the dissemination of clay pot coolers.
CoolVeg is seeking partnerships and resources ​​​to reach millions of households.
Current Projects
CoolVeg and Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER) are partnering with CARE International Mali to expand the clay pot cooler training program in the Mopti region of Mali as part of Feed the Future Sugu Yiriwa. Read more here.
International Labour Organization in Mali
CoolVeg's collaboration with the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Micro-, Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) Branch and Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER) is focused on promoting better employment outcomes among potters as well as vegetable farmers and traders.
Work With Us
CoolVeg aims to help millions of households access clay pot coolers in the next 5 years.
​​​​
The Sahel region, home to roughly 180 million individuals living in off-grid, rural communities, is among the poorest, most food-insecure, and climate-vulnerable regions in the world.
​​​​
CoolVeg is actively pursuing funding and strategic partnerships to expand its clay pot cooler training program throughout the West African Sahel and other arid regions where improved fruit and vegetable storage is urgently needed.
Resources and Reports
