Expand a Proven Food Storage Solution
Improve access to nutritious vegetables by
training households to build and use clay pot coolers
Food Storage Challenges
In many dry regions in rural Africa, families face a simple constraint with real consequences: vegetables spoil before they can be eaten or sold.
Without cold storage:
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Food purchased or harvested spoils
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Families do not have access to nutritious foods
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Women and girls make additional trips to the market
Small improvements in shelf-life can save time and money while improving the availability of vegetables in the household.
Mariame Sogoba assembling a clay pot cooler in Niamey, Niger
A Proven, Low-Cost Solution
Clay pot coolers are simple, off-grid devices that use evaporative cooling to extend vegetable shelf-life without electricity.
They are:
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Built using locally available materials
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Affordable for low-income households
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Easy to construct, use, and maintain
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Able to significantly extend the shelf-life of vegetables
CoolVeg's training program provides households, farmers, and vendors with the information needed to build and use these effective devices.
Demonstrated Results
Over 8,000 households have been trained in prior programs.
In the West African countries of Mali and Niger:
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~88% of trainees made or purchased a clay pot cooler and are still using it one year after training began
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Clay pot cooler users reported an average of 62% fewer trips to the market and 74 minutes per week saved
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95% of users reported having less food loss
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85% of users reported eating more vegetables
An estimated 35,000 households are now using clay pot coolers.
Instead of giving away or subsidizing products, our approach focuses on providing communities with the knowledge to use locally available materials to make these coolers.
Training participants assembling a clay pot cooler in Maradi, Niger
Expanding the Training Model
A central objective of this new initiative is to adapt CoolVeg's training program to educate schoolchildren on the benefits of using clay pot coolers in their homes. These new school-based trainings will take place in combination with our proven training of adults in villages.
We will measure:
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Diffusion of clay pot coolers beyond direct trainees
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Cost per household sustained adopter
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Changes in vegetable consumption
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Changes in food loss
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Changes in time spent traveling to the market
This new school-based portion of the project will allow us to evaluate whether schools are a cost-effective and practical pathway for future expansion.
We will publish a summary of the project outcomes, including cost and outcome data, regardless of results.
Kadidia Nienta conducting a clay pot cooler training at the Anya-Lobo Cooperative Society in Mopti, Mali.
What Your Support Will Fund
This $100,000–$150,000 phase supports:
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Training of Trainers workshops
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Clay pot cooler trainings for adults in villages
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School-based clay pot cooler trainings.
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Awareness campaign through rural radio and social media
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Baseline and follow-up data collection
This program is led and managed by CoolVeg. All funds raised for this initiative are directed to our implementing partners in Mali and Niger.
Contribute to This Initiative
Help expand a proven training model while strengthening the evidence needed for effective scaling.
Choose How You’d Like to Give
This program is led and managed by CoolVeg. All funds are directed to our implementing partners in Mali and Niger.