CoolVeg and the Institute of Rural Economy (IER) in Mali recently completed a project funded by the Islamic Development Bank and USAID to develop a clay pot cooler training program.
This project began in 2020 in collaboration with the World Vegetable Center and MIT D-Lab. The initial training sessions were led by Kadidia Nienta a clay potter and Boureima Djiguiba an agricultural extension agent from Mopti, Mali.
The core curriculum was formalized with the publication of the Guide to Assembling, Using, and Maintaining Clay Pot Coolers in 2021, which is now available in 8 languages.
In total, 293 fruit and vegetable consumers, vendors, and farmers attended the ~2 hour training sessions, along with 84 clay pot sellers. The graphic below shows the outcomes and impacts reported by the training participants.
This clay pot cooler training program has been replicated by Helen Keller International in Sikasso, Mali, and by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) across southern Niger, directly training more than 2,000 additional people.
CoolVeg and IER are working to further expand this program in Mali and other dry regions across Africa and South Asia. If you are interested in working with us, please contact Eric Verploegen at eric@coolveg.org
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