Staff and students from Sheffield Hallam University have visited Lesotho to celebrate the end of a collaborative project to create and distribute eco cook bags in rural communities

Press contact: Emma Griffiths | e.griffiths@shu.ac.uk

Working with partners, the National University of Lesotho, the Malealea Development Trust and charity Africa’s Gift, the team have widened the use of the eco cook bags which have benefits to health, economic opportunities and the environment.  

The cook bags work similarly to slow cookers, food is brought up to a high temperature on an open fire or gas stove then the pot used to cook in is placed in the bag to continue cooking for up to eight hours.  

Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the project supported local women into paid employment to produce cook bags for the community, bringing the community of Malealea together to share experiences of using the bags and produced a recipe book for the bags with local chefs.  

Professor James Banks, from Sheffield Hallam University’s Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, said: “This FCDO funded project has enabled Sheffield Hallam to further its work with the National University of Lesotho, the Malealea Development Trust and charity Africa’s Gift.  

“Significantly, it has presented opportunity for Sheffield Hallam University’s students to continue their work alongside Malealea valley communities to source local materials, make and distribute cook bags which offer notable benefits to the Basotho people.” 

The team had also researched the impact of the cook bags in earlier research with communities in Lesotho.  

For the most part, Basotho women are responsible for cooking and resource collection, exposing them to health risks from smoke inhalation and hindering their socioeconomic prospects.  

Interviewees from the research said that the cook bags reduced cooking time, resource consumption and food waste, allowing women to benefit from increased time for other activities both paid and unpaid.  

They also felt their health had improved due to reduced smoke exposure, which can cause problems with the eyes and lungs, and that the health of their children had improved as the women often carried their babies on their back as they undertook household tasks.   

Law student Shaf Ahmed, who visited Lesotho on the trip, said: “Lesotho was a humbling, once in a lifetime experience which words cannot describe. 

“My time there was spent supporting the Malealea Development Trust and local communities, producing cooking bags, teaching people how to use them and building ties within the community. Lesotho has allowed me to better understand law and justice, in particular with regards to the differing laws between Lesotho and the UK.”