Poverty Alleviation through Solar Enerprenuership


Building Impact with the First Solar Bakeries in Ethiopia

February 2, 2021 by Urs Riggenbach.

Announcing Solar Fire Cooperation with STEM Synergy to empower Youths and Women with Lytefire Solar Ovens in Ethiopia.

We are really excited to announce our new partnership in Ethiopia with STEM Synergy, an US-Ethiopian NGO focused on empowering youths and women through practical education, sustainable local solutions and entrepreneurship in Ethiopia.

Our partnership starts with empowering the first entrepreneurs in Ethiopia to run their bakeries not on firewood, but instead on clean, affordable, direct solar energy.

This is accomplished with the powerful Lytefire Solar Oven, that is already in use by entrepreneurs in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Haiti and other countries graced with ample sunshine.

Establishing the positive impact of the Lytefire in Ethiopia will go a long way to improve local incomes and livelihoods, reduce carbon emissions and the deforestation that is caused by the rampant use of firewood (and charcoal made from trees).

By primarily empowering women to become solar entrepreneurs, the project also uses solar energy as a force to tackle Sustainable Development Goal 5 : Gender Equality.

We are especially excited about STEM Synergy’s long-term approach to poverty alleviation :

“Short-term humanitarian aid to help poor people is usually not enough to lift them out of the cycle of poverty. Poverty alleviation is a long-term strategy that should lead to self-reliance and sustainability. Technology and innovation are the best weapons to fight poverty and break the cycle of individual and societal poverty in Africa. “
- Yishehak Shata, Chair of Board of Directors, STEM Synergy

With the Lytefire we have developed a technology that fits STEM Synergy’s goals and that can be used to power local, sustainable entrepreneurship. Combined with our GoSol-Program for entrepreneur training and incubation and STEM Synergy’s excellent technical and educational expertise, we look forward to seeing the first solar bakeries open up in Ethiopia !

For more information, contact :
Lytefire, GoSol, by Solar Fire : Urs Riggenbach, COO, [email protected]

STEM Synergy’s website : https://stemsynergy.org/