Harnessing the Community Centred Business methodology with MIT D-Lab and GIZ to develop practical, locally-designed technologies in Rhino Camp — from improved cookstoves to ethanol cookers and maize shellers — building community capacity to innovate and solve its own energy and livelihood challenges.
Access to affordable, reliable energy is foundational to almost every other development outcome. In Rhino Camp, the absence of grid electricity and the dependence on firewood and charcoal for cooking creates a cycle of environmental degradation, economic burden, and health risk — particularly for women and children who spend the most time in smoky cooking environments and the most time collecting fuel. Breaking that cycle requires solutions that are practical, affordable, and maintainable by communities themselves rather than dependent on external supply chains or technical support.
In partnership with MIT D-Lab and GIZ, YSAT applied the Community Centred Business (CCB) methodology to develop locally-designed technologies that respond directly to the energy and livelihood challenges identified by community members in Rhino Camp. 130 beneficiaries participated in the technology development process, collectively developing over 20 community technologies — including improved cookstoves, ethanol cookers, and maize shellers. Each technology emerged from a process of community problem identification, collaborative design, prototyping, and iteration that placed community members as innovators rather than end users.
The significance of this project extends beyond the technologies themselves. The CCB process builds the capacity of community members to identify challenges, think creatively about solutions, and develop and test innovations using locally available materials. This is a transferable capability — one that can be applied to new problems as they emerge, creating a self-sustaining innovation culture within the community that does not depend on continued external input to generate practical solutions.
Community members designed and built improved cookstoves using locally available materials as part of the CCB technology development process. Improved cookstoves significantly reduce fuel consumption compared to open fires, lowering household energy costs and reducing the time women and girls spend collecting firewood. The locally-designed models can be repaired and replicated by community members themselves — ensuring that the technology remains accessible and maintainable without external technical support.
Ethanol cookers were developed as a cleaner alternative to charcoal and firewood — using bioethanol fuel that produces significantly less smoke and carbon monoxide than solid fuel combustion. The development process explored locally viable ethanol production pathways and cooker designs that could be manufactured and serviced within the settlement. Ethanol cookers offer a pathway to cleaner household energy that reduces both health risks and environmental pressure without dependence on electricity infrastructure.
Maize shellers were among the 20+ technologies developed through the CCB process, addressing a significant post-harvest labour bottleneck for smallholder farmers in Rhino Camp. Manual maize shelling is time-consuming and physically demanding work, typically done by women. Community-designed mechanical shellers reduce shelling time dramatically, freeing up time for other productive activities, reducing post-harvest losses, and creating a potential income-generating service for operators who can offer shelling to neighbouring households.
The Community Centred Business methodology guided 130 beneficiaries through a structured process of problem identification, idea generation, prototyping, and testing. MIT D-Lab's facilitation ensured technical rigour alongside community ownership — with participants moving from identifying their own energy and livelihood challenges to designing, building, and refining practical solutions. The iterative nature of the CCB process means that technologies improve over time as community members test them in real conditions and adapt designs based on what they learn.
Each technology developed through the CCB process was tested under real conditions in the settlement before finalisation — with feedback from users incorporated into design refinements. GIZ's involvement brought additional technical expertise in energy systems and sustainable development, helping to ensure that the most promising technologies were assessed for scalability, safety, and long-term viability. Technologies that demonstrated strong results were documented and shared within the consortium and with the wider development sector as evidence of what community-led innovation can produce.
Beneficiaries engaged in community-led technology development
Community technologies developed including cookstoves, ethanol cookers, and maize shellers
Technology categories — energy, cooking, and agricultural processing
Global partners: MIT D-Lab and GIZ