Benin tackles climate change with sunshine and coconuts

Chimene Agossou cooks using a solar-powered cooker. A solar panel on the rooftop powers a ventilator for the cooker. Photos: AFP

Philomene Ahouansou cooks beans and rice in three giant steel pots by the roadside in Benin’s capital, Porto-Novo. It’s a scene that’s common throughout the country.

But instead of a wood-fuelled stove, she’s using a solar-powered cooker run on coconut husks, which it is hoped will prevent deforestation and reduce greenhouse-gas-producing smoke.