THE IMPACT OF INSULATED COOKING BAGS ON EVERYDAY PROJECTS. A time geographic approach to changed cooking routines in rural Lesotho.

Cooking with biofuels is a widespread issue in Sub Saharan Africa, associated with health risks, environmental consequences and time burdens for women responsible of cooking and collecting firewood. This study is focusing on insulated cooking bags that have been distributed in a rural village in Lesotho. The cooking bags have the potential to mitigate the disadvantages of biofuel cooking and improve the life of women. By using a time geographic framework, the study aims to investigate how the cooking bag can change the temporal and spatial organisation of everyday projects. The study uses primary data collected in field where a mixed method of semi-structured interviews in combination with time geographic diaries was used. In total 20 women were interview and 11 of them also participated with diary writing. Since time geographic diaries has not been used much in rural Africa, a secondary aim was to evaluate the method in this context. The results show that the cooking bag has the potential to save time dedicated to the cooking project and can enable mobility for women using it. The cooking bags reduce the coupling constraint that is associated with cooking over open fire as it allows the cook to leave food in the bag and not be bound to the home for several hours. In this way, the cooking bag provides flexibility in the planning of everyday life which indicates the cooking bag’s potential to strengthen women’s time use agency and in the longer run lead to empowerment.