COMBINING TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE WITH MODERN SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT: IN USING POT IN POT COOLING SYSTEM.

Northern Nigeria is a hot, semidesert rural where many people have no electricity. Most people grow and sell their own crops, yet keeping fruits and vegetables fresh in this type of climate is a real challenge. Without refrigerator, most fresh fruit rots within a couple of days. Throwing away spoiled crops means lost income for poor families. Eating the rotting crops causes serious health problems.
A boy born into a family of clay pot maker was concernced about this problem and decided to find a solution for it. The boy knew that these traditional clay pots retained water even when dry. He combined this traditional knowledge with his understanding of biology and chemistry and geology to design a pot in pot cooling system that acts as a desert refrigerator. This cooling system is made up of a small pot placed inside a larger pot with wet sand filling the space between the two clay pots. The fruit and vegetable are kept in the smaller pot, covered with a damp cloth and left in a dry, ventilated place. When water from the sand evaporates, it cause the temperature in the pot to go down several degrees so the food in the smaller pot is always cool. With the pot in pot system food stays fresh much longer.