KDF's field kitchen that can cook for hundreds

Mention Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and a vivid picture of courageous Kenyan men and women ready to put their lives on the line for the republic immediately pops up.

However, not many follow up on what the KDF is up to when not defending the country and that would explain why many are not aware of the marvelous innovations they have come up with. Among the plethora of innovations is one mobile field kitchen, specifically designed to aid soldiers operating in camps or those in battle.

According to Kenya Air Force Senior Sergeant Josphat Muthoka, the field kitchen is built on wheels and uses diesel fuel rather than the conventional kerosene fuel, which makes it more efficient. He said the field kitchen was developed by KDF tactians in 2009 and the concept has seen tremendous improvement in how soldiers receive their meals while on duty.

“You will need five things in order to light up the mobile field kitchen. Diesel, methylated spirit, a funnel, pressure pump and a lighter,” Muthoka says - getting ready to demonstrate exactly how to do the same.

However, before doing anything, one needs to use the pressure pump to ensure that the in-built diesel tank has been pressurised. This ensures there is enough gas to burn the diesel as long as the cooking is taking place.

The tank has two knobs and a tap. The tap is used to check whether there is enough fuel in the tank while the other two knobs are used to regulate the amount of fire being released.

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“Next, add diesel on top of the burner and return the mesh that covers the burner. Pour two caps of methylated spirit on the mesh and once it has settled in, light a match stick and throw it in the burner,” Muthoka says backing his words with action.

A huge flame emerges and after letting it settle down, he repeats the same process on the second burner on the kitchen.

According to the senior sergeant, the mobile kitchens can be used to cook any type of food from ugali to chapati and is able to cook for up to 900 people at a go depending on the size of the kitchen.

There is the small kitchen that uses one litre of diesel and is able to cook for 70 people in one hour, a medium kitchen which also uses the same one litre of diesel but cooks for 300 people in an hour while the big kitchen uses three litres in one hour to cook for 900 people.

Since 2009, similar units have been in mass production in some factories within the country, with several units having already been deployed at National Youth Service bases across the country.

“We have also sold several units to corporates in Uganda and are working on standardising the mobile kitchen into a smaller domestic size so as to make it cheaper and affordable to the mwananchi,” Muthoka said.

The small kitchen retails for Sh300,000 the medium one for Sh600,000 and the large one at Sh1.6million.

And just as is the case with any invention, this one did not come without its challenges. Muthoka says, it took a while before they found the right materials to make the burners and also in researching on the efficiency of diesel.

Their efforts have, however, been worth for not only has their innovation made life easier for KDF, it has also gone on to win various awards such as the All Africa Public sector innovation award as well as the KDF best innovation award of 2012.