Solar energy has replaced firewood in the process of baking bread in the village of Bougoula, 40 km from the capital Bamako, the initiators of renewable energy said on Tuesday.

The process was introduced by a U.S. NGO called Mali-folk center in partnership with a Finnish NGO and the Bamako Rotary Club.

This bakery at Bougoula, which is run by a women cooperative society, has cost 12 million FCFA (26,000 U. S. dollars). The initiators said in a statement the "experience is a contribution to the fight against poverty, hunger and climate change."

Traditionally, bread is baked in Malian villages with firewood, causing not only deforestation, but pollution of the atmosphere.

The Bougoula bakery is part of the pilot projects to popularize solar energy in rural areas. For the moment, it is benefiting women in three rural districts of Kati region, which is located south of Bamako.