[Stoves] K Smith Article in Energy for Sustainable Development

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Boston

 

In Zambia, a charcoal stove that costs more than $3.50 won't sell. The
standard one is $1.50.

 

The reason is the inability to accumulate that much cash. I have seen work
by Cecil Cooking showing that ten days income is the maximum cash people can
generally accumulate (about 1/3 of a month's income). Above that is starts
to leak out of the pocket.

 

$10 is above the cost people can usually pay for a stove. $5 has a chance
without finance (like two payments).

 

Here in Ulaanbaatar people can afford to pay $75 if it is financed, no
problem. The Xas Bank is doing exactly that. The stoves are subsidised by
$50 as well (it is actually a $125 stove). It saves about $300 per heating
season so it is a no-brainer if financing is offered.

 

Regards

Crispin

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20101130/33554e5d/attachment.html>