[Stoves] What will people pay for a stove?

[Charlie Sellers]

I changed the subject line because we were drifting, and retained Crispin's 
comments below because they bring up good points.  We seem to be mixing up what 
people "can" pay (e.g. if they take into account their fuel expense savings due 
to a new stove, or possible future income from biochar) and what they "will" 
pay.  Too often we seem to be assuming that all of the world follows first world 
logic in making financial decisions - we all may hope to choose a new appliance 
based on a careful analysis of the different models available and the potential 
cost savings, but people in other circumstances often reason in other ways. 
 During my stove projects in Central/South America I certainly see the leaking 
of cash on hand - no matter how low the local income, kids seem to have money 
for a frozen chocolate covered banana, and I once saw an entire ice cream cart 
hauled by truck high into the Andes to deliver treats to a distant weekly 
market.  Even people with low incomes want some of it to be disposable, and I 
doubt that we are easily going to be able to change that by insisting that 
sacrificing their little pleasures (to save and buy a stove) might be in their 
best interest.  We have lots of information available to us when making such 
decisions, and we value what we read and hear, but what if in a different 
culture they are used to only believing what they experience for themselves?

Another leakage I see often is for alcohol - women in some areas know that they 
must spend all of their money by the weekend, or it will be spent by someone on 
whatever the local alcoholic beverage is.  It is likely that they don't see that 
they have another option for now - saving money in banks has not been something 
that people in their situation do, and until we change that then leakage will be 
all too common and improved stoves mostly too expensive.  Microfinance 
(experiencing problems right now in India) is one approach, but micro-savings is 
something I expect we'll be seeing more of:
http://povertynewsblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/gates-foundation-to-give-500-million.html

And as we know, making such financial services options available to women is 
particularly important - they tend to gather the fuel and get the most exposure 
to smoke.  But they don't necessarily make spending (or savings) decisions for 
the family, and that situation is hard to change.

The western stoving community still too often seems fixated on technical aspects 
of getting improved stoves into the marketplace, when we need to spend a little 
more time trying to think like our potential customers.  For example, before we 
push biochar from stoves, shouldn't we be soliciting reports from the field on 
efforts to determine if people are willing to divert potential cooking fuel to 
their fields - based on the scanty evidence that we can provide to them on 
potential agricultural benefits?  We may have published papers that support our 
point of view - certainly we are learning more every day - but can we presently 
offer a persuasive explanation that low income families will accept?  Thinking 
like a single mother who is probably already overwhelmed with responsibilities, 
it is hard for me to justify paying more for a char producing stove when no one 
has yet demonstrated to me more of the vegetables my family eats from the soil 
type in my own backyard with the amount of char I will produce.  TLUDs of course 
have other benefits - low emissions, cleaner pots, possibilities for cheaper 
fuels, etc. - and those we can easily demonstrate to people, so we should start 
with these.

The only ICS that is successful is one that people will buy and keep using in an 
efficient manner (and recommend to their neighbors) - how can we design stoves 
and stove programs so that this happens?  I suggest that it is by spending a 
little more time being realistic about sociocultural issues within our target 
communities, instead of imagining that they think just like we do.  What choices 
to people have, and how do they make them?

Charlie 



________________________________
From: CrispinPemberton-Pigott <crispinpigott at gmail.com>
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 10:36:48 AM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] K Smith Article in Energy for Sustainable Development


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


      
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