[Stoves] Stove costs

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Jan

 

I am picking up on the past comment you made: "For people living on $2 a day
or less, what for example would be considered a low cost stove?  Middling?
High?"

 

I am copying this to Cecil Cook who is a social anthropologist specializing
in stoves and their use. You can contact him directly if he does not respond
to this group (to which he is not subscribed).

 

The $2 per day person is usually not someone living on a total income of $2
per day as a salary from which they must pay for everything. Yes there are
such people, however that is not really representative of total income or
one could say, value of all income including in-kind receipts.  For example
fuel collected free from the environment without expense has a value and
from a marketing point of view, an opportunity cost.

 

With that in mind, one can more easily understand how people with "$2 per
day" income have cell phones and TV's. There are a number of ways you could
slice it: disposable income, extended family total income including
environmental contributions and so on.

 

Cecil has found that the maximum amount a stove can cost, i.e. to be bought
at all by anyone in the target group, is dependent on cultural
considerations. A way to think about it is like this: how much money will
accumulate in the pocket of a person 'saving for a stove' (or other major
purchase) before it 'grows holes' and leaks out? I will give his example of
Lusaka where the amount is 10 day's income. No one in the main target
population saves more than 10 day's income before something else starts
eating it. It may be a relative's school fees, needed clothing and so on.
Anything. That is the upper limit of a practical stove's cost.

 

The upper limit for a voluntary purchase near the 'usual cost' is also
important. Asking people not how much they are willing to pay for 'anything'
max, but how much they are willing to pay for a stove will generate a
different answer. If it saves fuel and cooks as well and has less smoke and
(especially) lights quickly and cleanly, people will usually say they will
pay more than the standard product. In the case of Lusaka, the standard
stove goes for about $1.50. An improved stove that will save fuel can sell
for $2.50 to $3.00. Stoves that cost more than that will sell poorly because
it is above the tolerance range for 'stoves' even though it is well under
the maximum they could save.

 

If a stove has wonderful features so attractive that people will pay
'anything to get one', it will bump into the upper limit of what most people
can save before it starts leaking out of the pocket.

 

For many years stoves costing $10 to $15 have failed to thrive in Lusaka.
That is below the 10 limit but far above the $2.50 limit. In a different
culture, with a different fuel price (fuel in Lusaka is pretty cheap) with a
different pay method/cycle there will be different numbers involved but the
same principles.

 

You may find his discoveries helpful when analyzing your cost-benefit
scenarios.

 

Regards

Crispin

 

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