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<p class=MsoNormal>Dear all,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I think affordability and willingness to pay are two very
different things. The latter can be way below the first if the people do not
know your product, do not know you, if your product is not attractive and is
not a priority for them. In the urban areas of South Benin, people have money.
Well for African people, they do have money, when they want to.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Charlie Sellers rightly pointed out " 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". It is the same in Benin, to an even larger extent : if they
easily buy small milk ice cream "Fan Milk" (100 F, or 20 cents of
dollars) , they can buy a few beers for friends at the table during weekends (a
few thousands francs, let's say up to 10 dollars). When a even remote member of
the family dies, they organise very expensive ceremonies with the extended
family, friends, even with accointances. They rent tables, chairs, shelters,
audio equipment, they eat and drink until they get sick. They can go in debts
just for a memorable ceremony. But they will already find a fuel-efficient 10
dollars stove expensive. Stoves are usually sold from 1 to 5 dollars. A good
ceremony is never too expensive, a stove can be.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>So we have to start thinking like developing countries
customers, not like Western engineers. An inventor can make a great and
sophisticated stove, intelligently using heat transfer and conservation
principles, customers won't see easily what is so great about it, and if it is
too expensive, it will not be more than a prototype. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I think the first thing to do for a Western entrepreneur
/ project leader working on a stove project in Africa, and certainly in the
developing world, is to study ethnology and sociology of the local area. To get
to think like the people he / she work for.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy said : "Sustainability
model - This is demand based adoption of good stove - community can afford and
are also willing. In this model Good Stoves would be adopted, because best
stoves are costly or community is not ready to adopt. In the future many
current best stoves become good stoves as we always try to work on the best."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I agree : a sustainable model has to be demand-based. I like
this concept of "good stoves" and "best stoves". We should
be cautious with the salability of best stoves. As a businessman, I'd rather
sell a good 5 dollars stove than a best 80 dollars stove. If it is only saving
40% charcoal rather than 90%, well, that's good enough if I can reach 50 000
people rather than 1000.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I have the feeling the "stove world" sometimes lacks
a marketing approach. We shouldn't need to educate and sensitize people about a
stove. Does Coca-Cola educate people about its products? They make products
that appeal to the people, wherever in the world and are salable right away. Principles
of marketing basically say that we should make the product likable to the
people, not make the people like our product. We have to think the other way
round! We have to shift from a serious, practical, boring object to a cool,
sexy object. This has to be done by designing, branding, packaging, marketing.
There's room for improvement here! I am sure that people would not only buy stoves
because of their quality and efficiency. A big part of their decision to buy
resides in the fact they love their design, they saw the advertisement on TV,
because it is a know brand and it is an object of status. What you call
intangible reasons. We are all the same, when we buy, it is often with the
heart, not with the brain.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>About the concept of a universal stove, I do not agree with
the idea there isn't a universal stove. The design of a nice-looking
manufactured stove like Stovetec, Philips or Envirofit stoves, is likely to
appeal to 90% of the customers of the developing and developed world alike. If
it is in a nice package, with a nice sticker, if it is colourful, it will be "universally"
accepted. An easy to make, easy to use smokeless charcoal stove, which save 50%
of charcoal compared to most traditional stoves, and made of sheet metal you
can find everywhere, is likely to be a successful product, whatever the market.
I think a price of 5 dollars, except in some areas like Zambia, is a universal
price, etc. etc. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>This kind of charcoal stove is the one I am looking, by the
way :) For the moment the Pulumusa and the improved Malgache are the most
universal I could find.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I am rather new in the stove field, and I first got some difficulties
to find my way in stoves : so many prototypes, models, versions. I think
stovers should start to organize information, and propose a list, with very
detailed and comprehensive plans, of the best stoves in each category, so they
are ready to use. They should tend to make universal stoves, to attract
entrepreneurs that do not necessarily have a training of thermal engineer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Cheers,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Xavier Brandao<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>(+229) 66 37 89 59<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>xvr.brandao@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>skype : x.brandao<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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