T R Miles Technical Consultants Inc. 503-780-8185 [email protected] Sent from mobile.
On Nov 20, 2011, at 12:57 PM, "Cecil Cook" <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Crispin and Jan, > > Here are three partial unpublished reports and one aggregate table that I put > together for GTZ as a valiant effort by an anthropologist to to turn a small > sample of face to face interviews into a meaningfully differentiated model of > the charcoal stove economy of Lusaka. > > Maybe it will illuminate some of the proverbial and continuing difficulties > encountered by 'expensive' improved stoves to gain and hold on to a > significant share of a local stove market that is dominated by crappy but > very low cost stoves made by artisans. > > The TV and cell phone examples given by Crispin do not 'ring' completely true > for the bottom 2/3rds of the Lusaka charcoal stove market because there poor > people buy the best lowest cost phones and TV's that are on the market. So > the principle is the same: poor people purchase the lowest cost stove > technology on the market. Yes, it is possible for them by heroic feats of > self denial to save enough money to purchase a $25 to $50 cell phone or even > a more expensive TV, but if there was a cell phone or a TV on the market that > cost less and still functioned adequately they would surely buy the lowest > cost technology that gets the job done. > > What I discovered and tried to establish in this study was that low income > people who live and die according to how well they manage their daily cash > flows can as a rule only manage to save about 20% of their daily cash flow > over a 7 day period so the amount of money a household can save in a week > pretty determines the upper limit of how much they are willing/able to spend > to buy the least expensive functional charcoal stove on the market. > > In search, > > Cecil Cook > TechnoShare (SA) > > On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 11:55 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott > <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > > > > > <% Distribution of Urban HH Incomes in Deciles (K $).pdf> > <Brief History of Donor Funded Programmes to Innovate and Institutionalize > Improved Charcoal Stoves.pdf> > <Executive summary.pdf> > <The Charcoal Stove Market - economics of mbaulas (re-edited 10-3-09).pdf> > _______________________________________________ > Stoves mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > [email protected] > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: > http://www.bioenergylists.org/ >
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