Dear Stovers,
I think you are aware of the USAID & Winrock message about the
Expression of Interest (EOI) about grants for stove work in Kenya,
mainly on distribution issues, not on production. They ask for comments
to be submitted by January 11, 2013 to [email protected] (I only saved
the .pdf so I do not have the location where you can download it. )
I wrote to Winrock and included the following:
I have read the solicitation of EOI and see no reason to wait until
January to send this comment:.
In section 2.2: [ I will bring this discussion to the Stoves Listserv. I
hope that you monitor those messages.]
Specific objective:
Remove barriers and strengthen distribution channels (especially those
closest to the “last mile [2]”) to expand access to and increase
consumer adoption and use of fuel-efficient cookstoves;
The footnote says:
[2] The last mile is defined as the last transaction in a
business-to-consumer delivery service at a point when a product is
delivered to the final recipient.
The objective is fine, but the definition is not what I think is the
“last mile.” Remember, I am a retired university professor of GEOGRAPHY,
especially of mapping sciences.
Your written definition seems to say the last mile is wherever the
product reaches the purchaser, or the very last person on earth to buy
one, even if he or she is a holdout who lives within a mile of the
factory. Also, that "last mile" can never be quantified or identified or
known to have been reached. It is the "pie in the sky" talk of
politicians and dreamers (bless them all), but it is not very practical.
I have thought that the “last mile” is to reach the furthest point, the
least accessible, the most remote potential purchasers. They do not
necessarily buy or receive [gift?] a product. But they have been reached.
In some situations that can be quite easy, such as where a significant
road goes to the edge of a lake or international border or some other
barrier that is not easily crossed. The distribution chain has gone as
far as it can; it has gone the last mile in that area.
Now consider remote areas with only footpaths plus some big obstacles
like a cliff or river that is not commonly crossed. There could be
another house or even a village on the other side and it could literally
be less than a mile away, but that other side is actually serviced by
different access roads and trails and different distributors and sales
people.
Many of those remote people might be serviced at a village market (where
they could see a stove demonstration or be able to purchase at some
shop). Then getting the stove info and actual stoves to that village
market would constitute reaching the last mile.
So the :|"last mile" is to reach the ones furthest away ON THAT
PARTICULAR SYSTEM OF TRAVEL/COMMUNICATIONS. This can be objectively
quantified in geographic terms. And you can mark it on a map and make
sure that there are not isolated areas that were not reached. This is
"Industrial / Business Geography" and is actually studied and optimized
by some geographers (or marketers with a geographic perspective.)
I raise this discussion to the Stoves Listserv because there might be
other interpretations of what is the “last mile”. Then Winrock can sort
out its definition before the formal request for awards (RFA) is released.
Paul
--
Paul S. Anderson, PhD aka "Dr TLUD"
Email: [email protected] Skype: paultlud Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website: www.drtlud.com
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