InitialImpactofGreenwaySmart

StovesinIndia

ByYumikoYamada

KopernikFellow2012

1. Overview

The fellow conducted a rapid impact assessment of a Kopernik cookstove project

entitled “Smarter Cooking for Indian Women,” which distributed Greenway Smart Stoves

manufactured by Greenway Grameen Infra in Madhya Pradesh in the summer of 2012.

The rapid impact assessment consisted of baseline survey from late June to early July

and subsequent follow-up survey from late July to early August to beneficiaries who

received the cookstove. The fellow worked with Kopernik’s local NGO partner, Haritika,

who has been working in the area since 1994. Haritika assisted the fellow to conduct

baseline survey in 3 villages covering 41 households and conduct follow-up survey in 2

villages covering 23 households. The respondents were asked about their cooking habits

and fuel usage as well as basic livelihood questions in the baseline survey, and how their

cooking habits and fuel consumption had changed after obtaining the cookstove in the

follow-up survey.

2. Projects conducted by Haritika

Started in 1994, Haritika is a non-profit organization, located its headquarter in

Nowgong, Madhya Pradesh. They work to alleviate extreme poverty and empower

women in approximately 150 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh with the

financial support from Indian government, UNDP and several international NGOs. Their

main work area is water and electricity. In project sites, they have constructed water

conservation schemes, dams, plantations and solar lighting systems. They decided to

implement the smart cookstove project, hoping to reduce firewood use around the project

sites, and received 150 cookstoves from Kopernik in May 2012.

A dam constructed by Haritika near Chandanpura Solar panels constructed by Haritika in Chandanpura

3. Baseline survey result

From late June to the beginning of July, the fellow conducted baseline survey in

three villages in Chattarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, which are Khakri veerpura,

Kasera and Chandanpura. The interview was conducted for 41 households who purchased

or ordered cookstove at the point of survey. Survey questions are as described in

appendix 1 and 2. Though the date varies depending on villages, cookstoves were

distributed to villagers around 10 days before the baseline survey and some households

had already started to use them at the time of the survey.

Almost all the people who live in these villages work as farmers except for a few

households that send some family members away for labor work. The average number of

family members is 6.2, including 3 to 5 children. Their average monthly income is

Rs.7,786 (USD 138), ranging from Rs.1,666 (USD 30) to Rs.18,750 (USD 333). This

means that the average monthly income per person is Rs.1,261 (USD 22) or Rs.42 (USD

0.75) per day, well below the benchmark of USD 1 per day.

The poorest village is Chandanpura, where the average monthly income per

household is Rs.2,560 (USD 46), ranging from Rs.1,666 (USD 30 ) to Rs.5,000 (USD

90).

The level of poverty is likely due to Chandanpura’s far distance from nearest very

small town (about 20 minutes by car although the fellow could not find any single car in

the village), thus villagers depend on subsistence farming and they have very limited

access to money. Although Haritika is working on potable water and solar panel

installment in the village, the village’s general infrastructure is still very poor. Unless

there are solar panels, the village could remain without electricity for over two weeks.

Another remote village, Kasera is also poor, however, they seemed to be well-off thanks

to the Bunder Project in the area, a diamond mining venture initiated by Rio Tinto, the

Australian mining company, and subsequent job creation throughout the region.

Regarding the cooking habit, all interviewees replied that they cook twice a day,

using the traditional stove called “chulha” (see picture below). It takes between 45 and 60

minutes for 46% of interviewees (19) to prepare meals, and more than 60 minutes for

42% of households (17). Except for three families who seemed to be richer than others,

everyone collects firewood for cooking use, of which 59% of households (24) collect

once a week and 30% of households (12) twice a week. Women generally assume the

task of collecting fuel, although some answered that every family member helps with the

job. Each collection takes between 1 hour and more than 2 hours for 80% of households

(33). In Kasera, almost all interviewees take more than 2 hours to collect firewood, while

in Chandanpura most households take between 1.5 and 2 hours.

Since each village where baseline survey was conducted is relatively small, there

were no outstanding varieties in their answers, especially in regards to their cooking

habits. This is due to the fact that all the households use chulha for cooking and collect

firewood from the same or similar places. Depending on the number of household

members though, there were slight differences in the time to collect firewood. For

example in Khakri veerpura, those who answered that it takes more than 2 hours to

collect fuel have 9 to 10 family members while others who take less than 2 hours have 4

to 6 family members.

Traditional chulha in Chandanpura Compared with a Greenway Smart Stove

4. Follow-up survey result

From late July to early August, approximately one month after conducting the

baseline survey, the fellow headed to the field again to conduct a rapid impact assessment

of the cookstoves project. With the help of staff at Haritika, the follow-up survey was

conducted for the same households as the baseline survey. Unfortunately, there was an

ongoing festival in Kasera when the fellow arrived there that everyone in the village

attended and consequently prevented the fellow from completing the follow up survey

with the 16 families whom she had previously interviewed for the baseline survey. Apart

from that, other households had moved away from the village or were just simply absent

for the day; therefore, the total number of households which the fellow collected

information for the rapid impact assessment was 23 (see figure 1 below). The detailed

demographics of beneficiaries in each village are described in figures 2 and 3.

Villages Baseline survey Follow-up survey

Khakri veerpura 11 10

Chandanpura 14 13

Kasera 16 0

Total 41 23

Figure 1. Number of households interviewed in each village

Figure 2. Family size of respondents

3 0

3

5 4

2

1

4

1

Family size of respondents

2 members

3 members

4 members

5 members

6 members

7 members

8 members

9 members

10 members

Figure 3. Monthly income of respondents

Apart from whether the interviewees use the cookstove and how often they use it,

the rapid impact assessment was conducted under the following three hypotheses:

1) The time it takes to prepare a meal will decrease with the new stove

2) Frequency and time to collect fuel will decrease with the new stove

3) Health improvement would be seen and felt by cookstove users after

switching to the new stove

First, more than half of respondents (14) answered that they use the cookstoves to

prepare every meal. All the cookstove users answered that they use it for both cooking

meals and making tea. About 20% of (4) them answered that they use it once a day or

once in two days. Approximately 20% (5) answered that they do not use it at all; in the

Rs.1000‐3000(USD18‐54),9

Rs.3000‐6000(USD54‐108),10

Rs.6000‐9000(USD108‐162),2

Rs.9,000+(USD162+),2

Monthlyincomeofrespondents

survey, some respondents explained they cannot easily change their conventional cooking

habit of using chulha. Others replied that the cookstoves take 15-20 minutes more time to

cook than chulha.

There is a variety of other reasons for those who did not use the cookstove at all.

One woman, a mother of 10 family members explained that with the cookstove, she is

unable to cook large amounts of meal at once, so she used it only once. Other women,

who live in the very poor village in Chandanpura answered that they used the cookstove

only once after obtaining it because they found it difficult to repay the cookstove fee and

wanted to return it. Two other households said that they returned the cookstoves because

they could not find the special glue to connect the body and the handle of the stove.1

Haritika will introduce the installment payment option to the households intending to

return the stove because of the price barrier.

Next, there was a significant decrease in cooking time after disseminating the

cookstove. At baseline, 41% (14) responded that it took more than 60 minutes to prepare

meals, but no one answered that it took more than 60 minutes in the follow-up survey.

Instead, now it takes less than 45 minutes for 39% (9) of households to cook while only

10% (4) responded with that answer at the time of baseline survey (see figure 4). The

decrease in cooking time can be attributed to the switch from chulha cookstove to

Greenway Smart Cookstove.

1A staff at Greenway Grameen Infra whom the fellow later met in Mumbai explained that only a screwdriver is necessary to connect the body and the handle whereas the screw is provided with each new stove, so the statement could be a misinterpretation of the Haritika staff who instructed the users

Figure 4. Changes in time to prepare meals

Regarding fuel collection, aside from two households that purchase fuel, about

60% (24) of interviewees said that they collected firewood once a week and 34% (14)

collected it twice a week or more frequently. After one month, 57% (13) collect it once a

week and 17% (4) twice a week or more frequently. The reason why the number of those

who collect firewood twice a week or more frequently decreased is that there were people

who did not use cookstoves and did not answer the follow-up survey question. Thus,

significant differences were not seen in regard to the frequency of fuel collection (see

figure 5).

The time for fuel collection, on the other hand, dramatically decreased. At

baseline, almost 80% (33) took more than 60 minutes each time when collecting fuel, and

nearly two thirds of that took more than 2 hours to collect fuel each time. Only 12% (5),

1 0 3

9

19

9

17 0

1

5

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Baseline (n=41) Follow up (n=23)

Changes in time to prepare meals

N/A

>60min

45-60min

31-45min

16-30min

who have relatively small number of family members, collected fuel for less than 60

minutes each time. The follow-up survey result, however, shows a significant change:

there is no longer any person who takes more than 2 hours to collect fuel. Indeed, half of

people surveyed (11) replied that the time decreased to less than 30 minutes and 17% (4)

of them take between 30 and 60 minutes (see figure 6).

Figure 5. Changes in frequency of firewood collection

0 1

24 13

12 2

2

1

2

2

1 4

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Baseline (n=41) Follow up (n=23)

Changes in frequency of firewood collection

N/A

Buys firewood

Three times a week

Twice a week

Once a week

Every other day

Figure 6. Time to collect firewood

Lastly, approximately half of the respondents answered that they have had some

health improvement since they started to use the cookstove. However, the fellow could

not obtain any further information about how their health improved except the statement

that the cookstove releases much less smoke than chulha cookstove.

5. Analysis

The follow-up survey results showed that 80% of households continued using the

cookstove regularly at least after approximately 1-2 months of purchase, albeit the

frequency of use differs for each household. There are various reasons why another 20%

of households do not use it at all or stopped using it after trying several times at the time

of follow-up survey. Apart from the reasons described in the previous section, several

0

11

5

4

2

1

11

0 20 0

3

7

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Baseline (n=41) Follow up (n=23)

Changes in time spent on each firewood collection

N/A

>2hr

1.5-2hr

1-1.5hr

0.5-1hr

<0.5hr

households stated that the Greenway Smart Stove takes just as much time or even more to

cook food than the chulha cookstove. Some said that it is because the heating power of

cookstove is weaker than the chulha. Another user mentioned that when preparing roti or

chapati, which is the other staple food in Northern India than rice, the Greenway Smart

Stove requires an additional process that became the deal-breaker.2 Those who answered

that the Greenway Smart Stove takes just as much time or more to cook with than the

chulha were concentrated in Khakri veerpura. Thus, it is possible that people cook using

different methods depending in which village they live, or surrounding opinions influence

individual perceptions. Also, since the staple food in India greatly varies from place to

place, it is probable that results will also vary in different states. The recent study by J-

PAL showed that after a period of four years, people gradually use the distributed

improved cookstove less and less, though it’s important to note that the cookstove used in

the study is not a new generation rocket stove, a category in which the Greenway Smart

Stove falls under.3 To accurately observe changes in cooking habit by adopting the

Greenway Smart Stove, it is necessary to conduct another evaluation for the longer term.

Apart from some negative comments that I describe above, most interviewees

rated the cookstove as “Very Useful”, which is the highest score in the rating.4 The

breakdown of the given technology rating from beneficiaries is described in figure 6.

Approximately 70% listed ease of use as the most likable feature for the cookstove.

About 10% listed the quickness of preparing food as another feature of the stove that they 2When using chulha, people cook roti on an iron plate, turning it once in a while. When using the Greenway Smart Stove, however, the iron plate has to be placed on the ground every two minutes, which is similar to when using an LPG cookstove.3Up In Smoke, J-PAL Policy Briefcase, July 2012; available at http://www.povertyactionlab.org/publication/up-in-smoke 4The rating was conducted using 5 scales, which were “Very Useful”, “Useful”, “OK”, “Not Very Useful” and “Not Useful At All”

liked, while another 20% noted that they liked the stove because it uses less amount of

firewood and emits noticeably less smoke when compared with using the chulha. Nobody

mentioned about the direct health improvement, or the extra time for other activities as a

result of the decline in time to collect firewood and to cook.

Figure 6. Ratings of the Greenway Smart Stove given by project beneficiaries

Regarding the time required tocollect firewood, it can be inferred that the decrease

in time to collect wood is due to Greenway Smart Stove’s better fuel efficiency, which

reduces the amount of wood required to cook the same amount of meals. Although the

fellow could not collect information about the amount of firewood that the villagers

collect, she has learned from a Greenway Grameen Infra staff that the cookstove is

expected to reduce 60% of fuel consumption. Contrary to the hypotheses, there were no

significant differences in the frequency of firewood collection before and after the

12

5

3 3

0 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

very useful useful ok not very useful not useful at all

Ratings of the Greenway Smart Stove

74% of those interviewed in the follow-up survey

surveys. However, again, in order to clarify the relationship between time and frequency,

she should have asked the information about the amount of firewood which each villager

collects.

The fellow also interviewed users about the affordability of the cookstove.

Haritika sold it at the price of Rs.500 (USD 9), and required villagers to pay in lump sum.

For example, a villager in Khakri veerpura felt the cookstove was quite expensive

although he was able to pay for it in one go. Indeed, the monthly income of his family is

over Rs. 10,000 (USD 180), which is one of the highest among the interviewees. Taking

this into consideration, it is well understandable that women in Chandanpura could not

afford the cookstove and did not use it at all with the intention of returning the stove.

According to Avani, most villagers in Chandanpura have not yet paid the fee, or have

only paid a partial amount. Considering these facts, Haritika started to introduce a

payment scheme that allows buyers with financial difficulties to pay in installments.

One last thing the fellow noticed through the follow-up survey was that villagers

did not know whom to call, or how to deal with maintenance issues when the cookstoves

had some flaws. Surprisingly, when she asked the same question to Avani, he did not

know about the maintenance matter either, although the fellow later learned that a

Greenway Grameen Infra staff had already visited Haritika’s office before distribution of

stoves started (and before the fellow arrived) to conduct a small demonstration and

training. This was an unexpected discovery and immediately reported to Kopernik, who

then put Haritika and Greenway Grameen Infra in touch again for clarification about the

one-year warranty and after-sales service.

6. Beneficiary Profiles

A. Bhagwati (Khakri veerpura)

Bhagwati is a 70-year-old grandmother living in Khakri veerpura. Her family

consists of 9 members, including her 75-year-old husband, her son, who is the head of the

household and 4 grandchildren. Since her family makes a living as farmers, she helps

with the job too. It was her son who decided to buy the cookstove after seeing the

demonstration conducted by Haritika. She now uses the cookstove once a day. Though

according to her it takes almost the same time as before to cook meals with the new

stove, she claims to be able to make tea faster with it.

Bhagwati and her grandchildren

B. Aarti (Khakri veerpura)

25-year-old Aarti lives in a house with her parents-in-law, her husband, her two

children and other three family members. Her family makes a living through farming

similar to other families in the area. Aarti assumes all the cooking chores within the

family. She uses the Greenway Smart Stove approximately once every two days. Though

she finds that the new cookstove releases noticeably less smoke than chulha, she feels

that it is difficult to stop using chulha, to which she is heavily attached. Although her

family is relatively large with 9 members--a number that may be too large to

accommodate with the capacity of the Greenway Smart Stove—she uses it nonetheless

because not all the family members are present everyday, and she is still able to manage

preparing meals with the new cookstove.

C. Amita (Khakri veerpura)

25-year-old Amita also lives with a large family of 9, including her three children.

Her family works as farmers. When we visited her house, she was chatting with women

neighbors while letting their children play outside. She too uses the Greenway Smart

Stove about once in two days. She likes the new cookstove because it releases little to no

smoke. However, she feels that it takes 15 to 20 minutes longer to cook with it than when

she cooks with chulha because the former generates smaller firepower. Just before

leaving her house, her husband came back from Nowgong, which is the closest town

from the village on a motorcycle. He is the one who decided to buy the cookstove and he

said that Rs.500, equivalent to about 9 USD, was quite expensive.

Amita and her neighbors

D. Vimla (Chandanpura)

Vimla is a 38-year-old woman living in a house with three other members

including her one child. Her family is one of the poorest among the villagers, with a

monthly income of Rs.1,600 (USD 28). She told me that her family is poor because they

do not own land for agriculture. Instead, they earn money by collecting firewood and

selling them to people, or undertaking temporary labor work. Sometimes, they migrate to

other major cities such as Delhi and Agra to do some labor work. In these occasions, all

of the family members migrate together, or in some cases, only her husband goes to work.

She likes that the Greenway Smart Stove because it is much easier to use while cooking.

Vimla and her neighbors

E. Narcein Singh (Chandanpura)

Narcein is the head of a household of 6 members, including his wife and 4

children. He works as a farmer as well as doing service work once in a while. In the

village, he takes initiative regarding projects conducted by Haritika and receives some

money from them. He was the one who decided to buy the Greenway Smart Stove. His

wife likes it a lot and uses it for every meal. Instead of collecting wood, his family

purchases wood from local shops. They purchase it about once a month and spend Rs.300

(about 5 USD) each time. Because his family has just started using the cookstove, he is

not still sure how much the expenses on firewood is going to change, but he expects that

it is going to reduce since the new cookstove requires less fuel than chulha.

Appendix 1.

RapidImpactAssessment‐BaselineCookstove

Date:District:Village:

1. Name:2. Sex:3. Age:

NO. QUESTION RESPONSE1. Howmanypeopleliveinyourhouse?

2.

Howdoesyourfamilyearnmoney?Chooseallthatapply.Note:Alloptionsshouldberead.

1. Wesellsnacks2. Wesellsmallhand‐madegoods3. Wetailorclothes4. Wehavemyownshop5. Teacher6. Wesellothersmallgoods7. Weworkonafarmduringharvestseason8. OurfamilyownslandwhichIfarmon9. Other:___________________________

3. Onaverage,howmuchdoesyourfamilyearn?

IncomeGeneratingChoicesselectedinQuestion3

Whatmonthsoftheyeardoyoudothisactivity?

Whatdoyouearnduringthistimeonamonthlybasis?

AdditionalNotes

1. Rs:

2. Rs:

COOKINGHABITSANDSTOVEOWNERSHIPNo. Questions Response4. Howmanytimesdoyoucookeachday? 1234+5. Howmanycookstovesdoyoucurrentlyown? 12345+6. WhichstovesdoyoucurrentlyOWN?(checkall

thatapply)1. LPG2.Kerosene3.Brick4.Biomass5.Chulha6.Kopernik

7.

WhichcookingmethodsdoyoucurrentlyUSE?(checkallthatapply)

1. LPG2. Kerosene

3. Brick4. Biomass5. Chulha6. Kopernik*Iftheyanswer1,answerQ13–15*Iftheyanswer2,answerQ16–18

11

Whichonedoyouusethemost? 1. LPG2.Kerosene3.Brick4.Biomass5.Chulha6.Kopernik

12 Howlongdoesittakeyoutocookeachtime?(Prompt:Howlongisthecookstoveon?)

1. 0‐15minuteseachtime2. 16‐30minuteseachtime3. 31‐45minuteseachtime4. 45minutes–1houreachtime5. Morethan1houreachtime(SpecifyTime:__________________________)

13(LPG)

HowmanydaysdoestheLPGcylinderlastyou? ____________(enternumberofdays)

14(LPG)

Whatsizecylinderdoyouown? ____________(entercylindersize)

15(LPG)

Howmuchdoesitcosttorefillit? ____________(enterINRamount)

16(KSN)

Howmanylitersofkerosenedoyouusuallybuyatonetime?

______________(enterlitersofkerosenepurchase)

17(KSN)

Howlongdoesthatamountlastyou? ______________(enter#ofdays)

18(KSN)

Howmuchdoesthatamountcost? ______________(enterINRamount)

19 Doesyourfamilycollectwoodforcooking? 1. Yes2. No(>>Q.22)3. Idon’t,butsomeoneelseinmyhomedoesIfso,who?________________________

20

Ifyes,howoftendoesyourfamilycollectfirewood?

1. Everyday2. Everyotherday3. 3timesaweek4. 2timesaweek5. 1timeaweek

21. Ifyes,whocollectfirewoodinyourfamily? 22

Ifyes,howlongdoescollectingfirewoodtakeyoueachtime?(Thisincludestimerequiredtowalktosite,collecting,andreturningbackhome)

1. Lessthan30minutes2. 30minutesto1hour3. 1hour–1hour30minutes4. 1hour30minutesto2hours5.Morethan2hours______________(Enteramount)

23

Doesyourfamilybuyfirewood? 1. Yes2.No

24 Ifyes,howoftendoesyourfamilybuyfirewood?

1. EveryDay2. 3timesaweek3. 1timeeveryweek4. 1timeeverytwoweeks5.1timeeverymonth

25 Howmuchdoyouspendoniteachtime? _______________(EnterINRAmount)

Appendix2.

RapidImpactAssessment–Follow‐upCookstove

Date:Village:

4. Name:

No. Questions Response1. HowoftendoyouuseKopernik’scookstove? 1.Everymeal2.Onceaday3.Onceintwodays4.Oncein

threedays4.Notveryoften5.Notatall(4.5>>Q2)2. Ifyoudonotusealot,whatistheproblem? 3. Forwhatpurposedoyouusuallyuse

Kopernik’scookstove?1.Bothmealsandtea2.Onlyformakingteas3.Onlyformakingmeals

4. HowlongdoesittakeyoutocookeachtimewhenyouuseKopernik’scookstove?

6. 0‐15minuteseachtime7. 16‐30minuteseachtime8. 31‐45minuteseachtime9. 45minutes–1houreachtime10. Morethan1houreachtime(SpecifyTime:__________________________)

5.

Howlongdoesittakeyoutocookeachtimewhenyouusechulha?

1.0‐15minuteseachtime2.16‐30minuteseachtime3.31‐45minuteseachtime4.45minutes–1houreachtime5.Morethan1houreachtime(SpecifyTime:__________________________)

6.

NowthatyouhaveaKopernik’scookstove,howoftendoyoucollectfirewood?

6. Everyday7. Everyotherday8. 3timesaweek9. 2timesaweek5.1timeaweek6.No.Idon’tcollect.Ibuyfirewood.(>>Question

7. NowthatyouhaveaKopernik’scookstove,howlongdoesittakeyoutocollectfirewoodeachtime?

5. Lessthan30minutes6. 30minutesto1hour7. 1hour–1hour30minutes8. 1hour30minutesto2hours5.Morethan2hours______________(Enteramount)

8. HaveyouseenanyimprovementofyourhealthsinceyoustartedtouseKopernik’scookstove?

1.Yes2.No

9. HowusefulisKopernik’scookstove? 1.Veryuseful2.Useful3.Ok4.Notveryuseful5.Notatalluseful(4.5>>Q11)

10. Haveyouhadanyproblemswiththecookstove?

1.Yes(>>Q11)2.No

11. IfKopernik’scookstoveisnotveryuseful,orhasanyproblem,describehere.

12.

Whatdoyoulikethemostaboutthecookstove?