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The Senegal Diambar Stove Project by Dr Eric Hyman et al.
[top] [end]Project origin, organization and objectivesIn the fall of 1989, Appropriate Technology International (ATI) approached the existing USAID programme for 'Building the Capacity of Senegalese Institutions to Commercialize Appropriate Technologies' with a proposal to commercialize technologies for household energy conservation, small-scale irrigation, and grain processing through private enterprise. USAID/Senegal provided one million dollars of the funding for this and ATI covered half a million dollars of the total programme costs for the whole project. The stoves component began in 1991, and the project was then extended until September 1997 under the USAID/Senegal Co-financing Programme.ATI's approach in this project was to work directly with artisans and workshops to start manufacturing the technology units. ATI itself also carried out demonstrations for potential users to stimulate the initial demand for the technologies. This direct role of ATI in implementation has enabled faster progress to be made in the initial stages of the project. Programme activities will be sustainable because of the private sector orientation and reliance on market incentives for production and distribution of the technologies. After project assistance has terminated, the artisans can be expected to continue the commercialization process on their own with profit making as a motivation. The stoves component of the programme began on a small scale in April 1991. Its target was the production and sale of at least 10,000 improved stoves by the end of the first funding phase, December I 993. These 10,000 stoves were expected to save at least 5,500 tonnes of charcoal per year. The objectives of this component were to decrease consumption of charcoal and so reduce deforestation, save households money, and generate income for ceramic enterprises and artisanal metal workers making the stoves. [top] [end]The Diambar stoveThe Diambar stove promoted in the Senegal project is an adaptation of the Kenya, ceramic-lined, portable 'jiko' (KCJ), one of the most widely used and successful, improved charcoal stove designs. The KCJ combines design features from the Thai bucket stove and the traditional all-metal stove introduced into Kenya in the early 1900s by Indian labourers working on the railway. The stove consists of a cladding (outer case) made of scrap metal and a firebox liner made of fired clay, which is attached to the cladding by a layer of 1:3 mixture of cement and vermiculite.The ceramic liner reduces the amount of cooking heat wasted by radiation out to the surroundings. The liner has a perforated base, which serves as a grate. The cement/vermiculite mix was chosen to reduce costs, provide extra insulation, and protect against cracking. The stove has a door below the grate for draft control and ash removal, three legs to support the round base, and handles. The metal pot rests are strong and the wide base is stable during vigorous cooking. The most common size in Kenya has a diameter of 28 centimetres. The jiko has a bell-bottom shape with a narrow waist. This shape allows gravity to hold the liner in place firmly so that it is less prone to cracking from differential expansion in heating. Because the liner only extends to the grate, this stove (i) is light and portable (ii) is cheaper to produce, and (iii) has a smaller firebox to reduce charcoal waste caused by overloading. In late 1989, ATI imported 50 jikos from Nairobi for field testing in Senegal. The field test study done by a local consultant found that the standard size of the Kenyan stove was too small for most households in Senegal which are often polygamous and tend to be larger than those in Kenya. In February of 1991, 30 large stoves were brought in from Kenya for further market testing. Some design changes were made to produce the Senegalese Diambar stove that distinguish it from the KCJ. In Senegal, the stove is known as the 'Diambar', which means 'brave' or 'bold' in Wolof. The Diambar uses ground nut shell ash instead of vermiculite in the cement mix that holds the liner in place. It also has a metal grate below the ceramic firebox grate, and this extends the life of the ceramic liner. In late 1992, the project began promoting a new design - the Diambar II. Instead of the bell-bottom shaped cladding, the Diambar II stove has a simple, conical shaped, metal cladding with a separate base (see Figure 1). This change simplifies fabrication while maintaining stability in use, and provides a reduction in the cost of metal of about a third. Small, power-operated pugmills and jigger jollies were introduced to increase the output of the potters and to improve quality. The project has been working successfully with some artisanal women, pottery producers in Beyti Dhakar on a very small scale. However, working with a large number of very small pottery producers could increase problems with quality control and management.
More laboratory tests and controlled cooking tests of the efficiency of the Diambar II relative to existing stove types in Senegal and to the Kenyan jiko are needed to provide better documentation of the fuel saving potential of the stove. This testing should be done by an independent laboratory with internationally recognized expertise in the area, using standard, published techniques (such as those proposed by VITA or ITDG). ITDG would be a good choice because of its experience and ability to publicize the Diambar in its newsletter, Boiling Point, and to promote replication. ATl's approach in this case, of working directly with manufacturers, was an effective way to get commercialization of the technologies started. However, to demonstrate the sustainability of the approach, the metal-working artisans should be required to pay the costs of the tooling for the stoves through a lease/purchase system. [top] [end]Cost effectivenessThe cost effectiveness of the project can be estimated by comparing the pre-devaluation costs of the USAID and ATI funding to the charcoal cost savings the project has achieved to date. As of June 1994, a little over two and a half years after the start-up of commercial sales of the Diambar, 11,790 stoves have been sold. Given average daily savings of 1.6kg of charcoal per household over the Sakkanal, (a widely used Senegalese stove) over a conservative two-year life of the stoves, the value of the charcoal savings from the stoves sold to date has been CFA Francs 671,322, 600 ($2,797,180) (see editorial note).The gross income earned by the metal artisans and liner makers was around CFAF 3,000 ($12.50) per stove, for a total of CFAF 30,654,000 ($147,380). Since the stove sellers earned a margin of CFAF 500 ($2.08) per stove, they have earned CFAF 5,895,000 ($24,560) in gross income. Thus, the total financial benefits to date were CFAF 707,871,600 ($2,949,460). The total cost of the stove component of the ATI/USAID Technology Transfer Project was $807,022 through mid- 1994. In addition, the households purchasing the stoves paid approximately $147,380. Thus, the pre-devaluation costs to the project and consumers, total $954,402. Therefore, the monetary benefits to date have outweighed the total project and consumer costs by $1.995 million. For every dollar spent, approximately $3.09 has already been returned in monetary benefits.
This estimated benefit/cost ratio is conservative because it does not include the large numbers of stoves that will be produced in the future by manufacturers trained by ATI in the past 39 months. The two-year estimated life of the stoves is also conservative because of the metal grate that extends the useful life of the ceramic liner. After two and a half years, users have not had to replace the whole stove or even the liner. The sustainability of private sector production and sales of the Diambar stove will ensure continuing benefits to many additional users in the years to come. This financial benefit/cost ratio does not reflect the environmental benefits of Diambar stove use, or the health benefits resulting from lower smoke output and reduced exposure to air pollutants in daily cooking. [top] [end]ConclusionsThis project has successfully instituted a system for transferring proven technologies to small-scale entrepreneurs. Its success is attributable to three key factors:
There are ample market opportunities in Senegal to expand household cooking fuel conservation through improved charcoal stoves. A similar pattern of early adopter characteristics occurred in Kenya, but as the price of stoves eventually fell, lower income households were also able to benefit from the technology. In general, the poor are less willing to take the risks of adopting a new, more expensive product until its net benefits have been clearly established. The best way to ensure that the Diambar stoves project will have wider socio-economic impacts is to reduce the costs of the stove. The original price of the stove may have started at a higher level than necessary because the artisans who discussed costs and prices understood that a foreign donor funded project was being developed. The local currency cost of the stove has since been reduced several times. An alternative technology for liner production that is used by all of the liner-makers in Kenya and may reduce costs is to use large, wood-fired kilns. Wood is relatively costly in Dakar, but it should not be ruled out as an alternative for firing ceramics without a comparative analysis of the costs, fuel availability, and environmental impacts. A wood fired kiln should not be automatically rejected for environmental reasons as the amount of wood required per liner is very small in relation to the amount of wood saved by the improved stove. However, fuelwood does require a lot of storage space, and for this reason its industrial use might not be allowed in urban areas with high population densities. This project was designed to help the urban lower or middle class households currently using charcoal stoves. However, charcoal requires nine times its weight in wood to produce, and only yields twice the energy from burning wood directly. LPG use requires scarce foreign currency reserves, but if households switch from LPG to charcoal, environmental problems may occur. Wood remains the least costly fuel for rural people who will continue to use it despite the existence of improved charcoal stoves. In its first phase, the project worked with some local NGOs conducting technology demonstrations. In the second phase, the project will be expanding ways in which other organizations, non-governmental and governmental, can become involved to scale up the activities for greater impact. NGOs with grassroots field presence in geographic areas where the project has not worked could help demonstrate the technologies and train manufacturers in additional locations. NGOs could also play a greater role in conducting technology demonstrations and multimedia campaigns to promote the stoves. ENDA, for example, has already participated in stove demonstrations and has expressed an interest in selling the Diambar in Senegal. NGOs may have an important role in providing credit for manufacturers of the stove. [top] [end]Editorial NoteBoiling Point would like to be able to report the progress and later phase of the Diambar project. In calculating the cost-effectiveness, the report uses the figure of average daily charcoal savings of 1.6kg per stove compared with the stove previously used (the Sakanal). Although the full report presents evidence for this figure, it is doubtful whether such figures can be relied upon over a long period, and for a significant number of households. As the calculations include the value of the charcoal savings and the incomes earned by the artisans, they should perhaps also take account of the other side i.e. the loss of income for the charcoal producers, transporters and sellers.[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 35: How Much Can NGO’s Achieve
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17 August 2007; Last edited:
02 December 2008; Version: 1 | ||||||||||||
Pagename: TheSenegalDiambarStoveProject @HEDON: PRGA | ||||||||||||
