Enabling Access to Sustainable Energy

Project details

014 Development and testing of basic business model for the promotion of the Philips woodstove in Tanzania

Project partner

Pumps International and Solar Ltd.

Project status

Completed 2008

Project description

In Dar Es Salaam and the immediate surrounding inefficient stoves are widely employed for household as well as for productive and commercial use. Most people in Dar Es Salaam depend on charcoal as cooking fuel. Current cooking problems involve indoor air pollution due to smoke from cooking fires, and increasing charcoal prices.

The Philips improved woodstove has been developed to give the poor access to clean cooking. Pumps International and Solar acknowledges the potential market for the Philips woodstoves as an interesting cooking alternative, due to rising fuel prices and because of the health benefits derived. To develop a market for the Philips woodstove Pumps International and Solar has bought 50 stoves for commercial testing in Dar Es Salaam region.

Philips has undertaken extensive testing with the stove in India and is interesting in user experiences from Tanzania. A field expert employed by Pumps International and Solar Ltd., Ms. Elizabeth Nwambete will support field testing of the stove.

One of the main objectives of this project is to determine for which target group the Philips woodstove can fulfil the energy demands for cooking. Testing by Philips has shown that the burning chamber of the pilot product is not suitable for intensive commercial use. However, the new model under development could be suitable because it has a replaceable burning chamber. To further investigate this one of the target groups identified will use the stove commercially and we will capture their experiences and improvement suggestions. In total, five potential target groups for each 10 stoves should be identified:

“Mama Lishe” food vendors;
household ladies middle- and higher income; through Ms. Mwambete’s personal (church) network.
civil servants through Tunakopesha;
consumers buying at large supermarkets (at Slipway e.g.);
teachers / TaTEDO project area / environmental project area?

During this pilot project the project area will mainly be limited to Dar Es Salaam and surroundings to facilitate the monitoring of user experiences.

Learning questions

The principle questions to be answered by the project are:

How to develop a quality low-cost package of biodigestors which will be competitive in Tanzanian household markets (value chain)?

The subquestions are:

Which market segments have been identified for the Philips stove and what are their characteristics?
What is the size and feasibility of these market segments (including price segments/price acceptance) ?
What kind of effective, but low-cost promotion materials should be developed for consumers as well as retailers to explain the specifications of the product, its benefits and the usage?
Is it possible to get the stove exempted from import taxes?
What kind of financing schemes are possible (and necessary)?
What kind of distribution channels can be used to distribute the stove and how can the value chain be quantified (distribution of margins – price build up from import to consumer)?
What is the customer satisfaction? What are the experiences from and impacts on the users (men and women) of the stove, suggestions for improvement/adjustment?
How can the experiences of the pilot stage be used for scaling up? Which type of after-sales system should be set-up after the pilot phase? What is needed for that?
What is the consumer perception on replacing the burning chamber after 1-5 years? What would be an acceptable cost? Who can do this (4 screws are needed), consumer or retailer?