Sustainable Dissemination of Improved Cookstoves: Lessons from Southeast Asia
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Sustainable Dissemination of Improved Cookstoves: Lessons from Southeast Asia Workshop Report 13 December 2015 YANGON, MYANMAR Key words: Energy Access, Rural Energy, Improved Cookstoves, Clean Cookstoves, Indoor Air Polution Smart Villages We aim to provide policymakers, donors, and development agencies concerned with rural energy access with new insights on the real barriers to energy access in villages in developing countries— technological, financial and political—and how they can be overcome. We have chosen to focus on remote off-grid villages, where local solutions (home- or institution-based systems and mini-grids) are both more realistic and cheaper than national grid extension. Our concern is to ensure that energy access results in development and the creation of ‘smart villages’ in which many of the benefits of life in modern societies are available to rural communities. www.e4sv.org | [email protected] | @e4SmartVillages CMEDT – Smart Villages Initiative, c/o Trinity College, Cambridge, CB2 1TQ Publishing © Smart Villages 2015 The Smart Villages Initiative is being funded by the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust (CMEDT) and the Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre (MCSC) and through a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF). The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust or the Templeton World Charity Foundation. This publication may be reproduced in part or in full for educational or other non-commercial purposes. SUSSTAINABLEUSTAINABLE DIss DEMINATIONIssEMINATION OF IOFMPROVE IMPROVED CDOOK COOKSTOVESTOVES: LSE:ss LEONssSON FROMS FROM SOUTHEA SOUTHEAST ASSTIA ASIA Contents Summary 2 Introduction 3 Session 1 4 Opening speech 4 Keynote address 4 Opening Remarks 5 The smart village concept 6 Sustainable dissemination of improved cookstoves in Myanmar 6 Session 2: Standardisation of improved cookstoves: Lessons from the field 7 Khamlet Sengsoulchanh and Ananh Xiayavaong, ARMI 7 Chen Cheth, GERES Cambodia 8 Ramil Allan Perez, PCWS 9 Q&A session 10 Session 3: Transition to cleaner cooking fuels and technologies: Impact on rural communities 11 Christina Aristanti, Yayasan Dian Desa (Light of the Village Foundation) 11 Louise Bott, SNV Lao PDR 13 Julien Jacquet, Stove+ 14 Mark Grindley, FFI 14 Indira Shakya, ENERGIA 15 Session 4: Breakout Groups 16 Developing business models for improved cookstoves and the role of stakeholders within a gender mainstreamed framework 16 Breakout Session–Group 1 16 Breakout Session–Group 2 18 Session 5: Concluding Session 20 Summary and concluding comments 20 Annex 1: Workshop agenda 21 Annex 2: List of participants 22 -1- e4sv.org SUSTAINABLE DIssEMINATION OF IMPROVED COOKSTOVES: LEssONS FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA Summary Despite substantial progress on achieving dissemination of improved cookstoves is one the universal electricity access in the region, almost main strategies being implemented nationally half the population in Southeast Asia continues to to improve environmental sustainability. While rely primarily on biomass to meet their cooking recognising that improved cookstoves reduce the needs. On 2 December 2015, the Smart Villages amount of fuelwood gathered from forests, there Initiative together with GERES, Myanmar was debate about the extent to which cooking is organised a regional workshop in Yangon, responsible for deforestation, and a call for better Myanmar to gather lessons about the sustainable data to be gathered. dissemination of improved cookstoves. This was an important event in the Smart Villages Initia- Within Southeast Asia there are a number of coun- tive’s ongoing programme of events as it was the try-level initiatives that are aimed at the dissem- first time that the issue of improved cookstoves ination of improved cookstoves. Many of these dissemination in rural areas had been addressed. initiatives, for example in Cambodia, Lao PDR, The workshop brought together participants and Myanmar, are supported by international from Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Lao donors like the European Union. In Indonesia People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and the World Bank has been working closely with Vietnam. the Indonesian government to support the dis- semination of high-quality improved cookstoves. The workshop garnered substantial interest among a wide range of stakeholders including A common theme to emerge in all these pro- representatives from the public sector, the grammes is that they aim to take a holistic donor community, non-governmental organisa- approach to the dissemination of improved tions (NGOs), the private sector, and academia. cookstoves. Such an integrated strategy, Workshop participants were informed about though time consuming, includes the following the efforts of the Myanmar government to common elements: providing technical support ensure the sustainability of forest resources. The to cookstove producers to develop technical John Holmes in discussion with Georgi Dzhartov and George Dura e4sv.org -2- SUSTAINABLE DIssEMINATION OF IMPROVED COOKSTOVES: LEssONS FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA expertise to develop products of uniform quality; stakeholders, not least to support access to carbon ensuring affordability of the product especially credits and results-based financing. Testing for rural consumers who are very cost-conscious; methodologies need to recognise potential differ- running training programmes for potential ences between performance in the laboratory and cookstove producers and artisans; and, lastly, the home, and that the quality of manufactured developing the local cookstove value chains by products may deteriorate over time requiring providing well-targeted financial and manage- repeat testing and accreditation. rial support to actors at each stage of the value chain including producers, wholesalers, retailers A key lesson to emerge from the workshop is and end-users. When designing initiatives, close the importance of designing and promoting attention should be given to the sustainability and improved cookstoves that are in sync with the scale-up of sales and the use of improved cook- cooking requirements of the local population. If stoves after projects have ended. This requires products do not meet the needs of consumers, the establishment of an effective ecosystem of their adoption is going to be much lower than value chain actors operating within a supportive expected and the impact of dissemination pro- framework. grammes is likely to be lower than desired. Also, people tend to how a low awareness of the The absence of enforceable standards and local benefits of cookstoves for health and time saving, stove testing facilities have been problematic for and awareness raising initiatives continue to be stakeholders across Southeast Asia involved in needed. Another important lesson is that gender improved cookstove dissemination programmes. must be mainstreamed in improved cookstove International and local NGOs have worked with dissemination programmes, and women’s voices national governments to develop such standards should be brought to the fore: women are key and facilities, which are vital in order to monitor agents in household cooking practices and most the quality of improved cookstoves available in at risk of being affected by indoor air pollution. the market and to ensure that there is evidence of Women’s groups and unions can play a key role. their benefits to present to local and international Introduction The Smart Villages Initiative continued its forum for animated and fruitful discussions engagement in Southeast Asia with a regional with important learning points for the Smart workshop held in Yangon, Myanmar on 2 Villages Initiative and the participants. December 2015. The workshop focused on the sustainable dissemination of improved cook- This report summarises key points arising from stoves in the Southeast Asian region. It was the presentations and discussions. Copies of co-organised with GERES, Myanmar, an NGO the presentations are available on the Smart with extensive experience in the improved Villages website (www.e4sv.org). A background cookstove sector in Southeast Asia. paper was prepared by the Smart Villages team summarising key aspects of the energy situation The workshop brought together more than 60 in Southeast Asia, focusing on the cookstove relevant stakeholders from across the region sector. This report can also be accessed on the involved in the improved cookstoves sector website. The workshop agenda and the list of in Southeast Asia. Participants came from participants along with their organisational Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Lao PDR, affiliations are provided in Annexes 1 and 2 of the Philippines, and Vietnam. It provided a this report respectively. -3- e4sv.org SUSTAINABLE DIssEMINATION OF IMPROVED COOKSTOVES: LEssONS FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA Session 1 Opening speech Research Institute of Myanmar has been U Khin Maung Yee, Ministry of Environmental producing and distributing A1 efficient cook- Conservation and Forestry stoves since the 1990s. Distribution is currently being conducted through the Ministry’s own U Khin Maung Yee, the Permanent Secretary programmes, as well as through collaborating of the Ministry of Environmental Conservation with NGOs. and Forestry opened the Smart Villages Initi- ative’s workshop on cookstoves in Southeast U Khin Maung Yee concluded his opening Asia. He expressed his great pleasure and speech with a call for change