Commercialization of Improved Cookstoves for Reduced Indoor Air Pollution in Urban Slums of Northwest Bangladesh
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COMMERCIALIZATION OF IMPROVED COOKSTOVES FOR REDUCED INDOOR AIR POLLUTION IN URBAN SLUMS OF NORTHWEST BANGLADESH May 2009 This publication was produced by Winrock International under a cooperative agreement for the United States Agency for International Development. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................... III EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................... 1 I. PROJECT OVERVIEW ........................................................................................ 3 A. Background ...................................................................................................................... 3 B. Project Objectives ............................................................................................................ 5 C. Approach .......................................................................................................................... 5 D. Project Team .................................................................................................................... 6 II. PROJECT ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................... 7 A. Baseline Assessment ......................................................................................................... 7 1. Household questionnaire survey ...................................................................................................... 7 2. Indoor air quality monitoring ........................................................................................................... 8 B. Establishing Community-Level Organization Infrastructure ..................................... 9 C. Raising Awareness and Promoting Effective Behavior .............................................. 10 1. Message and material development ............................................................................................... 10 2. Promotional activities..................................................................................................................... 11 D. Promoting Appropriate Technology ............................................................................ 12 E. Developing a Market and Establishing Entrepreneurs .............................................. 14 1. Entrepreneur training ..................................................................................................................... 15 2. Cookstove marketing materials ...................................................................................................... 16 3. Linking entrepreneurs and community/customers ......................................................................... 16 4. Stove pricing .................................................................................................................................. 17 5. Financing support ........................................................................................................................... 17 III. PROJECT RESULTS ....................................................................................... 19 A. Summary ........................................................................................................................ 19 B. Detailed Results .............................................................................................................. 20 1. Community organizations established............................................................................................ 20 2. Awareness raised and behaviors changed .................................................................................... 20 3. Appropriate technology adopted .................................................................................................... 21 4. Market system developed for sustainability ................................................................................... 22 a. Local entrepreneur training ....................................................................................................... 22 b. Financing support ...................................................................................................................... 23 c. Selling improved cookstoves ..................................................................................................... 23 d. Micro-finance institution training .............................................................................................. 24 IV. KEY OBSERVATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED ....................................... 25 A. Project Design ................................................................................................................ 25 B. Strengthening Local Health Networks ......................................................................... 26 C. Raising Awareness and Changing Behaviors .............................................................. 27 D. Promoting Appropriate Technology ............................................................................ 28 E. Developing a Market and Establishing Entrepreneurs .............................................. 29 F. Dissemination of Project Model .................................................................................... 30 1. Concern Worldwide Bangladesh .................................................................................................... 31 USAID/Winrock Commercialization of Improved Cookstoves for Reduced IAP in NW Bangladesh i 2. The World Bank ............................................................................................................................. 31 3. Village Education Resource Center ............................................................................................... 31 LIST OF TABLES 3 Table 1. Mean PM2.5 levels (µg/m ) in selected households in Saidpur and Parbatipur ....... 8 Table 2. Project results (as of September 2007) .................................................................. 19 LIST OF ANNEXES I. BASELINE SURVEY ON HOUSEHOLD ENERGY PRACTICES, INDOOR AIR POLLUTION, AND HEALTH II. BASELINE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE III. BASELINE INDOOR AIR POLLUTION MONITORING REPORT IV. POST-MONITORING QUESTIONNAIRE V. COOKSTOVE PERFORMANCE REPORT VI. BEHAVIOR CHANGE COMMUNICATIONS MATERIALS USAID/Winrock Commercialization of Improved Cookstoves for Reduced IAP in NW Bangladesh ii ACRONYMS ARI Acute Respiratory Infection ARECOP Asia Regional Cookstove Program ARTI Appropriate Rural Technology Institute BCC Behavior Change Communication BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee CHV Community Health Volunteer CMC Community Management Committee CO Carbon Monoxide CSP Child Survival Program GOB Government of Bangladesh IAP Indoor Air Pollution IAQ Indoor Air Quality KPT Kitchen Performance Test MFI Micro-finance Institution MPA Methodology for Participatory Assessment NGO Non-governmental Organization PM Particulate Matter PPR Parbatipur SPR Saidpur USAID United States Agency for International Development USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency VERC Village Education Resource Center WBT Water Boiling Test WHC Ward Health Committee WHO World Health Organization USAID/Winrock Commercialization of Improved Cookstoves for Reduced IAP in NW Bangladesh iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In Bangladesh the majority of the population relies on biomass for cooking and heating. To date efforts to promote improved cookstoves and wood fuel conservation have focused primarily on the energy side of the problem, neglecting the health impacts associated with the indoor air pollution (IAP) caused by burning biomass indoors. Acute respiratory infections (ARI), many caused or exacerbated by IAP, are one of the leading causes of under-five deaths in the country, which has an under-five mortality rate of 77 per 1,000 live births.1 Beginning in 2003, the energy team of USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, and the environmental health team of the Bureau for Global Health jointly supported a cooperative agreement with Winrock International to develop models to reduce indoor air pollution by combining fuel-efficient cooking technologies with behavior change messages and market-based distribution mechanisms. Winrock developed two project models: a rural model piloted in the highlands of Peru for indigenous communities, and a peri-urban model piloted in Bangladesh for poor households. Winrock, in collaboration with Concern Worldwide Bangladesh and the Village Education Resource Center (VERC), implemented the Bangladesh pilot project from 2005-2007 in selected wards2 of Saidpur and Parbatipur municipalities in Nilphamari and Dinajpur districts in the northwest part of the country. The objective of the pilot project was to reduce indoor air pollution and fuel consumption via the dissemination and commercialization of efficient cookstoves among peri-urban communities through an integrated and sustainable household energy intervention. The project aimed to establish a sustainable market for improved and appropriate stoves to avoid the need for subsidies, either current or future. Three models of fuel-efficient cookstoves, each significantly less polluting than traditional stoves, were selected and promoted in this project. Winrock coupled product promotion with a multi-faceted communication