ADDRESSING ‘INDOOR AIR POLLUTION’

Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) is a major health threat for women and children under 5 in the developing world. According to World Health Organisation, annually, 500,000 women and children in rural India die prematurely due to diseases linked to long term exposure to IAP. A major cause of IAP is smoke in the rural kitchens, due to use of traditional biofuels (firewood, agrowaste, dungcakes, etc.) in traditional cookstoves. Economic constraints of rural households and poor distribution network of modern fossil fuels such as kerosene and LPG, result into the rural households continuing to depend on locally available and free-of-cost or cheap biofuels. Therefore, a more practical solution is to develop and disseminate biofueled clean cooking devices.

LESSONS FROM THE PILOT PROJECT

This scale-up project takes off from the success of a pilot project on a smaller scale, which was also funded by Shell Foundation UK. The Pilot Project was operated by ARTI, with the help of ten grassroots level NGOs spread over Maharashtra state, from January 2003 to December 2005. In the initial stages, the project concentrated on market testing of the products, and technical and entrepreneurial training of potential entrepreneurs. At the end of the project period, there were 120 active rural enterprises spread over the state, and during August 2004 to December 2005, these enterprises had collectively sold clean biomass energy cooking products to about 75,000 rural families in Maharashtra.

In this process, the NGOs involved in the project, including ARTI, learnt important lessons in the commercial approach (as against the welfare approach) to rural upliftment. Through the pilot project, it was established that there is a growing demand for improved biomass fuels and cooking devices. Considering the rural population of Maharashtra and Gujarat states (about 20 million households) the market potential is mind-boggling. Side by side, the impact of these products on the indoor air pollution (IAP) and health is being studied (from 2004 onwards) through direct measurements and surveys at two locations in Maharashtra. It is expected that the study would help quantify the health and environmental benefits of the products.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Plan of Action

Based on the lessons learnt from the pilot project, the scale up project aims to reach out to about 15,00,000 rural households in Maharashtra and around 50,000 rural households in Gujarat. It is envisaged that this project will successfully establish sustainable business chains for supplying the clean biomass energy cooking products the rural population in Maharashtra and Gujarat states. This will be achieved through active participation of rural entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). ARTI, with its long standing experience in development and dissemination of rural technologies, will drive the synergetic working between the various NGOs and entrepreneurs.

In the first step, the potential market is quantified region-wise and suitable business models to be implemented in each region are optimized. In the initial hand holding period, the fledgling enterprises need support mainly in the form of technical and marketing know how. Hence, the ARTI-NGO network provides the service of developing and implementing an effective promotion and marketing campaign for all the entrepreneurs through raising awareness about IAP and health issues. Professional long-term support would be required for the supply of reliable quality raw material and accessories at the lowest possible cost, as well as a concentrated and co-ordinated campaign for product marketing. A private limited company, titled Samuchit Enviro-Tech Pvt. Ltd. (SET) has been established to drive this commercialization process. Funding assistance for a period of four to five years at this stage will certainly ensure sustainability of the network of NGOs and rural enterprises, including SET.

At the end of the project duration, in Maharashtra, an NGO network along with more than 300 entrepreneurs will not only become self sustained, but will also generate enough revenue to pay for the expenses of the NGO network that will be put into place through the project activities. In Gujarat, about 50,000 rural households will be routinely using the products, and about 30 entrepreneurs will be active. In the process, the indoor air quality and health benefits to the users would have been quantified and the potential for sustainability of the NGO-entrepreneur network would have been demonstrated.

The following is a brief description of the products and related services being offered through this project:

1. Compact biogas system: Winner of the international Ashden Award 2006, this technology is 800 times as efficient as the conventional biogas system. This system uses only about 1 kg of any sugary or starchy material (such as leftover food, kitchen waste, nonedible rhizomes, seeds, etc) as daily feedstock, to give a regular supply of gas sufficient enough for domestic cooking for around 2 hours. The biogas plant is set up using locally available plastic tanks (used for water storage), and can be installed even in urban homes with limited space. Through the network of entrepreneurs in this project, SET provides the requisite plumbing kit and single biogas stove to customers.

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2. Charcoaling Technology Set: This consists of the oven and retort type charring kilns, briquetting machine and a pair of moulds. Used to pyrolyse sugarcane trash and convert it into charcoal briquettes, this system empowers rural households and entrepreneurs to run a very profitable, small scale rural business. For large scale production, an extruder type briquetting machine that can be operated on electricity or diesel engine is also on offer.

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3. Char briquettes: The charcoal briquettes produced by the above system serve to be excellent fuel, especially for the Sarai cooking system offered through this project. Charcoal may be procured by the customers from open market, or charcoal left behind in the wood/biomass burning stoves may be used. These char briquettes are produced by centrally located briquetting units using char produced by village level char makers.

4. Sarai Cooking System: This consists of a stainless steel, portable steam cooker which can be operated on charcoal or char briquettes. Ideal for even urban families, it requires only 100 gm char briquettes as fuel to cook rice, pulses, vegetable/meat for a family of 5. No attention is required while cooking, and further, the system takes on the role of a hotbox after the fuel extinguishes.

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5. Vivek stove: A portable metallic gasifier stove, Vivek requires sawdust or similar powdery biomass as fuel. It can operate continuously for 1.5 to 2 hours. Gasification leads to blue flame and level of emissions is negligible for the first 40 minutes of operation.

Target customers

The market is primarily segmented by economic status, and secondarily by location (rural or urban). Our improved biomass fuels and cooking devices are targeted primarily at medium income rural households that have easy access to free biomass fuels. These include farmers and artisans in villages. Our main products (cement or clay stoves with a variety of designs) are designed to serve the cooking requirements and are affordable for this section of the rural society. The CPRI and Vivek stoves are already accepted as supplementary stoves by the middle to high income households in rural and semi-urban areas. Specialized products like Sarai cooker and compact biogas system are targeted at middle to high income rural, semi-urban and urban households. There is even a class of customers that would buy these higher end products (the compact biogas system or the Sarai cooker) for the novelty and status associated with its ownership and use.

It is expected that our products will reach poor households with the help of various welfare schemes implemented through government and non-government channels. From this viewpoint, the agencies implementing such schemes are another class of potential customers.

FACTS AND FIGURES

The total budget estimated for the scale up project is approximately USD 900,000. This includes the salaries and administrative costs of ARTI’s project team, some of the expenses of SET, the expenses of the network of NGOs, travel expenses, promotion, publicity and marketing expenses, training and capacity building expenses, expenses of an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) assessment study in Gujarat, documentation and reporting, etc. A few of the enterprises have managed to secure bank loans for expanding their businesses, whereas some of the enterprises are being helped through a revolving fund. SET would require a working capital of about USD 600,000 per year to ensure profitability and sustainability of the network.

Shell Foundation, UK is partially funding the project and the project activities have been launched from January 2006. Co-funding is being sought for the remaining budget.

ARTI welcomes donations for its project activities and development of rural technologies. Click here for our contact address.

CURRENT STATUS

From its inception in January 2006, this project has moved as per plan to complete selection and training of potential entrepreneurs distributed over the state. Communication channels and supply chains are being put into place. Marketing and publicity campaign is underway.