New Enhanced Stoves launched in Kenya

New wood and charcoal cookstoves with high levels of fuel efficiency and significantly reduced emissions have been launched into the market in Kenya. The stoves have the potential to transform cooking practices in Kenya. What makes these stoves unique is that they are made by local Kenyan businesses and they retail at a price which is well below the cost of imported high efficiency stoves.

GVEP has been working for the past year with a group of experienced local stove makers to develop an improved design with much higher performance at a price consumers can afford. Manufacturing of the stoves is within the capabilities of the local businesses. The technical redesign work was carried out by Kenya Stove Works and prototypes tested with users and in the lab. The designs went through several iterations until the best balance between user acceptability and efficiency had been struck. Funding support came from the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

Riumba-ini Energy Saving Stoves is one of ten companies making the new stove. They are based in Kiria, Muranga County, in Central Province north of Nairobi. The business has been operating since 1998 and has large well organised workshops making and assembling the stove components. They recently serviced a large order from UNHCR. Charity Gatchanja who supports her husband Kenneth in the running of the operation is very pleased with the stove. ‘It is like cooking with gas’ she said. ‘It is very quick to cook.’

The stoves incorporate a metal cylinder which sits above the fire chamber and which increases the efficiency of combustion. James Gatima, the GVEP technical advisor on the project explains: ‘In traditional stoves the gasses given off in burning are cooled by the mass of clay which lines the stove and so are not burned fully. So you get smoke. In the improved stove the metal cylinder keeps the gasses away from the thermal lining, keeping the temperature high and ensuring almost complete combustion.’

The stoves are made using heavier gauge metal than the typical locally made stove. This makes them durable. The fire chamber cylinder will need replacing every few years but the rest of the stove could last ten years if looked after.

Grace Nyambura in the nearby community of Ngaru is one of the first customers to experience the stove. She is very enthusiastic about the fuel savings and lack of smoke. ‘With just one piece of wood I cooked dinner last night, breakfast and lunch and there is still some wood left,’ she said. Before buying the stove she cooked on an open three stone fire. Four pieces of wood cost 50 Ksh and used to last just one day. Now the same amount of wood lasts three days. Grace’s kitchen is a hut in the compound, separated from the house because of the smoke which used to come from the fire. ‘With the new stove I can even cook in the house,’ she said. ‘There is no smoke.’

Mary Njeri, one of her neighbours who also bought the stove, agrees that it is high quality. She says that her daughter was unable to help with cooking before because of the smoke which made her eyes run. With the new stove she is able to cook without any problem. ‘It is very fast, and the heat remains in the stove,’ she said. ‘We are very, very happy.’

All of the companies making the stove are large by Kenyan stove making standards. GVEP deliberately sought out businesses with the capability of manufacturing the new stoves in significant volumes and with the distribution channels in place to get the product to market. Some of the businesses GVEP worked with under an earlier programme, helping them grow from small beginnings to the current scale of production.

But even these larger local businesses still use manual processes. The metal cladding and the pot rests are cut and shaped by hand which is slow and arduous. The heavier gauge metals used in the enhanced stoves presents a challenge. GVEP has been working with the businesses to find suitable locally available machinery which could be used for cutting and shaping metal. Metal cutters driven by compressed air and metal folding equipment has been identified. The businesses will be assisted to purchase equipment with funds from the Global Alliance. What were once small artisan workshops are being transformed into small, highly organised factories.

Companies which import stoves made abroad generally face a challenge with ‘last mile distribution’. By working with an existing local value chain GVEP hopes to be able to circumvent these problems. The stove manufacturers already have established relationships with various wholesale customers, retail outlets and sell directly themselves at local markets. The new stoves are already in demand. At 2500 Kshs the stove is not cheap but the price is around half what someone might pay for an imported Envirofit stove.

Production is now underway not just in Central Kenya but in Kisumu in the west of the country. The next phase of the project is tooling up the businesses to improve efficiency of production, and a big marketing push to help the new stove find a market.

Final results of emissions tests are still awaited but will be published in due course.

Posted by Meghan Smith

ESME grant enables solar light distributor to become key player in the Kenyan off grid market

Mibawa Supplies Limited is a Kenyan enterprise working to provide solar products to customers who cannot afford the high upfront costs associated with ‘one-off’ payment products. Selling the IndiGo product from Azuri Technologies a cost-effective pay-as-you-go alternative they are working to scale –up their distribution outlets and expand their reach across Kenya.

There is a solid solar technology network operating in Kenya. All products on offer have defining qualities that enable customers to choose which characteristics, power outputs and financial requirements are most suited to their needs. Due to the rapidly expanding nature of this sector, marketing has become a very important component in the business plans for many solar enterprises. Some of the most unique factors seen in the market today include pay-as-you go payment methods, which enable customers to pay for energy as they use it.

Since receiving the first installment of their ESME grant, Mibawa have doubled the number of outlets and increased their staff head count to 15. The focus for the funds to date has been on marketing, increasing their visibility and also training staff to become technical advisors. They have also hired a marketing manager, produced radio adverts and used targeted advertising campaigns to increase awareness and knowledge of the benefits of their product of choice: the IndiGo solar system from Azuri that combines mobile phone and solar technology allowing customers to buy scratch cards to pay for their energy, just as they would for their mobile phones.

Besides creating a smart marketing strategy, an important factor in their success is the price of the IndiGo product, coupled with the repayment procedure. The deposit required for the IndiGo model is USD $151 (13,300KES) considerably cheaper than other models available. They also have a different repayment options, the repayments can be spread over 20 months or 80 weeks, where customers repay USD $1.5 (KES 140) per week through scratch cards top-ups. The initial deposit required of USD $17 (1,500KES) is also smaller than others on the market. Once the total sum has been paid, a small unlock fee of 600KES is required (USD $7) after which customers can own the light without any further payments.

To date, Mibawa Supplies Limited has sold 7000 units and now works to achieve a monthly sales target of 500 models. Looking forward, Mibawa wish to further increase their sales, and have been benefiting from a GIZ programme which links trained entrepreneurs to enterprises looking to scale-up. This initiative has permitted Mibawa Supplies to grow their staff team in both a quick and low cost manner.

"We have been very impressed with the progress that Mibawa has made to date and are confident that they will continue to succeed in this growing sector” says Martin Theuri, GVEP Business Mentor. The remaining ESME funding will assist Mibawa scale-up from the current customer base of 7,000 to over 10,000 as revenues from sales will be re-invested into the business and assist in sustainable growth.

An Independent Evaluation Committee has approved the disbursement of the last 30% of funds which the team plan to use for expansion in other regions. GVEP will continue to support Mibawa in an advisory and monitory capacity as they continue to grow.

ESME is an initiative that aims to support Energy SME Development in sub-Saharan Africa to foster local private entrepreneurship and invest in the provision of energy services in remote, un-served or under-served regions.

Posted by Meghan Smith