Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
SpringerLink
Log in

Scale Versus Substance? Lessons from a Context-Responsive Approach to Market-Based Stove Development in Western Kenya

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Decentralized Solutions for Developing Economies

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Energy ((SPE))

Abstract

Improved stoves targeted at the 2.6 billion people worldwide that use solid biomass for cooking have not been taken up in the numbers expected by donors and practitioners. Following widespread critique of the subsidy-based dissemination models popular in the 1970s and 1980s, donors have begun to emphasise the potential of market-based models to increase stove adoption rates. In analysing the USEPA project implemented by Practical Action in western Kenya, this paper examines how a market-based approach has translated in the kind of informal economy operated by many biomass-reliant communities. The paper concludes that a context-responsive approach is likely to facilitate the dissemination of locally appropriate interventions, but it may not always be compatible with mainstream visions of large-scale stove deployment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bailis, R., Cowan, A., Berrueta, V., & Masera, O. (2009). Arresting the killer in the kitchen: The promises and pitfalls of commercialising improved cookstoves. World Development, 37(10), 1694–1705.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, D., Openshaw, K., Smith, K., & van der Plas, R. (1994). What makes people cook with improved biomass stoves? A comparative international review of stove programmes. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewis, A. (2005). Ten top tips for successful scaling up. Boiling Point, 50, 5–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burki, T. (2011). Burning issues: Tackling indoor air pollution. The Lancet, 377(9777), 1559–1560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaurey, A., Krithikaa, P. R., Palita, D., Rakesha, S., & Sovacool, B. K. (2012). New partnerships and business models for facilitating energy access. Energy Policy, 47(Supplement 1), 48–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foell, W., Pachauri, S., Spreng, D., & Zerriffi, H. (2011). Household cooking fuels and technologies in developing economies. Energy Policy, 39(12), 7487–7496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann, J. (1992). Empowerment: The politics of alternative development. Cambridge, MA and Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • GACC. (2011). Igniting change: A strategy for universal adoption of clean cookstoves and fuels. Washington, DC: Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guijt, I., & Shah, M. (1998). Waking up to power, conflict and process. In I. Guijt & M. Shah (Eds.), The myth of community: Gender issues in participatory development (pp. 1–24). London: Intermediate Technology Publications.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hanbar, R., & Karve, P. (2002). National programme on improved Chulha of the government of India: An overview. Energy and Sustainable Development, 6(2), 49–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, C., & Smith, G. (n.d.). Scaling adoption of clean cooking solutions through women’s empowerment: A resource guide. Washington, DC: Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, K., West, C., Westley, K., & Jarvis, S. (2005). Enterprise solutions to poverty: Opportunities and challenges for the international development community and big business. London: Shell Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyden, G. (1980). Beyond ujamaa in Tanzania: Underdevelopment and an uncaptured peasantry. London: Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanagawa, M., & Nakata, T. (2007). Analysis of the energy access improvement and its socio-economic impacts in rural areas of developing countries. Ecological Economics, 62(2), 319–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kshirsagar, M. P., & Kalamkar, V. R. (2014). A comprehensive review on biomass cookstoves and a systematic approach for modern cookstove design. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 30, 580–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson, B. A., & Rosen, S. (2002). Understanding household demand for indoor air pollution control in developing countries. Social Science and Medicine, 55(4), 571–584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C. M., Chandler, C., Lazarus, M., & Johnson, F. X. (2013). Assessing the climate impacts of cookstove projects: Issues in emissions accounting. Stockholm: Stockholm Environment Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J. J., & Pattanayak, S. K. (2012). Who adopts improved fuels and cookstoves? A systematic review. Environmental Health Perspectives, 120(5), 637–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahiri, I., & Howorth, C. (2001). Twenty years of resolving the irresolvable: Approaches to the fuelwood problem in Kenya. Land Degradation and Development, 12(3), 205–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neal, D. (2005). Designing stoves for mass production. Boiling Point, 50, 8–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD/IEA. (2010). Energy poverty: How to make modern energy access universal? Special early excerpt of the world energy outlook for the UN general assembly on the millennium development goals. Paris: International Energy Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD/IEA. (2013). World Energy Outlook. Paris: International Energy Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quadir, S. A., Mathur, S. S., & Kandpal, T. C. (1995). Barriers to dissemination of renewable energy technologies for cooking. Energy Conversion and Management, 36, 1129–1132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schatzman, L., & Strauss, A. (1973). Field research: Strategies for a natural sociology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher, E. (1993). Small is beautiful: A study of economics as if people mattered. London: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sesan, T. (2012). Navigating the limitations of energy poverty: Lessons from the promotion of improved cooking technologies in Kenya. Energy Policy, 47, 202–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sesan, T. (2014). Global imperatives, local contingencies: An analysis of divergent priorities and dominant perspectives in stove development from the 1970s to date. Progress in Development Studies, 14(1), 3–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sesan, T., Raman, S., Clifford, M., & Forbes, I. (2013). Corporate-led sustainable development and energy poverty alleviation at the bottom of the pyramid: The case of the CleanCook in Nigeria. World Development, 45, 137–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shastri, C. M., Sangeetha, G., & Ravindranath, N. H. (2002). Dissemination of efficient ASTRA stove: Case study of a successful entrepreneur in Sirsi, India. Energy for Sustainable Development, 6(2), 63–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrimali, G., Slaski, X., Thurber, M. C., & Zerriffi, H. (2011). Improved stoves in India: A study of sustainable business models. Energy Policy, 39(12), 7543–7556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, K. (2010). What’s cooking? A brief update. Energy for Sustainable Development, 14, 251–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith-Siversten, T., Diaz, E., Pope, D., Lie, R. T., Diaz, A., McCracken, J., et al. (2009). Effect of reducing indoor air pollution on women’s respiratory symptoms and lung function: the RESPIRE randomized trial, Guatemala. American Journal of Epidemiology, 170(2), 211–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westhoff, B. (1995). One of the oldest technologies in the world—from the open hearth to the microwave. In B. Westhoff & D. Germann (Eds.), Stove images: A documentation of improved and traditional stoves in Africa, Asia and Latin America (pp. 18–19). Frankfurt: Brandes and Apsel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, P., Smith, K. R., Davies, M., Adair, H., Armstrong, B. G., Barrett, M., et al. (2009). Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: Household energy. The Lancet, 374(9705), 1917–1929.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, D. L. (1996). Situating feminist dilemmas in fieldwork. In D. L. Wolf (Ed.), Feminist dilemmas in fieldwork (pp. 1–55). Colorado: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2011). Household cookstoves, environment, health, and climate change: A new look at an old problem. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Temilade Sesan

Authors
  1. Temilade Sesan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Temilade Sesan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ZTG Sekr. HBS1, Technische Universität Berlin Microenergy Systems Research Group, Berlin, Germany

    Sebastian Groh

  2. ZTG Sekr. HBS1, Technische Universität Berlin Microenergy Systems Research Group, Berlin, Germany

    Jonas van der Straeten

  3. ZTG Sekr. HBS1, Technische Universität Berlin Microenergy Systems Research Group, Berlin, Germany

    Brian Edlefsen Lasch

  4. University of California Berkeley Rural Energy Group, Berkeley, California, USA

    Dimitry Gershenson

  5. Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Science, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  6. Class of 135 Distinguished, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Daniel M. Kammen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Sesan, T. (2015). Scale Versus Substance? Lessons from a Context-Responsive Approach to Market-Based Stove Development in Western Kenya. In: Groh, S., van der Straeten, J., Edlefsen Lasch, B., Gershenson, D., Leal Filho, W., Kammen, D. (eds) Decentralized Solutions for Developing Economies. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15964-5_21

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15964-5_21

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15963-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15964-5

  • eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation