Third world needs and first world realities

["Paul S. Anderson" <psanders@ilstu.edu>]

Stoves,

First, I want to emphatically agree with what Larry wrote:

 >(clip)Unless one has actual experience,  I believe those of us working in a
 >laboratory or shop in the developed world have difficulty fully
comprehending the importance
 >of ruggedness and simplicity in introducing technology to the poor in
 >developing countries.

Second,  A comment was made about people in developing countries needing 
more than one means of cooking.  That is the reality, not just a desire.

Please note what is in the modern "developed" home in America or anywhere 
with modern services and financial resources:
1.	gas or electric range (burners, usually 4) with great control of 
temperature range, some with programmable timers to start and stop as desired
2.	oven for baking	
3.	oven for broiling	
4.	toaster
5.	electric skillet
6.	microwave
7.	outdoor bar-b-que grill
8.	camp stove
9.	bread maker
10.	slow cooker
11.	popcorn popper
12.	coffee maker (or water boiler)

	Gee, I'll just stop at a dozen.  You probably know a few more.  But you do 
NOT need to send additions to the stovers listserve because we are not 
trying to make a comprehensive list.

Instead, my point is that we tend to be discussing "A" stove for the needy 
when in reality the people in the developing areas are already using 
SEVERAL stoves, some very good and some terrible for the environment and 
people's health.

I really like the "rocket" stove, but I also think that gassification (ala 
Tom Reed's stove) is very important / has potential.  And the discussion 
about making briquettes and other "fuels" has been most enlightening.

But putting it into practice in impoverished areas is a different story.  I 
am in favor of LOCAL poor people (cottage industries) doing the tasks 
(often labor intensive) instead of setting up a factory (defined as needing 
multiple thousands of dollars to set up) to produce products that must be 
sold in order for the factory to survive, but the potential markets are 
people noted for having little or NO disposable income, so therefore the 
factory is almost doomed from the start.

I go back and forth between America and southern Africa, specifically 
northeastern South Africa and southern Mozambique.  (Kruger National Park 
is in the middle of my area of work.)  Situations there include:

A.	Almost unlimited sawdust in the SA forestry mills.  (and bagasse from 
the sugar mills is also plentiful).

B.	Totally awesome production of charcoal in MZ.  But all the "gasses" are 
lost while making the charcoal.

I go to southern Africa on 1 July for 7 weeks.  I am open to proposals.  I 
do not pretend to have the answers, but I am willing to try.

PS.  My field is mapping, especially mapping of poor communities (rural or 
urban) using highly enlarged aerial photography (you can see all of the 
trails and trees and huts, etc), using local people to use the photo-maps 
and to collect the data.  (see my web site if you want more info).

What that means is that I am into the locations where the stoves could be 
needed.    Please note that I am a professor and that I make my living 
teaching people how to do things whether they are my American university 
students or my students in Africa or the local people in the communities.

I APPRECIATE the science and technology present on the "stovers" 
listserve.   But I am unsure about how it gets transferred to the people 
who need it in formats that they can actually obtain and use, with 
sufficient benefits so that they will want to continue to use it.

Note:  I am quite new to the stovers list, so I am not aware of how many 
times this topic has been hashed over.   Sorry if I am off track.  (and I 
hope my message did not get too long;  when I was in Mozambique we called 
the long messages with attachments "friend-losers".)

Paul







Paul S. Anderson, Ph.D.,  Fulbright Prof. to Mozambique 8/99 - 7/00
Dept of Geography - Geology (Box 4400), Illinois State University
Normal, IL  61790-4400   Voice:  309-438-7360;  FAX:  309-438-5310
E-mail: psanders@ilstu.edu - Internet items: www.ilstu.edu/~psanders


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