A pilot project to bring clean-burning portable stoves to Cambodia was announced on Monday by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), which hopes to expand the venture to neighboring Laos and Vietnam.
The use of crude charcoal stoves is widespread in Cambodia, and numerous international initiatives have sought to replace them with more efficient models that are both healthier for the user and better for the environment; at least 3 million have been distributed to poor families as part of the U.N.’s Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves project since 2012.
“The Stove Auction,” however, will target a different demographic, said Jason Steele, SNV’s regional program manager.
“We will likely see more of the first adopters being more of the middle income, or higher parts of the poorer strata,” he said.
Mr. Steele said that beginning in March, SNV would auction off “aspirational” multi-fuel stoves likely costing between $25 and $100 to wholesalers in the country.
If the wholesalers offer prices lower than what SNV agreed on with the manufacturers, he explained, a fund created by the German Development Agency and Energizing Development would cover the difference.
“What’s driving it is fuel savings, having a more modern kitchen and also the health aspect, and also ease of use.”
