TLSA RESEARCH CONFERENCE

9 10 July 2015

The adoption of improved cook stoves:

its multifaceted benefits to environment
and womens lives
by
Therese Nguyen Thi Phuong Tam
atam320@gmail.com

Introduction
50% of world population or 95% population of lowincome countries depend on wood, dung, agriculture
residues and coal for their energy needs (Dulflo,
Greenstone & Hanna).
Wood fuel for cooking produces high levels of indoor
air pollution. It causes 2 million premature deaths
every year from pneumonia (44%), chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (54%), and lung cancer (2%), and
contributes to a significant number of eye and
respiratory problems (WHO, 2004)
Deforestation outskirt of Dili was annually estimated
about 110 sq. Km (Accenture Development
Partnerships, 2011)
98% households use solid fuels for energy
(Mercycorps, 2009)

Women and the kitchen

Women are usually spend a lot of their life time in the
kitchen, and often with children nearby.

Time spent for collecting fuel is time not spent on incomegeneration, education or other activities. In fact, cooking has
become one of the most dangerous daily activities for
women in the developing world.
What is an improved cook stove?

An improved stove can be designed to improve

energy efficiency, remove smoke from indoor living
space, or lessen the drudgery of cooking duties
(World Banks, 2011).

Cases of Acute Upper Respiratory Infection of children under five years

Timor-Leste (2009 2013)
140,000.0

120,000.0

100,000.0

80,000.0

60,000.0

40,000.0

20,000.0

0.0

year 2009

year 2010

year 2011
< 1 year

Source: Ministry of Health, 2009, 2010,

2011, 2012, 2013

1 - 4 year

year 2012

year 2013

Objectives of the research

It unfolds the visible and invisible benefits of cook
stoves to improve womens lives.
The research aims at discovering the decision making
process of principle actors at the household level in
choosing the new cooking technology.
It uncovered the impact of the cook stoves on the
health of the household members especially health of
the women and children.
The research also discovered the social and
economic impact on households that use the cook
stoves.

Research Findings
Respondentss profile
The average number of children of one family

4 children

The average number of the family members living

under the same roof

9 persons

The women are in fertility group (25 49)

14 women

Tasks of cooking

18 women

Education level: Primary schooling

6 women

From secondary to Graduate

12 women

Using the open fire places, old

practices with many
disadvantages

Rural area: The cost of collecting

firewood is considered very high
due to the time and number of
persons involved
Urban areas: bigger amount of
money spend for firewood (half of
the expense for food weekly)

Mean of expenses
for food of a
household weekly

$13,6

Mean of expenses
spent for firewood
by using an open
fireplace weekly

$ 8,7

The expenses for firewood take

away 57% of the expenses for
food weekly for a household
using open fire.

Time spent in the research

of MercyCorps (2009)
Time spent for collecting
firewood of this research.
Most of the households
collect firewood 2 times per
week.
Baucau: from 3 5
hours/time
Dili: from 2 5 hours/time
Ermera: 1 2,5 hours/time

In Timor-Leste, households
have to collect 3 - 4 times
weekly and over distances of
2 3 km.
Time spent varies from 8
15 hours per week. The
burden for fuel collection
falls upon the whole family,
diverting time from income
generation and education.

A simple calculation
In Timor Leste according to the estimation of one survey
done by Mercy corps (2014) showed that averagely a
household uses 9,3 kg of firewood every day (3.4 tons per
year).
In Timor Leste we have 184,652.0 households (RDTL, 2010)
with nearly 90% of households still use wood as their main
energy for cooking then we can have a simple calculation
of the amount of wood would be destroyed annually as
following: 90% x 184.652,0 x 3,4 tons of wood per year =
565,035.1 tons of wood per year.

The motivation of shifting to new cookstove

SOURCES OF
INFORMATION ABOUT
THE STOVES

Reasons of adopting
Series 1
kitchen looks
cleaner
100
80
60
40
20
0

NGO 5.6%
TV

11.1%

Seeing the Expo 5.6%

My relatives

38.9%

See people selling in the

market or on the cart

38.9%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0%

Reducing
firewood and
money

Lessening
tiredness

Reducing
smoke
Reducing time
for cooking

Cross table between level of education and decision

making
Who make the decision

Education level

Myself

Primary School
Secondary
school
High school
Undergraduate
Graduate
Total

Me and my Me and my
husband
mother

Total

5
2

1
2

0
2

6
6

1
4

0
0

0
0

1
4

1
13

0
3

0
2

1
18

Multifaceted Benefits of using improved cook stoves

Saving money

Reducing of smoke

COMPARING THE MEAN OF MONEY SPENT WEEKLY

After using
the clayedcooking
stoves; $ 5.2

Before using
the clayedcooking
stoves; $ 8.7

When was asked to scale the level

of smokes that they felt between
two cooking tools with the same
fuel, the results are so significant:

the feeling of hot or red eyes

reduced up to 78% was reported
from 18 respondents who are using
the cook stoves. The feeling of the

amount of smokes that emitted

from the stove also reduced
significantly by 74%.

Time of cooking reduced significantly Time spent for other activities

12

60
51.7

10
10

50

40

30
24.1

4.7
4

20

10

24.1

0
Open fire places

Improved cook stoves

Doing other domestic works

Stduying

Resting

When I used the threestone open fire, My

kitchen and my living room
were so black, and dirty,
the fire is easily crossed
by the wind. We spent a
lot of woods but the rice
is not well done. My
children keep on coughing
during the rainy season
because at that time the
wood is humid and produced
a lot of smoke when we
cooked. The improved cook
stove is much better I do
not have to blow or fan
the fire to provide more
air for the wood can catch
the fire. Another benefit
that I notice when using
the cook stove is that
wood ashes (ahi desan),
also made us cough, is

Hidden benefits that we hardly

recognize

Many cases of domestic

violence that I observed were
caused by the absence of the
wife for the task of collecting
firewood. The wife is usually
out of the house to collect
firewood then when she came
back, the husband did not
take care well the children.
Then they quarrel and
household conflict started.
Mr. Tomas, a producer of
cook stoves in Baucau.

Conclusion and policy implication

This research exclusively engages
with the issues of ecological
sustainability, health, social and
economic impact of using
improved, innovative livelihood
technology.

Given a wide range of benefits

from this technology thousands of
households still adhere to the
traditional style of cooking.
The improved cook stoves or
efficient energy cook stoves can
only be up taken by the women
when it meets their needs or be
convenient for them.

This research recognizes that

cook stoves that consuming
firewood are just temporal
solutions for Timorese
The adaption to the new
communities. The more
sustainable cook-stoves would be technology need a supporting
environment surrounded with
the biogas, solar cookers or bio
more producers, innovators, and
briquette stoves.
users of those technologies to
induce the curiosity and behavior
change.

Government and NGOs role is

education and awareness-raising
about economic, social and health
benefits of improved cooking
technologies

It is needed to create policy or

regulation to promote clean stoves
villages, this can help reinforcing
behavior change process of the
inhabitants in the same area.
More specific researches relating to
culture of cooking, types of raw
Promotion of efficient cook stoves
cooking materials, types of final
in areas vulnerable to deforestation.
expected food, etcin the community
are recommended.
Sectors of public health, economic
and education have to coordinate
One interesting idea that emerge from
the group discussion mentioned that it
with energy sector to plan
will be useful if we include cooking
comprehensively to invest and guide
technology or village technology in high
the population to use healthy,
school curriculum or can be extrasustainable village technology that
curriculum so that the students can
can enhance the quality of womens
have more options or choices for their
lives in particular and the family and
future plan after high school.
community as a whole
Government need to support more
stoves producers to start up their
business. Giving out more grant for
innovation on clean stoves.