Founded in 2001, the Household Energy and Health division of the Center for Entrepreneurship in International Health and Development (CEIHD, pronounced "seed") works to improve the health and well-being of women and children in developing countries by catalyzing transitions to cleaner-burning fuels and superior stoves. CEIHD's overarching mission is to foster business solutions to international public health problems. CEIHD seeks to catalyze the development of markets that will produce and deliver cleaner household energy solutions to underserved populations, especially those in rural or peri-urban areas. Our intervention model starts with the best available technology, adds a dose of business analysis and marketing, and equips promising local entrepreneurs with the skills to profit from this market opportunity. We bring a global perspective to our work, seeking to document and share best practices, foster south-south linkages, and find innovative ways to scale promising technologies and business models. We collaborate with an extensive network of partners to carry out our work. We have close ties to the School of Public Health, University of California - Berkeley, USA, and are guided by an advisory board of distinguished academics, practitioners, and business leaders.
Contact Information
Uganda: CEIHD is developing and marketing a cleaner-burning, affordable, biomass rocket stove in the high-density urban area of Makindye, Kampala. Working with local government, enterprise, and community organizations, our goals are to identify community stove needs and preferences, build awareness of the benefits of improved stoves, involve local women in the education and dissemination of these improved technologies, and generate carbon financing. In addition, we measure the effect of the rocket stove on reducing indoor air pollution levels. This pilot project is currently scaled to the community level, but it holds great promise for wider markets in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa. China: CEIHD is identifying promising high-efficiency, low-emissions biomass stove technologies currently being developed in China, and the best enterprises producing innovations in the field. Our initial goal is to publicize these enterprises and their products and strengthen the capacity of selected enterprises through training, access to capital, and other business development opportunities. The reach of this project will ultimately be global, as we identify export opportunities and promote selected enterprises to serve other developing countries' market needs for cleaner-burning, affordable biomass stoves.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
Not working in this area
Uganda: We will identify the needs and preferences of stove consumers and catalyze production and distribution of a high-quality, low emissions, wood-burning stove in Makindye, Kampala. Our work will involve community women in marketing through developing a microfinance network and create a plan for scaling-up production and distribution. We will subsidize the construction and equipping of a stove workshop. We will communicate with at least 5,000 households about their cooking practices and about the merits of the rocket stove. The rocket stove design will be refined based on the results of research conducted through community focus groups. China: We will identify export markets for the best biomass stoves being in produced in China today, with the goal of bringing these technologies to other countries of the developing world.
Uganda: CEIHD's goal is to produce a safe, clean, user-friendly and efficient wood fueled stove that reduce indoor and environmental air pollution and improve household health in Makindye, Kampala. The stove will be tested during a pilot study and accordingly adapted to fit user needs and the Ugandan stove industry. China: By working with Chinese stove manufacturers to identify the best stove technologies and develop export markets for those stoves, CEIHD will help standardize better cooking technologies in China and elsewhere in the developing world.
Uganda: as part of the project, CEIHD has monitored household air quality in the homes of the rocket stove users. We measured air quality before, during and after installation of stoves, using standardized air monitoring equipment and conducted baseline and follow-up health surveys to assess the stove's impact on improving household health.
Relevant Publications or Studies
None noted
Our Contribution to the Partnership
CEIHD offers expertise in identifying and developing markets for stoves, troubleshooting manufacturing and distribution problems, and providing micro-financing and carbon financing to producers and consumers. As a member of the partnership, we look forward to exchanging expertise and information with partners, developing a network of partnerships to support local stove enterprises, and delivering better stoves to more households at affordable prices.
