1.
Initial Impact of Greenway Smart
Stoves in India
By Yumiko Yamada
Kopernik Fellow 2012

2.
1. Overview
The fellow conducted a rapid impact assessment of a Kopernik cookstove project
entitled “Smarter Cooking for Indian Women,” which distributed Greenway Smart Stoves
manufactured by Greenway Grameen Infra in Madhya Pradesh in the summer of 2012.
The rapid impact assessment consisted of baseline survey from late June to early July
and subsequent follow-up survey from late July to early August to beneficiaries who
received the cookstove. The fellow worked with Kopernik’s local NGO partner, Haritika,
who has been working in the area since 1994. Haritika assisted the fellow to conduct
baseline survey in 3 villages covering 41 households and conduct follow-up survey in 2
villages covering 23 households. The respondents were asked about their cooking habits
and fuel usage as well as basic livelihood questions in the baseline survey, and how their
cooking habits and fuel consumption had changed after obtaining the cookstove in the
follow-up survey.
2. Projects conducted by Haritika
Started in 1994, Haritika is a non-profit organization, located its headquarter in
Nowgong, Madhya Pradesh. They work to alleviate extreme poverty and empower
women in approximately 150 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh with the
financial support from Indian government, UNDP and several international NGOs. Their
main work area is water and electricity. In project sites, they have constructed water
conservation schemes, dams, plantations and solar lighting systems. They decided to
implement the smart cookstove project, hoping to reduce firewood use around the project
sites, and received 150 cookstoves from Kopernik in May 2012.

3.
A dam constructed by Haritika near Chandanpura Solar panels constructed by Haritika in Chandanpura
3. Baseline survey result
From late June to the beginning of July, the fellow conducted baseline survey in
three villages in Chattarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, which are Khakri veerpura,
Kasera and Chandanpura. The interview was conducted for 41 households who purchased
or ordered cookstove at the point of survey. Survey questions are as described in
appendix 1 and 2. Though the date varies depending on villages, cookstoves were
distributed to villagers around 10 days before the baseline survey and some households
had already started to use them at the time of the survey.
Almost all the people who live in these villages work as farmers except for a few
households that send some family members away for labor work. The average number of
family members is 6.2, including 3 to 5 children. Their average monthly income is
Rs.7,786 (USD 138), ranging from Rs.1,666 (USD 30) to Rs.18,750 (USD 333). This
means that the average monthly income per person is Rs.1,261 (USD 22) or Rs.42 (USD

4.
0.75) per day, well below the benchmark of USD 1 per day.
The poorest village is Chandanpura, where the average monthly income per
household is Rs.2,560 (USD 46), ranging from Rs.1,666 (USD 30 ) to Rs.5,000 (USD
90).
The level of poverty is likely due to Chandanpura’s far distance from nearest very
small town (about 20 minutes by car although the fellow could not find any single car in
the village), thus villagers depend on subsistence farming and they have very limited
access to money. Although Haritika is working on potable water and solar panel
installment in the village, the village’s general infrastructure is still very poor. Unless
there are solar panels, the village could remain without electricity for over two weeks.
Another remote village, Kasera is also poor, however, they seemed to be well-off thanks
to the Bunder Project in the area, a diamond mining venture initiated by Rio Tinto, the
Australian mining company, and subsequent job creation throughout the region.
Regarding the cooking habit, all interviewees replied that they cook twice a day,
using the traditional stove called “chulha” (see picture below). It takes between 45 and 60
minutes for 46% of interviewees (19) to prepare meals, and more than 60 minutes for
42% of households (17). Except for three families who seemed to be richer than others,
everyone collects firewood for cooking use, of which 59% of households (24) collect
once a week and 30% of households (12) twice a week. Women generally assume the
task of collecting fuel, although some answered that every family member helps with the
job. Each collection takes between 1 hour and more than 2 hours for 80% of households
(33). In Kasera, almost all interviewees take more than 2 hours to collect firewood, while
in Chandanpura most households take between 1.5 and 2 hours.

5.
Since each village where baseline survey was conducted is relatively small, there
were no outstanding varieties in their answers, especially in regards to their cooking
habits. This is due to the fact that all the households use chulha for cooking and collect
firewood from the same or similar places. Depending on the number of household
members though, there were slight differences in the time to collect firewood. For
example in Khakri veerpura, those who answered that it takes more than 2 hours to
collect fuel have 9 to 10 family members while others who take less than 2 hours have 4
to 6 family members.
Traditional chulha in Chandanpura Compared with a Greenway Smart Stove
4. Follow-up survey result
From late July to early August, approximately one month after conducting the
baseline survey, the fellow headed to the field again to conduct a rapid impact assessment
of the cookstoves project. With the help of staff at Haritika, the follow-up survey was
conducted for the same households as the baseline survey. Unfortunately, there was an
ongoing festival in Kasera when the fellow arrived there that everyone in the village
attended and consequently prevented the fellow from completing the follow up survey

6.
with the 16 families whom she had previously interviewed for the baseline survey. Apart
from that, other households had moved away from the village or were just simply absent
for the day; therefore, the total number of households which the fellow collected
information for the rapid impact assessment was 23 (see figure 1 below). The detailed
demographics of beneficiaries in each village are described in figures 2 and 3.
Villages Baseline survey Follow-up survey
Khakri veerpura 11 10
Chandanpura 14 13
Kasera 16 0
Total 41 23
Figure 1. Number of households interviewed in each village
Family size of respondents
2 members
1 3 0 3 members
4
4 members
3 5 members
1 6 members
7 members
2
8 members
5 9 members
4 10 members
Figure 2. Family size of respondents

7.
Monthly income of respondents
Rs.9,000+
(USD162+), 2
Rs.6000‐9000
(USD108‐162), 2
Rs.1000‐3000
(USD18‐54), 9
Rs.3000‐6000
(USD54‐108), 10
Figure 3. Monthly income of respondents
Apart from whether the interviewees use the cookstove and how often they use it,
the rapid impact assessment was conducted under the following three hypotheses:
1) The time it takes to prepare a meal will decrease with the new stove
2) Frequency and time to collect fuel will decrease with the new stove
3) Health improvement would be seen and felt by cookstove users after
switching to the new stove
First, more than half of respondents (14) answered that they use the cookstoves to
prepare every meal. All the cookstove users answered that they use it for both cooking
meals and making tea. About 20% of (4) them answered that they use it once a day or
once in two days. Approximately 20% (5) answered that they do not use it at all; in the

8.
survey, some respondents explained they cannot easily change their conventional cooking
habit of using chulha. Others replied that the cookstoves take 15-20 minutes more time to
cook than chulha.
There is a variety of other reasons for those who did not use the cookstove at all.
One woman, a mother of 10 family members explained that with the cookstove, she is
unable to cook large amounts of meal at once, so she used it only once. Other women,
who live in the very poor village in Chandanpura answered that they used the cookstove
only once after obtaining it because they found it difficult to repay the cookstove fee and
wanted to return it. Two other households said that they returned the cookstoves because
they could not find the special glue to connect the body and the handle of the stove.1
Haritika will introduce the installment payment option to the households intending to
return the stove because of the price barrier.
Next, there was a significant decrease in cooking time after disseminating the
cookstove. At baseline, 41% (14) responded that it took more than 60 minutes to prepare
meals, but no one answered that it took more than 60 minutes in the follow-up survey.
Instead, now it takes less than 45 minutes for 39% (9) of households to cook while only
10% (4) responded with that answer at the time of baseline survey (see figure 4). The
decrease in cooking time can be attributed to the switch from chulha cookstove to
Greenway Smart Cookstove.
1 A staff at Greenway Grameen Infra whom the fellow later met in Mumbai explained that only a
screwdriver is necessary to connect the body and the handle whereas the screw is provided with
each new stove, so the statement could be a misinterpretation of the Haritika staff who instructed
the users

9.
Changes in time to prepare meals
100% 1
90% 5
80% 0
17
70%
N/A
60% 9
>60min
50%
45-60min
40% 31-45min
19
30% 16-30min
20% 9
10%
3
0% 1 0
Baseline (n=41) Follow up (n=23)
Figure 4. Changes in time to prepare meals
Regarding fuel collection, aside from two households that purchase fuel, about
60% (24) of interviewees said that they collected firewood once a week and 34% (14)
collected it twice a week or more frequently. After one month, 57% (13) collect it once a
week and 17% (4) twice a week or more frequently. The reason why the number of those
who collect firewood twice a week or more frequently decreased is that there were people
who did not use cookstoves and did not answer the follow-up survey question. Thus,
significant differences were not seen in regard to the frequency of fuel collection (see
figure 5).
The time for fuel collection, on the other hand, dramatically decreased. At
baseline, almost 80% (33) took more than 60 minutes each time when collecting fuel, and
nearly two thirds of that took more than 2 hours to collect fuel each time. Only 12% (5),

10.
who have relatively small number of family members, collected fuel for less than 60
minutes each time. The follow-up survey result, however, shows a significant change:
there is no longer any person who takes more than 2 hours to collect fuel. Indeed, half of
people surveyed (11) replied that the time decreased to less than 30 minutes and 17% (4)
of them take between 30 and 60 minutes (see figure 6).
Changes in frequency of firewood
collection
100% 1
2
90% 2 4
80% 2
12 1 N/A
70%
2
60% Buys firewood
50% Three times a week
40% Twice a week
13 Once a week
30% 24
20% Every other day
10%
0% 0 1
Baseline (n=41) Follow up (n=23)
Figure 5. Changes in frequency of firewood collection

11.
Changes in time spent on each firewood
collection
100%
3
90%
7
80%
70% N/A
20 0
1
60% >2hr
4
50% 1.5-2hr
40% 1-1.5hr
30% 11 0.5-1hr
11
20% <0.5hr
2
10%
5
0% 0
Baseline (n=41) Follow up (n=23)
Figure 6. Time to collect firewood
Lastly, approximately half of the respondents answered that they have had some
health improvement since they started to use the cookstove. However, the fellow could
not obtain any further information about how their health improved except the statement
that the cookstove releases much less smoke than chulha cookstove.
5. Analysis
The follow-up survey results showed that 80% of households continued using the
cookstove regularly at least after approximately 1-2 months of purchase, albeit the
frequency of use differs for each household. There are various reasons why another 20%
of households do not use it at all or stopped using it after trying several times at the time
of follow-up survey. Apart from the reasons described in the previous section, several

12.
households stated that the Greenway Smart Stove takes just as much time or even more to
cook food than the chulha cookstove. Some said that it is because the heating power of
cookstove is weaker than the chulha. Another user mentioned that when preparing roti or
chapati, which is the other staple food in Northern India than rice, the Greenway Smart
Stove requires an additional process that became the deal-breaker.2 Those who answered
that the Greenway Smart Stove takes just as much time or more to cook with than the
chulha were concentrated in Khakri veerpura. Thus, it is possible that people cook using
different methods depending in which village they live, or surrounding opinions influence
individual perceptions. Also, since the staple food in India greatly varies from place to
place, it is probable that results will also vary in different states. The recent study by J-
PAL showed that after a period of four years, people gradually use the distributed
improved cookstove less and less, though it’s important to note that the cookstove used in
the study is not a new generation rocket stove, a category in which the Greenway Smart
Stove falls under.3 To accurately observe changes in cooking habit by adopting the
Greenway Smart Stove, it is necessary to conduct another evaluation for the longer term.
Apart from some negative comments that I describe above, most interviewees
rated the cookstove as “Very Useful”, which is the highest score in the rating.4 The
breakdown of the given technology rating from beneficiaries is described in figure 6.
Approximately 70% listed ease of use as the most likable feature for the cookstove.
About 10% listed the quickness of preparing food as another feature of the stove that they
2 When using chulha, people cook roti on an iron plate, turning it once in a while. When using the
Greenway Smart Stove, however, the iron plate has to be placed on the ground every two
minutes, which is similar to when using an LPG cookstove.
3 Up In Smoke, J-PAL Policy Briefcase, July 2012; available at
http://www.povertyactionlab.org/publication/up-in-smoke
4 The rating was conducted using 5 scales, which were “Very Useful”, “Useful”, “OK”, “Not Very Useful”
and “Not Useful At All”

13.
liked, while another 20% noted that they liked the stove because it uses less amount of
firewood and emits noticeably less smoke when compared with using the chulha. Nobody
mentioned about the direct health improvement, or the extra time for other activities as a
result of the decline in time to collect firewood and to cook.
Ratings of the Greenway Smart Stove
14
12 74% of those interviewed in
12 the follow-up survey
10
8
6 5
4 3 3
2
0
0
very useful useful ok not very useful not useful at all
Figure 6. Ratings of the Greenway Smart Stove given by project beneficiaries
Regarding the time required tocollect firewood, it can be inferred that the decrease
in time to collect wood is due to Greenway Smart Stove’s better fuel efficiency, which
reduces the amount of wood required to cook the same amount of meals. Although the
fellow could not collect information about the amount of firewood that the villagers
collect, she has learned from a Greenway Grameen Infra staff that the cookstove is
expected to reduce 60% of fuel consumption. Contrary to the hypotheses, there were no
significant differences in the frequency of firewood collection before and after the

14.
surveys. However, again, in order to clarify the relationship between time and frequency,
she should have asked the information about the amount of firewood which each villager
collects.
The fellow also interviewed users about the affordability of the cookstove.
Haritika sold it at the price of Rs.500 (USD 9), and required villagers to pay in lump sum.
For example, a villager in Khakri veerpura felt the cookstove was quite expensive
although he was able to pay for it in one go. Indeed, the monthly income of his family is
over Rs. 10,000 (USD 180), which is one of the highest among the interviewees. Taking
this into consideration, it is well understandable that women in Chandanpura could not
afford the cookstove and did not use it at all with the intention of returning the stove.
According to Avani, most villagers in Chandanpura have not yet paid the fee, or have
only paid a partial amount. Considering these facts, Haritika started to introduce a
payment scheme that allows buyers with financial difficulties to pay in installments.
One last thing the fellow noticed through the follow-up survey was that villagers
did not know whom to call, or how to deal with maintenance issues when the cookstoves
had some flaws. Surprisingly, when she asked the same question to Avani, he did not
know about the maintenance matter either, although the fellow later learned that a
Greenway Grameen Infra staff had already visited Haritika’s office before distribution of
stoves started (and before the fellow arrived) to conduct a small demonstration and
training. This was an unexpected discovery and immediately reported to Kopernik, who
then put Haritika and Greenway Grameen Infra in touch again for clarification about the
one-year warranty and after-sales service.

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6. Beneficiary Profiles
A. Bhagwati (Khakri veerpura)
Bhagwati is a 70-year-old grandmother living in Khakri veerpura. Her family
consists of 9 members, including her 75-year-old husband, her son, who is the head of the
household and 4 grandchildren. Since her family makes a living as farmers, she helps
with the job too. It was her son who decided to buy the cookstove after seeing the
demonstration conducted by Haritika. She now uses the cookstove once a day. Though
according to her it takes almost the same time as before to cook meals with the new
stove, she claims to be able to make tea faster with it.
Bhagwati and her grandchildren

16.
B. Aarti (Khakri veerpura)
25-year-old Aarti lives in a house with her parents-in-law, her husband, her two
children and other three family members. Her family makes a living through farming
similar to other families in the area. Aarti assumes all the cooking chores within the
family. She uses the Greenway Smart Stove approximately once every two days. Though
she finds that the new cookstove releases noticeably less smoke than chulha, she feels
that it is difficult to stop using chulha, to which she is heavily attached. Although her
family is relatively large with 9 members--a number that may be too large to
accommodate with the capacity of the Greenway Smart Stove—she uses it nonetheless
because not all the family members are present everyday, and she is still able to manage
preparing meals with the new cookstove.
C. Amita (Khakri veerpura)
25-year-old Amita also lives with a large family of 9, including her three children.
Her family works as farmers. When we visited her house, she was chatting with women
neighbors while letting their children play outside. She too uses the Greenway Smart
Stove about once in two days. She likes the new cookstove because it releases little to no
smoke. However, she feels that it takes 15 to 20 minutes longer to cook with it than when
she cooks with chulha because the former generates smaller firepower. Just before
leaving her house, her husband came back from Nowgong, which is the closest town
from the village on a motorcycle. He is the one who decided to buy the cookstove and he
said that Rs.500, equivalent to about 9 USD, was quite expensive.

17.
Amita and her neighbors
D. Vimla (Chandanpura)
Vimla is a 38-year-old woman living in a house with three other members
including her one child. Her family is one of the poorest among the villagers, with a
monthly income of Rs.1,600 (USD 28). She told me that her family is poor because they
do not own land for agriculture. Instead, they earn money by collecting firewood and
selling them to people, or undertaking temporary labor work. Sometimes, they migrate to
other major cities such as Delhi and Agra to do some labor work. In these occasions, all
of the family members migrate together, or in some cases, only her husband goes to work.
She likes that the Greenway Smart Stove because it is much easier to use while cooking.

18.
Vimla and her neighbors
E. Narcein Singh (Chandanpura)
Narcein is the head of a household of 6 members, including his wife and 4
children. He works as a farmer as well as doing service work once in a while. In the
village, he takes initiative regarding projects conducted by Haritika and receives some
money from them. He was the one who decided to buy the Greenway Smart Stove. His
wife likes it a lot and uses it for every meal. Instead of collecting wood, his family
purchases wood from local shops. They purchase it about once a month and spend Rs.300
(about 5 USD) each time. Because his family has just started using the cookstove, he is
not still sure how much the expenses on firewood is going to change, but he expects that
it is going to reduce since the new cookstove requires less fuel than chulha.

19.
Appendix 1.
Rapid Impact Assessment ‐ Baseline
Cookstove
Date:
District:
Village:
1. Name:
2. Sex:
3. Age:
NO. QUESTION RESPONSE
1. How many people live in your house?
2. How does your family earn money? 1. We sell snacks
Choose all that apply. 2. We sell small hand‐made goods
3. We tailor clothes
Note: All options should be read. 4. We have my own shop
5. Teacher
6. We sell other small goods
7. We work on a farm during harvest season
8. Our family owns land which I farm on
9. Other: ___________________________
3. On average, how much does your family earn?
Income Generating What months of the What do you earn Additional Notes
Choices selected in year do you do this during this time on a
Question 3 activity? monthly basis?
1. Rs:
2. Rs:
COOKING HABITS AND STOVE OWNERSHIP
No. Questions Response
4. How many times do you cook each day? 1 2 3 4 +
5. How many cook stoves do you currently own? 1 2 3 4 5+
6. Which stoves do you currently OWN? (check all 1. LPG 2. Kerosene 3. Brick 4. Biomass 5. Chulha 6.
that apply) Kopernik
7. Which cooking methods do you currently USE? 1. LPG
(check all that apply) 2. Kerosene

20.
3. Brick
4. Biomass
5. Chulha
6. Kopernik
*If they answer 1, answer Q 13 – 15
*If they answer 2, answer Q 16 – 18
11 Which one do you use the most? 1. LPG 2. Kerosene 3. Brick 4. Biomass 5. Chulha 6.
Kopernik
12 How long does it take you to cook each time? 1. 0‐ 15 minutes each time
2. 16‐ 30 minutes each time
3. 31‐ 45 minutes each time
(Prompt: How long is the cook stove on?) 4. 45 minutes – 1 hour each time
5. More than 1 hour each time
(Specify Time: __________________________)
13 How many days does the LPG cylinder last you? ____________ (enter number of days)
(LPG)
14 What size cylinder do you own? ____________ (enter cylinder size)
(LPG)
15 How much does it cost to refill it? ____________ (enter INR amount)
(LPG)
16 How many liters of kerosene do you usually ______________ (enter liters of kerosene purchase)
(KSN) buy at one time?
17 How long does that amount last you? ______________ (enter # of days)
(KSN)
18 How much does that amount cost? ______________ (enter INR amount)
(KSN)
19 Does your family collect wood for cooking? 1. Yes
2. No (>>Q.22)
3. I don’t, but someone else in my home does
If so, who? ________________________
20 If yes, how often does your family collect 1. Every day
firewood? 2. Every other day
3. 3 times a week
4. 2 times a week
5. 1 time a week
21. If yes, who collect firewood in your family?
22 If yes, how long does collecting firewood take 1. Less than 30 minutes
you each time? 2. 30 minutes to 1 hour
(This includes time required to walk to site, 3. 1 hour – 1 hour 30 minutes
collecting, and returning back home) 4. 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours
5. More than 2 hours ______________ (Enter amount)
23 Does your family buy firewood? 1. Yes
2.No
24 If yes, how often does your family buy 1. Every Day
firewood? 2. 3 times a week
3. 1 time every week
4. 1 time every two weeks
5.1 time every month
25 How much do you spend on it each time? _______________ (Enter INR Amount)

21.
Appendix 2.
Rapid Impact Assessment – Follow‐up
Cookstove
Date:
Village:
4. Name:
No. Questions Response
1. How often do you use Kopernik’s cookstove? 1. Every meal 2. Once a day 3. Once in two days 4. Once in
three days 4. Not very often 5. Not at all (4.5>> Q2)
2. If you do not use a lot, what is the problem?
3. For what purpose do you usually use 1. Both meals and tea 2. Only for making teas 3. Only for
Kopernik’s cookstove? making meals
4. How long does it take you to cook each time 6. 0‐ 15 minutes each time
when you use Kopernik’s cookstove? 7. 16‐ 30 minutes each time
8. 31‐ 45 minutes each time
9. 45 minutes – 1 hour each time
10. More than 1 hour each time
(Specify Time: __________________________)
5. How long does it take you to cook each time 1. 0‐15 minutes each time
when you use chulha? 2. 16‐ 30 minutes each time
3.31‐ 45 minutes each time
4. 45 minutes – 1 hour each time
5.More than 1 hour each time
(Specify Time: __________________________)
6. Now that you have a Kopernik’s cookstove, 6. Every day
how often do you collect firewood? 7. Every other day
8. 3 times a week
9. 2 times a week
5. 1 time a week
6. No. I don’t collect. I buy firewood. (>>Question
7. Now that you have a Kopernik’s cookstove, 5. Less than 30 minutes
how long does it take you to collect firewood 6. 30 minutes to 1 hour
each time? 7. 1 hour – 1 hour 30 minutes
8. 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours
5. More than 2 hours ______________ (Enter amount)
8. Have you seen any improvement of your health 1. Yes
since you started to use Kopernik’s cookstove? 2. No
9. How useful is Kopernik’s cookstove? 1. Very useful
2. Useful
3. Ok
4. Not very useful
5. Not at all useful (4.5>>Q11)
10. Have you had any problems with the 1. Yes (>>Q11)
cookstove? 2. No
11. If Kopernik’s cookstove is not very useful, or
has any problem, describe here.
12. What do you like the most about the
cookstove?