“Smoke Clears On Safer Cookstoves For World’s Poor”
Posted by Joe Cannon
The power of marketing in action. A recent story on National Public Radio highlights an important environmental problem — indoor air pollution from unsafe cooking in many developing countries. We have written a case about this problem, a quote provides you with a bit more background:
“Every day, over 2.4 billion people — more than one third of the world’s population — burn solid biomass fuel (wood, charcoal, dung and cola) for cooking and heating. These fuels are usually burned indoors in open pits or traditional cook stoves. About two-thirds of the people using this fuel have no electricity, so the open fires often burn into the night to provide light…. It is estimated that htis source of pollution contributes each year to the death of 1 million children under the age of 5, and it is a leading cause of miscarriage and women’s health problems.” (quote from the case Bright Light Innovations: The Starlight Stove, Essentials of Marketing and Basic Marketing — our text books).
The case was written a few years ago and focuses on Nepal, but this NPR story provides an update from India. It describes how Envirofit (the company we base our case on) has designed a successful marketing mix that is now making inroads in India. A great listen (or read – the text of the story is on the same page) – “Smoke Clears On Safer Cookstoves For World’s Poor” (National Public Radio, September 21, 2010).
The story is of great personal interest. The Envirofit Cookstove was a project that came out of the Engine’s and Energy Conversion Lab at Colorado State University. I (Joe) have watched the lab develop creative energy solutions that benefit mankind. I wrote the Bright Light Innovations case in our text book and still enjoy teaching it in class.
Here is the latest take on the ethics of marketing to disadvantaged consumers. Nestle has begun