Standardized monitoring and evaluation techniques for evaluating changes in indoor air quality and stove fuel performance were developed and deployed in two NGO-led programs to disseminate improved cookstoves (ICS) in India and one in Mexico. The results showed major and mostly statistically significant improvements in 48-hour indoor air pollution concentrations in those households using the stoves one year after introduction. Kitchen levels of carbon monoxide reduced from 30-70% and concentrations of small particles reduced 25-65%. Unfortunately, however, the lowered levels were all still well above the Air Quality Guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization for small particles, although approaching them for carbon monoxide.

Results for stove performance were mixed, with some stoves achieving improvement in one or another of the short-term metrics that are part of the Water Boiling Test used to evaluate stoves in laboratory (controlled) settings. The Kitchen Performance Test, which measures fuel use in households under actual use, were less easily determined because of high variation and difficult field logistics, with results that often did not reach statistical significance. Recognizing that in some cases more tests would be needed for confirmation, reduction of fuel use per person ranged from about 20-75%. From the results, it also seems clear that the Water Boiling Test is not a good predictor of actual fuel use and thus should be confined to evaluations during the design stage of stove development.

In two of the sites, the reductions in pollution roughly matched those in fuel use, although in the third, IAQ may have reduced a bit more. This indicates perhaps that for all the monitored stoves much or all of the benefits of each type came from improving the heat transfer into the pots and not from either increased combustion efficiency of the fires or stove venting (reliably working chimneys). More analyses are planned to explore these and other aspects of the stoves.

A range of recommendations are provided for future monitoring and evaluation efforts, with the primary one being to combine efficacy tests (small number of carefully monitored households under normal conditions) combined with larger well-designed surveys (questionnaire only) to determine actual usage and house perception. It is recommended that only those NGOs planning to develop significant long-term capability in making air pollution and stove measurement under field conditions be expected to undertake effectiveness testing, i.e, evaluate population-wide changes from real large-scale dissemination programs. The alternative it to employ professional survey and environmental consulting firms, which also has the advantage of assuring independence of the process. In either case, over the long run it is important to generate national capacities for this kind of work.

The Household Energy & Health Programme was generously funded by the Shell Foundation.

All project monitoring and evaluation protocols can be downloaded from The Center for Entrepreneurship in International Health and Development at UC Berkeley.

Household Energy and Health Project, Monitoring and Evaluation of Improved Cookstove Programs for Indoor Air Quality and Stove Performance, Indoor Air Pollution Group, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, pp. 41, 2006.

R.D. Edwards, K. Naumoff, O. Masera, C. Chengappa, K. Dutta, R. Grinnell, P. Serrano, S. Rastogi, C. Armendariz, D. O'Neal, K.R. Smith "Standard Methods for Monitoring Indoor Air Pollution to Evaluate Improved Stove Programs: Plans, Protocols, & Progress" View pdf presentation

Views & Comments on Monitoring IAP in the Field
Richard Grinell, HELPS International

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