Funding Opportunities

Terms of Reference for market assessment & consumer preference study for clean household energy in Nepal

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR MARKET ASSESSMENT & CONSUMER PREFERENCE STUDY  FOR CLEAN HOUSEHOLD ENERGY IN NEPAL

BACKGROUND:

Household air pollution (HAP) is the third leading risk factor for ill health in Nepal, accounting for over 18,000 deaths each year.  In addition, HAP accounts for around 1/3 of ambient air pollution (AAP) in Nepal, which is responsible for an additional 18,000 deaths each year¹.  In order to achieve maximum health benefits, HAP should be reduced through demonstrably clean cooking solutions, as defined by the WHO Indoor Air Quality Guidelines (IAQG), consistent with International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) International Workshop Agreement (IWA) as Tier 4 and above for indoor emissions. Nepalese communities may not achieve the maximum benefits of clean cooking if there are major barriers to sustained and widespread access and affordability of clean cooking, households continue to cook and/or heat with more polluting stoves and fuels, and/or competing sources of pollution (e.g. brick kilns, traffic, neighbors who continue to cook with traditional stoves and fuels, preparation of animal fodder, etc.) are not addressed.

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (The Alliance), by commissioning a market assessment (Part A) and consumer preference study (Part B) for Nepal, aims to better understand the household energy sector in Nepal, with a focus on cooking, and the current barriers to scale and adoption of cleaner technologies, and to identify specific interventions that can move the sector forward.  Organizations can submit proposals to conduct either one or both of the studies based on their ability to deliver on the proposed activities.

• Market Assessment (Part A):  The assessment will include a comprehensive analysis of the supply, demand, and policy and enabling environment for clean household energy products. On the supply side, the assessment will map supply and distribution channels for clean household energy (including stoves and fuels) in Nepal from the manufacturing origin, to transport/import, to distribution at wholesale and retail and potential sources of financing available within the supply chain. On the demand side, the assessment will provide a segmentation of the potential market for clean household energy products in Nepal.  This will include high level profiles of each segment and identification of key factors that likely drive current usage patterns and the barriers that currently impede these segments from transition to cleaner stoves and fuels.  The assessment will also examine the current enabling environment for household energy products, including policy frameworks, regulations, and other household energy related programs.
• Consumer Preference Study (Part B):  This will take a more in depth look at consumer segments identified in the market assessment (and as agreed to by the Alliance) as most poised for adoption of clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels.    The consumer preference study will closely examine these segments’ current cooking needs and preferences, their willingness to pay for cleaner cooking solutions, and existing and potential channels for distribution, marketing and communication.

The assessments aim to help the Alliance and its partners better understand the potential unique role to play and plan interventions that will help accelerate adoption of clean household energy products and fuels in urban areas of Nepal.

The methodology for the assessment and report will be guided by the Alliance’s pre-existing sector mapping and market assessment toolkit, which includes Power Point templates, interview guides, analysis worksheets, and other items. Organizations can refer to the Market Assessment conducted for India in 2015 and Guatemala Market Assessment – Sector mapping; along with the Customer Segmentation Study in the State of Kerala in India as reference for the two proposed studies.

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves invites proposals from suitably qualified organizations to conduct the Market Assessment and/or the Consumer Preference Study.