Mozambique Carbon Intiatives LDA
Company Outline
Mozambique Carbon Intiatives LDA:
- Areas of Operation: Improved cookstoves (ICS), Forestry Projects, Solar Systems
- Provinces: Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane and Sofala
- Company Size: >100 employees
- Location of head office: Avenida Filipe Samuel Magaia No.1675
- Impact: MozCarbon has sold about 86,000 cookstoves of different models and origin. Currently, the minimum sales volume is 6,000 cookstoves per month. MozCarbon has a capacity to produce about 10,000 Mbaula Poupa+ improved cookstoves (ICS) per month in its production unit. MozCarbon has created about 250 jobs in the different areas of operation (production, sales, monitoring and certification as well as administration).
- Financing : The main source of financing for MozCarbon's projects comes from shareholder contributions. MozCarbon has also received grant support and results based funding (RBF) from different programmes such as EEP Southern & East Africa, BRILHO, FASER and others. One of the important financing components is carbon credits. MozCarbon cookstoves are sold below production cost and beneficiaries can pay for the cookstoves in three (3) instalments of up to 90 days. Also, carbon finance allows clients to receive a lower price by transferring the carbon rights to MozCarbon.
MozCarbon provides a range of cooking solutions and solar home systems as well as implements carbon projects in the area of improved cookstoves and forestry. It focuses mainly on the dissemination of improved portable charcoal and wood burning cookstoves to the low-income populations in the peri-urban neighbourhoods of the cities of Maputo, Matola and in all districts of the provinces of Gaza and Inhambane.
Besides the dissemination of improved cookstoves, MozCarbon offers different consulting services in the area of clean cooking. The main services include:
- Consulting on design of improved cookstoves projects and advising on their implementation.
- Development of carbon projects in the area of improved cookstoves and forests as well as consultancy in the area of forests and the environment in general.
- In the area of carbon credits, Mozcarbon assist institutions in the identification, planning, field implementation, monitoring and certification of projects by the main standards, such as the Gold Standard for Global Goals.
- Consulting related to monitoring of improved cookstoves, both the monitoring of validations through call centres, as well as the impact assesment through surveys on the use of cookstoves (User Surveys), fuel consumption (KPT, CCT) and analysis of thermal efficiency (WBT) among other evaluation methods.
Consumer Insights
MozCarbon mainly targets families living in peri-urban areas of large cities in Mozambique. These are generally low-income families that depend mainly on charcoal for cooking. A certain percentage of the volume of the disseminated improved cookstoves is intended for small businesses in the poultry industry (productive use for heating in chicken production) as well as clients who prepare meals for sale. MozCarbon also supplies cookstoves to other interested entities such as carbon project developers, companies, charities and other energy organisations. MozCarbon also disseminates firewood cookstoves in rural areas to families who depend on firewood for cooking.
The main distribution model is door-to-door sales through sales promoters. Currently, MozCarbon has more than 200 sales promoters spread across the main provinces of operation. Mozcarbon also works with different sales agents who manage their own group of promoters under the supervision of MozCarbon. A smaller percentage of sales are made through the company's social networks with the option of home delivery.
End-user Financing
The main way to financially include the poorest of the cookstove target group includes instalment payment and carbon finance. MozCarbon cookstoves are sold below production cost and the beneficiaries can pay for the cookstoves in three (3) instalments of up to 90 days. Instalment payments are tailored to the customers' financial circumstances using mobile payments such as MPESA, E-spring and mobile account. Also, carbon finance allows customers to receive a lower price by transferring the carbon rights to MozCarbon.
Operation and Maintenance
The admission of promoters to the sales process is preceded by training in Marketing, Sales and Monitoring of cookstoves. This training includes the cookstoves' operation and maintenance procedure. The promoters are responsible for explaining (training) the user about the cookstoves characteristics, operation and techniques for the cookstove maintenance to increase its durability and better functioning.
During the sales process, all customers receive a leaflet with infographics and text about the correct maintenance of the cookstoves. The leaflets also include contacts of the company and agents in case the customer has any difficulty in the operation and maintenance of the cookstove so that they can be assisted.
MozCarbon offers a six (6) month guarantee on the cookstoves. A contract (certificate of guarantee and carbon credits) is signed at the time of sale.
After Sales Service (Repair, Substitution, Sustainability, Monitoring)
MozCarbon is the largest producer of ICS in Mozambique and also offers cookstove repair services. The main reason for repair is broken ceramic plates, which usually occurs in the third year of use. Customers are provided with information on how to contact the company via phone, email or in person at the offices. Customers have contact information in the brochures and in the sales contract. The Mbaula Poupa+ cookstove (MozCarbon's main product at present) has a life of at least five years when well used and with permanent maintenance.
Each cookstove produced has a unique serial number and a QR code for easy identification and control. In the sales process, customer data (name, phone number, geographical location including GPS, phone number, type of use, age of customer, etc.) is collected through MozCarbon's Android and IOS sales application. MozCarbon has two main monitoring systems for the cookers:
- Validation Monitoring: consists of calling customers to confirm cooker installation and customer data.
- Impact Monitoring: to measure the impact of cookers. It is usually done through random household surveys to measure how cookstoves are used (user survey), fuel consumption (KPT, CCT). Also, the monitoring aims to measure the achievement of improved cookstoves in Poverty Reduction (SDG1), Health and Wellbeing (SDG3), Access to Clean and Safe Energy (SDG7) and the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (SDG13).
Impacts on End-users
- SDG1: About 94% of users say that ICS save coal compared to traditional cookstoves. In financial terms, households save around $19 million per year on coal purchases and save around 55,000 tonnes of coal per year.
- SDG3: About 360,000 people have benefited from clean cooking. About 90.6% of people confirm that improved cookstoves emit less smoke and that the incidence of respiratory diseases has decreased with their use. About 90% of households using ICS in MozCarbon working areas confirm that they reduce smoke and respiratory illnesses compared to traditional cookstoves.
- SDG7: MozCarbon has disseminated more than 86,000 cookstoves benefiting about 360,000 people with access to clean and safe energy in Mozambique.
- SDG13: About 258,000 tons of CO2 are reduced per year by using ICS compared to traditional cookstoves.
Product Profile
Below is a brief description of the main cookstoves type offered to the beneficiaries:
| Stove | Model | Manufacturer | Thermal Efficiency | Savings | Type of Fuel | Stove Price | Financing options offered for end consumers | Description of the payment option | Price Subsidized (Y/N) |
|
|
Mbaula Poupa+ | MozCarbon | - | 60% | Charcoal | Y | |||
|
|
CH2200 | Envirofit International | - | 78% | Charcoal | ||||
|
Econochar | Envirofit International | - | 67% | Charcoal | ||||
|
Econofire | Envirofit International | - | >50% | Firewood | ||||
|
|
Chazama | Rocket Works Pty | - | 67% | Charcoal |
Further resources
- Website: https://www.mozcarbon.co.mz/
- Gold Standard MarketPlace: https://marketplace.goldstandard.org/products/efficient-clean-cooking-mozambican-low-income-households
- Gold Standard MozCarbon Cookstove Program Documentation: https://platform.sustain-cert.com/public-project/1058
