In 2012 when Gaurav Mehta and his friends began to dispense clean cooking stoves in rural Uttar Pradesh through their social enterprise Dharma Life, they faced both success and failure.
During a pilot, they managed to counter the affordability factor by providing villagers interest-free loans. Sales were reasonable enough. But when the team went back three months later to gather consumer experience they found the stoves in brand new condition, lying unused.
Recalls Founder and CEO Mehta, “The families looked embarrassed about not using them and without openly saying it they conveyed to us, ‘hamara khana swad nahi banta (food is not tasty enough when cooked on this)’”. Dharma Life decided to take back the stoves as the aim was not merely sales. It knew for sure that the cook stoves did not reduce the taste of dishes, but an effective campaign was needed to change mindsets.
In 2015, during a user acceptance study with GIZ in two villages each of UP and Bihar, Dharma Life realised that the fact a clean cook stove reduced indoor pollution and was important for the health of women and children were not enough. A bit of lateral thinking was needed. So, taking inspiration from the popular MasterChef TV series, the enterprise devised its own competition, Dharma Chef for village participants.
The contest, backed by Tata Trusts, saw fruition in Gujarat in mid-2016. It involved women (and some men) who competed against each other in cooking dishes. The only criteria was that participants had to use improved cook stoves or induction stoves. The enterprise set up the cooking stations at a public venue and the judges were key opinion leaders, generally the sarpanch (village head) and an anganwadi or Asha worker.
“It was a lot of fun. It was the perfect way for the women to learn that they could cook meals that were more tasty with less grime,” says Mehta.
In the second stage winners from around 50 villages came together in Kodinar for the semi-finals. “We are going to replicate this process in Uttar Pradesh next year.”
Mehta says that after the village level contests many of the participants changed their mindset. Apart from being able to show off their cooking skills, it dawned on them that the improved stove was better for the family’s health.
Apart from working on behavioural change, Dharma Life trains and mentors young people in villages to become social entrepreneurs.
Started as an entity dedicated to poverty alleviation, it was founded in 2009 by graduates from the London Business School.