Publications

The “Support project to the Biogas Program for the Animal Husbandry Sector in Some Provinces in Vietnam “(Jan-2003 – Jan 2006) and now “Biogas program for the animal husbandry sector of Vietnam bridging phase 2006” is jointly managed by the Livestock Production Department (LPD) under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Netherlands Development Organization Vietnam (SNV-VN), with the BPD as the executive project agency. The Project has covered 24 out of Vietnam’s 64 provinces, supporting the construction of about 28,000 biogas installations. One of the main objectives of the project is increasing the awareness of involved farmers and extension workers on the full extent of the potential benefits of biogas plants.

A number of activities relating to bio-slurry application in farming have been carried out under the project to reach the above objectives with some positive results and also raised issues/questions to researchers and extension workers.

Description of activities is provided in the report. The first is research. A number of priorities in terms of bio-slurry application to farming activities were identified and how to apply bio-slurry farming activity under Vietnam conditions is investigated. The second was demo plots, where theory is brought to reality. The document continues with the restrictions in applying bio-slurry. Further, general observations regarding bio-slurry from biogas user survey and field trips are described and the document ends with a future plan.

This report presents the results of a biogas user survey designed to assess the effect of domestic biogas installations on energy, agriculture, health and sanitation, and environment.

The two main reasons for constructing biogas plants found by the survey were to reduce negative environmental impacts, and cooking time and costs. The economic, health, and environment benefits derived from biogas were also evident. Households saved 1-3 hours per thanks to using biogas for cooking and they managed to save 4,000VND per day. Further, flies and mosquitoes were substantially less after the installation. Biogas plants installation has also positively impacted animal raising as households managed to increase its scale substantially. As far as husbandry is concerned, it appeared that the role of project technicians was not clear and it needed further improvement. Households were also aware of the main benefit of slurry as a fertiliser-it not only helped them to increase crop productivity and product quality, but also to replace chemical fertilisers such as nitrogen and potassium. However, it is important to note that additional slurry benefits such as food for husbandry and aquatic product rearing were unknown to 60% of the households surveyed.

The survey also revealed the high potential of biogas in reducing green house gasses but it also admitted that more data were needed to build an emission baseline for reference. Based on the analysis of survey results, detailed recommendations for the improvement and further advancement of the programme are provided in the report.

This report provides an assessment of the progress of the Biogas Programme (BP) for Vietnam Livestock, according to social, economic, environmental impacts of biodigester use, products and services rendered by BP, as well as a cross section of households’ profiles (desk and filed study).

Survey results indicated that, in general, the BP livestock has achieved very promising results, where more than 70% of users have reported that because of the biogas plants raising livestock has substantially increased. Appreciation of the plant was also very high because of the obvious benefits of cooking and lighting. Further, the benefits and drawbacks of the programme as perceived by users on technological, organisational and implementation, and management level are also obtainable in the report, where some of the important advantages were the reduced environmental pollution from livestock activities and the well-organized and functioning management system. However, the weak link between implementing agencies and local authorities appeared to be one of the main challenges, as well as the high costs of the biogas plants.

Based on the progress of the programme and the difficulties identified, thorough recommendations are made available in the report. The need for a well developed loan system to finance plants construction, strengthening of technician and mason groups, development of practices in dissemination and persuasion activities, and close coordination with authorities on all levels, are only some of the key references.

The goal of this survey is to provide a more specific and integral perspective in which niches, relevant policy development by the Vietnamese government, legislation and sustainability criteria are clearly addressed to benefit both the Dutch Private sector as well as to stimulate Dutch-Vietnamese cooperation and support the Vietnamese government in its search for tangible options to develop the desired enabling environment for a sustainable biomass/biofuel market.

The goal of this survey is to provide a more specific and integral perspective in which niches, relevant policy development by the Vietnamese government, legislation and sustainability criteria are clearly addressed to benefit both the Dutch Private sector as well as to stimulate Dutch-Vietnamese cooperation and support the Vietnamese government in its search for tangible options to develop the desired enabling environment for a sustainable biomass/biofuel market.

A rapid assessment of the strategic options available for wastewater, drainage and solid waste management for Khe Tre, a small town 50 km south west of Hue with a population of 3,400 in Thua Thien Hue (TTH) Province in Vietnam has been carried out. There is no centralized reticulated sewerage system, and the predominant sanitation system is septic tanks.

A rapid assessment of the strategic options available for wastewater, drainage and solid waste management for Phong Dien, a small town 25 km north of Hue with a population of 7,500 in Thua Thien Hue (TTH) Province in Vietnam has been carried out. There is no centralized reticulated sewerage system, and the predominant sanitation system is septic tanks.

A rapid assessment of the strategic options available for wastewater, drainage and solid waste management for Sia, a small town population 11,457, 20 km north of Hue in Thua Thien Hue (TTH) Province in Vietnam has been carried out. There is no centralized reticulated sewerage system, and the predominant sanitation system is septic tanks. Drainage and flooding is a problem in Sia in four low lying areas - representing a health risk.

A rapid assessment of the strategic options available for wastewater, drainage and solid waste management for Thuan An, a small Class V town population 20,567, 15 km from Hue in Thua Thien Hue (TTH) Province in Vietnam has been carried out. There is no centralized reticulated sewerage system, and the predominant sanitation system is septic tanks. Drainage and flooding is a problem in Thuan An with 10 days of flooding per year in the wet season.

Deforestation drivers and socio-economic assessment of two communes in Cat Tien district (an assessment report completed by SNV in 2010 in support of the Cat Tien Pro-Poor REDD project).

This report was undertaken as a joint effort between the Asian Development Bank and SNV in support of the Regional Technical Assistance Project 6518, “Promoting Inclusive Growth through Business Development at the Base of the Pyramid.” This updated final report builds on an initial draft report finalized at the end of December 2010 developed primarily by SNV with support and input from the Asian Development Bank. The data and information gathered and analyzed for the market scoping study indicated that
an inclusive business private equity fund is feasible in Vietnam (provided Laos, Cambodia and Thailand are integrated into a wider Mekong Fund to strengthen returns, diversify risk, and increase impact).

This study explores the possibilities for establishing a sustainable financing scheme for a biogas programme in Vietnam.

The household survey conducted revealed that 78% of households would like to build biogas plants, while the ones who did not want to build the plant were relatively poor and lacked knowledge of biogas. 75% of households have an already existing bank credit. The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD), the Vietnam Bank for Social Policy (VBSP) and the People’s Credit Fund (PCF) were the three formal institutions operating the microcredit programs.

It appeared that very few of the already constructed plants have been financed by loans from financial institutions, due to various constraints described in the report (e.g. investment in biogas does not bring direct benefit in terms of cash income). As a response, specific criteria for financing biogas users framework were created and several options were presented for the management and operations of a biogas fund (e.g. an independent biogas facility is set up by FMO, etc.). The
framework for setting up the credit scheme did not involve creating new institutions but instead MFIs extending credit to rural households.

Based on the comprehensive analysis of the credit system and on evaluating the proposed options, wide-ranging recommendations in terms of organisational framework, loan terms, piloting the scheme, general administrative procedure, strengthening bank and MFI institutional capacity, as well as formalizing biodigester construction teams were designed and presented in the report.

The International Workshop on Inclusive Planning and Financing of National Programmes on Domestic Biogas in Asia was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 10-12 November 2010.

The objective of the workshop was to provide a dedicated forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience on the inclusive planning and financing of national programmes on domestic biogas between international practitioners, experts and policy makers.

This workshop report provides an overview of the sessions and the following key questions discussed:
• What is required to execute the programmes in a qualified, integrated and sustainable manner?
• What will be the required budgets for biogas plants installation, sector development and international technical assistance?
• What are the short and medium term funding sources?
• What are the opportunities to establish a regional basket fund?
• Is carbon financing truly feasible?
• Which investments are required from the side of the farmers?
• To what extent can national and local governments provide financial support?

The report includes a programme schedule, list of participants and brief country reports resulting from the sessions.

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, in association with the Dutch Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS), organised a two-day international workshop on 'Use of Bio-slurry from Domestic Biogas Plants' during the period 27-28 September, 2006.

The workshop was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand and attended by 51 participants from 13 different countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. The objective was to create an organised platform for experts working in domestic biogas sector in different  countries to share best practices on the use of bio-slurry at micro level and to identify potential stimulus as well as barriers to further optimise the use of bioslurry.

This workshop proceeding is intended to transfer the ideas and views of those attending the workshop to a wider audience of bio-slurry practitioners.

It is expected that this proceeding will contribute to the broader ongoing discussions about programmes and activities that will facilitate the inclusion of effective use of bio-slurry in initiatives on promotion and development of biodigester technology in different parts of the globe.

This workshop proceeding includes:

• Summary of country presentations of China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Vietnam on the status of bio-slurry application;
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis carried out by the participants on the different aspects of use of bio-slurry;
• Country action plans prepared by respective participants on popularising the use of bioslurry as an organic fertiliser.

As much as possible, the issues raised by the participants during different sessions have been presented in their own words.

Workshop report of the regional inception workshop 'learning by doing: capacity development approaches at the local level, which took place on 26-27 November 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, and was organised by UNDP and SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation), with support from the UNDP Asia Regional Governance Programme (ARGP). The primary workshop objectives were 1) to share lessons learned on capacity development strategies and development efforts aimed at contributing to the MDGs at the sub-national/local level; and 2) identify critical knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to support sub-national/local capacities for reaching the MDGs.