Publications

G4E guidelines for collection of data (e.g. baseline study, research, monitoring and evaluation)

This Practice Brief highlights various approaches used to promote gender equality in the agriculture; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); and renewable energy (RE) sectors in Asian countries. SNV Asia has provided extensive capacity-building support in these sectors while putting ‘inclusive development’ at the forefront of the development agenda. The Practice Brief is an attempt to document practices from the field based on successful experiences of SNV in Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Nepal and Vietnam. It aims to be a quick reference for development practitioners (within and outside SNV) who are committed to mainstream gender in these three sectors.

This guide for using bio-slurry for commercial fishponds was developed as part of an experimental study to estimate the effects of using bio-slurry in fish ponds and identify methods for using it. The aim is to carry forth some information to help farmers use bio-slurry from biogas for growth out ponds.

It describes the pond preparation; fingerlings selection; bio-slurry preparation; method of applying the effluent; feed monitoring; pond environment monitoring and fish health.

Bio-slurry from biogas production has many advantages when used in aquaculture (reduced risk of infection in fish; increasing the growth rate of fish because of more effective nutrient enrichment aquatic biota in the pond). The growth rate can increase, and the survival rate of fish as well, while reducing the coefficient of food. As a result, ultimately it increases the economic efficiency of the pond compared to the fresh material used to fertilise ponds.

Advisors are encouraged to self-reflect, analyse, observe/record the change at different levels (link to managing for results).

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.

The Vietnamese government has recognised the need for development of alternative energy to substitute its dependency on fossil fuels and has developed a vision and strategy on biofuels. Part of this is to recover so called waste lands (degraded or low-fertile) through the production of Jatropha oil seeds. This has the potential to bring a stable income for tens of thousands of rural farmers, especially in the coastal areas of central and southern Vietnam.

Green Energy Vietnam (GEV) started with the cultivation of Jatropha on infertile lands in Ninh Thuan, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces. GEV approached SNV to support them in the development and set-up of a new company business model through which they can secure feedstock production from smallholder farmers. Leading in this business model will be to adhere to international sustainability guidelines as they are currently being developed by the Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels. Essential elements here: access to land for smallholders and social and environmental sustainability.

SNV provides direct advisory to the company, reviewing and commenting their farmer contract systems, improving their farmer extension materials etc. SNV, in collaboration with local capacity builders also provides training services on agricultural extension for company staff and group leaders.

The case study addresses that it's difficult to talk about impact at this stage, but potential impacts for smallholders who can produce Jatropha are mentioned as well as some lessons learned.

This leaflet introduces SNV's work and results on developing domestic biogas in Vietnam. It starts with key achievements (and aims) from the start of the programme to 2008. In 2006, this programme was presented with the Energy Globe Award for its significant contribution to the reduction of "World warming".

There are sanitary and pollution problems surrounding the 27 million pigs in Vietnam, most of which live in individual household farms with 5 to 20 head of livestock. While the majority of pig manure is re-used, mainly for fish feed and fertilizer, the un-used portion is usually deposited in waterways, seriously polluting the environment. High volumes of methane are releases, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and wasting a potential energy source. The manure can be stored in household digester to produce clean biogas.

The overall objective of the Vietnamese biogas programme is "to further develop the commercial and structural deployment of biogas, at the same time avoiding the use of fossil fuels and biomass resource depletion." The main role for SNV here is the provision of advisory services for programme management, biogas strategy, institutionalisation and sector building. As a result, entrepreneurs, institutions and local governments are capacitated, creating a sustainable infrastructure for a biogas sector.

Programme goals for 2011 are described, related to income & employment (number of plants constructed, reduced workload for women, savings on commercial fuels), health & sanitation (e.g. toilet attachments) and environment (e.g. reduction of GHG).

Contact information details are provided.

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.

Cassava is a cash crop that grows predominantly in upland areas of Vietnam with low soil fertility and high poverty rates among farmers. SNV is implementing a project in the north-central region of Vietnam, in which some 10,000 farmers in a cassava growing area have successfully become business partners with starch factories. In this project, the factories are the anchor companies in inclusive business models, taking the lead in the formation of farmer groups and entering into long-term profitable business agreements for a regular input supply. Promotion of sustainable production such as intensive cultivation, soil  erosion prevention and staggered cropping is based on the development of know-how within the anchor company as well as with locally operating service providers. SNV leads the process, ensuring the replicability of sustainable services for farmers within and beyond the scope of the project. The inclusive business approach of the programme takes the medium and large enterprises as the entry point for engaging the poor. Investment, commitment and good governance is required from these enterprises to ensure the sustainability of the model.

This paper concerning market access of honey producers in Cameroon was written for the international conference on ‘the role of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation’. The conference was held in Vietnam.

Over the past two decades Vietnam has achieved remarkable advances in its economic development, progressing from least developed country status to lower middle income, thus becoming one of Southeast Asia’s most rapidly industrializing countries. Vietnam’s geographical position, bordering with China, Laos and Cambodia on the West and the South China Sea on the East, has enabled larger trade of goods throughout the region. However, these results at the national level conceal significant geographical disparities and inequalities between the rural and urban inhabitants. Data indicates that poor people’s access to quality services in the areas of health, water, sanitation and education is still a concern.

This research proposed to analyze the impact of the Biogas Division Project in Vietnam, created in 2003 in collaboration with MARD and SNV. The study aimed at evaluating quantitative figures of biogas masons activity levels. Construction levels indicated that masons are extremely busy despite the seasonal effects of the job. Digester demand is on the high rise. 97% of masons said that they would continue construction levels if the program ceased from existing, confirming and ensuring the self-sufficiency of the biogas sector, something which SNV and BPD aimed to establish. Conclusively, BPD is recommended to upscale and sub-group mason business training programs to better adhere with their mason profiles. Improving training and educational programs will allow for the possibility of concrete SME development within a economically sound Biogas sector.

The seventh meeting of the experts’ network was organised in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the period April 8-9, 2009. This meeting of experts followed the internal Biogas/Renewable Energy Team Meeting of SNV Asia Region.

The overall objective of the meeting of the network of experts was to share the lessons learned, and to discuss possibilities for improvement on the training activities related to domestic biogas programmes. The discussion focussed particularly on the weaknesses/problems or evident successes of the training activities conducted so far by the different biogas programmes, and the possible solutions to overcome the problems, as well as prospects to share the success. The key
question was: how to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of all biogas and bio-manure related training activities?

This external network meeting on domestic biogas consisted of a field visit to provincial biogas office and biogas households in Ha Tay Province near Hanoi (8th April), and a working meeting on biogas training activities (9th April 2009). An overview and evaluation of training activities under biogas programmes in China, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh was given. Further, there were group discussions, presentations and plenary discussions held.

First meeting of experts on domestic biogas promotion: a brief report of activities and outcome of discussions (2006).

The ABP visualizes the establishment and operation of a regional network of experts working in the field of biogas technology. The first meeting of the network of 16 experts was organised in Hanoi, Vietnam, This brief report summarises the purpose, schedule, country presentations and outcome of discussions of the meeting.

The objective was to enhance knowledge on promotion of domestic biogas plants through presentations and experts discussion. The key question for this meeting was: How to create a market for domestic biogas plants?

Activities of the meeting:
• Day 1: Overview of the Phase-I and the proposed Phase-II of the Vietnam biogas programme, field visit to Hai Duong Province, visit of under-construction biogas plant and two
biogas plants under full operation, a cultural excursion and in general observation and discussion.
• Day 2: Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Director of Biogas Project Division of MARD, Vietnam, Mr. Wim van Nes, Mr. Son, Mr.Reindert Augustijn, Sr. Renewable Energy/Biogas Advisor from SNV Vietnam, Mr. Hu Qichun from the Biogas Institute, Chengdu, Mr. C.V. Krishna from CREAT, India, Mr. Saroj Rai, Executive Director of BSP-Nepal, Mr. Auke Koopmans, Sr. Renewable Energy Advisor from SNV Laos, Mr. Douangchanh Sirivonga from Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Laos, Mr. Jan Lam, Sr. Biogas Advisor from SNV Cambodia, Mr. Md. Zahidul Islam, Investment Officer from IDCOL, and Mr. Guy Dekelver, Biogas/NRM Advisor from SNV Rwanda, all presented a paper.

The outcome revealed that the stage of development of biogas technology differs significantly among the participating countries.

“Support Project to the Biogas Program for the Livestock Husbandry Sector in Vietnam” is a cooperation between the government of Vietnam and the government of the Netherlands. The project aims at developing a commercially viable and market oriented biogas industry and to contribute to avoiding the use of fossil fuels and biomass resource depletion. Until April 2010, 80,000 biogas plants have been installed. With the development of the project, the loan demand of households to build a biogas plant is increasing.

This report presents the findings on two main questions (i) What are the households’ demands for loans for construction of biogas works in 2010 and 2011; and (ii) What are the financial institutions’ capacities for providing loans for constructions of biogas works. The methodologies used are desk study, questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The report consists of 3 parts. Part I gives an overview of the study with a background, objectives, methodology and implementation process. Part II elaborates on the results of the survey with information of the households interviewed, findings and analyses on the understanding of biogas, the household’s demands for loans to construct a plant, and the capacity of financial institutions to provide loans. Part III consists of conclusions and recommendations.