CCS - Piloting biomass by agri-MSEs Relevance of the action:
Vietnam has ample supplies of biomass from agricultural and forestry production which is a sustainable source for energy generation but currently it is mostly wasted. Farmers often burn the agroforestry by-products such as corn cob and sawdust fields to clear site for next crops or simply to get rid of the biomass waste. This burning practice emits tons of CO2e annually and negatively affects the local health and environment. There is a clear need of a thorough solution to efficiently use the wasted resource and reduce air pollution. Meanwhile, lots of energy-intensive businesses, particularly tea-processing MSEs, are becomingincreasingly vulnerable to market fluctuations of energy sources. The MSEs are experiencing increases in their expenses for coal and wood as the main fuels for drying tea products since those resources are more scared and expensive with unstable supplies. Thus their business effectiveness is very much affected. Besides, those enterprises are also generating huge pollution from their inefficient burning of coal and wood, while the smoke and ash emitted from these burning processes also remarkably lower the tea products# quality. Those businesses have increasing need of a cleaner and cheaper energy technology to improve their business efficiency.
Even though there have been several biomass-for-energy technologies introduced in Vietnam, most of them have not proved applicable for MSEs# conditions. They are either too small for business use or too expensive for domestic MSEs# affordability or not having supportiveservices to be operated and maintained in stable manner. The lack of local service system hinders the feasibility of new technologyadoption in local communities. Collecting biomass in large quantity to create stable supplies of fuel for the biomass equipment hasbeen seen as another big hurdle for the technology deployment. Agricultural fields in Dinh Hoa in particular and Vietnam in general, are of small scale and scattered. That makes the costs for collecting agricultural by-products after crops and transporting them too costly for businesses to use them as fuel. MSEs also concern about not having mechanical maintenance services for new equipment, which add to their hesitance to invest in new energy technology.
Even though the government has launched several national programs to promote biomass technology application, they mainly focus on research and communication without practical supports for the technology application at scale by local businesses. The Action will serve as an initial effort to engage with local government agencies toadvocate for improvements in local policies and their enforcement for supporting sustainable energy development, including energy from biomass.
This Action will address all those constraints and needs with a comprehensive solution. To introduce the technology which is already tailored to fit with conditions of tea-processing MSEs in both technical and financial terms, the Action will develop suitable business models; set up and operate 02 demonstration sites for biomass gasification in Dinh Hoa; organize technology introduction workshops and provide hands-on training to 50 local MSEs and households. To support the technology application among these MSEs, the Action will create local product service systems, focusing on stable biomass supplies and reliable mechanical services. To sustain the technology transfer, CCS will work closely with the local authorities in Dinh Hoa and provide post-project assistance allproject stakeholders so that they will continue promoting the technology application through their own networks after the Action finishes.

Description and identification of target groups and final beneficiaries, their needs and constraints, and how the action will address these needs:
100 men and women in Dinh Hoa communities, especially those working for target tea-processing MSEs, are the final beneficiaries of this Action. Their benefits are multi-folds. Local people, particularly women, will have additional and saferjobs through engaging in the new technology and practices, specifically including collecting and transporting biomass; and providing mechanical services to meet new equipment demands. Those people working in the energy-intensive tea-processing MSEs will experience cleaner working conditions. Farmers will have a clean and profitable solution for their on-going chores of clearing site for next crops. All those communities will have better health and livelihood from reduction of pollution from cutting massive open-air burning of agricultural by-products. These benefits are particularly valuable in the context of shortage of jobs and sources of income andincreasing pollution in Dinh Hoa rural areas.
In Vietnam, women account for 52.8% of rural labourers and play an important role in all agroforestry activities. However, they face constraints to gain equal benefits for their contributions to rural economic growth,mainly lacking access to information, training opportunities and social supports for their economic leadership. They need improved access to information on new technologies and market opportunities available in their areas which is tailor-made to their communication channels in order to make better informed decision on how they can make use of the opportunities. They also need further training and support to better affirm and develop their leadership role in various rural economic activities. The Action will pay special attention to address these needs and constrains for women through gender mainstreamed activities in key interventions, particularly in ensuring gender balanced participation in promoting the biomass gasification technology and supporting women-led biomass collectorgroups.

Tea-processing MSEs in Dinh Hoa are the first target group and also beneficiaries of the Action. This Action focuses on 50tea-processing MSEs and households, which are consuming lots of energy for drying their tea products, mainly from burning coal and wood. One of the key constraints for their business effectiveness is their increasing cost for energy in the context of overall fuelresource scarcity in Vietnam. For instant, to produce one kilogram of dried tea by using their inefficient drier equipment, an enterprise has to consume around 1.3 kilogram of coal. As Vietnam has become a net coal importer, prices of coal are increasing, leadingto significant increase in energy cost of those energy-intensive MSEs. Those businesses also lack of access to information for technology renovation to improve their business effectiveness and efficiency. They need an effective, affordable and manageable energy technology to shift to more sustainable source of energy like biomass in order to improve their business effectiveness and resilienceagainst fluctuations in the energy market. This Action will directly communicate and work with the tea MSEs to promote the new biomass gasification technology as a feasible, manageable and affordable solution to replace their polluting and costly coal fuel by sustainable local biomass. This helps cut down energy costs and improve their business effectiveness and efficiency. To support tea MSEs to uptake the technology sustainably, the Action will create local product service system to provide stable biomass supply and mechanical services for equipment.

10 mechanical service providers in Dinh Hoa are the second target group and beneficiaries of the Action. Most of them have limited technical capacity and only do small service works for machines in the area which are mostly imports. They also have very small human resource and finance since their income stream is limited. They need more business orders, enhanced technical capacity and improved access to finance to develop their businesses. To promote the application of the new technology, this Action will create a wave of demand for tailor-made equipment for these mechanical service providers. This Action will provide them with capacity building and technology transfer to ensure their readiness to meet the new equipment demands and to provide maintenance services. These businesses are expected to create additional jobs and income to local workers.
02 biomass collectors groups inDinh Hoa are the third target group and beneficiaries of the Action. They lack proper organization and connection to potential customers. These groups are founded as parts of the local product-service system and include local low-income women who will collect biomass waste from both agricultural and forestry sources in Dinh Hoa and sell to tea-processing MSEs to be used as feeding fuels for biomass gasification equipment. The Action will serve as intermediaries who connect these biomass collectors groups to potential tea MSEs in Dinh Hoa, by which creating a complete local supply chain of biomass waste, gasifiers and biochar, etc.

Overall objective: To pilot the use of on-site biomass energy from agricultural by-products in order to reduce  greenhouse gas emission and increase business effectiveness of agricultural Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), as one way to promote sustainable production and consumption of tea-processing industry in Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen province.

Specific objectives:
SO1: To increase use of environmental-friendly technologies and practices (biomass gasification technology) by agri-MSEs in tea-processing in Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen province;
SO2: To increase the availability of biomass gasification products and services in the market for better access of small-scale producers and agri-MSEs;
SO3: To gain the buying-in and support from relevant government agencies for further adoption and replication of the technology and practices.