Green Microfinance - supporting renewable energy in Vietnam

Biogas facility in Vietnam © MACDI 2014

In recent years a growing number of ‘green microfinance’ initiatives have encouraged eco-friendly microenterprises and supported the use of renewable energy. One such programme is implemented by Lendwithcare’s partner in Vietnam, the Microfinance and Community Development Institute (MACDI). MACDI provides loans to rural households so they can install household plants that use animal waste to generate biogas, a clean fuel that can be used for cooking, lighting and heating.
According to Minh Thai Dinh Thi, Director of MACDI, the motivation for providing biogas loans has as much do with the economic as the environmental benefits. She explains that “since households do not need to spend money on buying firewood, and for the poorer families the time spent by women and girls gathering firewood, biogas plants simultaneously save money, time and also reduce deforestation”. 

Biogas offers other compelling advantages. It promotes better health through eliminating smoke from cooking with firewood. It also reduces harmful pathogens from animal waste that might lead to illnesses (the Asian Development Bank estimates more than 70 million tonnes of animal waste is improperly disposed of each year in Vietnam, contaminating the environment and often finding its way into streams and rivers). Importantly it also converts animal manure into an improved fertiliser, saving farmers money on expensive chemical fertilisers. Many families who have installed biogas plants have also commented that their general environment looks cleaner with less foul odours and flies. While the biogas technology can work in most climatic conditions it seems particularly suitable to countries such as Vietnam with generally warm temperatures and sufficient rainfall. 

Biogas being used for cooking in Vietnam © MACDI 2014

However, despite the potential benefits, the adoption of biogas technology has been slow. This is mainly because of the relatively high cost of biogas plants for people living in rural areas with limited financial resources. To overcome this obstacle, starting in 2011, MACDI has been providing households with loans for between US$500-700 with a long repayment period of between 24-36 months to install the biogas plants. On average, households with at least two cattle or six pigs can generate sufficient biogas to meet their daily basic cooking and lighting needs and the investment pays for itself after about three years. To date, almost 400 families have benefited from the loans. MACDI negotiated with a specialist company to build, service and maintain the biogas plants to ensure they are correctly and safely installed so that they have a long life span. MACDI also provides borrowers with training on management and upkeep of the biogas plants to ensure that they receive the best returns from their investment.

Most of MACDI’s borrowers are small-scale farmers who grow rice and maize and typically raise livestock and poultry. Whilst previously the pig, cattle and buffalo manure and crop residue was left to rot or burned (wasting valuable plant nutrients), households now feed the manure mixed with water, but also some crop residue and other organic matter, into the biogas plant where it decomposes. Under anaerobic (without air) conditions the rotting matter produces biogas which is pumped into the home, usually the kitchen, and used for cooking, lighting and in the winter months heating as well. The slurry which has a high nutrient content is used as a fertiliser and crop yields of vegetable crops such as potatoes and onions, fruit, sugar cane and rice have reacted particularly favourably. The biogas generally comprises  just under 60% methane, almost 40% carbon dioxide and a small fraction of other gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen  and hydrogen sulphide. Although methane is a damaging greenhouse gas, since it is burnt the process is essentially ‘carbon negative’.

The potential for biogas in Vietnam is huge, with more than two-thirds of the population earning a living from agriculture, animal husbandry and fishing and most have traditionally relied on wood, agricultural residue and animal dung for their energy needs. Lendwithcare is supporting MACDI to increase the scale and outreach of its green microfinance programme to ensure more rural households in Vietnam are able to install household biogas plants and have access to clean, sustainable and affordable energy.




You can invest in a green loan today by simply visiting the Lendwithcare website www.lendwithcare.org

By Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan, Lendwithcare Microfinance Advisor

Quick funds available for Folks receiving DSS benefits!

Lots of people living in the USA are provided small fiscal aid in the form of DSS benefits so that they can get meet their basic requirements without depending on their relatives or other persons. Such people are mentally for physically challenged and unable to work to generate income for themselves.

When such people face sudden financial problems, it takes a little time to get their financial condition worse. Are you a person surviving on DSS benefits and in the need of additional financial assistance following some immediate cash issues? If yes, DSS loans will help you get extra money instantly without going any where.

All adult US people who have an active bank account in their own name, legitimate proof of identification and have been getting DSS benefits constantly for last 6 months are eligible to apply for such cash advances and they can get small funds up to $1000 depending upon their cash needs and resources to pay back the borrowed money.

No collateral and lengthy documentation is needed for loan acquisition. Even a DSS benefit person who is tagged in various bad credit issues can access such cash advances without any trouble and he/she should pay off the fetched money to make their credit ratings once again.

You need to avail these disability loans carefully for meeting urgent financial needs only as credit lenders charge higher fees of interest on the borrowed money due to no collateral placement. Through the online application method, you can borrow your desired money at any point of time from all places just by emailing your genuine personal data to the selected online credit lender. The entire process of the loan gets completed within a short time period and you avail same day finance into your bank account through these cash advances.

Guest blog | You don’t have to wait for Christmas!!

This blog was originally posted on Richard Kemp's blog and has been re-posted here with his permission.

Pictured above is Ghulam Qadir who has a recycling business in Pakistan

I have to admit that I am not an easy person to buy things for at Christmas and birthdays. I am lucky that I can afford to buy things that I need and have very few things that I want to buy on top of that except for stamps (I am a stamp collector).

So I always present a challenge. However my ever resourceful younger daughter Rachel, currently the Lady Mayoress of Liverpool, knows my foibles and my interests and is a dab hand at whizzing around on her computer looking for things.

In the past she has bought me things like goats from Oxfam which I have appreciated but it felt a bit sterile. I like being involved with things. This year she found a perfect present when she gave me a voucher for Lendwithcare. In this she combined two of my interests.

Professionally I used to be a regeneration adviser helping people set up programmes to help small business in some of the most deprived parts of England and in places like Turkey.

Politically I represent the UK on a number of international local government bodies and have had the opportunity to visit villages and towns in Africa to see at first hand the hand to mouth existence that so many of the people of Africa and similar areas face.

From the start I was delighted with the gift and within a couple of days invested most of it. I have since put two more small amounts in and intend to give small amounts on a regular basis.

I like thinking about which countries and people to invest in. I don’t put money into retail businesses but prefer to put them into things like recycling, food production and farming. I like the feedback that I get from Lendwithcare and to see the relatively small amounts dribbling in monthly. This means that I know that Lendwithcare is investing well although I do expect that sometimes it will not work out and the investment will disappear.

I have currently made two investments in Pakistan and one each in Benin and Cambodia. Two of the investments are with men and two with women.

To me this is what Christmas is all about. I don’t need another tie and although I will always eventually eat another bar of chocolate doing some small things for people in far greater need than I have ever experienced gives me a small glow of satisfaction. So thanks Rachel for leading me to Lendwithcare. You know what Santa can bring me next year don’t you!?

But you don’t have to wait for Christmas. If you go onto their website you can sign up and start lending straight away  http://www.careinternational.org. Alternatively ring them on 0207 091 6014. Lend some money, do some good and have a pleasurable learning time as well. You could even become a Lendwithcare angel – probably the only chance that I will ever get of acquiring a pair of wings! If you come from Greater Liverpool you can also join a group and see what other members (there are currently four of us) are doing and investing in. I don’t want to urge you on too much but Manchester has a bigger group than Liverpool – a situation I would really like to see rectified!!