I. First progress report (January 16, 2011):
Activities undertaken:
1. Launching capacity building through training and study tours Re: food security and renewable energy
2. Demonstrating and putting into practice the built capacity, Re: briquetting from agro-waste and organic farming to reduce energy expense

Results of activities:
1. Increased awareness of target population witnessed by active participation and relevant discourse
2. Additional 41 community members (in Lampang Province) requesting to participate in the courses of project ( project coordinator was looking for respective financial sources)
3. Successful briquette production giving out heat three times as much with the total production of over 500 kg for distribution in community market

Project Communication:
During this period, there was no communication for project as a whole except through project activities at target locations. On November 23-28, 2010 , the project participated in the Agricultural Fair.

Experience and Lessons Learnt:

Project Expense:
The project reported the expense of THB: 240,915 out of the first disbursement of THB: 344,770.25.

II. Second progress report (August 3, 2011 ):
Activities undertaken:
1. Keeping on launching capacity building through training and study tours Re: food security and renewable energy
2. Keeping on demonstrating and putting into practice the built capacity, Re: briquetting from agro-waste, biomass stoves, bicycle water pump and organic farming to reduce energy expense

Results of activities:
1. Increased capacity & awareness of additional community members witnessed by ability to put into practice what being learnt such as expanding plots for organic farming, fabricating biomass stove, installing bicycle water pumps for organic farming
2. A school for self-sufficiency practice being established focusing on green economy
3. Additional income of about THB: 2,500/month from organic farm among 15 members and about 60 % saving of expense of others
4. Perceivable 35 % reduction of fire-woods in daily cooking among project members using fabricated biomass stoves in three districts

Project Communication:
During this period, there was no communication for project as a whole except through project activities at target locations. On November 23-28, 2010 , the project participated in the Agricultural Fair.

Experience and Lessons Learnt:
The current accomplishment , at household level, is still marginal and not able to produce much impact at community level. Enthusiasm of participating young generation, however, was expected to produce its effect by encouraging wider participation in the communities. Project leaders made , as a criteria, continuous cooperation and discussion in the fields among community members.

Project Expense:
The project report the accumulated expense of THB:475,528 out of the sum of first & second disbursement of THB: 684,366.74.

III. Monitoring Visit by NC/NSC (October 28-29,2011 ):
Findings & Observation:
Before proceeding to a targeted location of the project, the visiting team was invited to pay a complementary visit to witness an event called ? Organic Food Exhibition in 4 Northern Provinces? , organized at the conference hall of Chiangmai University and by five national NGOs of which NOSA was one. Over 50 exhibition booths were provided to CBOs/NGOs to present their products of organic foods and other relevant traditional knowledge, including renewable energy promotion. A brief stroll through these booths and chit-chat with booth attendants led the visiting team to get an idea that at least 10 booths belonged to ex-SGP grantees since the very beginning of the programme, implying, to a certain degree, community capacity and sustained activities. This two-day event was supported by the Ministry of Interior with budget of approximately THB: 900,000.

The next complementary visit happened in the provincial town of Chiangmai where organic products, mainly food, were put for sales in a morning market. Jointly organized by the grantee and its network, organic products from CBOs in Chiangmai Province were offered to consumers every Wednesday and Saturday. The market was one among a few others that had been active in Chiangmai.

In order to witness results of activities of the project, the visiting team proceeded to Baan (village) Na Kwao in Lamplang Province?s Mae Tha District, one of the five targeted communities. The village was situated along Jang River, with majority of community growing paddy, corn and other seasonal crops. Here, the visiting team met with about 20 project members who enthusiastically showed and told stories about project activities that had been carried out and some promising results. Main activities witnessed were the promotion of biomass and manual energy for daily activities. The community was able to produce briquette from mixing plentiful corn cobs left in the field with bamboo charcoal, fabricate biomass stoves, and install water-pumping bicycles for off-season, small scale agricultural practice.

After about two hours of interaction, the visiting team agreed to the remarkable technical and
Institutional capacity of project members of this village, even though there was some area to improve regarding production of briquettes. As 3 electric motors with total power of about 5 kW run by grid electricity were used in the production, the net avoidance/reduction of CO2 was minimal. To address this issue, the community discussed with the visiting team the possibility of using flowing water in Jang River to run a turbo-generator to generate such a power. At a glance, the potential energy of this flowing water might be capable of generate a few kW of electricity. The community promised to take further action so that this type of renewable energy would be tried, with the main aim to reduce dependence upon grid electricity for production of briquettes.

Another targeted community to visit was Baan (village) Mae Jong in Chiangmai?s Doi Saket District, where another type of renewable energy (biogas from pig manure) was promoted. A biogas facility of 200-litre storage capacity was seen completed in construction supplying cooking gas to one family. However, this capacity was found insufficient for use, even to complete one cooking. To correct this problem, the visiting team advised that the gas container be enlarged so that the capacity would be at least 800 litres to ensure continuous use. The grantee confirmed its capacity to solve this technical problem.