CONSORTIUM OF CHRISTIAN RELIEF and

DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONS
(CCRDA))
Programming
PROJECT CYCLE
MANAGEMENT TRAINING
MANUAL
Evaluation Identification
Amare Shiferaw

Implementation Formulation

Financing

2015
June

Programming ADDIS ABABA

ABABAADDIS
ABABA
Evaluation Identification

Implementation Formulation

Financing
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1. Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3

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1. Introduction

A review of the experience of projects assisted by CCRDA members’

projects/ programmes for the past years indicated that many of the problems
encountered could be traced to errors of mismanagements in the project
identification and preparation, project appraisal, project monitoring; control and
post-evaluation. And yet, Project management is part and parcel of every
member NGOs, which most employees lack in this regard. In many cases,
funding for the projects comes from donors and development agencies.
These funds are public, and donors and development agencies are
consequently accountable to the taxpayers in their respective countries. NGOs
and CSOs should therefore manage the funds that have been allocated to
them in a transparent and accountable manner.

The process of PCM is important for project success, sustainability and organizational
learning and also important management tools. Donors are certainly entitled
to know whether the public funds they provided have been properly spent.
The most important application of M & E, however, should be for ourselves
as NGOs and CSOs, to establish if projects are really making a difference
for beneficiaries. And if we discover that they are not, we have to learn how
to improve our performance and make appropriate changes to project plans.

This training manual therefore targets staff members in NGOs and CSOs
working in project planning and implementation with the aim of providing
them with practical tools that will enhance their results-based management
capacity. It aims at strengthening awareness of an interest in PCM, and at
clarifying what it entails. The manual reviews the nature and characteristics
of PCM, presents basic PCM concepts, principles, tools and methods, reviews
the planning and implementation of effective p rojects, and suggests ways
for developing effective project proposal and M & E systems. In addition, it
provides numerous practical examples and exercises.

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2. P
roject cycle management

(PCM) is the term given to the process of planning and managing projects, programmes and
organizations. It is used widely in the business sector and is increasingly being used by
development organizations. Development projects sometimes fail because they are badly planned
and do not take account of some important factors, particularly the needs and views of
stakeholders. PCM is based around a project cycle, which ensures that all aspects of projects are
considered. A central value of the PCM method is that aspects of the project are reconsidered
throughout the project cycle to ensure that any changes which have occurred are included in the
project design. As a result, projects are more likely to be successful and sustainable.

PCM involves a set of planning tools which feed into the logical framework (commonly known as a
log frame). The log frame is a table which gives a summary of the project plans. Some donors now
expect log frames to be submitted alongside project proposals. Log frames can seem quite
complex to many people. This means that some organizations find they are unable to access donor
funding.

The project cycle (from the initial stage to the end stage) can take a number of
years and involve many different individuals and organizations (Stakeholders) at
each stage of its various phases. Different projects have their own phases based on
their nature/design. Typically the project cycle has a number of distinct
components, beginning with conceptualization, feasibility or cost-benefit analysis,
proposal development and funding, project start-up and baseline surveys,
implementation, periodic monitoring, reporting and evaluations, and phase
out/closure or development of a subsequent phase. The project cycle provides a
structure that ensures: identification, planning, implementation and monitoring and
evaluation.

In practice, the duration and importance of each phase of the cycle will vary for
different projects, depending on their scale and scope and on the specific
operating modalities under which they are set up. For example, a large and

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complex engineering project may take many years to pass from the identification
through to the implementation phase, whereas a project to provide emergency
assistance in a post-conflict context may only take a few weeks or months to
commence operations on the ground. Nevertheless, ensuring that adequate time
and resources are committed to project identification and formulation is critical to
supporting the design and effective implementation of relevant and feasible
projects. The other major important thing is PCM is planning process which follows a
cyclical process.

2.1. P
lanning
Planning is the systematic process of establishing a need and then working out the best way to meet
the need, within a strategic framework that enables you to identify priorities and determines your
operational principles. Planning means thinking about the future so that you can do something about it
now. This doesn’t necessarily mean that everything will go according to plan. It probably won’t. But if
you have planned properly, your ability to adjust, without compromising your overall purpose, will be
that much greater.

“Planning” is a big term that includes a number of different kinds of activities. It is possible to plan at
the strategic level, at the activity or operation level, to plan for an organization, or for a programme or
for a project. The two main kinds of planning are:

 s
trategic planning (see the section on strategic planning/framework); and
 b
usiness/action/operational planning

The combination of a good strategic framework (arrived at through strategic planning)

and a good operational plan or action plan:
 Provides a clear understanding of what you need to do in order to achieve
your development goals;
 Guides you in prioritizing and making decisions;

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  Allows you to focus possibly limited resources on the actions that will benefit
your work the most;
 Keeps you in touch with your context – global, national and local;
 Provides a tool to help you communicate your intentions to others;
 P
rovides a coherent guide for day-to-day implementation.

There are many reasons why planning is a good idea. Planning helps to:

 t
hink ahead and prepare for the future
 e
nsure the right direction
 i
dentify issues that will need to be addressed
 c
onsider whether a project is possible
 m
ake the best use of resources
 m
otivate staff
 e
nsure smooth running of projects
 c
larify goals and develop vision
 e
stablish the reason for doing something
 c
hoose between options
 o
btain funds and other resources
 a
llocate resources and responsibilities
 g
uide implementation of projects
 a
chieve the best results.

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There are many barriers to planning. These include:

 lack of time, or not making time to plan

 not knowing how to plan
 difficulty in getting the right people together
 finding it difficult to plan because the future is so uncertain
 wanting to do things immediately because the need is urgent, rather
than think about them.

2.2. Project Vs Program

What is project?
A project is a temporary process, which has a clearly defined start and end time, a set
of tasks, and a budget, that is developed to accomplish a well-defined goal or objective”.
A project is a temporary effort of sequential activities designed to accomplish a unique
purpose. A project is a group of inter-related activities, constrained by time, cost, and
scope, designed to deliver a unique purpose. A project is a temporary endeavor
undertaken to create a unique product or service. Temporary means that the project has
an end date. Unique means that the project’s result is different from the results of other
functions of the organization. “An undertaking that encompasses a set of tasks or
activities having a definable starting point and well defined objectives. Usually each task
has a planned completion data (due date) and assigned resources”. “A clear set of
activities with related inputs and outputs aimed to achieve objectives and goals linked to
anticipated (desired) effects and impacts in a target population (sometimes called
“beneficiaries”)”

A project is a series of activities aimed at bringing about clearly specified

objectives within a defined time-period and with a defined budget. A project
should also have:
• Clearly identified stakeholders, including the primary target groups
• Clearly defined coordination, management and financing arrangements;
• A monitoring and evaluation system (to support performance
management); and
• An appropriate level of financial and economic analysis, which indicates

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that the project’s benefits will exceed its costs.

Development projects can vary significantly in their objectives, scope and scale.
Smaller projects might involve modest financial resources and last only a few
months, whereas a large project might involve many millions of dollars and last for
many years.

Programs on the other hand can be considered as a ‘package’ of projects with a

common focus/theme. Projects are typically governed by a simple management
structure and the project manager is responsible for day-to-day direction.
However, programs require a more complex governing structure because they
involve fundamental implementation change with significant bottom-line impact.

In short the similarities and differences between projects and programs can be
shown as follows

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2.3. PCM principles and Characteristics

Principles of PCM

 Progressive: structured & informed decision-making, and feedback from

evaluation
 Partner/stakeholder ownership: involvement of stakeholders in decision
making, including emphasis on teamwork and communication
 Log frame planning: comprehensive & consistent analysis
 Integrated documentation: standardized documentation and assessment
criteria

Characteristics of PCM
 P
articipatory: PCM allows for stakeholders to be involved – it allows for
participatory planning. Further it enables the finding of
agreement/consensus without high levels of conflict
 L
ogicality: PCM is user focused in that the intervention planned is based on
the needs and problems of them
 S
ustainability: Right from the planning phase the phase out and
sustainability of the project is taken into account
 T
ransparency: PCM makes plans open and public – clear to everyone
involved as well as those outside of the project or organization
 Problem Solving is the aim: if there is no need for change there is no need
for a project. A project is designed to change an unsatisfactory condition into
an improved situation

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Significance of PCM

Project Cycle Management (PCM) was introduced by the European Commission

in the early 1990’s to improve the quality of project design and management and
thereby to improve aid effectiveness. PCM developed out of an analysis of the
effectiveness of development aid undertaken by the OECD Development
Assistance Committee during the late 1980’s. Evaluation findings indicated that a
significant proportion of development projects had performed poorly, and
identified a number of causes:
• Poor project planning and preparation
• Many projects not relevant to users/beneficiaries
• Risks were insufficiently taken into account
• Factors affecting the longer-term sustainability of project benefits were
ignored
• Lessons from past experience were rarely incorporated into new policy
and practice

2.4. Project Management

Project management is a process of leading a team of capable people in planning and

implementing a series of related activities that need to be accomplished on a specific
date with a limited budget. Project Management is a set of disciplines and principles that
support an efficient way of managing a project. Good project management deals
with three factors: time, cost and performance. That is, projects are
successful if they are completed on time, within budget, and to performance
requirements.

The project cycle can take a number of years and involve many different
individuals and organizations (stakeholders). This means that there is often no
overall management of all the stages from beginning to end; at each stage
different stakeholders are involved.

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Role of the Project Manager

The role of the project manager is not only about getting things done on time, it is
about getting it done within a context of participative decision making: acting as a
facilitator. The manager’s role is to manage much of the process of
developing projects, to facilitate others to get involved, make decisions and take
responsibility. The project manager has to shift his/her position of power from
feeling good about directing things to a position of feeling good about assisting
others to direct things. This means stepping back from making decisions and
allowing others to make decisions. At each stage, good management depends on
engaging with the right stakeholders in a participative way. Management should be
focused on one stage at a time with a clear path to the next stage. This
includes undertaking exercises, gathering information, analyzing the findings and
making decisions, before deciding whether to do more work, abandon the
project or move to the next stage.

Management of the overall cycle will happen through recording clearly and
concisely the result of the process at each stage. PCM uses standardized and
stable document formats throughout the life of a project to enhance
communication between each stage and each group of stakeholders involved: PCM
will provide the tools for project managers to carry out their work in a facilitative
way.

Purpose of Project Management is to integrate or connect project:

 Purposes – why we do the project

 People – who does the project
 Processes – how we do the project

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A Project manager’s job is to see that the project team (People) is clear about the
purpose of the project and 4 levels of results the team expects to achieve( Impact,
Outcome, Output and Activities )

A project manager must have a range of skills including:

• Leadership
• People management (customers, suppliers, functional managers and project
team)
• Effective Communication (verbal and written)
• Influencing
• Negotiation
• Conflict Management
• Planning
• Contract management
• Estimating
• Problem solving
• Creative thinking
• Time Management

3. Stages of PCM

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The way in which projects are planned and carried out follows a sequence that
has become known as the project cycle. The cycle starts with the identification of
an idea and develops that idea into a working plan that can be implemented and
evaluated. Ideas are identified in the context of an agreed strategy. It
provides a structure to ensure that stakeholders are consulted and
relevant information is available, so that informed decisions can be made at key
stages in the life of a project.

The generic project cycle has six phases: Programming; Identification;

Formulation; Financing; Implementation; and Evaluation. The details of
what occurs during each phase differ between institutions, reflecting differences
in procedures. However, within all institutions the cycle shares three common
themes:
1. The cycle defines the key decisions, information requirements and
responsibilities at each phase.
2. The phases in the cycle are progressive – each phase needs to be
completed for the next to be tackled with success.
3. The cycle draws on evaluation to build experience from existing projects
into the design of future programmes and projects.
The phases of the project cycle can be described as follows:

1. During the Programming phase, the situation at national and sect oral
level is analyzed to identify problems, constraints and opportunities which
development cooperation could address. This involves a review of socio-economic
indicators, and of national and donor priorities. The purpose is to identify and
agree the main objectives and sectoral priorities for development cooperation,
and thus to provide a relevant and feasible programming framework within
which projects can be identified and prepared. For each of these priorities
strategies will be formulated that take account of the lessons of past experience.
2. During the Identification phase, ideas for projects and other development
actions are identified and screened for further study. This involves consultation
with the intended beneficiaries of each action, an analysis of the problems they

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face, and the identification of options to address these problems. A decision can
then be made on the relevance of each project idea (both to the intended
beneficiaries and to the programming framework), and on which ideas should be
further studied during the Formulation phase.
3. During the Formulation phase, relevant project ideas are developed
into operational project plans. Beneficiaries and other stakeholders participate in
the detailed specification of the project idea that is then assessed for its
feasibility (whether it is likely to succeed) and sustainability (whether it is likely to
generate long-term benefits for the beneficiaries). On the basis of this assessment,
a decision is made on whether to draw up a formal project proposal and seek
funding for the project.
4. During the Financing phase, project proposals are examined by the funding
agency, and a decision is taken on whether to fund the project. The funding
agency and partner country agree the modalities of implementation and
formalize these in a legal document which sets out the arrangements by
which the project will be funded and implemented.
5. During the Implementation phase, the project is mobilized and executed.
This may require the tendering and award of contracts for technical assistance or
works and supplies. During implementation, and in consultation with
beneficiaries and stakeholders, project management assesses actual progress
against planned progress to determine whether the project is on track towards
achieving its objectives. If necessary the project is re-oriented to bring it back on
track, or to modify some of its objectives in the light of any significant
changes that may have occurred since its formulation.
6. During the Evaluation phase, the funding agency and partner country
assess the project to identify what has been achieved, and to identify lessons that
have been learned. Evaluation findings are used to improve the design of future
projects or programmes. Although in the generic cycle the evaluation phase
comes after implementation, it is common practice also to conduct a mid-term
evaluation during implementation, to identify lessons that can be applied during
the remaining life of the project.

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 3.1. Programming
A Programme is a set of priorities based on indices of deprivation, a defined
geographical area, a time period, sometimes a specific target group and an
overall budget in which individual projects can be developed. The Programme
stage is the first in the PCM cycle and establishes the strategy framework in
which projects can be initiated, funded and implemented. The task is to set
broad strategic priorities for a given period (say 3-10 years). Lessons learnt from
similar previous projects’ evaluations will be reviewed to inform the programme
strategy. If, for example, it is found out that the community contribution in terms of
labour and cash has not been there in the previous projects it would be
important to give emphasis on such community participations/ contributions as a

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strategy to ensure the community ownership and sustainability of the project.

At the end of this stage there should be a set of funding priorities and
operational criteria clearly established, and a programme strategy or, if
appropriate a community strategy, with criteria in place to support project
design, appraisal, monitoring and evaluation.

Sequence of Activities in the Programming Stage:

 Review of local social and economic conditions
 Review of relevant central, regional and local government policies and
initiatives
 Review of other agency and local government initiatives in the same area
 Comprehensive country analysis: the approach to programming must be
integrated and consider the political, economic, trade, social, cultural and
environ-mental aspects of development
 Focus on outcomes: the programming, implementation and review process
shall include systematic use of a few key outcome indicators designed to
show and measure the project

At these stage funders, local and regional government authorities, support

agencies and residents of the defined areas should be involved.

3. 2. Project identification

The first step in the project cycle is to identify an issue that a project could address. This usually
involves a ‘needs assessment’ which finds out what community needs are and whom they affect.
Only when we know what people really want can we develop an effective project. The needs
assessment is followed by a ‘capacity assessment’ to see what strengths the community has which
it can use to address its problems. The project should seek to strengthen any weaknesses. Some
people prefer to use ‘appreciative enquiry’ instead of needs assessment and capacity assessment.
This, in effect, starts with a capacity assessment by asking community members to identify the
resources they have and then asks them how they want to use them in the future. The tools on the
following pages can be used or adapted to help community members identify their vision. The

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project can then aim to help the community achieve part of its vision.

We might already have a good idea of local needs. They might be quite obvious, or we might have
become aware of them during a past project. On the other hand, we might have no idea what a
community’s needs are. It is important to carry out a needs assessment before planning
development work, whether we think we know what the needs are or not. The project should
come out of what people say they want and not from assumptions that we make. Sometimes the
needs are not immediately clear or cannot be easily understood.

The time spent carrying out a need assessment may vary according to the contact we have had
with a community in the past. In general, needs assessment is done fairly quickly. At this stage, we
are trying to gain an impression of needs and who the project beneficiaries might be. We are not
looking for too much detail. Further research into stakeholders and causes and effects of the
problem is carried out during the design phase of the project cycle. Try to talk to a variety of
people, such as key community members or representatives of community groups. Or use
methods that can draw out the views of many people in a short space of time, such as community
mapping. We do not want to be raising expectations or wasting people’s time. Make sure that the
people we talk to include women, men, girls, boys, the elderly, people with disabilities etc. there
are many tools that enable communities to identify their needs. A few tools are outlined below as
examples of some of the options available. These tools can be adapted for the capacity assessment.

The kind of questions we ask makes a difference to the information we can gather. Asking the
wrong kind of questions will limit the information discovered. The important thing is to avoid
closed questions where people can answer only yes or no. For example, ‘Isn’t the new health post
wonderful?’ Try to use open-ended questions which allow the person replying to give more
information. For example, ‘What do you think of the new health post?’Listen carefully, and
explore people’s answers. It is useful to have some key questions in front of us, but be careful not
to miss the answers because we are preparing the next question. Be flexible and be ready to ask
unprepared questions if someone says something interesting. To explore people’s answers,
questions normally begin with one of the six ‘helping words’: What? When? Where? Who? Why?
How?
There are six stages to the identification/ analysis Phase:

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  Needs assessment,
 Capacity assessment,
 Stakeholder analysis,
 Problem analysis,
 Objective analysis and
 Strategy analysis

3.2.1. Needs assessment

Need assessment is the process of identifying and understanding people’s needs and
helps to find out what community needs are and whom they affect. Need assessment
can be done using listening, interviews, community mapping, focus group discussions,
etc. Community members set priority of needs. Needs assessment result is not a
baseline study, it is the first step of the project implementation.

Listening
By listening for the issues about which people have the strongest feelings, it is possible to identify
the issues that they most want addressed and projects which they are most likely to participate in.
A team of people (development workers or village members) ask a community or group questions
to find out what people are worried, sad, happy, fearful, hopeful or angry about. The questions
should be open-ended. It is important to have a clear idea about what we are looking for so we can
make sense of the answers.

Interviewing
This tool helps us to gain greater under-standing of the issues. It involves talking to key people in
the community in order to discuss their knowledge, experience and understanding of the issues.
These people might already be involved in community development activities, they might be
people that the community turn to in times of crisis or those who are seen as the heart of the
community. Key people include health workers, traders, religious leaders, village chiefs, pastors and
teachers. When choosing people to interview, make sure their views and opinions are likely to
represent those of others in the community. Take care not only to interview the powerful, but also
to interview those whose views are not usually heard. Use open-ended questions such as:
■ What are the main problems you face in your area of work?

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 ■ What are the main pressures that people in the community face?

■ What simple things could be done to improve the situation?

Focus groups
This tool is used with a group of 10–20 people. It helps them to understand and voice some of the
problems they face and the needs they have. A focus group enables people with different views to
discuss their differences, challenge assumptions and come to a collective understanding of the
needs of the community. By exploring issues together from the start, communities start to own the
development intervention. Questions to stimulate discussion could include the following:
■ What are the main pressures that people in the community are facing?

■ What simple things could be done to improve the situation?

■ If you could change one thing in this community, what would it be? Why?

Community mapping
This tool involves community members drawing a map of their community to tell their story
together. The draw either on paper or outside on the ground, using whatever resources are
available. They are given little guidance of what to include. The important point of the exercise is
to discuss what people have drawn. The map might show the natural and physical resources in the
area – forests, rivers, roads, houses, wells. It might show important people and organizations.

Once the map has been drawn, encourage discussion by asking questions such as:
 How did you decide what to include? What was excluded?
 What was emphasized? Which are the most important parts?
 What was difficult to represent?
 What were the areas of disagreement?
 What can we learn from the map about the needs of the community?

To gain greater understanding of the issues facing different groups within the community, the
groups should work separately. A map by young people may show very different information from
that of older women. Questions for discussion could include:

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  What differences are there between the maps?
 Why are there differences?
 How does the information from each map help to make a more complete
picture of the community?

Once the needs have been identified, community members should be given the opportunity to say
which they needs feel are a priority. Ask them to group their needs into general issues such as
water, health, land and food. It does not necessarily matter how they are grouped, but it is
important that people can see how their concerns have been included.
Once the needs have been grouped, community members can decide which of the issues should be
given priority. Write all of the issues onto separate pieces of paper. Community members then
place them in order in a line from the most important to the least important. Encourage them to
discuss and negotiate with each other and to move the pieces of paper around until they all agree.

Alternatively, write or draw the needs on separate paper bags. Give each person six seeds, stones or
beads to use as counters. Each person in turn is invited to put their counters in the relevant bags,
according to their priorities. They should put three counters for their first priority, two for their
second and one for their third priority. The counters in each bag are then counted and the results
announced. The needs are ranked according to the results.This tool should help to identify the main
issue to address. There may be more than one priority issue to start with and the group will have
to choose whether to take all priority issues at once or focus on one at a time.

3.2.2. Capacity assessment

Communities should be encouraged to use their own capacities and resources to address the
problems they face. It is therefore important to carry out a capacity assessment after needs
assessment to identify strengths that the community could use to address the problems they
identified earlier. The project, if needed, should focus on strengthening the community’s capacities
to address their problems. By doing this, we are facilitating the community to address their
problems rather than addressing their problems for them. Capacity assessment involves six types of
assets:

 H
UMAN These enable people to make use of their other resources. They include skills,

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 knowledge, ability to work and good health.
 S
OCIAL These are based on relationships and include organizations and groups within the
community, political structures and informal networks.
 N
ATURAL These form the local environment and include land, trees, water, air, climate and
minerals.

 P
HYSICAL These are man-made, such as building, transport, water supply and sanitation
services, energy sources and telecommunications.
 E
CONOMIC These are things that people can use to sustain their livelihoods, such as
money and savings, grain stores, livestock, tools and equipment.
 S
PIRITUAL These include faith, scripture, guidance and prayer.

Using participatory techniques, such as those used for the needs assessment, ask community
members to identify their capacities. Remember to ask a range of community members, as
different people have different perspectives. Write the capacities onto a large piece of paper and
ask community members to identify how they could be used to address the problems identified
during the needs assessment. Then ask community members to think about which capacities
should be strengthened so that they can start to address their priority problems themselves. This
is what the project should focus on.

Decide whether it is realistic for our organization to strengthen the community’s capacity to meet
the priority need:
 Does meeting the need fit in with our mission?
 Does meeting the need agree with our values?
 Does meeting the need fit into our strategy?
 Will meeting the need be too risky?
 Do we have enough experience?

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  Do we have enough resources?

Once a need has been identified which a project can address, write a concept note. A concept note
outlines the project idea. It does not have to contain a lot of detail and may only be about two
pages in length. The reason for writing a concept note before a full proposal is so that our
organization’s leadership or a donor can gain an idea of what we hope to do. They can ensure it fits
with strategy, check its relevance and quality and give feedback before a lot of time, effort and
resources are spent planning the project. If an organization does not have a process for checking
projects at this stage, it should consider setting one up. The members of staff responsible for
appraising concept notes should ask the questions at the top of this page. Concept notes should
outline:
■ background information
■ why the project is necessary
■ who will benefit from the project
■ how they will benefit
■ an estimate of both the total budget and the resources needed for design.

3.2.3. Stakeholder analysis

‘Stakeholders’ are people affected by the impact of an activity and people who can influence the
impact of an activity. Stakeholders can be individuals, groups, a community or an institution.
Stakeholder groups are made up of people who share a common interest, such as an NGO,
government institutions and the community. However, such groups often contain many sub-
groups. Seeing the community as one stakeholder group can be meaningless because some
people may have very different interests from others in the same community. It may be necessary
to divide the community into a number of sub-groups according to aspects such as status, age,
gender, wealth and ethnicity. These sub-groups may be affected by the project in different ways,
and some sub-groups may have a lot more influence on the impact of the project than others.

Stakeholders include:

■ USER GROUPS – people who use the resources or services in an area

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■ INTEREST GROUPS – people who have an interest in, an opinion about, or who can affect the
use of,
a resource or service
■ BENEFICIARIES of the project

■ DECISION-MAKERS

Stakeholders could belong to one or more of these groups. For example, someone might be a user
of a hand pump (user group), and also involved in the water user association that manages it
(interest group, decision-maker).

Stakeholders include the winners and the losers as a result of the project. While most stakeholders
will benefit from the project, there may be others who will be negatively affected by the action
taken.
Stakeholders can be divided into two main types:

■ PRIMARY STAKEHOLDERS: who benefit from, or are adversely affected by, an activity. This
term describes people whose well-being may be dependent on a resource or service or area (e.g. a
forest) that the project addresses. Usually they live in the area or very near the resources in
question. They often have few options when faced with change, so they have difficulty adapting.
Primary stakeholders are usually vulnerable. They are the reason why a project is carried out – the
end users.
■ SECONDARY STAKEHOLDERS include all other people and institutions with an interest in
the resources or area being considered. They are the means by which project objectives can be met,
rather than an end in themselves.

If stakeholders are not identified at the project planning stage, the project is at risk of failure. This
is because the project cannot take into account the needs and aims of those who will come into
contact with it. Identify those who have the rights, interests, resources, skills and abilities to take
part in, or influence the course of, the project
■ identify who should be encouraged to take part in the project planning and
implementation

■ identify useful alliances which can be built upon

24
 ■ identify and reduce risks which might involve identifying possible conflicts of interest
and expectation among stakeholders so that conflict is avoided.
Stakeholder analysis should be done when possible projects are identified. It should be reviewed at
later stages of the project cycle to check that the needs of the stakeholders are being adequately
addressed. It is important to be aware that there are risks in doing a stakeholder analysis. The
analysis is only as good as the information used. Sometimes it is difficult to get the necessary
information, and many assumptions will have to be made. Tables can oversimplify complex
situations.

There are a number of ways of doing stakeholder analysis. The method provided below is just one
approach. The approach taken will vary depending on the type of project that is being proposed.
The method given below is quite general and can be adapted to whatever type of project is being
proposed. Ideally, stakeholder analysis should be carried out with representatives of as many
stakeholder groups as possible. It might not always be practical to do so if the stakeholders are
widely spread. However, if there is a danger that important stakeholders might be excluded, more
time and resources should be invested in doing the stakeholder analysis to make sure they are
included.

Stakeholder analysis is a useful tool for identifying stakeholders and describing the nature of, their
stake, roles and interests. Stakeholder analysis helps to:
■ improve the project’s understanding of the needs of those affected by a problem

■ reveal how little we know as outsiders, which encourages those who do know to
participate

■ identify potential winners and losers as a result of the project

■ reduce, or hopefully remove, potential negative project impacts

List all the possible stakeholders in the project. Divide these into primary stakeholders and
secondary stakeholders. Remember to include supporters and opponents, user groups, vulnerable
groups and sub-groups that are relevant to the project.
In the second column, write down the interests of each stakeholder in relation to the project and
its objectives. These interests might be obvious. However, there might be some hidden interests, so

25
assumptions might need to be made about what these are likely to be. Remember that each
stakeholder might have several interests.

In the third column, write down the likely impact of the project on each stakeholder’s interests.
This will enable us to know how to approach the different stakeholders throughout the course of
the project. Use symbols as follows:
+ Potential positive impact on interest

– Potential negative impact on interest

+/– Possible positive and negative impact on interest
? Uncertain

In the fourth column, indicate the priority that the project should give to each stakeholder in
meeting their interests. Use the scale 1 to 5, where 1 is the highest priority.

Stakeholders Interests Likely impact of Priority

the project

Primary

Secondary

You
can also identify the interest and influence of the stockholders using the following table

26
 High A B

Importance

D C

Low

Low Influence High

The table can be analyzed as following lows:

 Boxes A, B and C are the key stakeholders of the project. They can significantly
influence the project or are most important if project objectives are to be met
 BOX A Stakeholders of high importance to the project, but with low influence.
They need special initiatives to ensure their interests are protected.

 BOX B Stakeholders of high importance to the project, who can also influence its
success. It is important to develop good working relationships with these
stakeholders to ensure adequate support for the project.

 BOX C Stakeholders with high influence who can affect the project impact, but
whose interests are not the target of the project. These stakeholders may be a
source of risk. Relationships with these stakeholders are important and will need
careful monitoring. These stakeholders may be able to cause problems for the
project and it may be too risky to go ahead with the project at all.

27
  BOX D Stakeholders of low priority but who may need limited monitoring and
evaluation to check that they have not become high priority.

Stakeholder participation
Participation is essential in development work, but in practice it is a concept that has been
misused. Participation means different things to different people in different situations. In its
widest sense, participation is the involvement of people in development projects. For example,
someone can be said to participate by:
 a
ttending a meeting, even though they do not say anything
 t
aking part in the decision-making process
 c
ontributing materials, money or labour
 p
roviding information
 a
nswering questions for a survey. Often, so-called participatory projects do not actively
involve stakeholders (especially primary stakeholders) in decision-making and project
implementation. This can lead to unsuccessful development projects. Stakeholder
participation in decision-making throughout the whole project cycle (project planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation) is likely to result in:
 I
MPROVED EFFECTIVENESS Participation increases the sense of ownership of the
project by beneficiaries, which increases the likelihood of project objectives being
achieved.
 E
NHANCED RESPONSIVENESS If people participate at the planning stage, the
project is more likely to target effort and inputs at perceived needs.
 I
MPROVED EFFICIENCY If local knowledge and skills are drawn on, the project is

28
 more likely to be good quality, stay within budget and finish on time. Mistakes can be
avoided and disagreements minimized.
 I
MPROVED SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE IMPACT More people are
committed to carrying on the activity after outside support has stopped.
 E
MPOWERMENT AND INCREASED SELF-RELIANCE Active participation helps to
develop skills and confidence amongst beneficiaries.
 I
MPROVED TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY, because stakeholders are
given information and decision-making power.
 I
MPROVED EQUITY if the needs, interests and abilities of all stakeholders are taken
into account.

Active participation is likely to have many benefits, although it is not a guarantee of project
success. Achieving full participation is not easy. It can also take a lot of time, and conflicting
interests are likely to come to the surface. The following diagram outlines the different levels of
participation. The lowest level may be better described as involvement rather than participation.
The higher up the diagram the greater the level of participation. Organizations need to decide
what level of participation is best. Different levels of participation will be appropriate for different
stakeholders at different stages of the project cycle.

29
Adapted from Introduction to the Programme and Project Cycle: training handbook
CIDT (2002) University of Wolverhampton

Partnership is the type of participation in which two or more stakeholders share in decision-making
and the management of the activity. Ideally this is partnership between project staff and the
beneficiaries. However, achieving partnership with primary stakeholders can be challenging. A
number of problems can arise: Participation may be seen by primary stakeholders as too costly in
time and money when compared with the benefits expected. Primary stakeholders may lack
appropriate information for effective decision-making. Some primary stakeholder groups may
challenge the right of other groups to participate. For example, women may be excluded from
participating in a village water committee. Organizations may have a management structure or
way of working that does not encourage primary stakeholder participation.

To identify what level of participation is appropriate for different stakeholders, draw a summary
participation matrix according to their role and interest. The columns represent the levels of
participation on the diagram on the previous page. The rows represent the stages of the project

30
cycle. Work through the list of stakeholders in the stakeholder matrix. Think about the extent to
which they should participate for each stage of the project cycle. Consider the amount of interest
or influence they have. There may be ways that we can involve them in the project which help to
increase their interest or influence. Ensure that primary stakeholders participate as fully as possible
to encourage ownership of the project.
It is important to keep revising the participation level according to their interest and influence.
During the project cycle we might find that stakeholders, who we thought should participate to a
great extent, are actually not interested in participating. Or we might find that to be responsive to
how the project is going, we want to encourage some stakeholders to participate more.

3.2.4. Problem analysis

Before we can start to design the project, we need to analyze the problem identified during project
identification. Problem analysis helps primary stake-holders to identify the causes and effects of
the problems they face. It involves drawing a problem tree, from which project objectives can be
identified. Use the stakeholder analysis to identify those who should help to construct the problem
tree, making sure there is a mix of people from the community with local knowledge, technical
knowledge and so on. Problem analysis can be carried out with different stakeholder groups in
order to see how their perspectives vary.

To help stakeholders think through all the causes and effects, check that they have considered
social, environmental, political, economic and technical factors. The problem tree should help to
reinforce our findings during the research phase of the planning. It might also raise new issues that
we had not previously considered.

Problem trees enable stakeholders to get to the root of their priority need and to investigate the
effects of the problem.

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING A PROBLEM TREE

Step 1. Agree on the main problem, usually the one identified during project identification. Write
it on a post-it note or piece of card and place it in the middle of the wall or floor. There might be
other problems identified by the community that could be explored. Draw separate problem trees
for these and compare them later when starting to think about exactly what the project will

31
address.

Step 2. Identify the causes of the main problem by asking ‘But why?’ until we can go no further.
Write each cause on a separate post-it note or piece of card. Some problems might have more
than one cause.

Step3. Identify the effects of the main problem by asking ‘so what?’ until we can go no further.
Write each effect on a separate post-it note or piece of card. Some problems might have more
than one effect.

Effects

Core problem

Causes

Example of problem tree

32
3.2.5. Objective Analysis

While problem analysis presents the negative aspects of an existing situation,

analysis of objectives presents the positive aspects of a desired future situation.

The objective tree can therefore be conceptualized as the positive mirror image of
the problem tree, and the ‘cause and effect’ relationships become ‘means to end’
relationships. It may be found that there are gaps in the logic of the initial objective
tree that were not apparent in the problem tree, therefore the ‘means-ends’ linkages
between objectives should be reviewed and reorganized as necessary. Finally,
objectives dealing with a similar topic can be grouped together in clusters,
which will provide the basis for Strategy Analysis. Once complete, the objective
tree provides a comprehensive picture of the future desired situation.

An objectives tree is similar to a problem tree, except that it looks at objectives rather than
problems. An objectives tree can be developed without first identifying problems, but the easiest
way to develop an objectives tree is to convert a problem tree. To do this, turn each of the causes
in the problem tree into positive statements. For example, ‘poor yields’ would become ‘yields

33
increased’. This will result in an objectives tree. Check the logic. Will one layer of objectives achieve
the next?

There might be some causes near the bottom of the tree that are very general. They cannot be
turned into objectives that could easily be addressed in a project. Instead they act as constraints
on the project that need to be considered during risk assessment. We might later decide to focus a
project or programme on that issue by developing a problem tree with the issue as the main
problem.

Focusing t h e project
If we try to address all of the objectives we have identified, we will find we have a very expensive
and lengthy project. It is therefore necessary to focus on one or a few areas of the objectives tree. If
more than one objectives tree has been drawn, we will need to decide which of these to focus on
for the project. Ask the following questions:
 Which objectives should we address?
 Which combinations of objectives are most likely to bring about the most positive change?
Issues to consider are:
 cost
 benefits to primary stakeholders
 likelihood of achieving the objectives
 whether other organizations are already addressing the problem
 sustainability
 Environmental impact.

34
 Example

3.2.6. Strategy Analysis

The final stage of the analysis phase involves the selection of the strategies which
will be used to achieve the desired objectives. Strategy analysis involves deciding
what objectives will be included IN the project, and what objectives will remain OUT,
and what the project purpose and overall objectives will be. In addition to
examining the logic, strategy analysis also looks at the feasibility of different
interventions. Depending on the scope and amount of work entailed, the selected
clusters or strategy may form a ‘project-sized’ intervention, or a programme
consisting of a number of projects. In the first objective tree above the project will
be addressing the demands for additional schools or class rooms and income as
shown in the broken lines below.

35
Example

The key questions to use when appraising the Strategy Options and to help
choose which option to follow are:
• What is likely to solve the problem?
• Can the focal problem be solved by one or two projects or is it necessary
to put in place a parallel set of projects all focusing on the focal problem?
• What is achievable?
• What is acceptable to the users?
• What resources are available?
• What is the capacity of potential implementing agencies?
• What other projects/initiatives are planned or being implemented?

36
4. Project design/formulation
Planning: rebuilding of the wall
Once a priority community need has been identified, we can start to think about how it can be
addressed. Project design consists of: log frame, action planning and budgeting.

The formulation stage is when the logical framework (LFA) is used as the project
design tool to test the feasibility of the strategy options. That is the Problem and
Objective tree exercises need be brought together to inform the logical
framework. Using the logical framework matrix, the objectives are structured in
hierarchy against which the assumptions are tested. Once the logical framework is
complete, the project proposal is prepared encompassing all the necessary
components with a budget and an activity plan.

4.1. Logical frameworks (log frames)

Now that the project has been identified and detailed information has been collected, we can start
to plan exactly how the project will function. A useful way of doing this may be to use a logical
framework (log frame). The process of completing the log frame helps to think through all the
factors that should be considered for planning a successful project. Even if people are not planning
to develop a log frame, it may help to use the tools included in the log frame approach when
planning projects.

What is a log frame?

The log frame is a tool used to help strengthen project design, implementation and evaluation.
Although it is constructed during the planning stage of a project, the log frame is a living
document, which should be consulted and altered throughout the project’s life cycle. The log
frame is a table of four rows and four columns, where all the key parts of a project can be inserted
as a clear set of statements: the project goal, purpose, outputs and activities, with their indicators,
evidence and assumptions. It shows the project’s structure and describes the project logically. The
log frame does not show every detail of the project. It is an overview of the key factors. Details can
be given in other documents, such as the proposal, budget and activity schedule, which
accompany the log frame.

37
Most donors use the log frame format above. However, some turn log frames on their side so that
the objectives run across the top of the table with the summary, indicators, evidence and
assumptions down the side. Having carried out a stakeholder analysis and done research, we can
answer the question, ‘Where are we now?’
The log frame asks a series of further questions:

 Where do we want to be? (GOAL, PURPOSE)

 How will we get there? (OUTPUTS, ACTIVITIES)
 How will we know when we have got there? (INDICATORS)
 What will show us we have got there? (EVIDENCE)
 What are the potential problems along the way? (ASSUMPTIONS)

Why use a log frame?

 Log frames are useful because they:

 help people to organize their thinking
 help people to think logically
 help identify weaknesses in project design
 ensure key indicators are identified from the start of the project so that monitoring and
evaluation are easier
 ensure that people involved in the project use the same terminology
 help people to summarize a project plan on a few sides of paper. This helps them to
communicate their plan simply with others, although a log frame is no substitute for
writing a full plan. However, the log frame approach does have limitations:
 Project management can become rigid unless the log frame is continually checked and
adjusted.
 As the approach involves participation by a number of different stakeholders, good
leadership and facilitation skills are needed to ensure stakeholders understand the
approach and actively participate in it.
 Since the approach builds on analysis of a problem, it might not be viewed as appropriate
in Cultures where people do not openly discuss problems.
 The terminology used can be threatening to some stakeholders. The approach itself can be
very difficult to understand in some cultures.

38
 NARRATIVE OBJECTIVELY MEANS OF IMPORTANT ASSUMPTIONS

SUMMARY VERIFIABLE INDICATORS VERIFICATION

Program or Measures of Goal The way required

Sector Goal: The Achievement: information is

obtained
broader objective to
which this project
contributes

Project Purpose Condition that will indicate “ Assumptions for realization

purpose has been of Goal
achieved: End of project
status

Outputs: Magnitude of Outputs “ Assumptions for Achieving

Purpose

Activities Work Schedule/Inputs “ Assumptions for Providing

Output

Who should complete the log frame?

Where possible, the primary stakeholders should be involved in developing the log frame. It should
be developed by the people most closely involved in project implementation. It is possible that the
concept of the log frame will not be easily understood by primary stakeholders. However, as the
process is as important as the end product, participatory processes could be used to guide
stakeholders through the questions and help them to identify some of the project components.
Then the log frame table could later be completed by project staff.

Terminology

Different organizations use different terms for the components of the log frame. We explain the
terms simply below. Wherever we are aware of alternative names used by other organizations, we
provide that name in brackets. The terms will be explained further in the section about completing
a log frame.

39
Summary (Intervention logic): The Summary outlines of the project’s objectives: what it hopes to
achieve and how. There are many different words that describe different types of objectives. We use
the term ‘objective’ as a general term for a desired change. In the log frame, the summary separates
out the different levels of objectives to form a ‘hierarchy of objectives’ and uses special terms to refer
to each level.

Goal: The Goal refers to the overall problem we are trying to address. It is sometimes referred to
as the wider development objective. This might be improved incomes, improved access to water or
reduced crime.

Purpose: The Purpose is the specific change that we want the project to make to contribute to the
achievement of the goal. It is sometimes called the Immediate Project Objective.

Outputs The Outputs are what we want to see as a result of our activities, in order to fulfill the
purpose.

Activities The Activities describe the tasks we will carry out.

OBJECTIVELY VERIFIABLE INDICATORS: Indicators answer the question ‘How do we know

when we have got there?’ They are signs which measure project performance against objectives
and play an important part in monitoring and evaluation.

Evidence (Means of Verification ( MoVs): Evidence refers to the source of the information
needed to measure performance, who will be responsible for collecting it, and how often.

Assumptions: Assumptions refer to the conditions that could affect progress, success or long-
term sustainability of the project. There may be external factors which cannot be controlled or
which we choose not to control. It may be possible to reduce the project’s vulnerability to factors
which cannot be controlled. These could include climatic change, price changes and government
policies.

40
The ‘If-Then’ Logic

When we have filled in the objectives for each level, we must make sure the statements are
logically linked to each other. To do this, use the ‘If-Then’ test:
 Look at the activities. If we carry out all of the activities, then will they result in the
outputs?
 Look at the outputs. If the outputs are produced, then will they achieve the purpose?
 If the purpose is achieved, then will it contribute towards the goal?
For example:
 If we train members of the community to maintain and repair hand pumps (activities),
then sources of safe water will be improved (output).
 If sources of safe water are improved (output), then access to safe water will be improved
(purpose).
 If access to safe water is improved (purpose), then the incidence and impact of diarrheal
disease will decrease (goal).
We might find we need to adjust the wording of the objectives or add new ones. We might decide
that some objectives are not relevant and so delete them.

41
ASSUMPTIONS

We have checked that each objective should lead to the one above using the ‘If-Then’ test.
However, we can never be 100% sure that each objective will lead to the next because there will
always be a risk that external factors will affect the link. Most projects fail, not because of bad
project design, but because of lack of attention to these factors that are either outside the control
of the project or which are too difficult or costly to control. In the log frame we need to show that
we have thought about what these factors are. To might complete the assumptions column of the
log frame, first consider the risks linked to the project.
For each objective in the log frame, consider what assumptions need to be made in order for that
objective to lead to the objective at the next level. Test the logic using the ‘If-And-Then’ test:

42
 INDICATORS AND EVIDENCE

Indicators are targets that show progress towards achieving objectives. They answer the question
‘How do we know whether or not what we planned is happening, or has happened?’ Indicators
help us to monitor, review and evaluate the project. They enable us to know whether the project
plans need adjusting. They help us to learn lessons from a project in order to avoid making the
same mistakes in other projects.

Log frames sometimes call indicators ‘Objectively Verifiable Indicators’. The term ‘objectively’ is
used because indicators should not depend on the point of view of the person measuring them. It
should not matter who measures them – the same result should be reached. So it is better to ask
two people to measure attendance at a meeting by counting the number of people there, than to
ask them to grade attendance on a scale of very poor, poor, adequate, good or very good. One
person might think attendance is very good while another might think it is only adequate. This
would depend on their past experience of meetings and their own expectations of how many
people might attend this one.

It is important to think about who should identify and measure the indicators. Primary
stakeholders should have an opportunity to set indicators because:
 it enhances the ownership and transparency of the project
 primary stakeholders might be able to think of appropriate indicators that project staff
based outside the community would not have considered
 some things are most easily measured by the primary stakeholders themselves
 primary stakeholders can be encouraged and empowered by the progress of the project.

Types of indicators
There are many different types of indicators to consider. Try to be creative and use a mixture in
order to ensure that the objectives can be measured effectively and that monitoring and evaluation
needs can be met.

 FORMATIVE indicators (also called Milestones) are used during an activity, phase or
project to show whether progress is on track.
 SUMMATIVE indicators are used at the end of the project for evaluation.

43
  DIRECT indicators measure the objective directly, such as the number of children
attending school.
 INDIRECT indicators (also called Proxy indicators) are used if direct indicators are not
appropriate or possible.

It can be very difficult to measure people’s incomes without offending them. Instead, we could
look at changes in household expenditure. This might involve choosing a list of items that a
household might have, including a few luxury items, and see how expenditure changes over time.
We could also look at sales figures of local shops and services as these are likely to be affected by
changes in the incomes of the local population. It is easier to measure behavior than feelings
because behavior can be observed. So if we want to measure whether people feel more confident,
we could observe how often they speak in community meetings.

QUANTITATIVE indicators can be analyzed in numerical form – who, what, when, where, how
much, how many, how often? This might include:
 how often things happen
 number of people involved or affected
 growth rates
 up take, for example, school enrolment, visits to clinic, adoption of new seed varieties.

QUALITATIVE indicators measure things that cannot be counted, like:

 satisfaction, opinions
 decision-making ability
 Changes in attitude.

Try to use a mixture of quantitative and qualitative indicators so that we can be sure to capture the
real progress and impact of the project. Imagination is very important when setting indicators. It
can help to ask a group of stakeholders setting indicators to close their eyes and imagine how the
situation will be improved by the end of the project. What do they hear, see, touch, feel and smell
that will be different when the main problem has been addressed? If we are aiming for holistic
development, then our impact on spiritual well-being should be as great as that on physical well-
being. Spiritual indicators are particularly difficult to set. Indirect indicators might have to be used.

44
EXAMPLES of basic indicators
ECONOMIC Yield per hectare, production per laborer, eggs per day, production of handicraft
items per month, average income, land area per household, cattle per household, percentage of
people with bank accounts, percentage of people above or below the poverty line, percentage of
people without land, rate of migration.

SOCIAL Infant mortality rate, number of deaths, literacy rate, average years in formal schooling,
number of students entering secondary education, difference between male and female wages,
percentage of women receiving training, percentage of people attending meetings, representation
of disadvantaged groups on committees.

ENVIRONMENTAL Fish harvested per year, length of fallow, forest cleared each year, water
availability in soil, erosion, percentage of households practicing composting, average time to
collect fuel wood each day.

SPIRITUAL Crime rate, divorce rate, church membership, attendance at church meetings.

Setting good indicators

Indicators should be:

 RELEVANT Is the indicator relevant to the objective it is measuring? For example, if an

objective is ‘to increase hand pump use’, measuring the number of hand pumps produced
would not a good indicator because it does not measure how many are actually being used.
 SUFFICIENT Is more than one indicator needed?
 SPECIFIC Quality, quantity, time (QQT)
 MEASURABLE Can the indicator realistically be measured?
 SENSITIVE TO THE CHANGES that will be happening as a result of the project or
programme if the planned changes happen, will the indicator still be appropriate and
measurable?
 COST-EFFECTIVE Can the indicators be measured with reasonable cost and effort? Is the
cost of measuring the indicators proportionate to the total project cost?
 AVAILABLE Can the indicator be measured at the planned time? For example, consider
seasonal climatic change.

45
METHOD FOR SETTING INDICATORS

Work horizontally across the log frame, brainstorming indicators that will measure each objective.
This could involve referring back to the problem tree. The effects in the problem tree can be turned
into indicators.

 If there is a long list of possible indicators for one particular objective, try to reduce the list
so that only the essential ones are included. We need enough to be able confidently to
measure the achievement of the objective, but not so many that we will waste time and
money.
 Make sure the indicators are good (QQT) and there is a good selection – quantitative and
qualitative, formative and summative.
Remember that the log frame is a living document that needs to be looked at and revised regularly.
Some of the indicators might need to be changed during the project if they are inadequate or too
difficult or expensive to measure.

Goal level indicators

Since the project contributes towards the goal but cannot be wholly responsible for achieving the
goal, the indicators at goal level may reach beyond the end of the project. They might not be
measured by our organization, but be included in government statistics some months after the
project has ended. Of course, one problem of using such an indicator is that it will not tell us how
much of the progress is due to our project and how much of it is a result of projects by other
organizations. As much as possible, goal level indicators should measure change during the lifetime
of the project.
Purpose level indicators
Indicators can be difficult to identify at purpose level. This is because the purpose objective often
defines a change in behavior, which can be difficult to measure. Some creative thinking is needed
for setting indicators at this level.

Output indicators
Output indicators should be easier to measure than higher level objectives, because we have more
control over these objectives. The output indicators can be transferred to the terms of reference
for the member of staff or consultant that is responsible for delivering the outputs.

46
Activity indicators
The indicators at activity level usually include a summary of the inputs or budget. The clearest
indication of whether activities have happened successfully is if the outputs have been delivered.
However, for complex outputs it can be useful to include activity level indicators that show
progress towards completing the outputs.

Evidence
Evidence is called ‘Means of Verification’ in some log frames. It describes the sources of information
we will use to measure the indicator. For example, body temperature is an indicator of health. A
thermometer provides the evidence.
For the log frame, consider:
 the type of data needed, such as a survey
 the source of the data – whether secondary (collected by someone else) or primary
(collected by our organization)
 who will collect and document the data
 frequency and dates of data collection. For example, monthly, quarterly, annually.
 When appropriate evidence for each indicator has been identified, consider whether it is:
 AVAILABLE If we want to use secondary data, will we be able to gain permission to
access it? Will it be reliable?
 LOW-COST Will the information be too expensive to collect?
 TIMELY Will we be able to collect the information when we need it?

Consider seasonal variations in climate. If we want to use secondary data, will it have been
collected at the right time? Sometimes government statistics are not released until some months
after the data was collected because it takes time for them to be analyzed.If the evidence is not
available at low cost at the right time, the indicator should be changed to one which can be
measured more effectively. Try to build on existing systems and sources of information before
establishing new ones. But make sure the information used can be trusted. If primary data needs to
be collected, make sure this is added to the activity objectives and to the activity list and budget.
A popular code for remembering the characteristics of good indicators is SMART:

S: Specific (they are not too vague or general)

M: Measurable (it is possible to check them)

47
A: Attainable (they are realistic)
R: Relevant (the changes that they reflect are important)
T: Trackable (they can be tracked over a specific period of time)

Examples that should give you some idea of the kinds of

indicators you can use (especially if you want to measure impact):

Economic development indicators:

• Average annual household income (#)
• Employment, by age group (%)
• Earned income levels (#)
• Per capita income (#)
• People living below the poverty line (%)

Social development indicators:

• Death rate (%)
• Life expectancy at birth (#)
• Infant mortality rates (%)
• Causes of death (% or #)
• Number of doctors/nurses per capita (#)
• Number of hospital beds per capita (#)
• Literacy rates, by age and gender (%)
• Student/teacher ratios (#:1)
• Cause of accidents (% or #)
• Number of homeless (#)
• Number of violent crimes (#)
• Birth rate (%)
• Fertility rate (%)
• Rate of HIV infection (%)
• Rate of AIDS-related deaths (%)

Political/organizational development indicators:

• Number of NGOs/CSOs (#)
• Participation levels in organised sports (# or %)
• Number of youth groups (#)
• Participation in youth groups (# or %)
• Number of groups for the elderly (#)
• Participation in elections, by age and gender (%)
• Number of public meetings held (#)
• Participation in public meetings, by age and gender (# or %)

Source: Adapted from Nabris, Khalid (2002). Monitoring & Evaluation. Based on a PASSIA Training Course.
48
Final check of log frame

When the log frame has been filled in, recheck it to make sure it is logical. Ensure that:

 objectives are stated clearly and logically linked to the higher objective
 the project has only one purpose
 all key assumptions have been made and the project is likely to be a success
 indicators and evidence are reliable and accessible
 the indicators can measure the progress and impact of the objectives
 the indicators are QQT
 the activities include actions needed for gathering evidence
 the indicators and evidence can be used for monitoring and evaluation.

When the log frame is logical and complete, write it up onto a few sheets of A4 paper. Use
reference numbers to help the reader through the log frame, particularly when it covers more than
one page. Reference numbers should link each of the activities with their related outputs. They will
also provide a reference point for linking the proposal, activity schedule and budget to the log
frame.
4.2. Project Proposal

Once the project has been designed using the logical framework and the decision to
develop a proposal has been taken, the written Project Proposal can be
prepared. This should follow the PCM format but with more details and added
background information. If there are a number of potential funders, you can use the
Logical Framework to form the basic project design for each funding
application. Most of the information for the Project Proposal will have been
generated during the previous two Stages, Stage 2 and Stage 3. It is now
transferred, along with other supporting information, into the Project Proposal
template. The Project Proposal incorporates the stakeholder analysis, problems
and objectives analysis, the goal of the project, M&E, sustainability and phase out
strategies, the logical framework and the activity and budget Plans, etc thus
maintaining the link from the initial problem identification to the final
implementation strategy.

49
The written project proposal should not be too long. It is prepared based on
review of secondary sources and collection of primary data from the target area
where the project is to be implemented. It should catch the attention of the
funders and keep the logical flow of information from one section to the other.
Even though there is no one universally accepted template for preparing any
project, below is an example of headings that a typical project proposal should
consist of.

1. Cover: organizational logo, name of the project, year of preparation

2. Project Description/Information: provide a brief summary of the project
in the following way
 Project Title:
 Contact person: name head of the organization that implements the
project
 Address of the contact person:
 Location of project: describe where the project will take place and what
physical area it will cover
 Duration of Project: provide the estimated start and finish dates for the
project
 Implementing organization: Who is going to implement the
 project?
 Partners: Who are the main partners in terms of delivering the
project?
 Total cost of project: provide information on the total cost of the project
for each year
3. List of abbreviations
4. Table of Contents
5. Executive Summary

A project executive summary is a brief overview of designed to give readers a

quick preview of its contents. Its purpose is to consolidate the principal points of a
document in one place. After reading the summary, your audience should
understand the main points you are making and your evidence for those points
without having to read every part of your project in full. That's why they are called
executive summaries — the audience is usually someone who makes funding,
personnel, or policy decisions and needs information quickly and efficiently.

50
The purpose is to provide an overview or preview to an audience who may or may
not have time to read the whole report carefully and should take the following into
account.
 An executive summary should explain why the project exist - emphasize on the
problems, strategies, deliverables and outcome, and include only the essential
or most significant information to support those claims
 Executive summaries are usually organized according to the sequence of
information presented in the full project, so follow the order of your project
format as you discuss the reasons for your claims
 Executive summaries are usually proportional in length to the larger work they
summarize, typically 10%. Most project executive summaries are 1 - 2 pages.
 Write the executive summary after you have completed the project. Look at first
and last sentences of paragraphs to begin to outline your summary. Go
through and find key words and use those words to organize a draft of
your summary; look for words that enumerate (first, next, finally); words that
express causation (therefore, consequently words that signal essentials
(basically, central, leading, principal, major) and contrast (however, similarly,
more than, less likely).
 Make the summary concise, but be sure to show why the project is
needed.
 Don't introduce any new information that is not in your project proposal.
 Executive summaries should communicate independently of the project. Ask
someone not familiar with the project to read your executive summary to
see if it makes sense.
Background: The implementing agency information, the project area, target groups
and its duration. Statement of the problem, implementation strategies and
Stakeholders

Project goal, objectives and Indicators: Goal, Objectives and indicators, Outputs,
and Activities
Resources: Finance, Material, and Human

51
4.3. Action planning
Once the log frame has been developed, think about the details of how the project will take shape
in terms of timing, resources, budgeting and personnel. Like the log frame, the action plan should
be viewed as a flexible document in which changes can be made later.

Activity planning worksheet

The activity planning worksheet is used to help us consider:
 who will do what
 when this will happen
 What types of inputs, besides people, will be needed.

A separate sheet should be used for each output. The activities related to the output are set out,
together with the resources needed, the total cost of these and the name of the person or people
who will be responsible for that activity.

5. Appraisal:
The Appraisal and commitment stage is when the project proposal is appraised for
its ability to achieve its stated objectives within the resources available and
agreed. This is the single most important decision made about a project and it
should be an objective and open process. The most effective way of conducting
appraisals is when a small appraisal team that represents different interests is
appointed, which then goes through project proposal using an agreed procedure.

The appraisal process should be standardized and clearly linked to the way the
project proposal is structured. It should follow the structure of the project
proposal using the four PCM parameters by which project proposals are
appraised: Eligibility, Relevance, Feasibility and Sustainability.

Once a project proposal is submitted for appraisal it should follow the following
processes:
• Each member of the appraisal team should receive a copy of the project
proposal and allocate sufficient time to read it, familiarize themselves with
it and make comments.

52
• The appraisal sequence should follow the order of Eligibility, Relevance,
Feasibility and Sustainability, as in the project proposal.
• Project components are appraised and the project is scored based on the
above four criterion.
• A decision is reached to either recommend funding the project; to make
changes to the project proposal; or to reject the proposal.

Eligibility
• Is the project eligible for financial support?
• Does the project fit with Programme Strategy and Criteria?
• Does the project contribute to programme strategy?
• Has the development of the project been carried out in accordance with
procedure?
Relevance
• Do the objectives solve the problems?
• Are all stakeholders clearly identified?
• Are stakeholders clearly categorized as primary and secondary stakeholders?
• Were all relevant stakeholders invited to participate in the exercises?
• Are the Problems clearly identified and stated?
• Are the Objectives clearly identified and stated?
• Do the problems and objectives match?
• Are the problems, objectives and stakeholders relevant to the programme?
• Has identification been undertaken in an open and honest way?
Feasibility
• Is the logical framework well designed?
• Will the project be efficient in how it uses its resources?
• Will the project be effective in meeting its targets?
• Will the management arrangements achieve the above?
• Is the project objective defined in terms of benefits to the target
group(s)?
• Will the project objective contribute to the project goal?

53
• Are outputs described as clear services that will have been delivered to
and received by the users?
• Will the project objective be achieved if the outputs are delivered? and
received?
• Is the likelihood of realization of the assumptions acceptable?
• Does each of the objectives in the project objective and output level have
clear and measurable indicators?
• Are the activities described in sufficient detail to know how the project is
to be implemented?
• Will the activities achieve the outputs?
• Is the cost of the project value for money?

Sustainability
• Is commitment by other bodies (example: users, government, etc)
guaranteed?
• Once the project achieves the objectives will the target group(s) use the
services?
• Will there be adequate ownership of the project by the target group(s)?
• Will all potential users have adequate access to benefits and delivered
services during and after the project?
• Is there a capacity building component?
• Will implementing agencies, or other bodies, be able to provide follow-up
after the project completion?
• Is the staff sufficient to achieve the project objectives?
• Is commitment from partner agencies, where necessary, formally
secured?
• If sustainability is achieved will it contribute to the strategic plans?
Quality of Project Proposal
• Overall, does the proposal cover all the necessary components for the
stated objective to be achieved?

54
 • Is the project design consistent and fully coherent?
• Are all the project design components, in your experience, necessary?
• Do you feel confident that the project can achieve its stated objectives on
time and within budget?

At the end of the appraisal the team either decides to fund the project or reject it and
resend back to the proposer.

6. Financing:
During this phase, project proposals are examined by the funding agency, and a
decision is taken on whether to fund the project or not. The funding agency and the
implementer will agree the modalities of implementation and formalize these in a
legal document which sets out the arrangements by which the project will be funded
and implemented.

7. Implementation:

The implementation stage is when the work of the project is carried out. This is
preceded by the appointment of the organisation that will carry out the work, if
appropriate, and a work plan and time period for the project will be developed.
At the very beginning, an inception review/monitoring should be undertaken to
make sure the initial project design is still valid and the external conditions are still
the same. Throughout the implementation stage regular and planned
monitoring reviews will be required. The monitoring will use the indicators
defined in the logical framework and must include the activities, outputs and
assumptions, and the budget.

8. Monitoring and Evaluation

8.1. W
hat is monitoring and evaluation?
It is increasingly recognized that M & E are indispensable management functions, and
they are set by donor agencies as preconditions for the allocation of funds to NGOs
and CSOs. Monitoring and evaluation tend to be understood as one and the same
thing. Though related, however, they are two different sets of organizational

55
activities.

Monitoring is the systematic collection and analysis of information as a project

progresses. It is a valuable tool for good management. It helps NGO and CSO staff
members to determine whether financial resources are sufficient and are
being well used, whether the human capacity in their organizations is
adequate, and whether they are actually doing what they planned to do.

Evaluation occurs at the termination of the project, but sometimes also at mid-term,
when what was promised in the project proposal is compared with what has been
accomplished, and actual project impacts are measured against the strategic
plans agreed upon with donors at the project’s outset.

M & E can help one to:

• identify problems and their causes;
• recommend possible solutions to problems;
• raise questions about project assumptions and strategies that were
outlined in the initial project proposal; and
• reflect on where the project is going, and on how best to accomplish its
aims and objectives.

The power of measuring results:

• If you do not measure results, you cannot tell success from failure.
• If you cannot see success, you cannot reward it.
• If you cannot reward success, you are probably rewarding failure.
• If you cannot see success, you cannot learn from it.
• If you cannot recognize failure, you cannot correct it.
• If you can demonstrate results, you can win public support and donor
interest.

Why undertake monitoring and evaluation?

There are many reasons why an NGO or CSO should undertake M & E:
 W
e need to know whether our project meets its objectives (as outlined in
the project proposal) and whether it is leading to the desired effects among
its beneficiaries (our target group).

56
  T
hrough data gathering, we generate detailed information about the
project’s progress and the results it has obtained.

 B
y doing M & E, we build greater transparency and accountability
regarding the management of financial resources provided by donor
agencies.
 T
he information we generate through M & E provides project managers
with a clearer basis for decision-making.

 T
hrough M & E, we can find out if the project is running as initially
planned.

 M
& E inform us about the strengths and weaknesses of our project
implementation.
 M
& E allow us to detect unexpected and unintended results and effects
of our project.
 W
e can establish if our project implementation has been weakened by
external factors that are out of our control (e.g. social, economic or political
developments).
 M
& E document and explain the reasons why project activities succeed
or fail.

 B
y learning lessons from mistakes we might have made, we will be
empowered to improve our future project planning and implementation.

9.2. Differences and links between monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring
Monitoring is an on-going activity that tracks the progress of the project during its
lifetime. Therefore, monitoring is an integral part of our day-to-day operational
management. It is used to continuously assess the progress made with the
project when viewed against its goals and objectives, as outlined in the project

57
proposal. It involves the so-called logical framework through which we track inputs,
processes, activities, outputs and outcomes. These are already outlined in the
project proposal that is forwarded to donors in the planning stage of the project.
Thus, monitoring is based on targets set and activities planned during the
planning phase.
Monitoring is important, as it might be necessary to modify activities should it
emerge that they are not achieving the desired results. Monitoring helps us to
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a project.

Through routine data gathering, monitoring aims at:

 C
ontinuously assessing the project implementation in relation to the
project plans, resources and infrastructure, and the accessing of
services by project beneficiaries;
 p
roviding regular feedback for an ongoing learning process;
 i
mproving the effectiveness of project interventions;
 i
ncreasing accountability with donors and other stakeholders;
 e
nabling project staff to identify strengths and successes, and alerting
them to actual and potential weaknesses and shortcomings;
 g
iving us time to make adjustments and take corrective actions where
these are required;
 e
nabling us to find out whether the project continues to be relevant for
our target group; and
 i
nforming us on how well our project is performing against the
expected results, as outlined in the project proposal.

Monitoring should be an internal function in every NGO/CSO.

58
  I
t involves the following:
 e
stablishing indicators on efficiency, effectiveness and impact;
 s
etting up an M & E system relating to these indicators;
 c
ollecting and recording information (sourcing and management
of data);
 a
nalyzing the information; and
 i
f necessary, using the information to improve project
management.

Monitoring is an on-going activity to track project progress during the lifetime of

the project. It is a continuous process of collecting and analyzing information to
compare how well a project is performing against expected results.

Evaluation will either be done at mid-term or at the end of the project, or both.

Evaluation

Evaluation will be performed either at mid-term or at the end of the project, on

conclusion of all activities. Evaluation is a scientifically based assessment of the
strengths and weaknesses of the project. We assess the overall design,
implementation and results of the completed interventions. Evaluation thus deals
with strategic issues such as project relevance, effectiveness, efficiency,
impact and sustainability (see Section 8) in the light of the objectives formulated at
the outset of the project. Evaluation includes:

 l
ooking at the aims and objectives of the project (What difference did
this project set out to make? What impact should it have had?);

59
  a
ssessing the progress made towards what we wanted to achieve at
the outset;
 l
ooking at the strategy chosen to implement the project (Did the
strategy work? If not, why not?); and
 a
ssessing whether or not funds were used efficiently.

There are many different ways to perform an evaluation:

 S
elf-evaluation: You are holding the mirror to yourself to assess how you
are doing and how you can improve on your performance. It is essential that
you are honest and willing to reflect as objectively as possible on
yourself.

 P
articipatory evaluation: You involve not only the organization’s project
staff in the evaluation but also a representative sample of the beneficiaries of
the project.

 R
apid participatory evaluation: This is a qualitative way of performing
evaluations. It involves a number of different methods and tools for instance
literature/data review, direct observation, semi-structured interviews with
beneficiaries, and focus group discussions.
 E
xternal evaluation: This is usually done by a consultant who has been
commissioned by the donor agency.
 I
nteractive evaluation: This involves intense interaction between the
external evaluator appointed by the donor agency and staff members of your
organization.
It might be necessary to provide an evaluation report not only when the project is
completed, but also while interventions are still ongoing, for instance through
mid-term or semi-annual progress reports. An evaluation that is performed at mid-
term is called a formative evaluation. This means that it takes place while the
project is still running. The intention of the formative evaluation is to improve the
functioning of the project while it is still possible to do so. It can predict the project’s

60
final effects and can highlight adjustments that are required to the project design. It
examines the development of the project and may lead to changes in the way the
project is structured.

In contrast, a summative evaluation only allows us to draw lessons once the

project has been completed. It therefore does not enable us to make improvements
to the specific project being evaluated. However, lessons may be learnt that can be
applied to enhance future projects and improve the functioning of the organization. It
is an overall assessment of the project’s performance and its impact. It assesses the
extent to which the programme has succeeded in meeting its objectives, and the
potential sustainability of gains made through the programme.

 F
ormative evaluations are conducted at mid-term (also called periodic
evaluations) or semi-annually (also called process evaluations).

 S
ummative evaluations are only conducted when the project has been
completed. Summative evaluations are also called terminal, final, outcome or
impact evaluations.

Questions typically asked in formative evaluations include:

 T
o what extent do the activities correspond with those presented in the
proposal?
 I
f they do not correspond, why were changes made? And were the changes
justified?
 D
id the project follow the timeline presented in the proposal?
 H
ave the personnel that carried out the activities out been suitable?
 A
re the project’s actual costs in line with initial budget allocations?
 T
o what extent is the project moving towards the anticipated goals and
objectives?
 W

61
 hat challenges and obstacles have been identified? And how have they been
dealt with?
 W
hat are the main strengths and weaknesses of the project?

Questions typically asked in summative evaluations include:

 T
o which extent did the project meet its overall goals and objectives?
 W
hat impact did the project have on the lives of the beneficiaries?
 W
hich components were the most effective?
 W
hat significant unintended (accidental, not deliberate) impacts did the project
have?
 I
s the project replicable (can it be repeated)?
 I
s the project sustainable?

For all of the questions relating to formative and summative evaluations, both
quantitative data (expressed in numbers) and qualitative data (expressed in
narratives and descriptions) might be useful.

Summative evaluations fall into two categories: end evaluations, which aim to
establish the situation when external aid is terminated and identify the possible
need for follow-up activities; and ex-post evaluations, which are carried out
two to five years after external support has been terminated. The main purpose is
to assess what lasting impact the project has had or is likely to have (sustainability)
and to extract lessons from the experience.

Evaluations scrutinize both the outcome (any results or consequences of a project)

and the impact (a particular type of outcome – the ultimate effects of the project).
The main question that impact evaluations try to answer is whether the project has
made a (positive) difference in the lives of the beneficiaries.

62
We refer to the outcome as the short-term results (on the level of the purpose of the
project), typically changes in the way beneficiaries do things as a result of the
project. We refer to the impact as the long-term results (on the level of broader
goals) – in a sense, the ultimate, eventual effects of the outcome.

Difference approaches to monitoring and evaluation

What M & E have in common is that they are both geared towards helping us
to learn from what we are doing or have done, and from how we are doing it or
have done it, by focusing on:

Efficiency: This tells us if the input into the project is appropriate in the
light of the output. This could be in terms of, for example, money, time, staff
or equipment.

Effectiveness: Here we measure the extent to which our project has

63
achieved the objectives we set at the outset.

Impact: This tells us whether or not we have had an influence on the

problem situation we were trying to address. We assess if our strategy was
useful, and if it would be worthwhile to replicate the project elsewhere.

Relevance: This tells us the degree to which the objectives of the project
remain valid as initially planned in our project proposal. It determines
whether project interventions and objectives are still relevant, given the
needs and priorities of the beneficiaries. Beneficiaries’ priorities might
change over time as a result of social, political, demographic or
environmental changes. As a result, on conclusion, a project might not be
deemed to be as important as it was when initiated.

Sustainability: This measures the prospects for the maintenance of a

project’s positive results after external support by donor agencies has been
withdrawn. Many development projects are not sustainable because neither
the NGO involved nor the beneficiaries themselves have the financial
capacity or the motivation to provide the resources needed for the activities
to continue. As a result, donor agencies are interested in the long-term
improvements brought about by any given project. They want to know how
long they will need to support a project before it can run with local
resources.

9.3. Stakeholder participation in monitoring and evaluation

There is a growing interest within the international aid community in
participatory approaches to M & E. It has been found that the participation
of stakeholders improves the quality of projects and increases the sense of
national and local ownership in them, while simultaneously helping to
address local development needs. Where this is the case, there is a greater
likelihood that the project activities and their impacts will be sustainable.
Stakeholder participation in M & E can strengthen partnerships and
teamwork at all levels and stages of project implementation. A stakeholder

64
is anybody who “has a stake” in the project; stakeholders can thus be
members of the community whose situation the project seeks to change
(e.g. men, women, youths, health clinic personnel, teachers), programme
managers and other staff at NGOs/CSOs, the donors themselves, and many
others, including representatives of the local, regional and national levels
of government. It makes sense, however, to target one or two of these groups
to suit your specific needs. For example, if you want to identify obstacles to
successful project implementation, you need to interview your own project
staff. If the aim is to find out whether beneficiaries are satisfied with your
project, it makes sense to ask members of the affected community. If you
are involved in research on democratic institutions, it makes sense to have
regular stakeholder meetings with government representatives.

Participatory evaluation is useful for:

 institutional learning and capacity development through self

assessment;
 strengthening of partnerships between different stakeholders;
 allowing different stakeholders to articulate their needs, interests
and expectations;
 facilitating reconciliation between different viewpoints; and
 Creating ownership in research processes under problematic
social and political circumstances or in prejudiced environments.

Integrating monitoring and evaluation in project proposals

M & E are regarded as integral and indispensable elements of project
implementation. For this reason, project proposals should include a section
outlining your M & E plan. It is important to remember that establishing an
M & E system and applying methods of data gathering and analysis can be
time-consuming and costly. M & E should therefore also feature as budget
items in the proposal you submit to the donor agency. So M & E planning
and design should be an integral part of project design, because it is very
difficult to go back and set up M & E systems once you have already started

65
to implement the project. The first information gathering should take place
when you establish baseline data and needs assessments. These are so
important, in fact, that they have the potential to convince donor agencies
to fund your project in the first place.

To incorporate M & E in your project design, you should:

 e
stablish baseline data describing the problems to be addressed;
 m
ake sure that project objectives are clear, measurable and
realistic;
 d
efine specific project targets in accordance with the objectives;
 d
efine indicators to be used for M & E project performance and
impact;
 d
efine the types and sources of data needed and the methods of
data collection and analysis required based on indicators; clarify the
roles and responsibilities for M & E of personnel within your
organization; and allocate an adequate budget for M & E.

Annual work plans should also be an integral part of your project proposal.
The work plans should describe in detail the delivery of inputs, the activities to
be conducted and the expected results. The annual work plans should
clearly indicate time schedules and staff members responsible for
conducting specific activities.

9.4. Baseline data and needs assessments

The gathering of baseline data is also called a needs assessment.

Baseline data and needs assessments provide the information you need

66
against which to assess improvements caused by project implementation
over time. In order to evaluate the impact your project has on the lives of
beneficiaries, you have to be familiar with the situation of the beneficiaries
before project implementation. Baseline data in this regard must be
collected before the project starts. In fact, it makes sense to gather the
data even before you forward your project proposal to donor agencies. The
baseline data might help to convince the donor that it is important to provide
funding for a specific project.

For example:

If the objective of our project is to reduce school dropout rates in a particular town,
we have to know these rates prior to (before) project implementation. We can later
compare them with dropout rates after the completion of the project. In an example
such this one, it would make sense to use data provided by the Ministry of Education
as baseline data.

9.5. Monitoring and evaluation systems

An M & E system is a set of interacting or related components – for example,

indicators, activities, processes or projects – that all serve a common
objective. They are linked to each other by common definitions and
measurement methods and they must all be scientifically sound and well-
founded.

All M & E data should be measurable. We have to understand that certain

phenomena, such as happiness, cannot easily be measured. It is important that
all M & E data should be:

 Reliable (i.e. the data should be consistent and accurate);

 Well-defined (we must take great care to define exactly what
should be measured);
 Verifiable (we must be able to prove that the data is accurate
and valid, for example by repeating the data gathering process);
 Cost-effective (we have to be able to show that the cost of the

67
 project is not too high, given the benefits it delivers);
 Appropriate (we must be sure that it makes sense to measure
the things we decide to measure); and
 Relevant (the data must be able to demonstrate whether or not
the project has achieved its goals, i.e. has made the intended
improvements in the lives of the beneficiaries.)

To develop an M & E System, you can follow these steps:

 You should decide WHAT should be monitored in order to select

indicators ) and plan the data collection process.
 You should decide HOW the information should be gathered.
Accordingly, you should select research methods to track indicators and
report on progress.
 Your annual plan should define WHO should gather information, and
WHEN they are to gather it.

To improve M & E planning and design, it is useful to consider the following

questions:

 What are the purposes of the evaluation? Which ones are more
important than others?
 What evaluation model is the most appropriate for the project?
 When is the best time to carry out the evaluation?
 Which questions should the evaluation answer?
 What are the best methods of data gathering to answer these
questions?
 What resources are needed for the evaluation?

9.6. Data management and analysis

The data you have gathered should be organized for effective analysis and
reporting. If you have decided to use a quantitative method of data

68
gathering, e.g. surveys, your sample of respondents is large and the
amount of data consequently very great, you might choose to use computer
software to manage your data set. If you need to carry out this
sophisticated analysis, you should enter the data into a computer programme.
There are a number of software packages available to manage the data,
including Excel (part of the Microsoft Office suite) and SPSS (Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences). Excel is the simplest of these programmes

and should work well as database software. However, these computer

programmes require a certain level of technical expertise.

Data analysis

When doing M & E, at some point you are going to find yourself dealing with
a large amount of information. Thus, the next step is to make sense of it
and analyse both quantitative and qualitative data. Data analysis is the
process of turning the mass of information you have gathered into
meaningful patterns, trends and interpretations. Before analyzing the

data, you might review the goals and objectives of your evaluation. This
will help t o organize the data and focus on your analysis. There are
different approaches to analyzing the data, depending on whether you are
dealing with quantitative or qualitative data.

Data analysis of quantitative data involves the disaggregation of data

into categories to provide evidence on achievements and to identify
areas in which the project needs improvement. Disaggregation means
breaking the data down into its constituent parts, for example by gender,
social and economic situation, education, area of residence (urban/

rural), marital status, age, and so on. The main advantage of quantitative data
is that, through statistical analysis, it can be used to summarise the findings
in a precise and reliable way.

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However, a certain level of technical expertise is required. The most
commonly used and uncomplicated statistics include the following:

• Frequency counts provide enumeration (record, account) of

characteristics, activities or people.

• Percentages tell us the proportion of activities, things, or people

that have certain characteristics within the total population of the sample.
Percentages are the most commonly used statistics to show the current status,
as well as growth over time.

• Mean is the most commonly used statistic to represent the average in

research and evaluation studies. You divide the sum (total) of a group or
category by the total number of units that make up that total.

As mentioned above, the use of both quantitative and qualitative data is the
preferred model for evaluations. We cannot use statistics to analyze
qualitative data, but such data help us to broaden our understanding of
trends and patterns, and to enhance the depth and detail of analysis where
needed. It is best to do the analysis of qualitative data in conjunction with
the statistical analysis of related quantitative data as outlined above. To
improve your analysis of qualitative data, you can follow these steps:

STEP 1: Carefully REVIEW the qualitative data and compare with the
statistical analysis of the quantitative data.

STEP 2: ORGANISE comments made by respondents into similar categories,

such as concerns, suggestions, complaints, recommendations,
complaints, praise, and so on.
STEP 3: Identify PATTERNS or CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS (e.g. most people that
raised concerns were in the same salary range or came from the
same geographical area).
STEP 4: COMBINE the results of qualitative and quantitative data.

STEP 5: CATEGORISE the comments according to your sets of indicators.

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10. Report writing

An evaluation report is either formative (completed semi-annually or by mid-

term) or summative (completed at the termination of the project). Either
way, it makes sense to start with the preparation of the report well in
advance. There are a number of sections that can be prepared by using
material from the original proposal, e.g. the background section, baseline
data, information on the project and the methodology. What has to be added

are the evaluation findings, the conclusions and the recommendations. In

order to avoid generating a great deal of information, however, it is
worthwhile to organize evaluation data and field notes as soon as they are
collected and to document experiences and observations while the project is
still running. In order to make your report short and concise, you should
decide which data to include and which not to include. Your data should be
classified according to a report outline, and you should always focus on
your key evaluation questions, the indicators you are assessing and the type
of information the recipient of the report requires. Your recommendations
should include ways for improving the management of similar projects, as
well as capacity-building needs, actions needed to increase the
effectiveness of similar projects, and topics for future interventions and
research.

You should always remember for whom the report is intended (e.g. donor
agencies, project staff, stakeholders, the general public) and your
presentation should be interesting, and fine-tuned to suit the needs of the
target group. It should be written in direct, uncomplicated language that
can also be understood by non-professionals.

Sometimes donor agencies provide guidelines and instructions for reports

that should be submitted, in which case your report must be structured
accordingly. Nevertheless, most reports follow a similar structure. Table
below gives you some useful suggestions on how to structure the report.

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Suggested structure of an evaluation report

1. Title page
2. Table of contents
3. Acknowledgments: Identify those that contributed to the evaluation
4. Executive summary: Summarize the project evaluated, the purpose of the evaluation and the
methods used, the major findings, and the recommendations in order of priority. This should be two
to three pages that can be read independently, without reference to the rest of the report.
5. Introduction: Elaborate on the project description and its background (problem analysis,
objectives and strategies, funding).Summarize the evaluation context (purpose, strategies, composition of
team, duration).
6. Evaluation objectives and methodology: List the evaluation objectives.
 Describe the evaluation methods.
 Identify limitations of the evaluation.
7. Findings and conclusions:
 State findings clearly, with data presented graphically in tables and figures.
 Include the significance of the findings for the achievement of project objectives.
 Explain whether adequate progress was made (compare with baseline data).
 Identify reasons for accomplishments and failures, especially continuing constraints.

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 8. Recommendations List recommendations for different kinds of users in order of priority (include
approximate costs for implementing them, if possible.)
 Link recommendations explicitly with the findings, discussing their implications for decision-
makers.
 Include an approximate timetable for implementing or reviewing recommendations.
9. Lessons learned (optional)• Identify lessons learned from this evaluation for those planning,
implementing or evaluating similar activities.
10.Appendices:
For reference purposes, include the following:
 Terms of Reference (action plan describing objectives, results, activities and organization of a
specific project)
 Instruments used to collect data (e.g. copies of questionnaires)
 List of people interviewed and sites visited
 Data collection instruments
 Case studies
 Acronyms/abbreviations
 Any related literature
 Other data/tables not included in the chapter on findings

 Source: Adapted from Nabris, Khalid (2002). Monitoring & Evaluation. Based on a PASSIA Training Course.
Improving performance
The M & E report that we submit to our donors highlights strengths and
weaknesses of our project implementation. For us, it is important to know whether
or not we have achieved our goals and objectives. Furthermore, we should
also use the results to prepare an action plan to implement follow-up
activities. Thus, M & E provide new baseline data for future planning. M & E
reports reflect the situation of our beneficiaries at the conclusion of the
project and highlight required follow-up activities. As a result,
recommendations can be used to design new projects or interventions or to
further develop running programmes. Evaluation can, thus, be used to obtain
further support for your NGO/CSO and to raise funds from donors – especially if
the results of the evaluation confirm that the project goals remain valid.
Furthermore, the M & E report can be used as a tool for advocacy. Results of
the evaluation can be discussed with stakeholders on the national, regional and
local levels. Evaluations have the potential to explore policy implications and point

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to possible actions and changes.

Once you have the conclusions and recommendations resulting from your
M & E report, you should:

• report to the donors and to stakeholders;

• learn from the overall process;

• make effective decisions about how to move forward; and

• if necessary, deal with resistance to the necessary changes within

your organization, or even among donors and stakeholders.

Project sustainability and exit Strategy

Sustainable Development/Sustainability
It is generally accepted that the contemporary idea of sustainability hails from the United
Nations Stockholm Conference on the Environment in 1972. The Brundtland report also
coined a definition of sustainability that has become the most widely used by all major
institutions: development which meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The IUCN publication Caring for the Earth (1991) provided an alternative definition of
sustainable development that is also often quoted: to improve the quality of life while
living within the carrying capacity of living ecosystems. Furthermore, Viederman
(1994) defined sustainability as: a participatory process that creates and pursues a vision
of community that respects and makes prudent use of all its resources - natural, human,
human-created, social, cultural, scientific etc. Sustainability seeks to ensure, to the degree
possible, that present generations attain a high degree of economic security and can realise
democracy and popular participation in control of their communities, while maintaining
the integrity of the ecological systems upon which all life and all production depends, and
while assuming responsibility to future generations. MERN’s definition of sustainable
development is: an intra- and intergenerational development process defined by sustained

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improvements in health and well-being (MERN International Collaborative Research
Workshop, December 2000).

All these definitions share a view that long-term economic and social change can only be
sustainable and beneficial when safeguarding the natural resources upon which
development depends. Implicit in all definitions is the concept of “intra generational and
intergenerational equity” (i.e. the fair distribution of, and access to resources within the
same generation, and between succeeding generations).

Shortly Sustainability Defined

 To keep in existence; maintain
 The ability of a system of any kind to endure and be healthy over the long term. A
“sustainable society” is one that is healthy, vital, resilient, and able to creatively
adapt to changing conditions over time.
 The ability of an organization to develop a strategy of growth and development that
continues to function indefinitely. (Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy &
Leadership)
Project Sustainability Defined
 What project sustainability means
 Maintaining the outcomes, goals and products
 Institutionalizing the process
 What project sustainability doesn’t mean
 Maintaining staff positions
 Maintaining all activities
 Depending on grant funding
Project Sustainability: Ask the right questions
 What are we doing? Do other people know what we’re doing?
 What outcomes do we want to sustain? Is there data to support our results?
 What are the fiscal needs?
 What are the management needs?
 Who champions this initiative?
 Who else do these outcomes affect? Whose interests does this support?

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Strategies for Sustainability
 Develop broad-based relationships/partnerships that foster collaboration.
 Involve all stakeholders: parents, students, business, politicians, community
leaders, school administrations, funders.
 Nurture community involvement.
 Develop a core of supporters.
 Be visible. Develop an outreach plan.
 Link evaluation to project success and then to marketing.
 Be flexible. Modify the project based on evaluation and feedback.
 Communicate, communicate, and communicate.
 Share resources. Share expertise. Share successes.

Develop a Sustainability Plan

 Begin today.
 Think broadly.
 Include partners and champions.
 Include short and long-term sustainability goals.
 Set priorities for sustainability. What are the most important outcomes that you
want to maintain?

What is Sustainability Planning?

 The process of sitting down to develop specific strategies and an action plan to help
ensure the long-term sustainability of an initiative
 Includes considering the full range of resources and competencies – financial,
political, administrative, managerial – needed to meet long-term goals
Why is Planning for Sustainability Important? (Why Do Sustainability Planning?)

 Many funding sources are short-term in nature

 We operate in a rapidly changing environment
 We can’t afford to lose quality programs and important innovations

 Clarify where you are and where you want to go

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  Develop strategies for long-term success
 Provide benchmarks to measure progress
 Demonstrate the value of your work
 A written plan can provide overarching guidance for your initiative over time

Key Elements of Sustainability

1. Vision
2. Results orientation
3. Strategic financing orientation
4. Adaptability to changing conditions
5. Broad base of community support
6. Key champions
7. Strong internal systems
8. Sustainability plan

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PROGRAM EXIT?

A program “exit” refers to the withdrawal of all externally provided program resources
from an entire program area. A program exit may refer to the withdrawal of external
support from an entire program area, or it may address the withdrawal of support from
communities or districts within a program area. It could also refer to the end of a program
funding cycle, with an extension through a follow-on extended recovery program or a
longer-term development program. And lastly, it may include a combination of withdrawal,
program extension or transition.
WHAT IS A PROGRAM EXIT STRATEGY?
A program Exit Strategy is a plan describing how the program intends to withdraw its
resources while ensuring that achievement of the program goals (relief or development) is
not jeopardized and that progress towards these goals will continue. The Exit Strategy may
include several scenarios or contingency plans that address unknown factors, such as
recurrent droughts or the effects of a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Contingency plans may
also include planning for further resources when it may not be possible to exit entirely
from program areas.

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How can Exit Strategies help?
 Exit Strategies can protect and improve a community’s resilience in disasters.
 Exit Strategies can help to empower beneficiaries with assets.
 Exit Strategies, when planned and implemented correctly, can be a spring board for
improved food security and sustainable development.

WHAT IS THE GOAL OF AN EXIT STRATEGY?

The goal of an Exit Strategy is to ensure the sustainability of impacts after a program
ends. It could also be defined in a broader sense as a program’s ‘sustainability strategy’,
which could be accomplished through staggered graduation from specific project areas,
simultaneous withdrawal from the entire program area, or transitioning to associated
programming in selected areas.
WHY ARE EXIT STRATEGIES IMPORTANT?
Exit strategies, when planned with partners in advance of close-out, ensure better
program outcomes and encourage commitment to program sustainability. In
addition, good Exit Strategies can help resolve tension that may arise between the
withdrawal of assistance and commitment to achieve program outcomes.4 Exit strategies
can help clarify and define a sponsor’s role to host countries and local partners as being
time limited, reducing the potential for misunderstandings and future dependency. Finally,
they are critical to developmental relief programming as they inform a program’s
sustainability plan or planning for its next phase. Conversely, without Exit Strategies,
program transitions and exits are likely to be more haphazard.
Remember!
The purpose of an exit strategy is not to hasten the exit – exit is not valuable for its own sake –
but to improve the chance of sustainable outcomes for the program.

WHAT IS A GRADUATION STRATEGY?

The term “graduation” refers to the exit of a program from specific communities or a
project site, uses this term to describe the graduation of beneficiaries (or communities)
from a particular program once they have achieved the intended results. Similar to an
Exit Strategy, the goal of the graduation strategy is to ensure sustainability of impacts after
the beneficiary has been discharged from a program or a specific intervention. When the

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intervention involves Targeted Food Assistance, a beneficiary can be ‘graduated’ to other
food security interventions to ensure that their food security and livelihood status
continues to improve.

Three Approaches to Exit Strategies

Three basic approaches to Exit Strategies are outlined below. They are: 1) phasing down,
2) phasing out, and 3) phasing over.

1. PHASING DOWN
Phasing down is a gradual reduction of program activities, utilizing local organizations to
sustain program benefits while the original sponsor (or implementing agency or donor)
deploys fewer resources.6 Phasing down is often a preliminary stage to phasing over
and/or phasing out.

2. PHASING OUT
This refers to a sponsor’s withdrawal of involvement in a program without turning it over
to another institution for continued implementation. Ideally a program is phased out after
permanent or self sustaining changes are realized, thus eliminating the need for additional
external inputs.

3. PHASING OVER
The third type of Exit Strategy approach is ‘phasing over’. During program design and
implementation, emphasis is placed on institutional capacity building so that the services
provided can continue through local organizations. The phase over approach is currently
being utilized in some operational. In developing phase over Exit Strategies, there are
several questions that must be considered:

 How strong is the community’s sense of ownership/commitment to continue

program activities?
 To what extent does the community value program activities? What is the level of
demand for the “phased over” services?

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  Do community members, groups and service providers have the knowledge and
skills needed to implement the program activities?
 Do the local organizations implementing the phased over activities have sufficient
institutional and human resource capacity?
 Are the organizations responsible for implementing phased over programs resilient
to shocks and changes in the political and social environment?
 Is there a viable plan to generate the consumable supplies (such as the food or
agricultural inputs) that are required to implement activities?

Exit Criteria: What determines ‘When’ to Exit?

Criteria used to determine when to exit programs vary. However, they can be grouped into
three general categories.
1. Time Limit: Relief, recovery and development programs all have time limits dictated by
funding cycles. Time limits may increase a program’s focus in establishing systems of
sustainability or they may impose artificial timing constraints.

2. Achievement of program impacts: Although achieving the intended program impact is

often difficult within a given timeframe (and may even create perverse incentives,
indicators of program impact can sometimes be used as exit criteria. Impact indicators can
be used to focus program “graduation” efforts on the more self-reliant communities or the
effective program components. Lastly, impact indicators can help inform and guide the Exit
Strategy time line.
3. Achievement of Benchmarks: Benchmarks are defined as the measurable indicators of
identified steps in the graduation process of an Exit Strategy. They are part of the
Monitoring and Evaluation planning matrix from the onset. Benchmarks should be linked
to the graduation process and to the program components to be phased out or over.

Setting the Timeframe for Program Exit

There are several considerations when establishing the timeframe for program Exit
Strategies. Exit Strategies should be built into the design of programs from the beginning.

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This will encourage the development of interventions that are sustainable, since an Exit
Strategy is, in essence, a ‘sustainability plan’. Establishing an exit timeline that is linked to
the program funding cycle, and clearly communicated to the community is essential. Since
program implementation will influence Exit Strategy activities, it is important that the exit
plan remains flexible with the expectation that some of the exit criteria and benchmarks
may need to be modified during the program cycle. Further, implementing exit plans in a
gradual, phased manner is recommended, as the staggered graduation of project sites can
contribute to sustained outcomes by applying lessons learned from earlier sites to those
that come later. Lastly, after phase over or program phase out is complete, continued
contact with communities will help to support sustainability of outcomes.
Exit Strategy Monitoring and Evaluation

Ongoing and timely monitoring of benchmarks is critical to the successful implementation

of Exit Strategies. The monitoring of Exit Strategy benchmarks should, in fact, be integrated
into the overall program’s monitoring and evaluation plan. This will prevent duplication of
monitoring efforts and maximize use of existing data. While ‘process indicators’ are
helpful to gauge the program or local partner’s progress along a developed continuum.
‘result indicators’ may help to graduate communities or to assess readiness to phase out
programs. An example of a process indicator in a home-based care program may be the
number of household visits conducted by the local partner, whereas a result indicator
would be the improvement in nutritional awareness by the home based care client and
household.

To determine the success of an Exit Strategy, an evaluation should be conducted after a

period of time has elapsed following the program exit. Since funding is not usually
programmed in this manner, Exit Strategies are rarely evaluated.

Three measures to gauge the success of an Exit Strategy:

1. If the program impact has been sustained, expanded or improved after program end;
2. If the relevant activities are continued in the same or modified format; and
3. If the systems developed continue to function effectively.

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Challenges and How We Can Address Them
There are numerous challenges to developing and implementing Exit Strategies. Based on
dialogue at the learning events, some suggestions on how to address these challenges are
proposed below.
 Drought: The recurrent cycle of droughts (and floods) presents a particular challenge
to planning and implementing Exit Strategies. To combat the effect of these shocks,
 Political & economic environment: An uncertain and/or unwelcoming political
environment makes it difficult to implement programs, including Exit Strategies.
Uncertainty about the current and future political situation affects programming
adversely as NGOs cannot be sure of their scope of operation, their access to resources
and how, when and with whom to plan for exit. In particular, building critical
relationships for program phase over is even harder than usual. In this dynamic
environment, it may be necessary to develop several different ‘exit scenarios’ and
include a regular re-assessment of the current exit plan in your timeline so that you
may make adjustments as your situation evolves. It is also important to acknowledge
the additional burden of planning Exit Strategies within this context. It will require
more time and effort than is usual.

 Funding / project cycles and the uncertainty of future funding: The funding /
project cycle can force an exit even when the organization and/or community are not
yet ready. As the project closeout date nears, uncertainty about donor support to a
proposed follow-on program poses further constraints. Concerns about job security for
NGO staff and continued support to local partners cause attrition and anxiety until a
budget is approved – which is often many months after a program’s proposed start date
has come and gone. To address these issues, contingency plans for the various funding
scenarios (including fundraising for complementary funding) are suggested, ensuring
that the program is not 100% reliant on one donor. Keeping staff informed as plans
change is also important, giving as much notice as possible when budgets for staffing
are in jeopardy.

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 Belated planning of an Exit Strategy: When an exit is not planned and designed from
the beginning of program implementation, it can lead to uncoordinated and haphazard
implementation of exit activities near the program’s end. In this scenario, the
opportunity to monitor and track a community’s progress (toward graduation) over
time will be missed, as will the opportunity to develop strong linkages and partnerships
with local organizations over time. Although it is difficult to compensate for belated
planning, applying what we have learned can still be used to
1) Revisit our existing Exit Strategies and strengthen them where possible; and
2) Apply the concepts in this document to develop effective Exit Strategies early for
programs

 Lack of resources/funding restrictions: When an Exit Strategy is not planned

/budgeted for from the beginning, an NGO may not have sufficient resources to
implement the subsequently identified exit activities.

 Need for training/improved understanding among staff: Thinking about and

formulating Exit Strategies is new for many NGO staff and there is a need to dedicate
resources to training staff and facilitating the development of their Exit Strategies.

 High turnover of staff: High turnover among NGO staff, as well as local partners,
negatively impacts continuity and service provision. In this context, additional
resources are required for repeating training and capacity building on a regular basis.
High turnover can be especially difficult in terms of Exit Strategies since those partners
who are initially targeted for assuming responsibility of program activities may not be
present when the program exits.

 Lack of volunteers and local partners to phase over to: The limited number of
available volunteers, and the heavy burden already borne by most community
volunteers, can hamper the implementation of exit activities. The implementing agency
also may not be able to identify an appropriate local organization to phase over their
program to. Early planning for exit may help to address this, however, lack of
volunteers and an appropriate organization may be the reality

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 Continued supply of inputs: In many cases, the exit plan relies on a continued source
of inputs (i.e. seeds, incentives for volunteers, etc.) that will be available after your exit.
Securing a reliable source for those inputs is certainly a challenge and could make or
break your Exit Strategy. Again, planning for exit from inception will help provide time
and a network for provisioning inputs at a later date.
 Limited follow-up capacity: To measure the success of an Exit trategy, it may be
necessary to conduct a post-project evaluation -- ideally several months after the
project has ended. It will be important to ask: “Is the partner organization (who
assumed responsibility for activities) continuing to meet its obligation to the
beneficiaries?” And, “How can you be sure that other stakeholders are holding to their
commitments i.e. Are government agencies continuing to provide technical support?”
But how does the sponsor continue to monitor and follow-up with partners once the
activities are phased over, the grant is closed, and funding is no longer available? It may
be necessary to solicit complementary funding for post-project follow-up with partners,
and a post-project evaluation several months later to assess whether the activities and
outcomes were indeed sustainable. It may be possible to write these costs into
subsequent project proposals, since the learning achieved from the exercise can be
applied to the subsequent project.

 Community ownership of the Exit Strategy: For an Exit Strategy to be effective, it has
to be ‘owned’ by the local partners/communities who will carry the activities forward.
In relating the concept of ‘a planned exit’ to communities, developing and
communicating the strategy in a transparent fashion is critical. However, what may be
more relevant or meaningful is conveying a sense of responsibility for implementation
of ongoing activities to support agreed outcomes. Good communication on the intent of
the program and its Exit Strategy are key to enabling this sense of ownership.

Ten project management tips from sustainability project managers:

1. Project planning should take into account Councils strategic goals, systems and
timeframes.

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2. Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the project team.
3. Assess project risks before beginning your project.
4. Make the most of internal council expertise.
5. Involve your community in your project from the beginning.
6. Ensure you communicate and promote your project successes.
7. Don’t forget to sustain yourself and your project team.
8. Use project reporting as a reflection and monitoring tool.
9. Document key agreements and decisions
10. Plan for the future by embedding sustainability into council core business.

Project phase Top Tips from project Examples, tools and

managers templates
1. Planning Project planning should take into Plans that challenge key processes
account Councils strategic goals, may result in resistance and
systems and timeframes. ultimately undermine the outcomes
of the project.
2. Governance Clearly define the roles and Use terms of reference documents to
responsibilities of the project guide project steering committees.
team.
3. Risk management Assess project risks before Use a risk management template e.g.
beginning your project. Tasmanian Government template
http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au
/project_management
4. Working with Make the most of internal council Set up a cross-disciplinary project
internal stakeholders expertise. team.
Don‟t forget to include staff at the
operational level who have on the
ground expertise.
5. Working with the Involve your community in your Incentives can significantly increase
community project from the beginning. community engagement.

85
6.Communication and Ensure you communicate and Using stories and „snapshots‟ from
promotion promote your project successes. early adopters or champions inspire
others.
Expressing project outcomes in
terms of return on investment is one
way to promote your results to the
community.
7. Building your Don’t forget to sustain yourself Regularly revisiting the ultimate
capacity and your project team. objectives of the project can help to
keep you motivated.
Invest in professional development
opportunities.
Celebrate successes.
8. Project Document key agreements and There have been several instances
administration decisions where verbal agreements have fallen
through during the life of the project.
It is important to get written
contracts in place early on.
9. Monitoring and Use progress reporting as a Progress reports should be used to
evaluation reflection and monitoring tool. better inform your project. Take the
time to check whether you are on
track to meeting your intended
outcomes.
10. Planning for the Plan for the future by embedding Use your sustainability project as an
future sustainability into council core opportunity to create lasting change.
business. Can you integrate sustainability into
councils management plans, job
descriptions and induction training?
Make sure your project processes are
as self sustaining as possible.

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 Don’t forget about succession
planning! Staff turnover (especially
in multi-council projects) is a big
problem for project continuity and
effectiveness

Annex 1: Glossary

Activities
The specific tasks to be undertaken during a project’s life in order to obtain results.

Analysis of Objectives
Identification and verification of future desired benefits to which the beneficiaries attach
priority. The output of analysis of objectives is the objective tree.

Activity Schedule
A Gantt chart, a graphic representation similar to a bar chart, setting out the timing,
sequence and duration of project activities. It can also be used to identify
milestones for monitoring progress, and to assign responsibility for achievement
of milestones.

Appraisal
Analysis of a proposed project to determine its merit and acceptability in accordance
with established criteria. This is the final step before a project is agreed for financing. It
checks that the project is feasible against the situation on the ground, that the objectives
set remain appropriate and that costs are reasonable.
Assumptions
See “risks and assumptions”
Commission
The Commission of the European Communities.
Commitment
A commitment is a formal decision taken by the Commission to set aside a certain amount
of money for a particular purpose. No expenditure can be incurred in excess of the
authorized commitment.
Evaluation

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A periodic assessment of the efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability and relevance
of a project in the context of stated objectives. It is usually undertaken as an
independent examination of the background, objectives, results, activities and means
deployed, with a view to drawing lessons that may guide future decision-making.
Evaluation Phase
The sixth and final phase of the project cycle during which the project is examined against
its objectives, and lessons are used to influence future actions.

Factors Ensuring Sustainability

Factors that are known to have had a significant impact on the sustainability of benefits
generated by projects in the past, and which should be taken into account in the design
of future projects.

Feasibility Study
A feasibility study, conducted during the formulation phase verifies whether the
proposed project is well-founded, and is likely to meet the needs of its intended
beneficiaries. The study should design the project in full operational detail, taking
account of all technical, economic, financial, institutional, management, environmental
and socio-cultural aspects. The study will provide the European commission and
partner government with sufficient information to justify acceptance, modification or
rejection of the proposed project for further financing.

Financing Agreement
The document signed between the European Commission and the partner country or
countries subsequent to a financing decision. It includes a description of the particular
project or programmes to be funded. It represents the formal commitment of the European
Union and the partner country to finance the measures described.

Financing Proposal Financing proposals are draft documents, submitted by the

Commission’s services to the relevant Financing Committee for opinion and to the
Commission for decision. They describe the general background, nature, scope and
objectives and modalities of measures proposed and indicate the funding foreseen.
After having received the favorable opinion of the Financing Committee, they are
the subject of the Commission’s subsequent financing decision and of the
Financing Agreement which is signed with the respective partner country.

Financing Phase
The fourth phase of the project cycle during which projects are approved for financing, and
an implementation contractor isselected.

Formulation Phase
The third phase of the project cycle during which the details of the project are elaborated on
the basis of a feasibility study.

Gantt Chart
A method of presenting information graphically, often used for activity scheduling. Similar to
a bar chart.

Hierarchy of Objectives
Activities, results, project purpose, overall objectives as specified in the intervention
logic.

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Identification Phase
The second phase of the project cycle. It involves the initial elaboration of the project
idea in terms of objectives, results and activities, with a view to determining whether or not
to go ahead with a feasibility study.

Formulation Phase
The third phase in the project cycle. It involves the establishment of the details
of the project on the basis of a feasibility study, followed by an examination by EC staff
to assess the project’s merits and consistency with sectoral policies.

Implementation Phase
The fifth phase of the project cycle during which the project is implemented, and progress
towards achieving objectives is monitored.

Indicative Programmes
These are prepared by the European Commission in co-ordination with partner
country governments. They provide general guidelines and principles for cooperation
with the European Union. They specify focal sectors and themes within a country or region
and may set out a number of project ideas.

Integrated Approach
The consistent examination of a project throughout all the phases of the project cycle,
to ensure that issues of relevance, feasibility and sustainability remain in focus.
Intervention Logic
The strategy underlying the project. It is the narrative description of the project at
each of the four levels of the ‘hierarchy of objectives’ used in the log frame.
Log frame
The matrix in which a project’s intervention logic, assumptions, objectively
verifiable indicators and sources of verification are presented.
Logical Framework Approach (LFA)
A methodology for planning, managing and evaluating programmes and projects,
involving problem analysis, analysis of objectives, strategy analysis, preparation of the
log frame matrix and activity and resource schedules.
Milestones
A type of OVI providing indicators for short-term objectives (usually activities) which
facilitate measurement of achievements throughout a project rather than just at the
end. They also indicate times when decisions can be made.
Monitoring
The systematic and continuous collecting, analyzing and using of information for the
purpose of management control and decision-making.
Objective
Description of the aim of a project or programme. In its generic sense it refers to
activities, results, project purpose, overall objectives and goals.
Objective Tree
A diagrammatic representation of the proposed project interventions planned
logically, following a problem analysis, showing proposed means, resources and ends.

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Objectively
Measurable indicators that will show whether or not objectives
Verifiable
have been achieved at each level of the log frame hierarchy.
Indicators (OVI)
OVIs provide the basis for designing an appropriate monitoring system.
Overall Objectives
Objectives in the wider sectoral and national sector, to which the project is designed to
contribute.
Prefeasibility Study
The prefeasibility study, conducted during the identification phase, ensures that all
problems are identified and alternative solutions are appraised, and selects a preferred
alternative on the basis of sustainability criteria. The study will provide the European
commission and partner government with sufficient information to justify acceptance,
modification or rejection of the proposed project for further formulation.

Problem Analysis
A structured investigation of the negative aspects of a situation in order to establish causes
and their effects.

Project Cycle
The project cycle follows the life of a project from the initial idea through to its completion.
It provides a structure to ensure that stakeholders are consulted, and defines the key
decisions, information requirements and responsibilities at each phase so that informed
decisions can be made at key phases in the life of a project. It draws on evaluation to
build the lessons of experience into design of future programmes and projects.

Project Cycle Management

A methodology for the preparation, implementation and evaluation of projects and
programmes based on the integrated approach and the logical framework approach.

Project Purpose
The central objective of the project in terms of sustainable benefits to be delivered to
the project beneficiaries. It does not refer to the services provided by the project (these are
results), nor to the utilisation of these services, but to the benefits which project beneficiaries
derive as a result of using project services.
Results
The outputs produced by undertaking a series of activities. The results are what the
project will have achieved by its completion date.
Risks, Constraints& Assumptions
External factors which could affect the progress or success of the project, but over which
the project manager has no direct control.
Sources of Verification
The means by which the indicators or milestones will be recorded and made
available to project management or those evaluating project performance.
Stakeholder
Individuals or institutions with a financial or intellectual interest in the results of a

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project.
Strategy Analysis
Critical assessment of the alternative ways of achieving objectives, and selection of
one or more for inclusion in the proposed project.
Sustainability
A key requirement for a successful project. Sustainability is the ability to generate
results after the external support has been discontinued. While a project is limited by
time, the benefits should continue and the activities should be developed long after the
project has ended, without the need for external inputs.
SWOT Analysis
Analysis of an organization’s Strengths and Weaknesses, and the Opportunities and
Threats that it faces. A tool used for project appraisal.
Terms of Reference
Terms of Reference define the tasks required of the contractor and indicate project
background and objectives, planned activities, expected inputs and outputs, budget,
timetables and job descriptions.
Work plan
The schedule which sets out the activities and resources necessary to achieve a
project’s results and purpose.

Annex 1: Story cases

1. Case Story One: The Situation in Nahi
A big majority of the population of Nahi wereda, estimated at about 160,000(1998), live on rain fed , cereal
dominated crop production. There are 40 peasant associations having a total of 24,680 rural households in
the wereda. About 50% of the households are located in dega and woina-dega agro-ecological zones
where rainfall is adequate and well distributed. Because of this cereal production is normally successful,
although productivity is lower than the potential, largely due to poor land and farm management practices.
Chronic food insecurity prevails for 30-40% of the households in the dega/woina-dega area, mainly because
of exceedingly small holdings; average size of holding is about 0.7 ha. Of which over 0.5 ha is devoted to
cereal. Farmers in these zones are well acquainted with productivity-increasing input like fertilizers,
improved seeds and chemicals. The use of these inputs at preset is very low, much lower than the national
average. The potential for small-scale irrigation is good. There are perennial rivers (no yield or flow data)
which can be developed for surface irrigation. The irrigation possibility in the communities where
landholding is relatively smaller is bigger than in the other Pas. Farmers have no prior experience in
irrigated farming, although they showed a lot of enthusiasm for irrigation as evidenced in the need
assessment phase of the project preparation.
The second half of the rural households occupies the southern and eastern part of the wereda. The whole
area is typical of ‘kolla’ agro-ecology that characterizes a good portion of the country. Like in the ‘dega-
woinadega’ zone,cereal-dominated agriculture constitutes the principal livelihood of the people. Rainfall
(amount and distribution) is a serious limiting factor. Partial or complete crop failure is not uncommon. Over
90% of the population experiences transient or chronic food insecurity. Malnutrition is rampant. The acute
poverty that characterizes the ‘kolla’ Pas is the main cause of the fast depletion of vegetation covers the
sides of two main rivers that bisect the zone. Experts say the rivers are well suited for surface irrigation with
the potential to reach the entire ‘kolla’ households on a per-household allocation of about ½ ha under
irrigation.
The zone is well known for its black cotton soils where drainage is a serious problem. Other crop production
constraints include land degradation due to erosion and deforestation, lack of access to improved
technological inputs, and lack of knowledge about improved farm management practices. Live stock raising
is common in the ‘kolla’zone, almost every household has livestock. But income and other benefits from
livestock are insignificant due to lack of feed and poor health from controllable diseases. Malaria is the main
cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in the ‘kolla’zone.it is also an important health hazard in the’

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woiyneadega ‘zone. It is indeed evident that Nahi is one of the most impoverished weredas in the country.
The average household income is thought not to exceed birr1000, about 30% of the national average. With
an average family size of six persons/household this converts to per capita annual income of about birr167.
The wereda administration, fully supported by the zonal and regional authorities, decided to launch a multi-
disciplinary development project with the ultimate goal of attaining food security at the household level on a
sustainable basis with a time frame of 10 years. The project is expected to address major development
constraints of the wereda. There are pledges of external support provided that the wereda is able to
produce a well-prepared project. The wereda has formed a project formulation team in which your
organization as a major stakeholder in terms of fund allocation, technical support, and designing of the
project document. Moreover, the wereda authorities suggested you should lead the team. All team
members agreed, and you have accepted the challenge. The project promoters, including potential donors,
underscored that the project should be environment and gender sensitive.

Exercises
Based on the above described situation:
1. Conduct situation and stakeholder analysis.
2. Conduct problem analysis and develop the problem tree.
3. Make objective analysis and construct the objective tree.
4. Conduct alternative analysis.
5. Prepare the project planning matrix and the budget.

2. Case Story Two: The Situation in Gancho Woreda

Wereda 30 (usually known by the name Gancho) is one of the areas in Addis Ababa where living
condition of the over whelming majority of its residents is highly lamentable. There are 14 kebeles within
the wereda and the estimated population is about 250,000 (based on CSA’s 1994 census and assuming
3.8 %annual growth rate). Average family size is calculated at 5.8 persons which is higher than the
national and Addis Ababa averages of 4.8 and 5 respectively.
According to a recent socio-economic survey conducted by Ethio-Development Consult, the population
density is computed to be 10500 persons per square kilometer which is considerably higher than city’s
2
average of 9300 persons/km . The crowding index (the number of persons per room) is also recorded to
be 2.8 (average for Addis Ababa is 2.3). most of the residents (about35%) are migrants coming from the
rural areas in the last ten years. Largely owning to this uncontrolled migration and higher population
density, basic social services are severely inadequate. There is only one health center supported by two
clinics. Access to institutionalized health services is highly constrained by inadequacy of the facilities.
This deplorable situation with regard to health services coupled with poor environmental sanitation has
intensified the health problems of the area.
Results of the study have revealed that 60% of the respondents interviewed have no pit latrine and close
to 80% have no access to proper garbage disposal system. Those households without pit latrine usually
use plastic bags for refuse disposal. More than 75% of the households use water from communal water
points or ‘bonos’, and the majority of these households collect less than 30 liters of water per day (the
standard consumption level as recommended by WHO is 20 liters/day/person). Consequently
communicable diseases are rampant. According to the records from the health center, among the top ten
diseases around 80% are of communicable diseases arising from poor environmental sanitations. These
diseases are prevalent among children.
The situation is no better for other livelihood parameters. Household nutritional status is very poor. About
60% of the residents take below 2000 kcal/day and malnutrition (wasting and under weight) is very
rampant among children. The proportion of households living below absolute poverty line is reported to be
close to 75%. Moreover, access to school by school age children(7-14 year)is limited owing to very poor
household economy and inadequate number of schools. There are two primary schools (one is
dilapidated) and there is no high school. Enrollment ratio (the number of school age children enrolled in
primary school), according to the wereda office of education is only 40%. Streetism (children joining
street life) is also becoming an alarming social problem. Around 15% of the household have no access to

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kitchen facilities (both private & communal) and cooking is performed in the open air. The overall
conditions of most of the residential houses are woefully poor. More than 50% of the houses need major
rehabilitation, and about 20% need to be demolished. Access road is also a serious problem for most of
the households. In case of emergence, fire fighters and ambulance vehicles have difficulties in getting
through to needy households.
Having reviewed the study document, your organization in consultation with the wereda council has taken
the initiative to properly diagnosis the prevailing social problems of the area and come up with plausible
development interventions. To this end, the management body of the organization has set up a team of
experts composed of three professional plus a representative from the wereda council to undertake the
diagnosis study. Assuming that your group is this team, undertake the following tasks.
Exercises
Based on the above described situation:
1. Conduct situation and stakeholder analysis
2. Conduct problem analysis and develop the problem tree.
3. Make objective analysis and construct the objective tree.
4. Conduct alternative analysis.
5. Prepare the project planning matrix and the budget.

3. Case Story Three: The Situation in Abnet Woreda

Abnet is a small wereda located in the northwest part of the country some 100 kms away from AA on the
way to Gojam. The woreda has under its fold some 25 kebele associations. According to a recent survey,
the total population of Abnet is estimated to be 67,500. Average family size is calculated as 6 persons per
household. Average landholding is in most cases around one ha. The cropping pattern is dominated by
cereals- Teff, wheat, barley and fababean in order of importance. Livestock husbandry also constitutes
an important part of the farming system. Compared to nearby areas, the livestock population of Abnet is
said to be very high. The average livestock ownership is estimated to be 3TLU per household. Communal
grazing land and crop residuals are the main sources of feed. Private grazing land is very uncommon.
Agro-ecologically, the woreda is inclined towards a highland climatic situation. The elevation is in the
range between 2100-2700 m.a.s.l. The terrain is characterized by mountainous and rugged surface
configuration with sloping of more than 15% in most case. The annual rainfall ranges from 1000-1200 mm
0
and temperature from 12-17 c.

According to recent resource inventory baseline survey made by Eco-studies, the woreda has 23,000
ha.of lands, out of which only 40%is cultivable. The effective soil depth of most of this cultivable land is
found to be not exceeding 30 cm which is the bare minimum to sustain crop production. The vegetative
coverage of the area is very poor resulting from high rate of extracting the woody biomass for fuel,
construction and overgrazing. As a consequence run-off during rainy season is a common experience.
This situation is further aggravated by creeping to marginal land in search of additional cultivable land, the
increasing demand for grazing land, and poor productivity of the existing farmland.

Owing to this situation, average productivity of the major crops has fallen below the national average of
10qt/ha. Under normal circumstances the average yield in Abnet could not exceed 7 qt/ha. The
performance of livestock both in calving and yield have also significantly reduced. Unless something is
done, now the people of Abnet has realized, the situation could be worsen. So they gathered and decided
to approach your agency to explain the state of condition they happened to be in. The management body

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of your agency has decided to put up a multi-disciplinary team of experts to examine the situation and
design appropriate intervention project.

Exercises
Based on the above described situation:
 Conduct situation and stakeholder analysis.
 Conduct problem analysis and develop the problem tree.
 Make objective analysis and construct the objective tree.
 Conduct alternative analysis.
 Prepare the project planning matrix and the budget.

References
Collecting Data for Monitoring and Evaluation. South African Management Development
Institute (SAMDI). Presented by Ros Hirschowitz.

Guidelines for the Application of LFA in Project Cycle Management SIDA (Swedish International
Development Agency), Methods and Institutional Development Unit, March 1996

Government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation. Presented by Oliver Seale and

Marisa Labuschagne at the InWEnt First Regional and Interdisciplinary Alumni-Conference

LFA - a Flexible Tool for Participatory Development Danida (Danish Agency for International
Development Cooperation), February 1996

Monitoring & Evaluation. Based on a PASSIA Training Course. Jerusalem: Nabris,

Khalid (2002).

Monitoring & Evaluation. Some Tools, Methods & Approaches. The World Bank
(2004).Washington D.C.

Process Using Results-Based Management – A Case Study. Presented by Shanil

Haricharan at the InWEnt First Regional and Interdisciplinary Alumni-Conference,

Project Cycle Management (PCM) and Objectives-Oriented Project Planning (ZOPP) –

Guidelines Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), 1996

Project Cycle Management Training manual for CBOs AND NGOs, USAID

Project Cycle Management: Integrated Approach and Logical Framework European

Commission, DGVIII, Evaluation Unit, 1993 (available in English, French and Russian)

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The Logical Framework Approach (LFA) - A Handbook for Objective-Oriented Planning
NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation), July 1996

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