Module 5 Session 5

Notes: Project design

Summary:
This session provides introduction to project preparation, project
documents, and checklist for questions that help a project designer.
It teaches the skills of project proposal writing and puts emphasis on
project objectives, outputs, activities and inputs A logical framework
approach will also be introduced to the participants. It also gives a
case study of a project proposal format.
In this session
 Introduction
 Project documents
 Checklist for questions that help at project designer
 The Project proposal
 Emphasis on project objectives, outputs, activities and inputs
A case study.

 The project proposal development format.

Introduction
Project preparation can also be referred to as project design, project
formulation, or project write-up. An idea is borne and this idea
through some approaches and methods is transformed into a
problem statement, which results in the selection of a Project from
the many solutions presented in the problem statement.
Project preparation is therefore the writing up and processing of the
project so identified into a project document, which can be presented
to a donor (funding agency).

Project Documents
The project document may take the form of;

Project Proposal
A project proposal outlines what a project want to achieve (its
objectives), the approach that it will take to do so (strategy and
activities), and the means through which it will be conducted (inputs,
materials, personnel, timing).

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Project proposals may be developed for projects of any size. They are
typically used in public procurement processes, where several
companies develop proposals as a basis for selection. However, it is
good practice for all projects to have a proposal as the foundation for
a work plan.

Feasibility study
In case of complex and large scale projects which consider many
aspects and require detailed analysis e.g. construction of a Hydro-
Electric Power (HEP). A feasibility study is undertaken to establish
the justification for a project in all of its relevant dimensions
including its technical design, economic and financial viability,
environmental compliance and social acceptability; as well as its
conformity with the national development objectives and priorities
and relevant policy, legal and regulatory framework.
Pre-feasibility study/Pre-investment plan

They are part of the project identification process. They give an

indicator that the project may or may not be viable. At this level the
project planner may decide to proceed and conduct a feasibility
study or abandon the project depending on the recommendations
made. They are also conducted for complex and large-scale projects.

Business Plan
In case of projects where commercial aspects are important and
financial viability is a must e.g. establishment of a commercial farm,
a petrol station, a shop etc.
Note:
While formulation of a project proposal and business plan may be
carried out by an individual person with consultations from experts
in the project field e.g. an agronomist in case of an agricultural
project, the feasibility study is conducted by a team of experts from
various professions relevant to the project e.g. Economists,
Sociologists, Anthropologists, Gender experts, Environmentalists,
Agronomists, Geologists, Financial analysts etc.
Note:
The methods for project formulation are not limited to the ones
discussed above. There are others like the;

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(i) ZOPP planning methodology which was first adopted by GTZ-a

German Development Organization in early 80’s. It is used in
planning, project preparation and implementation phases.

(ii) The Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) also called the project-
planning matrix, which is a system of management planning
development by USAID (United States Agency for International
Developed in the late 1960’s).
These extract specific elements from other project documents and
discuss them further using parameters like verifiable indicators,
means of verification, assumptions etc.

Checklist for Questions that Help a Project

The following and other questions offer a guideline to project
preparation
 Why are you undertaking a given project?
 Is the project the first of its kind in the area?
 Are there previous efforts to address the problems that the
project intends to address?
 What are the area characteristics and other factors that may
make the implementation of the project easy?
 Why should it be you or your organization and not any other
person to undertake the project?
 Where will the project be located?
 How will the project be implemented?
 When will the project activities commence?
 What is the project trying to achieve or address?
 What resources will be required?
 How much will the project cost?
 What is the contribution of the beneficiaries to the project?
 How will the project be sustained?
 How will the projects on-going activities and performance be
monitored?
 How and who will measure the effects and impact of the project?
 How will the lessons learnt from the project be conveyed to other
stakeholders like donors, government and beneficiaries?

The Project Proposal

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This is a primary document in the project preparation process. It

analyses some of the elements of the project though not in great
details as the feasibility study. The elements include the title,
background and context, area characteristics, description,
beneficiaries, objectives, justification, outputs, activities, inputs,
budget, organization and management, monitoring and evaluation,
sustainability plans etc. (See the project proposal, development
format for explanation of the elements). The project proposal
attempts to provide answers to some of the questions in section 3.3
above.

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Case Study to explain Project Objectives, Outputs, Activities and Inputs

While the elements of a project proposal are explained in the project
proposal development format, there is need to emphasize the
elements above using a simple case study.

Mrs. Baguma’s Poultry Unit

Mrs. Baguma is a widow with 3 children and all at school in Bukya
village. As a widow, she is faced with numerous problems including
lack of adequate food, poor shelter, lack of clothes and her access to
Medicare is limited by lack of money to pay user charges in
Government Health Centers. If it were not for UPE her children
would be at home. The area community development assistant has
advised her to engage in a project, which can make her fend for her
family in terms of food and other basic necessities. After analyzing
alternatives, she picked on a poultry unit. She will operate this
project for a period of 3 years.

Development objectives (Achievable beyond the project

lifetime)
To improve the standard of living of Mrs. Baguma’s family

Immediate objectives (Achievable within the project lifetime)

 To increase the income earning capacity of Mrs. Baguma by 50%
during the project period.
 To ensure all the 3 children remain at school in the next 3 years.
 To provide employment opportunity to at least 2 people in Bukya
village for a period of 3 years.
 To provide the basic necessities to Mrs. Baguma’s family during
the project period.

Expected outputs
 Broiler chicken
 Off layers
 Eggs
 Beaks and feathers
 Chicken litter

Activities
 Constructing the chicken house

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 Recruiting the attendants

 Fitting the chicken house with equipments
 Purchasing 1 day old chicks
 Purchasing feeds, vaccines and drugs
 Attending to the chicks/chicken
 Feeding the chicks/chicken
 Marketing and selling the products

Inputs
 Building materials
 Labor
 Equipments like feeders, drinkers etc
 Day old chicks
 Feeds and water
 Drugs and vaccines
 Lighting equipments
 Veterinary assistant

Project Proposal Development

Many donors and other Agencies including Government require that
a recipient organization of their resources presents to them a well
sought out project document which may take the form of a project
proposal, business plan, feasibility study as evidence that the
resources will be put to planned use.
These documents spell out what the beneficiary organization intends
to do and where possible it may show that the project is viable. The
recipient organizations have a duty to formulate project documents,
which are acceptable to the donor community if they have to access
the donors’ money. Mind you, donor fatigue is already at hand. In
this paper, we shall be concerned with one of the project documents
– THE PROJECT PROPOSAL.

Guidelines for Project Proposal Writing

Each donor has a way of wanting to have the proposal written. So
there is no standard format for writing project proposals. Some
donors have designed their own formats some of which are in form of
questionnaires or guidelines while others just accepts the projects in
the way the recipient has prepared it. In all cases the donors have
certain facts which they are interested in. if the interests, priorities
tally and the project is found to be viable, addresses national plans

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and policies and is acceptable to the beneficiary community, then the

funding agency may approve funds for its implementation.
Some organizations especially those that deal with multi-lateral
lending (funding: like the United Nations agencies, World Bank
require that summary project outlines be submitted first before one
is given a go ahead to write a more detailed project proposal.

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Simple Format Projects Proposals Writing Up

Cover Page
This is the first or top page of the document. It serves as an entry
point to the project document and as such it should be properly
formatted and should be attractive to the viewer, it shows the
following:
 The project title
 The organization to which the project proposal has been written.
 The date of submission of the project document to the funding
agency
 The agency (person) who wrote the project document
 The period when the project document was compiled.

Page of Contents
This occupies the next page after the cover page. It shows the reader
the pages of other various sections and sub-sections in the proposal

Project Profile
This appears on the first page and it is a further summary of the
executive summary. The following items may make up the project
profile: -
 Project title
 Location
- Physical
- Postal
 Area coverage
 Implementing agency
 Proposed financing agency
 Beneficiaries (target group)
 Project life span
 Starting date
 Major products
 Project goal
 Financial plan
 Status of project i.e. new, on-going, laminating

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Project Summary
Also referred to as Executive Summary, it is a short way of
presenting what the project is all about. The need for a project
summary arises because many executives and decision makers are
busy and have limiting time to read through the whole text of the
project document. Again these decision makers have so many other
project documents to look at from other organizations. The summary
should be short, concise and it should convince the donor/donors
that your proposal is relevant to particular concerns and is a priority
to the national development needs. The summary should cover the
essential elements such as;
 Project title
 Location
 Implementing agency and cooperating agency
 Beneficiaries (target group)
 Core problem(s)
 Brief project description
 Development objectives and project goals
 A statement on project justification
 Expected outputs
 Implementation strategy
 Sustainability plans
 Budget and proposed sources of funding.
Always aim at fitting the summary on one typed page.

Title
This shows how the project is commonly called. It should be precise
and clear and reflect the main theme of the project being proposed.

Introduction
It spells out how the organization conceived the project idea e.g.
through a needs assessment survey (NAS), because of public outcry
for a given problem, political considerations etc. A short description
of the organization including its History, Mission, Vision Status,
Legal Setup, Organizational Structure etc should be made.

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Background and Context

This describes the situation and set up of the project. It should
contain the following aspects;
 Geographical location, villages, sub-county, county.
 Area characteristics/features.
- Population – structure, composition, density, number
- Climate and weather patterns
- Environmental issues and factors
- Social infrastructure and services
- Physical infrastructure
- Major economic activities
- Socio-cultural factors
- Gender issues
- Historical profiles
- Population education levels
- Land tenure system

Problem Statement
This is an outcome of the project identification process. It may take
the following form:
 List all the problems identified in the area/community
 Select 1 – 3 core problems
Find out the root causes of these problems
 Show the effects these problems have had or likely to impact on
the community area.
 Suggest the problem solutions to these problems
 Identify about 2 projects to address the situation.
Explanation should also be given on the importance of the problems
on the magnitude and relevance to the organizational and national
priorities and policies.

Activities to Date

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Here you explain what the organization and other organizations have
so far done to address the problem(s) stated in the problem
statement. You should show how the proposed project would
complement these interventions.
Organisational Capabilities
Here you should show why the organization (implementing agency)
is the best suited to undertake the project. Also state the
organization’s experience in handling similar or any other projects.
Also show how the proposed project and improve your organizational
capacity to implement other development efforts.
You may also need to carry out a SWOT analysis of the organization.

This spells out the

S = Strengths
W = Weaknesses
O = Opportunities
T = Threats
(Of the organization)

Project Description
This is a detailed statement of what is to be done during the project
life period. It begins with Project activation through operation up to
the project termination. It spells out all the activities, processes and
actions. Project description together with the problem statement
provides a basis for the formulation of the subsequent elements like:
Objectives, Justification, and Strategies.

Beneficiaries
These are the people, households, organization, communities that
will benefit from the project implementation and results. They are
defined in two ways;
(a) Direct beneficiaries/target group
These are the people for whom the project has been set up e.g. the
project members and others in the community who are employed;
receive income and or services because of the project.
(b) Indirect beneficiaries

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These are the people whom the project did not target but get access
to the project services e.g. people from the neighboring village may
collect water from a borehole or visit a health unit even if these
projects were not meant for them.

Objectives/Aims
This is what the project achieves when it is implemented. They are
divided into 2 levels: -
(i) Development objectives
(ii) Immediate objectives
NB: In cases of multi-lateral projects another level called
Intermediate objectives may be introduced.

Project Goal
The key overall statement of what the project intends to contribute in
terms of achievements or what the project can accomplish in the
long run. The development goal is achievable beyond the scope of
the project life time e.g. Eradication of water borne diseases in case
of a water project.

Project Objectives
The specific desired results of the project. They are achieved by the
end of the project period.
The project objectives should be accompanied by indicators.
Indicators are signposts of change along the path to development.
Indicators are what we observe in order to verify whether – or to
what extent – it is true that progress is being made towards our
objectives, which define what we want to achieve.
Indicators make it possible to demonstrate results. Indicators can
also help in producing results by providing a reference point for
monitoring, decision-making, stakeholder consultations and
evaluation. In particular, indicators can help to:
 Measure progress and achievements;
 Clarify consistency between activities, outputs, outcomes and
goals;

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 Ensure legitimacy and accountability to all stakeholders by

demonstrating progress;
 Assess project and staff performance.
By verifying change, indicators help us demonstrate progress when
things go right and provide early warning signals when things go
wrong. This assists in identifying changes that need to be made in
organizational strategy and practice. The continuous monitoring of
indicators also facilitates effective evaluation.
Indicators should fulfil a number of criteria – often know as S-M-A-R-
T criteria:
S = Specific/simple
M = Measurable i.e. quantifiable
A = Area specific/achievable
R = Realistic
T = Time bound

The indicators can then be used to establish the situation at the start
of the project (the baseline) and to determine the aim of what the
project wants to achieve by the end of the project (the target)
Example:
Objective to provide safe and clean water to the people in Kigumba
sub-county.
Indicator: Protection of water springs
Baseline: 0 water springs protected 2007
Target; five water springs protected by the year 2010.

Project Justification/Rationale
This is the justification for selecting this project for priority
attention. It should fully discuss the development opportunities and
constraints with the relevant sector. It should also establish the
technical, social and economic reasons for the selection of the

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particular project in preference to possible alternatives i.e. the

project should be socially acceptable, technically feasible,
economically viable and in line with national plans, policies and
aspiration. Also to be included in this section are:
P = Participation by the concerned Community
E = Environment concerns
G = Gender issues
S = Sustainability of the project

Project Expected Outputs

These are the specific products or services, which the project is
expected to produce. They are the end results of the project and they
lead to the achievement of immediate objectives. Some outputs may
be quantitative or qualitative or behavioral. In the context of a
project/programme, output is the first level of results.

Project Activities
These are the actions or processes to be carried out in order to
realize the project outputs. They are directly or indirectly related to
outputs.

Project Inputs
These are the goods, funds (money), services, manpower (personnel),
technology and other resources provided for an activity with the
expectation of producing outputs.
NB: Inputs are transformed into outputs using activities and hence,
leading to achievement of immediate objectives.

Project Budget (Costing)

This section of the project proposal is concerned with financial
resources and other requirements for the implementation of the
project i.e. it is a statement of the costs of resources that will be
used in the project. It should show the estimated total costs of the
project. Distinct budget items such as the ones listed should be
clearly spelt out.
 Land
 Construction

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Equipment
 Personnel emoluments
 Transport and travel
 Training and meeting expenses
 Administration expenses
The Budget should be broken down into: -

 Foreign and local components (currencies)

 Owners and donor contribution
 Capital and operational expenditure
There are many types of budgets, but for ease of work, the line –
item budget is normally used:-

Item Qty Unit Cost Amount Sub-total

Note:
1. Provision is normally made for contingencies to cater for
uncertainties, unforeseen cost increases and inflation. The
acceptable percentage is 5 – 15% of the total budget.
2. A financial plan showing a summary of major components of the
budget for the whole life span of the project may be attached. This
plan may be to indicate the sources of the funds.

Implementation Plan/Work Plan

This is also referred to as the project implementation schedule or
activity plans to a timetable or logical sequence of activities for the
project. The work plan should indicate the time framework at which
certain activities will take place. This assists the donor to establish
whether the project can be carried out within the stipulated period
and whether the resources allocated for it are adequate. The
following methods may be used for the implementation plan.
 Gantt chart

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 Critical path method (CPM)

 Project Evaluation and review technique (PERT)
But we may adopt a simple format, which is easy to comprehend.

Simple Format

Objecti Outp Activity Startin Ending Responsi Remark

ve ut g ble s
Date
Person
Date

Implementation Strategies
This deals with the HOW of the project implementation. In this
section, answers to the following questions are sought:
 How are the beneficiaries going to participate?
 How is the work going to be carried out?
 Who should be responsible for what activity?
 What type and amount of resources should be required? Etc.

Project Organisation and Management

Here answers to the following questions are sought:
 Who will manage or coordinate the project? How will this person
relate to the project committee in implementing the project?
 How often is the project committee to meet with the project
manager? Is the Manager available on part time or full time basis?
 What are the responsibilities of the various persons involved in
the project?
 Who will provide labor for each activity? Will they be paid or work
voluntarily?
An organization chart showing lines of authority and communication
should be included in the appendix.

Monitoring System and Evaluation Plans

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The monitoring system and evaluation plans should also be set out in
the proposal. This will act as a guiding factor for easy and timely
implementation of the project. The evaluation timetable should be
embodied in the work plan and funds for evaluation should be
included in the budget.

Future Plans
Plans for project replication and sustainability/continuation after
donor funding should also be indicated in the proposal. If the project
is to terminate at the end of its life cycle, then all the activities that
are to be performed to effect its termination should be listed. Also
indicate the person who will be responsible for preparation of project
completion report.

Appendices
These are additional but important details not included in the main
body of the proposal. They may include;
 Maps
 List of members of the organization, groups, associations
 Organization chart
 Pilot studies
 Population statistics
 Statistical procedures used
 Detailed budget breakdown and budget justification notes
 Any other relevant statistics about the project and the project
area.

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