Approaches to project

implementation
 Top-down approach

•Implementation mainly done by agencies from outside the community with

limited involvement by the beneficiaries.

 Bottom-up approach

•Beneficiaries implement the project. Outside agencies may provide the

financial resources and technical assistance.

 Collaborative participatory approach

•Both top-down and bottom-up approaches to project implementation are

applied in the process.
Project implementation plan
includes:
a) The project implementation schedule
This is concerned with:
–What activities can produce expected project
outputs?
–What is the sequence of these activities?
–What is the time frame for these activities?
–Who will be responsible for carrying out each
activity?
Project implementation plan
includes

•The following methods may be used to answer the

above questions:
Gantt chart
Simple formats
What is a GANTT Chart?

•Is also referred to as the progress chart.

•It is a chart showing the timing of project activities
using horizontal bars.
•It depicts the frequency of activities and determines
the period of time for implementation.
How to determine a GANTT chart

Determine the implementation phases of the project

and the sequence in which the associated activities
shall be carried out
Then estimate the amount of time required for each
activity
List the activities that can be carried out at the same
time and identify those to be carried out sequentially
How to construct a GANTT chart

Time represented on the horizontal axis, and

activities on the vertical axis.
Bars are entered to indicate the time period allocated
for each activity and the state of progress at any
particular point in time.
Project implementation plan
(cont.)
b) The role of the implementing agency
•The specific responsibilities of the key staff
during project implementation and monitoring are
outlined.

c) Beneficiary participation

•The involvement of the beneficiaries in
implementation and what is expected of them is spelt
out.
Project implementation plan
(cont.)
d) Organizational structure and staffing
–Project structure for purposes of management
–Qualifications and skills for the staff
–Job descriptions and specifications for the staff
–Technical assistance if needed
e) Financial management
This looks at funds management, accounting
period, financial reports and statements and how often
they will be made
Project implementation plan
(cont.)
f) Reporting system
This looks at who will be reporting to whom and how
often. There is need to design standard reporting
formats.
g) Sustainability
The concept of sustainability is based on belief that
project should result in benefits that have lasting
effect. Project should be sustained beyond the life of
funding - especially if it is a grant.
Project implementation plan
(cont.)
Time control and remedial action
Time taken to implement project activities is one
measure of successfulness of supervision or
monitoring of project implementation.
Supervisor pays particular attention to time control
measures, time scheduling and its supervision, time
extension and postponement, damages for non-
completion and defect or warranty period.
Project implementation plan
(cont.)
Supervision of implementation of project
schedule
This involves a set of checks and balances to ensure
that the schedule is being adhered to.
To ensure that the time schedule is being adhered to,
the project activity time listing can be of great
importance.
Factors affecting project
implementation
 •Factors that lead to success of projects
 •Political commitment
 •Simplicity of design
 •Careful preparation
 •Good management
 •Involvement of beneficiaries/community

 •Factors and problems that lead to failure of projects

 •Financial problems
 •Management problems
 •Technical problems
 •Political problems
Factors affecting project
implementation
Other typical implementation problems
•Poor scheduling of projects leading to delays in
implementation.
•Misallocation of funds
•Delay and sometimes lack of counterpart funding
•Lack of accountability and transparency
•Bureaucracy in decision-making.
•Selfishness/nepotism/favoritism by some project
managers.
Factors affecting project
implementation
Other typical implementation problems (cont.)
Weak monitoring systems
Natural calamities like drought, earthquakes,
landslides, and hailstorms.
Policy changes
Migration of beneficiaries
Lack of team work
Lack of incentives for implementers.
Any other?
 Monitoring and Evaluation Use of
statistics

1. Why we consider statistics in M&E?

2. Where are the entry points for using stats?
3. Improving the quality of indicators
4. Enhancing monitoring of indicators
5. Informing evaluations

 An M&E system allows you to assess the project’s progress

toward its objectives, and it provides the basis for any
adjustment necessary. It also makes it possible to evaluate
and document the project’s performance once the project has
been finished
Monitoring and Evaluation
M&E is about comparing what was originally planned with
what actually happens.
It tracks progress at each level of the logical framework:
activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts (objectives).
M&E has four key concepts:
 comparison
 measurement
 verification
 action.
Monitoring and Evaluation

Evaluation is essentially a reality test to assess the

significance of the project.
It looks at the efficiency, effectiveness, impact,
sustainability and relevance of the project given its stated
objectives.
Evaluation has two specific purposes:
Accountability: refers to the obligation of the
project to demonstrate to the donor, stakeholders,
beneficiaries and others that it was implemented in
compliance with its original design, agreed contracts and
plans
Monitoring and Evaluation

Learning: opportunities to learn about the achievement of

results and the performance of the project team.
 Lessons learned can be applied to future projects.
Three modes of evaluation
 Self-evaluation carried out by members of the project team;
 Internal evaluation
 External evaluation
Why use statistics in M&E?
“When you can measure what you are speaking about
and express it in numbers, you know something about
it; but when you cannot measure it, then you cannot
express it in numbers, your knowledge is of the meager
and unsatisfactory kind.” – Lord Kelvin (British
Physicist)
What do we evaluate?
•Goals
Are long term aimed to be achieved by a project

•Objectives
Relatively short term milestones to be accomplished

•Target:
Physical achievement by the project
What do we evaluate?
•Output
Are those results which are achieved immediately after
implementing an activity of a project
Example, if you organize a workshop on human right,
then the participants who attended the workshop
now have a clear understanding on human right issue
Thus, this is an output the project has achieved right
after the completion of the workshop
What do we evaluate?
Outcomes:
Are the midterm results. They are not seen immediately
after the end of the project activity
In the above example, the participants started
mobilizing their community members to seek their
human right. This is the outcome of the project
(workshop)
What do we evaluate?
•Impact:
–Is usually a long term result and may not be
achieved even during the life cycle of the project
•If the community has achieved its goal of getting their
human rights recognized, then it is an impact created
by the project though it is usually seen several years
after the project implementation
2. Entry points

Planning – informing the selection of indicators

Monitoring – measuring progress against quantitative
indicator targets
Evaluation – using statistics from different sources to
inform on achievement in context
3. Planning – enhancing the quality
of indicators
In particular, indicators can help to:

–Measure progress and achievements;

–Clarify consistency between activities, outputs,
outcomes and goals;
–Ensure legitimacy and accountability to all
stakeholders by demonstrating progress;
–Assess project and staff performance.
Indicator qualities
Good indicators have the following five
characteristics:
•Numeric. While not always more objective,
numerical precision lends itself better to an agreement
over the future interpretation of data.
•Objective. For a good indicator, there has to be
a general agreement over interpretation of data.
Indicator qualities (2)
•Specific. The indicator needs to be specific in
terms of quantity, quality, time, location, target
groups, baseline, targets etc.
•Relevant. The indicator needs to relate directly
to the respective output, outcome or impact
•Feasible. The data for the indicator needs to be
easily available
Description of indicator
Precise definition: The definition must be detailed
enough to ensure that different people at different times,
given the task of collecting data for a given indicator,
would collect identical types of data. Potentially
ambiguous terms (E.g., small farmers, poor households,
disadvantaged groups)
Unit of measure: Define the precise parameter used to
describe the magnitude or size of the indicator
Disaggregated by: Identify how data will be
disaggregated to improve the breadth of understanding of
results reported E.g.,: gender
Baseline and Targets
Baseline: The baseline is the value of the indicator
prior to an action. The baseline value establishes the
starting point from which change can be measured.
Benchmarks: Benchmarks are values of the indicator
while an action is still ongoing. Benchmarks are
therefore intermediate targets.
Target: The targets is the expected value of the
indicator after an action.
4. Thinking about monitoring

Planning for data acquisition

Attributes of good data
Timing of relevant data collection exercises
Planning for data acquisition
 Data collection method and timing: Describe exactly and in detail
how and when you will collect the data. Identify what methods and
instruments you will use.
•Note any tool or survey required to collect the data. Attach
data forms when necessary. Examples of data collection methods are
secondary data, surveys, expert judgments, etc.).

 Data source: The data source is the entity from which the data are
obtained (e.g. a government department, an NGO, other donors, etc.).
 Estimated cost of data acquisition: Provide a rough estimate of
what it will cost to collect and analyze the data.
 Individual responsible and location of data storage: Describe who
will take the lead for collecting this indicator. Describe how data will
be stored over time and in what format.
5. Informing Evaluations

What type of data do evaluations require?

What sources of data exist?
How to access and manage that data?
Evaluation data requirements
• Evaluations ask the question of not only ‘what’ has
and has not been achieved, but also ‘why’ it has or has
not been achieved.
• The ‘what’ question requires answers to often
quantitative indicators. For example, whether poverty
headcount has gone down as per the target.
• Equally, an agricultural project evaluation might ask
‘what’ has changed against indicators such as:
•Increased yield/acre
•Expansion of acreage
•Share of high value crops in total production
Evaluation data requirements (2)
•The ‘why’ question of evaluation requires a broader
investigation into data
–Explanatory data: What else has been occurring that
may have affected the intervention (e.g. reduction in
international coffee prices;)
–Trend data: what has occurred over time in key
indicators
–Mixing quantitative and qualitative data: using
qualitative approaches (e.g. focus groups) to better
understand possible cause and effect relationships
What sources of data exist?

•Best sources of quantitative data are:

Surveys (representative at regional level)
–Demographic health survey
–Household budget survey
–National household survey
–National service delivery survey
–Informal cross-border survey
Other Evaluations and Reviews
Censuses (population, agriculture)
How to access that information
• Survey data sets are available in reports, and raw
Partner evaluation reports are available online, e.g.
World Bank

N.B. Often necessary to visit key offices to identify and

access key data sets