MAKING LOCAL GOVERNANCE A REALITY...Making Local Governance a Reality iv A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development 6. PREPARING A COMPREHENSIVE

MAKING LOCAL GOVERNANCE A REALITY

A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning

for Development

The District Rural Development Programme

June 2004

MAKING LOCAL GOVERNANCE A REALITY

A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning

for Development

Bennie Bloemberg Pieter-Paul Gunneweg

Steven Hollevoet Willem Koster

Laurens van Veldhuizen

June 2004

This guide is based on experiences obtained by the District Rural Development Programme (DRDP). The DRDP is part of the bi-lateral co-operation between the Governments of Tanzania and the Netherlands. The DRDP started in 1987 in three districts and expanded over time to cover 11 districts as follows: Mbulu, Karatu, Maswa, Meatu, Kahama, Bukombe, Bukoba Rural, Karagwe, Biharamulo, Ngara and Muleba. The goal of the DRDP is to contribute to structural improvement of the well-being of the rural

population in a sustainable, efficient and equitable manner. Over the years, strategies to achieve the programme goal changed. In its first phase (1987-1991), DRDP emphasis was on strengthening the planning, implementation and monitoring capacities of the District

Councils while at the same time providing support to starter activities in the productive sectors. During the second phase of the DRDP (1991-1996), support was also provided to the social sectors. In its current third and final phase (1997-June 2004), DRDP

features as a support facility to Local Governance for Local Development.

Citation Bloemberg B, Gunneweg PP, Hollevoet S, Koster W, and Veldhuizen L van, 2004. Making Local Governance A Reality: A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development. DRDP, Mwanza/Bukoba, Tanzania

ISBN 90-77347-08-9

Cartoons

Katti Ka-Batembo Editing

Laurens van Veldhuizen and Chesha Wettasinha Layout & design

Désirée Dirkzwager

The publication may be obtained from the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, or through the Tanzania National Website: www.tanzania.go.tz All rights reserved. However, readers are encouraged to copy and circulate this information and to translate it into other languages, as long as it is not done for commercial purposes.

Making Local Governance a Reality

A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACRONYMS vii

INTRODUCTION ix

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xi

1. COMPREHENSIVE PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT PLANNING: THE BASIC CONCEPTS 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 The Tanzanian policy context 1 1.3 Participatory Planning 1 1.4 Comprehensive Participatory Development Planning (CPDP) 3 1.5 Main phases, processes and outputs of CPDP 5

2. ORGANISATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR CPDP 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 Organisational and institutional arrangements for CPDP 7 2.3 Development Clusters (DCs) 7 2.4 The District Advisory Council (DAC) 8 2.5 The District Planning Facilitation Team (DFT) 9 2.6 The Village Planning Facilitation Team (VFT) 10

3. PREPARING A STRATEGIC DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN 13 3.1 Introduction 13 3.2 What is Strategic Planning 13 3.3 Who should make the District Strategic Plan 14 3.4 Developing the Strategic District Development Plan 15

4. PREPARING FOR ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING (ACP) 19 4.1 Introduction 19 4.2 Creating awareness, support and commitment 19 4.3 Endorsing the district ACP 20 4.4 Coordination and collaboration between stakeholders 20 4.5 Organising the District Planning Facilitation Team 20 4.6 Selection of villages for ACP 21 4.7 Timing of the planning process and work plan preparation 21 4.8 Budget for ACP 22 4.9 Preparing of planning guidelines 23

5. FACILITATING VILLAGE PARTICIPATORY PLANNING 27 5.1 Introduction 27 5.2 Dissemination of information and guidelines 28 5.3 Community representation 28 5.4 Village versus hamlet level planning 30 5.5 Roles and responsibilities in village planning 30 5.6 The first village meeting: village ownership of the process 31 5.7 Secondary data collection and analysis 33 5.8 Participatory Rural Appraisal 34 5.9 Preparing the Village Development Plan 34 5.10 Advice from Ward Development Committee 39 5.11 Review and endorsement by Village Council 40 5.12 Annual re-planning 40 5.13 Final considerations 40


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development iv

6. PREPARING A COMPREHENSIVE DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN 43 6.1 Introduction 43 6.2 Consolidating village plans at ward level 43 6.3 The Comprehensive District Development Plan 44 6.4 Assessment of village plans and proposals of other actors 44 6.5 Preparing sector plans 51 6.6 Preparing sector development budgets 51 6.7 Final consolidation of the CDDP 51 6.8 Presentation and approval of the CDDP 53 6.9 Informing villages and other development actors 54 6.10 Final considerations 54

7. IMPLEMENTING THE COMPREHENSIVE DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN 57 7.1 Introduction 57 7.2 Selecting an implementation approach 57 7.3 Preparing implementation work plans and agreements 57 7.4 Participatory implementation 59 7.5 Delegation of financial management 59 7.6 Staying on the right track 60

8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION 63 8.1 Introduction 63 8.2 The basic concepts 63 8.3 Making monitoring and evaluation work 64 8.4 Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation (PM&E) 67 8.5 Monitoring & evaluation of the CPDP process 68

9. COMMUNICATION AND REPORTING 71 9.1 Users of information 71 9.2 Information dissemination at the start of CPDP 71 9.3 Information dissemination for facilitating village planning 73 9.4 Information dissemination for consolidating the CDDP 74 9.5 Information dissemination for approval and sharing of CDDP 74 9.6 Reporting as part of M&E 74

10. CAPACITY BUILDING FOR CPDP 77 10.1 Introduction 77 10.2 Capacity building of those who facilitate the planning process 77 10.3 Capacity building for others 78 10.4 Outsourcing of capacity building 81 10.5 Coping with staff transfers 82

Annex Budget format example (Output level) in MS Excel 83


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development v

List of Boxes Box 1: Benefits of Participatory Planning 2 Box 2: Potential pitfalls of Participatory Planning 3 Box 3: Characteristics of conventional District Development Planning 3 Box 4: Responsibilities of Development Clusters in CPDP 8 Box 5: Main objectives of the District Advisory Council 9 Box 6: Selection criteria for VFT membership 12 Box 7: Guidelines for strategic situation analysis 16 Box 8: Proposed Format for Strategic Situation Analysis Report 16 Box 9: Suggestions for effective stakeholder strategic planning workshops 17 Box 10: Format for SDDP 18 Box 11: How to disseminate the Strategic District Development Plan 18 Box 12: Authorisation of ACP: main areas of attention 20 Box 13: Strategies for strengthening inter-agency collaboration 20 Box 14: Suggestions for preparing district planning guidelines 24 Box 15: Common pitfalls of ACP 25 Box 16: How to prevent planning fatigue 28 Box 17: Strengthening the functioning of the village assembly 31 Box 18: Useful criteria for priority ranking 37 Box 19: The need for information on national policies to set village priorities 38 Box 20: Economies of scale at ward level 43 Box 21: Suggestions on planning in a multiple donor/programme environment 44 Box 22: How to find the optimal mix of activities 49 Box 23: Suggestions for eliminating activities to balance budgets 50 Box 24: Advantages of using spreadsheets 51 Box 25: Format for the Comprehensive District Development Plan document 54 Box 26: The Memorandum of Understanding 58 Box 27: Putting a MoU to good use 59 Box 28: Positive experiences with delegated financial management 59 Box 29: Guidelines for presenting information 71 Box 30: The Village notice board 74 Box 31: Main capacity building areas for DFT 77 Box 32: Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing of capacity building 82 List of Figures Figure 1: CPDP links planning policies and priorities horizontally and vertically 4 Figure 2: Inter-relation between various CPDP outputs within the national policy context 5 Figure 3: The position of the DAC and Development Clusters within local governance 10 Figure 4: Stages in Strategic Planning 15 Figure 5: First-time ‘intensive’ Village Participatory Planning Process 32 Figure 6: Planning steps in the village 35 Figure 7: The CDDP process 45 List of Tables Table 1: Suggested Development Clusters 8 Table 2: DAC membership of Karagwe District 9 Table 3: Key features of Strategic Planning versus Annual Comprehensive Planning 13 Table 4: Actors and their core responsibilities in ACP 21 Table 5: Timing of ACP through the year and related main activities 22 Table 6: Example budget format CPDP 23 Table 7: Responsibilities of main actors in village development planning 30 Table 8: Overview of main PRA tools and their use 34 Table 9: Example of matrix ranking for proposed village development activities 37 Table 10: VDP Planning matrix 38


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development vi

Table 11: Format village development budget year 1 39 Table 12: Format for consolidation of VDPs at ward level 43 Table 13: Part 1 of assessment form: example of general assessment 47 Table 14: Part 2 of assessment form: example of technical and financial assessment 48 Table 15: Format of activity inventory sheets 49 Table 16: Part 3 of assessment form: example of prioritisation and ranking 50 Table 17: Format of Sector Development Plan 52 Table 18: Example of summary sector budget (Using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet) 53 Table 19: Structure of a typical log frame 63 Table 20: Sector development planning table with examples of M&E indicators 65 Table 21: Example of format for M&E planning 66 Table 22: Results of Participatory M&E using SWOT methodology 68 Table 23: Indicators for M&E of the CPDP process at village level 69 Table 24: Main actors in CPDP and their interests for information on CPDP 72 Table 25: Main information dissemination activities at start of CPDP 73 Table 26: Information dissemination activities for facilitating village participatory planning 73 Table 27: Information dissemination activities for consolidating the CDDP 74 Table 28: Information dissemination activities for approval and sharing of CDDP 75 Table 29: Main reports in CDDP 75 Table 30: Two-week schedule for a VFT training 79


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development vii

ACRONYMS ADP Area Development Programme ASDP Agricultural sector development programme BOQ Bill of quantities CBO Community based organisation CG Central government CPDP Comprehensive participatory district planning CSPD Child survival and protection programme CWIQ Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire DAC District advisory committee DC Development cluster DADP District agricultural development programme DDC District development committee DED District executive director DFT District facilitation team DMT District management team DPLO District planning officer DPSP Development policy and strategic plan DRDP District rural development programme EPICOR Government accounting software FC Full council GFS Government financial system HoD Head of department ICF Inter council forum IPF Indicative Planning Figure KAEMP Kagera agriculture & environmental management programme LFA Logframe approach LG Local government LGA Local government authority LGRP Local government reform programme LGSP Local government support programme M&E Monitoring & evaluation MTEF Mid term expenditure framework NGO Non governmental organisation O&OD Opportunities & obstacles to development planning OOPP Objective oriented programme planning PEDP Primary education development programme PM&E Participatory monitoring & evaluation PO-RALG President's office - regional administration and local government. PP Participatory planning PRA Participatory rapid appraisal RAS Regional administrative secretary RCC Regional consultative council RS Regional secretariat SDDP Strategic district development plan SWAP Sector wide approach TASAF Tanzania social action fund TCCIA Tanzanian Chamber of Commerce Industry & Agriculture TOT Training of trainers VC Village council VEO Village executive officer VPP Village participatory planning WDC Ward development committee WEC Ward education officer WEO Ward executive officer


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development viii


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development ix

INTRODUCTION The way of going about government has changed rapidly over the past decade in Tanzania. An increasing amount of regular government tasks and responsibilities has been decentralised to the districts – a process that still needs to reach maturity. The Local Government Reform Programme (LGRP) and many bilateral projects have been supporting and investing to prepare the districts to take over their new tasks. Simultaneously, Tanzania has been giving increasing priority to people’s participation in development planning and implementation. Participatory planning is a key element of almost all development programmes that are presently undertaken. And in the decentralised system of government the districts have to take on this challenging task. To add to the complexity, funding mechanisms for development programmes are also rapidly changing and are increasingly coordinated through so-called sector wide programmes, SWAPs (Primary Education Development Programme, Health Sector Development Programme, Local Government Reform Programme) with related basket funding. This document, “Making Local Governance a Reality: a Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development”, offers guidance and support to development planners to better deal with the complex task of comprehensive and participatory planning for district development. It is a step-by-step guide on how to organise and facilitate participatory village planning. It complements the Obstacles & Opportunities for Development (O&OD) manuals by providing practical guidelines on how to consolidate village plans into a comprehensive district development plan and to match these plans with national and district priorities and policies. In short, this guide provides you with the background, practical tools, and implementation methodologies to make comprehensive participatory development planning a reality. The guide is primarily directed towards district-based development planners from both government and non government agencies, i.e. District Planning Officers, Heads of Departments, Programme Managers of NGOs and CBOs, and others in similar positions. The style of the guide is very direct; it gives simple and practical suggestions and recommendations. Although the guide is based on best practices and experiences of many years of participatory planning in districts in Tanzania, many of the ideas and methods described could be applicable in other countries too. This guide is not prescriptive. It leaves the reader to make choices, based on his/her local context, opportunities and constraints. The lay out of the guide follows the logic of the comprehensive participatory development planning process. After elaborating the concepts in Chapter 1, the guide goes on to describe organisational and institutional arrangements to support implementation in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 describes the strategic planning process, crucial for arriving at multi-annual planning priorities and plans. These form the basic context in which the formulation of village development plans takes place as explained in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 describes the process and tools for consolidation of village development plans into comprehensive district development plans. How to implement the district development plan is the subject of Chapter 7. Chapter 8 and 9 give detailed suggestions on how to systematically plan for monitoring and evaluation and, in this context, on what and how to report to the relevant stakeholders. Finally, Chapter 10 presents practical suggestions for organising capacity support interventions for the key actors in participatory planning. For quick reference and an easy start, this guide is accompanied by a CD-ROM. It contains various ready-to-use formats, spreadsheets, monitoring sheets, examples of contracts, Bills of Quantities, and various flowcharts. All formats have been developed and used in the districts of Kagera, Shinyanga, Arusha and Manyara Regions with assistance from the Netherlands-supported District Rural Development Programme (DRDP).


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development x


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development xi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This guide would not have been written without the assistance of many. First of all, we like to acknowledge the generous contribution of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Dar es Salaam, through the District Rural Development Programme, for availing technical assistance and for financing its production and publication. We would like to thank the District Executive Directors, the District Planning Officers and the Regional Planning Officers of Kagera, Shinyanga, Arusha and Manyara Regions for their contributions and review. We are grateful to Mr. Christian Binamungu for the translation of the English version of this guide into Ki-swahili. We acknowledge the support of the Office of the President, Planning and Privatization, in particular Dr. Ngalinda, for the publication of this guide on the Tanzania National web-site. Finally we wish to thank all district development practitioners, not in the least the villagers themselves, with whom we worked over the recent years and who contributed to a learning process enabling us to prepare this guide.


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development xii


A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development 1

1. COMPREHENSIVE PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT PLANNING: THE BASIC CONCEPTS

1.1 Introduction

This chapter introduces the approach of comprehensive participatory development planning (CPDP) within the local government context of Tanzania. It explains: • The Tanzanian policy context • What CPDP is all about • The benefits and limitations of participatory

planning • The main phases of CPDP and its outputs

1.2 The Tanzanian policy context

In the late 1990s, the Government of Tanzania issued Tanzania Development Vision 2025, a paper setting out its long-term economic and social goals and envisioning the graduation of Tanzania from a least developed country to a middle-income country. This was followed by the National Poverty Eradication Strategy (NPES) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). These documents provide the medium- and long-term strategic framework for poverty reduction and development planning in Tanzania. All of them stress the importance of ‘good governance’, through a system of government that is efficiently and effectively decentralised, that provides quality services to all its people, exercises sound financial management, and engages people and civil society institutions in local policy development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The Local Government Reform Agenda, the Local Government Reform Programme (LGRP), the Regional Administration Act, and the Local Government Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) are clear testimony of the Government’s political commitment to effective decentralisation by devolution, and to enabling people to participate in the process of governance for their own development. The decentralisation policy of Tanzania charges the local government authorities (i.e. district and village governments) with increased responsibilities and resources for local development. At the same time, it emphasises interdependencies between various stakeholders and their specific roles in functions of local development. As such, it paves the way for a new and emerging concept of local governance. Such local governance is primarily concerned with fostering collaboration and coalition between the

state and society, with partnership, dialogue and consultation as hallmarks. Participation is the central and focal point of local governance. Meaningful popular participation (either directly or through representative and countervailing institutions of civil society) in local government and the decision-making process is a precondition for citizens to believe that they have a voice and that their concerns are taken into account. A participatory and democratic process can lead to development of collaborative action where the objectives, roles and obligations are identified and mutually agreed upon.

“Our major resource is our people. We all recognise the

inherent relationship between people and development. We are fully conscious of the fact that the primary objective of

development is to improve the living conditions of our people. But we also know that it is the people who are the principal actors in the recovery and development process. It is obvious, therefore, that the success of the recovery and development process very much depends on the effective participation of

the people in that process”. President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, 1990, Arusha.

1.3 Participatory Planning

Participative approaches, processes and practices enable local governments, civil society organisations and local communities to effectively join hands – form partnerships – for local development, for collaborative identification and analysis of local multiple realities, for joint planning and budgeting, and for participatory evaluation and accountability. These approaches, processes and practises are commonly grouped under the term ‘participatory planning (PP)’. The ‘National Framework on Participatory Planning’ , outlines 10 basic principles and conditions for meaningful participatory planning: 1 1. Inclusiveness: involves all major stakeholders

at all levels of the local governance system.

1 Draft: ‘ National Framework for Participatory Planning and

Budgeting at District level, LGRP, April, 2003.



2. Consultation: reaches collective decisions through cross-fertilisation of ideas and views between and among equal stakeholders which are mutually beneficial, inclusive of the views and interests of the minority and special interest groups.

3. Transparency: disseminates and shares information through effective use of formal platforms (village assemblies etc.).

4. Facilitation: enables local stakeholders to take a leading role in doing things for themselves, thereby ‘handing over the stick’ to the rightful owners of the development process, i.e. by building confidence of local people, developing their self-esteem, and enabling them to control their means and resources for sustainable livelihoods.

5. Efficiency: executes planned and budgeted activities as agreed upon by the respective owners of that plan, through optimal use of locally and externally available resources to produce maximum benefits.

6. Empowerment: moves people’s capacity (including marginalised groups) from being objects and passive victims of social processes to subjects and active agents of change with power to decide, act, and become the real owners and managers of their plans and budgets.

7. Equitability: ensures fair, just, and reasonable room for full and active productive participation by all stakeholders, with full consideration of gender, age, socio-economic status, religious affiliation etc.

8. Sustainability: develops socio-economically viable plans and budgets that do not lead to degradation of the resource base (water, land, flora and fauna).

9. Accountability: has in-built mechanisms for follow-up, checks and balances, monitoring and evaluation based on a clear distribution and demarcation of responsibilities and duties at each LG level.

10. Vision: reflects the collective conceptualisation of the needs, opportunities and dreams of the majority whilst recognising the views of the minority. This vision is clearly understood and shared by all stakeholders and is attractive enough for all stakeholders to take an active interest and support it. For instance, a reflection of the Tanzania vision for the future is the document: ‘Vision 2025’.

Participatory planning is not the same as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). PP encompasses the comprehensive process of organising, interacting, consensus-building, decision-making, and conflict resolution to enable people to become the primary stakeholders and decision makers of their own development. PRA can be used as part of PP. It refers to a set of important facilitative and participatory techniques to help people analyse problems and develop their own solutions. PRA elicits local knowledge, ensures continuity, makes planning processes more transparent, and strengthens local capacities. PRA is a toolbox to better understand the socio-economic conditions and environment of a community, to build upon the capabilities of local people and to empower them in the process. If carried out correctly, participatory planning has many benefits (Box 1). Box 1: Benefits of Participatory Planning

1. Provides confidence to each and every stakeholder (including the usually marginalised and disadvantaged groups) at the local level who participate in the decision making process.

2. Creates an increased sense of ownership of the process and outputs.

3. Strengthens the capacity of stakeholders to mobilise and secure local resources (financial, human, land, local knowledge) for their own sustainable development.

4. Leads to more realistic plans which are better implemented as they reflect local needs, priorities, resources, and circumstances.

5. Creates an opportunity for the government to link sector specific programmes and allocations to village based development priorities, avoiding costly and time consuming sector-based re-planning at village level. At the same time, it creates a basis for the local government to use identified village priorities to influence (sector) policy development at higher levels of government.

6. Enables citizens to understand how government (should) work(s), and the government to better understand the citizens’ needs and aspirations. This leads to improved working relationships between the community and the government, and can change the existing government culture to be more open and accountable.

7. Allows for structured and continued exchange of ideas between the government and the public, leading to improved service demand from the latter and improved service delivery from the former.

However, participatory planning has its limitations and potential pitfalls (Box 2).



Box 2: Potential pitfalls of Participatory Planning

1. Planning is only as good as the information on which it is based. Incomplete and/or biased information may result in plans that do not satisfactorily address opportunities, priority needs, and aspirations.

2. Influence of the local elite and/or facilitators on the planning process may result in biased plans, which are not owned by the community. Exclusion of women and/or disadvantaged groups may result in the same.

3. Local opinions could be the result of outside influences. Planning could thus reflect the opinions and wish lists of social desirables and not the real opportunities, needs and priorities of the community.

4. Over-optimistic planning in terms of human and financial resources available could lead to failure.

5. Planning becomes a substitute for action – overstated planning requirements constrain practical implementation and monitoring.

6. Over-reliance on outside resources – planning results in shopping ‘wish-lists’ for soliciting external resources.

7. The political and social context is often not given sufficient consideration. For instance the interests of a certain political party may not match those of the village in general.

1.4 Comprehensive Participatory Development Planning (CPDP)

The concepts of decentralisation, local governance, participation, and participatory planning are relatively new, and require you to adopt a new approach to district development planning. District Councils are now expected to develop and implement strategic and operational development plans in partnership with communities and other development stakeholders, based on local opportunities and aspirations and in line with national policy and priorities. This is a huge task and is clearly different from how district development was planned and implemented in the past (Box 3). Comprehensive Participatory Development Planning (CDPD) attempts to operationalise the concepts of local governance and participation, and to overcome the shortcomings of conventional district planning. Defined in this guide, CDPD is:

A coordinated and structured process of

involving development stakeholders in all phases of the planning process covering priority aspects of social and economic

development.

Essential elements of CPDP are: • Comprehensiveness: CPDP brings together

development activities of all development stakeholders of a given geographical area (district, ward, village, hamlet), based on a common understanding of development constraints and opportunities. CPDP does away with a typical sector or project approach.

• Structured process approach: CPDP is a timely, coordinated, well communicated, and properly managed planning approach involving all stakeholders, from village to district levels, resulting in clear and specific outputs such as development and implementation plans.

• Participation: CPDP mobilises and builds on the planning efforts of local people. It involves all relevant development stakeholders (local people, NGOs, donors, government departments) at village, district, and even national level in planning, implementation, monitoring and decision-making.

Box 3: Characteristics of conventional District Development Planning

■ Absence of longer term planning framework: lack of strategic orientation and direction.

■ Top-down, on demand from government or donors: upward-looking, fulfilling requirements of financiers.

■ Little to no real participation of communities: communities are regarded as ‘beneficiaries’ only.

■ Sector-based: minimal coordination and collaboration between sectors/departments, resulting in missed opportunities, duplicated work, and lack of synergy.

■ District Council based: minimal coordination with other development stakeholders, resulting in parallel plans, different (and sometimes conflicting) modes of implementation, and duplication of efforts.

■ District Council owned: all decisions concerning planning and implementation are taken by the District Council technical departments.

■ Limited monitoring & evaluation: monitoring is restricted to realisation of inputs only.

Squarely and strategically positioned at the national planning crossroads, local governments can apply CPDP to structure the effective participation of all stakeholders in planning (Figure 1).



civil society priorities,

interests & resources

private sector

priorities, interests & resources

village/local people’s needs, priorities & resources

national policies, programmes & resources

CPDP

Figure 1: CPDP links planning policies and priorities horizontally and vertically

Lack of coordination among sectors results in planning fatigue and undermines the very concept of participatory planning.



1.5 Main phases, processes and outputs of CPDP

CPDP, as described in this publication, consists of three different phases. • Strategic Planning: The first phase is the

process of strategic planning to arrive at a multi-annual Strategic District Development Plan (SDDP). Strategic planning involves the development of a common longer-term vision, mission, and strategic development orientation for the district, merging national policies/strategies with local realities. The SDDP covers a period of 5 to10 years. It forms the basis for the 2 other phases. The steps and processes involved in strategic planning are elaborated in Chapter 3.

• Annual Comprehensive Planning: The

second phase is the annual process of comprehensive development planning. This starts at the village level with the preparation of Village Development Plans (VDP). Once in 3 years this is done through an intensive, detailed process, while in the second and third year the emphasis is on reviewing past experiences and

re-planning. In both cases village planning is followed by a consolidation process at Ward and District level, finally leading to a Comprehensive District Development Plan (CDDP). VDPs are based on local needs and aspirations but formulated within the framework of the SDDP. The process of organising and facilitating village participatory planning is described in Chapters 4 and 5. Guidelines for consolidating VDPs into a CDDP are given in Chapter 6.

• Implementation and M&E: The third phase

relates to the implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of the respective annual and multi annual development plans for each of the villages and the district as a whole. Distinct outputs for this phase are integrated action plans and monitoring and evaluation reports. Elaborate explanation of this phase is provided in Chapters 7, 8, and 9.

Figure 2 shows clearly the interrelation between the planning outputs of the respective phases.

Figure 2: Inter-relation between various CPDP outputs within the national policy context

Multi-annual (5-10 years period)

Strategic District Development Plan

National policies, sector priorities, programmes,

resources, assumptions, conditions, etc.

Annual Comprehensive District Development Plan

Annual Village/Ward Development Plans





2. ORGANISATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR CPDP

2.1 Introduction

This chapter advises you on the organisational and institutional arrangements that are required for effective and efficient implementation of CPDP. Some of the given arrangements are new to most districts in Tanzania and are based on successful experiences in some Tanzanian districts under Area Based Programmes (ABPs) supported by donors.2 Specifically, this chapter provides guidance on: • The establishment of Development Clusters • The establishment of the District Advisory

Council • The formation of the District Planning

Facilitation Team • The formation of Village Planning Facilitation

Teams

2.2 Organisational and institutional arrangements for CPDP

CPDP operationalises the concepts of decentralisation, local governance and participation into one system for district development planning. As this deviates from conventional government planning practice, existing local government arrangements may need to be strengthened or expanded. In the conventional system, the District Planning Officer (DPLO) and his/her staff are responsible for planning. Technical departments undertake planning activities for specific sub-programmes, often in direct contact with national programmes or donors. If villagers are consulted at all, it is done independently by the staff of these departments, often after some training in PRA. While overall coordination of CPDP remains with the DPLO, it can only to be effective if a number of new arrangements are realised. These refer particularly to: • Institutions that encourage intra-departmental

coordination and foster stakeholder partnership and collaboration in district planning, implementation, M&E.

• Facilitation teams that facilitate and coordinate comprehensive development planning from village to district levels.

2 Reference is made to the District Rural Development

Programme (DRDP) in Shinyanga and Kagera Regions, supported by the Netherlands Government.

CPDP emphasises the importance of dialogue and coordination between all development practitioners of the district, in partnership with villagers. Alongside the district council – with its sectoral departments (agriculture, health etc.) – these include representatives of donor programmes, NGOs, faith-based organisations, interest and advocacy groups (e.g. Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA), farmer associations). In order to structurally improve partnership between government and non-government practitioners, two new consultative bodies have proven to be important: (i) the District Advisory Council, and (ii) Development Clusters. Participatory planning is at the heart of CPDP and is essentially a facilitative process, enabling local stakeholders and communities to take the leading role in planning their own development. This then needs a structure that ties in the necessary expertise, dedication and mandate to effectively assist villagers in development planning, and to ensure incorporation of village plans into the district development plan. Two so-called facilitation teams are recommended: (i) the District Planning Facilitation Team, and (ii) the Village Planning Facilitation Team.

2.3 Development Clusters (DCs)

The conventional organisational arrangement of the district council to deal with development planning and implementation is along sector department lines. Development planning and implementation in this case is inward looking, and often only relates to technical sector specific issues, opportunities and constraints. Fine-tuning and harmonisation of plans and resources between government departments is limited. Moreover, and in spite of new national policies, collaboration and coordination between the government, private sector and civil society is practically non-existent. The establishment of Development Clusters can address these problems and help to re-orient development planners towards more dialogue, coordination, flexibility, and a process approach in development planning.



Development Clusters are working groups consisting of representatives from government sector departments and non-government agencies and donors active in specific and inter-related development fields, a so-called cluster. Development Clusters oversee planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of district development within their specified development domain. Their specific responsibilities in CPDP are listed in Box 4 below. Box 4: Responsibilities of Development Clusters in CPDP

■ Supervising collection, analysis and evaluation of data for strategic planning (strategic analysis – refer to Chapter 3.4.1)

■ Re-examining and consolidating results of strategic planning in main strategic result areas (identification of strategic directions – refer to Chapter 3.4.2)

■ Preparing district planning guidelines (refer to Chapter 4.8) ■ Appraising plans and budgets of village and district level

stakeholders, in light of available financial resources (refer to Chapter 6.3.1)

■ Consolidating approved plans and budgets into district sector plans and budgets (refer to Chapter 6.3)

■ Monitoring and evaluating implementation of approved development plans (refer to Chapter 8)

The size and exact composition of the development clusters in terms of departments, donors, the private sector and NGOs active in a specific development area, can vary from district to district. The same can be said for the number of clusters; nevertheless, for rural districts, the 5 clusters of Table 1 is a sensible guideline. Development Clusters do not replace existing departments, the district management team (DMT) or standing committees of the district council. Development Clusters are additional task groups and have a complementary role and mandate, particularly in relation to development planning and implementation. Development clusters report to the DPLO. Since Development Clusters are additional entities in the Council organisation structure, their formal position needs to be mandated by the Full Council.

Development Clusters are responsible for their own internal functioning and achieving their mandated roles and responsibilities. From among its members, Development Clusters nominate a chairman, secretary and M&E officer. Development Clusters meet and work within the framework of the annual CPDP planning and budget cycle as described in the following chapters, overseen by the DPLO. Important practical considerations with regard to the establishment, functioning and maintaining of Development Clusters are: • Approval and endorsement of the

Development Clusters and their specific responsibilities by the district administration and the Full District Council.

• Nomination of capable staff, who have sufficient technical skills and time to do the work, by all member organisations.

• Nomination of heads of departments or managers to the Development Cluster by all member organisations involved so that decisions can be made without delay.

• Allocation of adequate funds and other inputs (stationery, transport, etc.) and making them available at the required time.

2.4 The District Advisory Council (DAC)

Alongside the Development Clusters, where operational, planning technical matters are discussed and resolved, there is also need for a forum where representatives of government and non-government agencies meet to exchange ideas in relation to district development policies in general. Such a forum used to exist before 1997: the District Development Committee (DDC). However, the government representatives dominated the DDC, and other partners were only invited on an ad-hoc basis. The DDC was abandoned in 1997 as part of the government’s reforms. In certain districts of Tanzania (Kilimanjaro and Kagera Regions) a new district forum called the District Advisory Council has been tested and proven successful.

Table 1: Suggested Development Clusters Development Cluster Members of government departments, private agencies, NGOs and donors

working in: Rural Economy Agriculture, Livestock, Natural Resources, Land, Fisheries Health & Welfare Health, Water, Social Welfare Trade & Industry Trade & Industries, Cooperatives, Works Education Primary Education, Secondary Education, Culture, Sports Governance Community Development, Finance, Planning, Administration



The District Advisory Council is a new institution at district level to foster dialogue, understanding and collaboration between public agencies (local and central government) and representatives of non-government agencies, civil society and the private sector (Box 5). Box 5: Main objectives of the District Advisory Council

■ To foster public/private dialogue by bringing together legitimate representatives from the organized bodies of both sectors at the district level;

■ To share information in order to deliver services more effectively;

■ To increase mutual trust and responsibility; ■ To provide an opportunity to lobby and advocate for

specific interest groups; ■ To promote consensus on development issues, priorities,

strategies and programmes; ■ To improve cooperation in and coordination of district

development; ■ To act as a forum for joint and coordinated resource

mobilisation, diversification, and allocation.

With respect to CPDP, the District Advisory Council plays an important role in: • Overseeing the strategic district planning

process (Chapter 3). • Appraising of and advising on district planning

guidelines (Chapter 4). • Appraising of and advising on the

comprehensive district development plan (Chapter 6).

• Reviewing the implementation of the CDDP mid-term (Chapter 7 and 8).

To this end, the DAC meets at least four times a year. However, other issues of mutual importance may call for more frequent meetings. Membership of the DAC is mainly determined by the extent to which the private sector and civil society are organised in representative bodies. As this is often rather limited in rural districts of Tanzania, two umbrella organisations can initially stand in, one for NGOs and one for private companies. If in time the representation of different private interest groups becomes more diverse, more members can be nominated to the DAC. Table 2 provides an example of the DAC membership of Karagwe district. Critical considerations with regard to establishment, functioning and mandate of the DAC are that: • Members should have legitimacy (do they indeed

represent the constituency they claim to represent?) and be accountable (do they provide and seek feedback from their constituents?).

With a weak membership base, district networks have a tendency to get stuck in immediate member interests and loose sight of strategic and external issues.

• The DAC should be endorsed by all relevant government agencies (LGA, FC and CG).

• The functioning and mandate of the DAC should be regulated by a clear set of procedures and guidelines, agreed upon by all members.

The position of DCs and the DAC in relation to the government structure is depicted in Figure 3. In this way, DCs and the DAC become parts of an effective local governance system. Table 2: DAC membership of Karagwe District

Public Agencies

Private Sector

Civil Society

Central Government:: District Commissioner

Chamber of Commerce: TCCIA

NGO Platform/Network

Local Government: District Executive Director

Women’s Trading Group Network

Youth Network

Local Government Elect: Chairman Full Council

Livestock Owner’s Association Network

Representative main church denomination

Elected Councillors

Farmer Association Network

Representative traditional leaders

Representatives of district based donor agencies participate as affiliated members

2.5 The District Planning Facilitation Team (DFT)

The District Planning Facilitation Team spearheads and coordinates the process of participatory planning from village to district level. This is a demanding task that needs a combination of skills and expertise, usually not available within the district planning office alone. The DPLO therefore needs to form a permanent team of dedicated and committed individuals with the relevant experiences. Although roles and responsibilities of the DFT may vary from district to district to best suit local circumstances and opportunities, they should at least cover the following: Select, train, coach and supervise members of the Village Planning Facilitating Teams (VFTs) who are responsible for actually facilitating the planning process at village level.



Figure 3: The position of the DAC and Development Clusters within local governance • Plan, budget, coordinate, and monitor all

participatory planning activities from village to district level.

• Liaise with all district development stakeholders on the need and importance of comprehensive district participatory planning.

• Review and report on the comprehensive participatory planning process.

• Introduce participatory monitoring and evaluation.

• Facilitate the WDC to review and consolidate village plans into WDP.

• Assess village plans and proposals (as well as those originating from other actors).

The DFT team should bring together expertise in the fields of planning, village participation, training, and relevant technical fields. In line with the philosophy of CPDP, it should involve staff of NGOs and/or the private sector. Typically the team consists of: • The District Planning Officer (DPLO) as team

leader and coordinator • Assistant planning officers • Staff seconded from most relevant technical

departments, preferably representing each development cluster

• One or several NGO/private sector staff • One or several Ward Executive Officers

(WEO)

As is the case for any task team, it is important that the members of DFT receive the proper mandate, time, and resources to be able to function. It is equally important to ensure that the secondment of staff to the DFT is formalised within the technical departments and authorised by the District Executive Director (DED). This secondment and the ensuing roles and responsibilities should also be included and formalised in the job descriptions of each DFT member. NGOs and private agencies should do this too for their staff. The DFT members often need additional training to be able to give of their best in CPDP. Suggestions on how to build capacities of the DFT members are given in Chapter 10.

2.6 The Village Planning Facilitation Team (VFT)

Most rural districts in Tanzania cover more than 100 villages. It is not feasible for the DFT to facilitate village development planning in all villages of the district. A system of delegation is therefore required to cover the whole district. It is now government policy to build lower-level teams that provide support to village planning. We refer to these teams as the Village Planning Facilitation teams (VFT).

Full Council/ Standing Committees

DED

Finance, Planning, Manpower

Local Government Civil Society

Sector Departments

DAC

Development Clusters

Internal Audit

Village Governments Ward Development Committee

Village Assembly



Participatory Planning emphasises empowerment and ownership by the villagers. CPDP encourages villagers to change from passive recipients of funding and government plans to self confident planners of village development.



As the name implies, the main task of the VFT is to facilitate village development planning, from preparation to situation analysis to actual planning, budgeting and reporting (see Chapter 5). The team ensures that the 10 basic principles and conditions for meaningful participatory planning, as outlined in Chapter 1.3, are met. The VFT provides on-the-job training to 2-3 villagers, selected by the village council of each village as future village planning facilitators. These villagers will initially function as co-facilitators, but with time and experience, they will eventually become full-fledged village planning facilitators needing minimal outside support. If experienced villagers can be found, e.g. trained in previous programmes, they can directly join as full members of the VFT. The core of the VFT consists of members representing the ward. Members of the VFT are based within one ward with the advantage that distances to the villages are reduced, communication is relatively easy, and provision of facilitation services can be done at relatively low costs and in a flexible manner. Suitable candidates for the VFTs are selected by the DFT, based on the criteria in Box 6. Using the criteria mentioned, you may organise recruitment rallies in each ward, to identify and interview potential VFT members and to assess their suitability. Monitoring of their performance during training and later in the field is equally important to ensure quality. It is prudent to have VFT members from a variety of backgrounds: government, NGOs, Community based organisations (CBOs), and religious organisations.

This will not only enhance resource mobilisation, sustainability, and access to various networks of the community, but allow for gaining credibility. Involvement of women in the team will allow good interaction with women in the village during planning activities. Box 6: Selection criteria for VFT membership

■ Proven track record of successful participatory planning with and training of villagers.

■ Good facilitation and communication skills. ■ Creative and open minded. ■ Good knowledge of all development sectors in the district. ■ Unafraid to question established patterns and power

relationships. ■ Flexible and able to allow the villagers dictate the pace and

direction of planning. ■ Resident in ward and village. ■ Available full-time during the annual village planning

process.

For Ward Executive Officers (WEOs) and the staff of technical departments such as agricultural extension officers, education officers and health personnel, development planning is clearly part of their job. Yet, they may not always meet the above criteria. Sometimes their other duties such as revenue collection, supervision of government programme implementation may conflict with their position as independent facilitator of village planning. It is therefore recommended to get on board individuals from CBOs and/or religious organisations who are committed to development and are reputed for their integrity. Some NGOs might also have committed extension staff who can join the VFT.



3. PREPARING A STRATEGIC DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN

3.1 Introduction

This chapter helps you organise strategic planning and arrive at a well-formulated strategic district development plan (SDDP). It explains: • What strategic planning is and why it is

important • Your role and that of others in strategic

development planning • The main steps in preparing the strategic

district development plan

3.2 What is Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is a management tool. It is used for one purpose only: to help the district council and its development partners do a better job, to focus their energy on priorities, to ensure that all personnel are working towards the same goal, and to assess and adjust the council’s direction in response to a changing environment. Simply put, strategic planning is:

A disciplined effort to produce a set of

fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide an organisation, what it does, and

why it does it, with a focus on the future.

Key characteristics of a strategic planning process are: • Being strategic. The process is strategic because it

prepares the best way forward, responding to the circumstances of the council’s (dynamic) environment.

• Being participatory. The process is participatory because it intentionally brings together district development stakeholders; goals (i.e. the desired future) are set and approaches to achieving these goals are developed in partnership with key district development practitioners.

• Being disciplined. The process is disciplined in that it calls for a certain order and pattern to keep it focused and productive. The process raises a sequence of questions that helps planners examine experience, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present, and anticipate the environment in which the council will be working in the future.

• Relating to fundamental decision and action. The process is about fundamental choices, decisions, and actions in order to answer the questions mentioned above.

Strategic planning is important as it: • Ensures meaningful involvement of all major

stakeholders in the development process, building consensus among them in relation to the desired future of the district, and resulting in mutual understanding, respect, and commitment for further collaboration within CPDP.

• Clearly defines the purpose of district development (i.e. the framework for operational comprehensive district development planning), as it formulates objectives and strategies in a realistic and defined time frame for implementation.

• Ensures that optimal use is made of the district’s resources, by focusing resources on key priorities.

• Provides a baseline from which progress can be made and measured.

District strategic planning is long term by nature. It sets and defines the ‘playing field’ for operational action planning, i.e. the Annual Comprehensive Planning (see Chapter 4). While a time frame of 5 years is recommended by the Local Government Reform Programme, a longer time frame (up to 10 years) could be considered. As a rule of thumb, choose a longer time frame only after gaining experience with strategic planning. The key features of Strategic Planning versus those of Annual Comprehensive Planning are given in Table 3. Table 3: Key features of Strategic Planning versus Annual Comprehensive Planning

Strategic Planning

Annual Comprehensive Planning

Forward orientation Present orientation Searching Concrete Innovative ideas, new directions

Re-arranging existing ideas, actions

Synthesis Analysis Aims and Vision Concrete objectives Long term Short term Focus on strengths and opportunities

Focus on solving weaknesses and threats

Intuition, use of ‘soft’ information

Rational, use of ‘hard’ information



Strategic Planning provides a framework to put development priorities in the right order with a long-term perspective for the district.

3.3 Who should make the District Strategic Plan

In Tanzania, strategic planning is often associated with the Central Government. The Central Government is responsible for formulating and monitoring national policies and strategic plans, in order to guide and streamline national development. In recent years, a large number of national policies and strategic planning documents have been issued or revised. These can roughly be divided into 3 groups, namely: (a) overall guiding strategies, such as Vision 2025, National Poverty Eradication Strategy and the Poverty Reduction Strategy; (b) (sub) sector specific strategies, associated with sector ministries, such as the agricultural sector development strategy, the national health policy, the primary education development strategy; and (c) supportive – often cross-cutting – strategies, such as the rural development strategy, and the multi-sectoral strategy on HIV/Aids. In the decentralised governance system of Tanzania, District Councils – in partnership with major district development stakeholders – have the

obligation and responsibility to ‘translate’ these national policies/strategies into a coherent set of district strategies, taking into account the specific local realities. Every district is made up of a unique blend of natural, cultural, social, economic, and institutional resources and potential; what may be possible with relative ease and within a short time span in one district can be complex and difficult to achieve in another. District Councils also differ in resource base – be it human, organisational and/or financial resources. Lastly, districts differ in the number, size and capacity of different stakeholders – at district, ward and village levels – involved in district development. By definition therefore, strategic plans will differ from one district to another: there should not and cannot be a common recipe for all. While the district council senior management is ultimately responsible for the development of a strategic district development plan, strategic planning should be an inclusive, consultative process, involving all key district development stakeholders. These are: • District council senior management and staff;



Step 2 Identification of

strategic options • Organise a Strategic Planning

workshop with key stakeholders to: o Formulate Vision and

Mission o Define key Strategic result

areas for each opportunity and threat

o Prioritise strategic objectives o Identify enablers and

obstacles for achieving goals

Step 3 Write-up and

dissemination of SDDP • Formulation of a Strategic

District Development Plan with o Summary of overview results

from Step 1 and 2 of Strategic Planning

o Logical Framework for each key result area

• Dissemination to all development stakeholders through o Sensitisation meetings o Publication in leaflets,

brochures, local newspapers etc.

Step 1 Strategic situation

analysis • Stakeholder Analysis • Collection of baseline data on

district and macro socio-economic trends

• Analysis of service providers and services offered

• Review of national policies and legal framework

• Analysis of organisational strengths and weaknesses

• Analysis of external environment: opportunities and threats

Figure 4: Stages in Strategic Planning

• Councillors; • Representatives of development stakeholders

(e.g. civil society and the private sector); • Funders, who can help fund the action plans

derived from strategic planning. Experience has shown the importance of establishing a planning steering committee, to guide and oversee the strategic planning process until it is formally approved. It is good practice when this steering committee consists of members of the DAC (see Chapter 2), with the inclusion of the DPLO (the day-to-day coordinator of strategic planning and secretary of the steering committee) and possibly other heads of departments (representing the major sectors of the district). You are also free to allocate this responsibility to the Council Reform Team. Such a team is already in place within each District Council to guide the on-going local government restructuring process. Whatever committee is charged to oversee the preparation of the SDDP, it is important that the committee receives the appropriate mandate and support to fulfil its task and the commitment and time of its members.

3.4 Developing the Strategic District Development Plan

The way strategic planning is conducted differs from district to district. Three distinct stages can be distinguished as presented in Figure 4.

3.4.1 Strategic situation analysis Strategic situation analysis forms the core of the strategic planning process. It provides a detailed account and analysis of the current organisational situation, the resources available, and the environment in which it operates. It forms the basis to determine the most appropriate steps to realise the envisaged future. This is not an end in itself, but one step in a process that will lead to action and change. There are numerous methods and tools available for strategic analysis. The Local Government Restructuring Manual of the Local Government Reform Programme3 proposes the following tools: • Stakeholder analysis (assessing the council’s

readiness for change; assessing stakeholder impact and support, assessing stakeholder priorities).

• Baseline data collection on the district council, services and (macro) socio-economic trends (e.g. population growth, enrolment rates, trade, etc.).

• Assessment of services offered by other providers.

• Review of national policies and legal/ institutional framework.

• Community perception survey on the quality of services.

These tools are described in detail in steps 2 and 3 of the Restructuring Manual, and are not repeated here. But do consider the guidelines and principles in Box 7 in your analysis.

3 United Republic of Tanzania, Local Government Reform

Programme, President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government: Restructuring Manual – a Strategic Approach to Reform by Local Authorities; May 2003.



Box 7: Guidelines for strategic situation analysis

■ Before getting started, it is vital to recognise that an analysis and planning process calls for extra work, over and above the already overloaded programming priorities. Therefore, consider the full scope of what needs to be accomplished and make sure sufficient staff, time and funds is available.

■ Determine what information needs to be collected and how, what information is essential and what is not necessary. Collect both qualitative (perceptions, perspectives and opinions) and quantitative (facts, figures and percentages) information.

■ Make a detailed action plan to collect all required information. ■ Make optimal use of information already available. This may include information on:

(a) the socio-economic status of your district, e.g. results from previous participatory planning (& monitoring) activities by the district or others, reports of donor project/programmes implemented in the district, results of studies – including perception studies – by universities and others, statistics etc;

(b) the organisational performance of the district council, e.g. LGRP benchmarking exercises, audit reports; (c) national policies and (sector) development programmes, e.g. plans and reviews of the LGRP, public sector reform

programme, sectoral development programme. ■ Ensure that ‘field’ data is disaggregated where possible:

(a) by administrative level (ward, but preferably village level). This gives you the possibility to discern differences between these levels;

(b) by gender (male/female). This gives you the possibility to discern differences in access- and use of services by gender; (c) by social group. This allows you to ‘quantify’ access to and use of services by ‘disadvantaged’ groups.

■ Raw data is not very useful if not analysed, synthesised and evaluated in such a way that conclusions can be drawn (suggestions on data analysis are provided in step 4 of the LGR manual).

Objectivity is the key to a successful analysis. Sometimes an objective outsider (e.g. consultant) could be contracted to design and conduct all or part of the analysis. If you choose to carry out the analysis yourself, the Development Clusters should take the lead in analysing sector specific data. Quality control and consolidation, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the planning department (under the watchful eye of the Planning Steering Committee). The final Strategic Situation Analysis Report summarises all major issues facing the district and the opportunities available. Box 8 gives you the format for this report while more details are presented in Chapter 4.3 of the Local Government Restructuring Manual. Box 8: Proposed Format for Strategic Situation Analysis Report

1. Introduction 2. Basic data on district (demographic, socio-economic

development (+ projections)), district council and other development stakeholders/service providers (organisational structure, resources)

3. Review of national, legal and institutional framework 4. Analysis of current service delivery levels/key

performance indicators (disaggregated) 5. Satisfaction of civil society with service delivery

(disaggregated) 6. Assessment of internal environment (District Council,

other major stakeholders) 7. Summary of key issues and opportunities arising from

current situation (Adapted from: Local Government Restructuring Manual)

3.4.2 Identification of strategic options Based on the data and information compiled as part of the strategic situation analysis, the district can

decide on strategic development options. This implies developing and updating the district council’s vision and mission, and identifying and prioritising strategic directions and objectives. Vision expresses the future state that the district council aspires to; what degree of excellence it would like to display in its specified field of activity, and the manner in which it would like to be viewed and judged. Vision is often described as the most powerful motivator in an organisation. A vision is by nature idealistic, to be continually pursued, but possibly never achieved fully. Yet in the mere pursuit of it, much good is achieved. The Mission is the ‘raison d’etre’ for your council; why it exists. It is a statement of purpose and function. It describes the nature of your services, the target groups and clients that you serve, and how you serve them. From the issues raised and opportunities identified during strategic analysis you can identify and prioritise so-called key result areas and strategic objectives. Key result areas are the strategic areas where ‘clients’, i.e. the district population, require or have a right to expect results. Usually main result areas are related to the five development clusters: (1) rural economy, (2) health & welfare, (3) trade and industry, (4) education, and (5) good governance. Strategic objectives, in turn, are the specific accomplishments (per result area) that must be realised to (a) achieve the overall mission of the council, and (b) address major issues that face the council. The Local Government Restructuring Manual proposes a strategic planning workshop. During



this workshop, a broad range of stakeholders is invited to: • Develop or revisit the council’s vision and

mission. • Discuss the results of the assessment process. • Identify key strategic result areas. • Formulate and prioritise strategic objectives. • Identify enablers and obstacles for achieving

objectives. Such a workshop helps create ownership of (and thus commitment to) the strategic planning process, demonstrates the council’s commitment to participation and listening, and ensures the linkage between vision, mission and strategic objectives. A detailed description of each activity of the stakeholder workshop is given in the Local Government Restructuring Manual, and is not repeated here. Please, consider carefully the additional suggestions in Box 9 to help you in having a successful strategic planning workshop. It is advisable to use an outside facilitator to help you carry out the strategic planning stakeholder

workshop, especially if (1) you have not conducted strategic planning before or (2) there appears to be a wide range of ideas and/or concerns among stakeholders about strategic planning and current organisational issues to be addressed. The final step at this stage is the re-examination and consolidation of the results of the strategic stakeholder workshop into a first draft Strategic District Development Plan (SDDP). The DCs could be useful here to assess relevant technical issues. The DAC could come in to discuss the draft SDDP and to provide additional comment and analysis. This consolidation process is described in Chapters 5.3 – 5.6 of the Local Government Restructuring Manual. Important to mention though is the need to structure the strategic development plan according to the logical framework format. This will enable you to directly link up with the format required for expenditure planning by the Ministry of Finance (Mid-term Expenditure Framework, MTEF; see also Chapter 6.4.3).

Box 9: Suggestions for effective stakeholder strategic planning workshops

■ Spend sufficient time on visioning (vision, mission & values) as it will engage people in full exploration of possibilities. It also helps to tie-in values to action!

■ Do not focus visioning on generating short, exciting statements – this can result in abstract slogans with little utility value. ■ Use the tool SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to find strategic issues and potential. Ask the

participants to do a SWOT analysis on the basis of the information collected during strategic analysis and their own experience/intuition. This will help identify major strengths and weaknesses of the Council, as well as major outside threats and opportunities facing your organisation. Also consider trends affecting the Council, related to both the external and the internal environments.

■ Arrive at the major issues by considering the effects of weaknesses and threats identified. Consider issues that have a bearing throughout the term of your strategic plan, but look very closely at the immediate future. What strengths and opportunities can be built on to address the weaknesses and threats?

■ Consider each of the issues. Ask whether it’s ‘important’ or ‘urgent’. Often, issues seem very important when they’re only urgent, for example, changing a flat tyre is an urgent issue – but you’d never put ‘changing a tyre’ in your strategic plan. Attend only to the important issues and not the urgent.

■ Deal with issues that you can do something about. Issues that are too narrow do not warrant planning and issues that are too broad will bog you down.

■ Help other planners realise that they can overcome pending issues. Too often, because of shortage of resources, planners tend to be highly reactive, rather than proactive.

■ Issues should be clearly articulated so that an outsider to the organisation can understand the description of the issue. It helps to temper ideas, i.e. to verify them against reality by having someone in the group assigned to be the ‘devil’s advocate’. Their role is to ask straightforward questions in an effort to get other participants to adequately examine the current suggestion or idea before accepting it!

■ Main issues need to be formulated in the form of strategic objectives which need to be understood by the participants. ■ Gain consensus on the strategic objectives, on how they should be achieved (identification of broad strategies), and then

prioritise them. ■ Group the strategic objectives according to the main result areas (see above). Express the main result areas as ‘outcomes’, i.e.

what benefits can the district population expect after strategic objectives have been achieved, considering the prioritisation of strategic objectives. Gain consensus on the broad strategy for delivering each main result area.

■ Develop objectively verifiable indicators and means of verification for each main result area and strategic objective. ■ Define stakeholder roles for each strategic objective.

Adapted from various sources



3.4.3 Write up and dissemination A format for the SDDP is recommended in Chapter 5.6 of the restructuring manual. Box 10 gives this format with minor adjustments that incorporate reporting requirements of the MTEF. Box 10: Format for SDDP

1. Title 2. Sub title; summary of SDDP contents in a ‘one-liner’ e.g.

‘to make a difference’) 3. Introduction (describes the consultative process to arrive at

document) 4. Overview of current situation

4.1. Stakeholder analysis (who are they, what do they do, needs/expectations of stakeholders)

4.2. SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)

4.3. Key issues and opportunities 5. Vision, mission and values 6. Key result areas (including brief statement of the broad strategy

for delivering each key result area) 7. Strategic objectives per each key result area (including

general statements of how the council expects to achieve its objectives)

8. Conditions (highlighting factors that help (‘enablers’) and those that could hinder (‘obstacles’) the council in achieving its mission and objectives) and assumptions (highlighting factors, outside the control of the council which may have an impact on the realisation of objectives)

9. Verifiable indicators & targets (for each result area and strategic objective)

10. Time Plan, Timing 11. Resource Requirements (indicative; including specification of

stakeholder roles and responsibilities) 12. Monitoring (describes how the strategic plan will be monitored

and updated, when and by whom) 13. Communication (with stakeholders and the general public) 14. Signatures (for formal endorsement) Annex: Logical framework for each of the key result areas. Annex: Consolidated tables with data and baseline information for respective key result areas.

The plan is presented to the District Management Team and, subsequently, to the Finance and Planning Standing Committee for review and possible refinement. It is advisable to present and discuss the draft plan with departmental staff as well – they often provide valuable suggestions on objectives, responsibilities and timelines for completion of objectives. Finally, the revised SDDP is presented to the Full Council for final approval.

A frequent complaint about the SDDP is that its ends up collecting dust on a bookshelf, instead of being used as a framework for village planning and annual development planning or to attract donors to contribute to its achievement. To avoid this, disseminate your SDDP to all major development stakeholders, both governmental and non-governmental, at district, ward and village levels. Suggestions for dissemination of the SDDP are given in Box 11. Box 11: How to disseminate the Strategic District Development Plan

■ The SDDP should be published in both English and Ki-Swahili, including executive summaries;

■ All development stakeholders, departmental staff, NGOs in the region, district, ward and village level should receive copies of the SDDP;

■ Post your mission, vision and value statements on the walls of your main office, as well as on those of ward and village government offices.

■ Publish the SDDP or portions of it in local newspapers (if available), broadcast through local radio and post on bulletin boards at ward and village level;

■ Introduce new councillors and employees on the SDDP during orientations;

■ Include and translate relevant sections of the plan into district policies and procedures (e.g. as district by-laws).

■ Distribute the SDDP to all regional and district donors. ■ Have sufficient copies of the SDDP available to give to

official visitors to the districts (Ministry personnel, donors, NGO representatives, etc.).

■ Publish your SDDP on the official Government of Tanzania website: www.tanzania.go.tz



4. PREPARING FOR ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING (ACP)

4.1 Introduction

This chapter provides you with guidelines on how to prepare yourself for the second phase of CPDP, the annual comprehensive planning (ACP) phase. The chapter gives directions for: • The creation of interest and support • Formal endorsement of the ACP process • Getting the District Facilitation Team organised • Selecting villages • Preparing the ACP work plan and budget • Preparing the district planning guidelines

4.2 Creating awareness, support and commitment

CPDP will only be possible and effective if the main actors such as the Council, district staff, NGOs and villagers are aware of the process and see enough benefits to support its implementation. CPDP is sometimes a new concept in the district. It is therefore important to sensitise – prior to execution – the main actors at district, ward and village level on the steps of the CPDP process. This will help to create a supportive political and administrative environment. Raising awareness is a first step in a change process to move from traditional top-down planning instructions to a more bottom-up participatory planning approach such as CPDP. For many organisations and development planners this can be a fundamental change, and will take time to materialise. Awareness raising will be most effective if it brings across the specific benefits of CPDP to the various district levels and actors. Yet, this should be balanced by also mentioning the limitations of CPDP (refer also to Box 1). Sensitisation can be done through a combination of written materials and through meetings targeting specific actors. You may also consider organising a short exposure visit to a near-by district or to NGOs that have successfully implemented CPDP already. Real life examples, if successful, are very motivating. Councillors, key district staff and members of development clusters and DAC may particularly benefit from such visits. If funds permit, such should also be considered for village leaders.

An important step to enhance mutual understanding between various agencies about CPDP is to do a comprehensive review of existing planning experiences, both positive and negative. Has participatory planning already been implemented in the district and has it been used by certain departments or agencies (e.g. planning land use management, water and sanitation or agriculture)? What methods have been used and what can be learnt from these experiences? Who has been involved in these activities; have they been trained and can they maybe train others? All these questions, discussed with the various agencies will help to create a common understanding of the current practices, successes and failures and to agree on improved district-wide comprehensive planning modalities which are, by and large, accepted and adhered to by the various development agencies. If time and resources permit, consider organising a one-day interactive workshop for important stakeholders such as the DMT members, councillors, NGO managers in order to develop a deeper understanding of CPDP and their specific roles and responsibilities in the process. The main issues that should be on the agenda for such a workshop are: • Presentation of the review on current planning

practices among different agencies (SWOT). • The CPDP approach, its steps and processes

and its role in linking village priorities, district policies and national development priorities, sector wide programmes, etc.

• Limitations of conventional planning approaches.

• Advantages and limitations of PP and PRA and the O&OD planning approach.

• The specific roles and responsibilities of the key stakeholders: heads of departments, village governments, members of development clusters and DAC, councillors and NGOs.

• Implementation and operational issues: timing of the process, formats to be used, participation of civil society and private sectors in the planning process, etc.

Provide plenty of opportunities to those attending the workshop to comment, give suggestions, and discuss the various issues raised. This will help to increase their understanding and interest in CPDP. Experienced staff from sector departments and NGOs exposed to CPDP can help to facilitate such a workshop. Costs can be minimised by having such



a workshop in conjunction with a Full Council meeting.

4.3 Endorsing the district ACP

As in any other local government facilitated activity, ACP must be formally accepted and endorsed. Authorisation often takes the form of a specific policy decision by the Full Council after necessary preparatory work is done. It is important that the Full Council confirms the importance of ACP as the central approach to development planning in the district. In addition, the Full Council should endorse the organizational and institutional arrangements related to the successful implementation of CPDP (see Box 12). Box 12: Authorisation of ACP: main areas of attention

■ Main aspects of ACP in terms of timing, available resources, budget allocations, coverage of district, villages, etc.

■ The importance of the outputs, the village and district development plans in relation to priorities identified by the National Government and available resources.

■ Modalities of collaboration between various stakeholders. ■ Mandates and responsibilities of various stakeholders. ■ Mandate, responsibilities and composition of DFT and

VFT. ■ Mandate, responsibilities and composition of DCs. ■ Mandate, responsibilities and composition of DACs. ■ Mandate, responsibilities and composition of additional

(ad-hoc) planning (steering) working groups.

4.4 Coordination and collaboration between stakeholders

Most districts receive support from various agencies such as donors, NGOs, and churches. While abundant financial and technical support may be available, collaboration between the various agencies is often minimal or, in some cases, absent. Some agencies may have already carried out participatory planning in their operational areas, while this information is not used in overall district planning. Improved coordination is therefore a challenge and CPDP offers unique opportunities in this respect as discussed to some length in Chapter 2. An important step to enhance mutual understanding between various agencies about participatory planning is to do a joint review of existing planning experiences, both positive and negative. Has participatory planning already been implemented in the district, e.g. in planning land use management or in water and sanitation or agriculture? What methods have been used and

what can be learnt from these experiences? Who has been involved in these activities? Have they been trained and can they perhaps train others? Discussing these questions with the various agencies will help to create a common understanding of the current practices, successes, and failures and arrive at district-wide comprehensive planning modalities which are, by and large, accepted and adhered to by the various development agencies. Collaboration between agencies involved in development can be further strengthened by following the suggestions in Box 13. Box 13: Strategies for strengthening inter-agency collaboration

■ Build goodwill and trust through personal and organisational competence.

■ Maintain transparent and open communication. Share information on all relevant issues such as budgets, funding requirements, available funding opportunities (sector wide programmes and baskets).

■ Bring in competent staff of development programmes and NGOs into facilitation teams.

■ Organise frequent coordination meetings for all stakeholders.

■ Facilitate joint supervision visits to the village. ■ Take initiative to visit new agencies and programmes, and

acknowledge and appreciate their contributions and successes. Inform them on existing planning approaches and modalities of the district and invite them to participate. Explain procedures, formats and lessons learnt.

■ Provide copies of all relevant documents: SDDP, village and district development plans, district policies and guidelines.

As much as it is important to establish good personal collaboration and cooperation, this should be supported by appropriate organisational and institutional structures for effective collaboration such as the DCs and the DAC (see Chapter 2). If these structures are not yet established in your district, then put your energies to launch these and to get the support of all stakeholders. It might be a worthwhile investment to visit a district where these structures are working well.

4.5 Organising the District Planning Facilitation Team

Once the decision to go ahead with ACP in the district is taken, the next important decision is to agree on the formation of the DFT. This is elaborated in Chapter 2. The implementation of ACP however requires the active involvement of more actors than just the DFT. Different actors have important roles to play ranging from technical preparation of specific



sector plans to authorisation of consolidated annual plans. Table 4 provides you with an overview of various actors and their specific responsibilities that you may adopt for your district. Whatever division of tasks you agree upon, make sure it is clear to all the actors involved. Table 4: Actors and their core responsibilities in ACP Actor Core Responsibilities DED Supervision of ACP, facilitation of decision

making in DMT and Full Council. DPLO Coordination of ACP, formulation of general

planning time frame and guidelines, contact and information point for ACP, advice to the FC.

DFT Facilitation of stakeholders for ACP implementation, communication, dissemination of information and ACP outputs, liaison with all stakeholders, coordination, training, backstopping and supervision of primary ACP trainers and facilitation teams.

Heads of Departments

Formulation of sector specific planning guidelines, preparation and consolidation of sector plans and budgets, technical appraisal of VDPs.

DCs Technical appraisal of sector plans and proposals, consolidation of cluster development plans and budgets, monitor implementation of cluster development plans and budgets, cluster data collection.

DAC Comment on the ACP process and the annual CDDPs.

Councillors Policy setting for ACP, support to planning at ward level, communication of planning results, final decision making on district policies, and district development plans.

Be aware that the role of the councillors is rather complex and that they often wear at least ‘two hats’. Usually they are present during village participatory planning meetings. At the same time they chair the WDCs and, as legislators of district policies, they are also called to approve or disapprove the SDDP and the CDDP. Many councillors need a concerted capacity building support programme to fulfil these multiple roles as elaborated in Chapter 10.

4.6 Selection of villages for ACP

Village planning is done in a 3-year cycle as discussed in Chapter 2. In year 1, planning involves a detailed situation analysis as a basis for a 3-year indicative Village Development Plan with an elaborate annual plan for the first year. During year 2 and year 3, implementation of the previous year’s annual plan is reviewed, resulting in possible changes to the next year’s indicative plan and operational planning. These subsequent planning

exercises are much less intensive than that of the first year. Such a planning cycle should and cannot be initiated in all villages in one year, as it will not be feasible logistically and financially. It is realistic to plan for having all villages covered in a 3-year period, which means that only one third of the villages will undertake the intensive planning exercise in the first year, the next third in the second year, and the last third in the third year. As time goes on and villages gain substantial experience in participatory planning, they can do the planning themselves and request for outside facilitation as and when needed (rather than be selected by the district to undergo a planning session). This will certainly increase village ownership of the planning process, resulting in better VDPs and improved implementation. The fact that the village is able to organise the VC meeting and request the district for assistance is a good indicator of it’s commitment and leadership.

4.7 Timing of the planning process and work plan preparation

One of the first tasks of the DFT is to prepare a detailed and concrete work plan with realistic time frames for implementing the ACP. Make sure you take into account the tasks and responsibilities of each of the important actors as described in Table 4. The DPLO as coordinating officer ensures that the work plan is properly prepared and that all activities are executed in time. Give specific attention to timing of the preparation of the VDPs and the consolidation into the annual CDDP. An example of main activities for the preparation of VDPs and the CDDP, and timing them throughout the year, is provided in Table 5. Ideally, timing of ACP should be harmonised with the financial year of the government which is from July to June (Table 5). Preparation of planning guidelines and training of the district and village teams should not start later than December so as to complete the actual village planning in the period January to March. This will give ample time to consolidate the CDDP and to get it approved by the respective committees before July. However, the actual village planning coincides with the main agricultural season in many parts of Tanzania. It is important to schedule the village planning in such a manner that optimal participation of both men and women is guaranteed.



Table 5: Timing of ACP through the year and related main activities Main Activities for Work Plan Months/

Financial Year

Planning, Implementation, M&E Annual ACP

PP in selected villages *

Revision VDP in selected villages **

Main Actors involved

December

Awareness raising Preparation of district planning guidelines (Re-)Training of DFT (Re-)Training of VFT

DPLO Dev. Clusters, DPLO, DED, FC Outside trainers DFT (+ outside help)

January February March

Facilitation of village planning Advice WDC Approval of VDPs Consolidation of VDPs by WDC

DFT, VFTs, Village governments DFT, WDC Village assembly DFT, WDC

April/ May

Development of comprehensive district development plan (CDDP) Advice DAC/RAS Approval CDDP by Standing Committees, FC

Development Clusters, Sector Departments, DPLO, DED DAC, RAS Standing Committees, FC

June Approval CDDP by PO-RALG, sector ministries, donors

PO-RALG, Sector Ministries, Donors

July

Release funds Communication to villages of approved budgets Start implementation

Ministry of Finance, Donors DFT, VFT, Councillors All stakeholders.

August September October November

Implementation, M&E, Reporting (continues until June the next year)

All stakeholders according to defined and approved work plans

* **

Extensive participatory planning at the village to be carried out only in a limited number of selected villages depending on planning and financial capabilities; to be repeated in 4th plan year. Revision of annual village work plans to be carried out in year 2 and 3 after extensive PP in year 1.

It is crucial that the period between the actual village planning and allocation of funds and start of implementation should be as short as possible, preferably not exceeding 3 months. If longer, people will loose interest and become de-motivated.

4.8 Budget for ACP

After elaboration of a work plan, a specific annual budget has to be prepared and agreed upon to be able to implement ACP. Costs for ACP can be considerable and the entire funding may not be available within the Council’s revenue. Additional funds from donors might be needed. Whatever budget is required, it is important to try to keep the budget as realistic as possible. In practice this mostly means cutting proposed budgets so as to make the overall budget more cost efficient and to constantly set new budget priorities. Some suggestions to keep the budget low are: • Plan extensive facilitation of village

participatory planning not at once in all villages, but in a staggered manner, covering all villages in 3 to 4 years. Such a staggered approach will also improve quality, as in-house expertise on planning is slowly built up.

• Rely on existing PRA studies and village plans. Avoid doing an extensive participatory planning

exercise if this has already been carried out through another agency.

• Make sure that preparatory work is carried out prior to the start of the actual village participatory planning. VEOs and Village Standing Committees can for example collect baseline & PRA information prior to participatory planning. This will reduce the planning days and therefore the costs.

• Sub-contract the training and facilitation of participatory planning to NGOs that are already operating in the location.

• Look for additional resources elsewhere, through the Local Government Reform Programme or with NGOs.

• Try to link-up with regular planned activities and meetings paid for by other budgets.

• Limit the number of non-productive (sensitisation) meetings.

• Make use of local or regional trainers in order to reduce transport costs.

• Make use of local (village) accommodation and prevent organising seminars at (semi)-urban centres.

An annual budget format for ACP implementation is provided in Table 6. The number of district and village facilitators is left to your discretion and will largely depend on available funds for CPDP.



Table 6: Example budget format CPDP

District example size: 90 villages Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total % Awareness raising councillors & stakeholders once 728,500 - - 728,500 1% Training district facilitators 10 people once 4,129,200 - - 4,129,200 6% Selection village facilitators 6 per ward/year 228,000 228,000 228,000 684,000 1% Training village facilitators for 6 wards/year 3,852,900 3,852,900 3,852,900 11,558,700 16% Facilitation in selected 30 villages/year 15,109,500 15,109,500 15,109,500 45,328,500 63% Training assessment/review planning in selected villages

- 890,300 890,300 1,780,600 2%

Facilitation in selected 30 villages of assessment/review

- 1,695,000 1,695,000 3,390,000 5%

Ward development compilation in 6 wards/year 120,600 120,600 120,600 361,800 1% Comprehensive district development plan on yearly base

1,387,000 1,387,000 1,387,000 4,161,000 6%

Total 25,555,700 23,283,300 23,283,300 72,122,300 Note: A detailed operational budget is provided on the CD-Rom. Instead of making a 1-year budget it is recommended to make a 3-year budget to express the shifting focus and anticipated reduction in budgets over the years as follows: • Year 1: Training of DFT, training of VFT,

intensive on-the-job coaching of VFT by DFT in village PP.

• Year 2: Follow-up training of DFT and VFT, reduced on-the-job coaching of VFT by DFT.

• Year 3: Refresher workshop by the district team for VFT members.

Make sure that both the work plan and the proposed budget are not too ambitious. For example, trying to cover too many villages at once with an extensive PP exercise will result in a very tight and rigid schedule, which might not be realistic. Moreover, you run the risk that facilitators are over-stretched and that the quality of training and village participatory planning is reduced.

4.9 Preparing of planning guidelines

Preparing clear planning guidelines concludes the main preparatory activities for village and district planning. Producing clear planning guidelines and disseminating these to all stakeholders concerned, particularly the villagers, prior to the start of the actual planning process is essential. It provides the necessary context, priorities, standards, and budget opportunities and limitations. A starting point for the annual budget guidelines are the guidelines issued by PO-RALG and sector ministries early in the planning cycle. These need to be consolidated with priorities as elaborated in the SDDP (refer to Chapter 3) and ‘translated’ into practical and understandable guidelines to be used in preparing village and district plans. Translate the guidelines into Ki-Swahili for better understanding

by the village government and the wider public, and make sure they are distributed to all concerned in time. Practical suggestions for preparing district planning guidelines are presented in Box 14. A number of them will also be used for setting the criteria for assessment of VDPs (refer to Chapter 6.3.1). One of the difficulties you will face is collecting all relevant information on planning and funding before actual village participatory planning starts, i.e. in January. The only solution is to start requesting this information early – not only from sectoral ministries, PO-RALG, but also from donors, NGOs and other local stakeholders active in your district. If financiers are not able to give firm commitments, request for indicative figures – and mention this in your planning guidelines (to avoid disappointment afterwards). Finally, before you really engage in the actual planning and start training facilitators and visiting villages, consider carefully the potential ‘pitfalls’ of ACP given in Box 15.



Box 14: Suggestions for preparing district planning guidelines

■ Make an overview of all funding sources for development activities of your district. Place this information in a table, using a format with the following columns: o ‘source of funding/name of programme’; o ‘indicative ceiling in Tshs’; o ‘conditions for use’. Take the time to be as comprehensive as possible, by including funds from district’s own resources, central government, donors, NGOs, other local development stakeholders etc.

■ Determine which funds are available for village level planning and which for district level planning (Indicative Planning Figure: IPF): o For some funding sources, central government allocation levels and ceilings are specified. (e.g. at least 50% of the grants that

replace abolished sources of revenue should be allocated to village councils; at least 50% of the capital development grant from the Local Government Support Programme should be made available to villages; at least 40% of the LGSP capacity building support grant should benefit villages). But the council will need to determine whether allocation formulas and access criteria are needed: will the funds be divided equally over all villages, or will they be divided proportionate to, for example, population size; will all villages benefit from these grants, or should minimum access criteria be in place? If funding originates from the central government, you need to prepare a proposal on this – in consultation with senior management – for presentation and final endorsement by the Full Council. If funds originate from- and is managed by NGOs/other stakeholders, then you need to consult with them to arrive at clear criteria and allocation formulae;

o For other funding sources, such allocation levels and ceilings are not clearly specified. A case in point is funding from the council’s own sources (i.e. through revenue collection). As with the vertical allocation formulae described above, the full council needs to take a decision on this: how much funds will flow back to the villages, for what purpose and under what conditions.

■ Translate above information into indicative planning figures for village and district level planning, with their specific requirements and conditions. If allocation formulas have been used, indicative planning figures will differ from village to village, and this needs to be specified.

■ Formulate the general requirements for village and district level planning based on the guidelines in this publication. Include at least: o The principles of participatory planning (how should participatory village planning be conducted; who should be involved;

what process and output (format) is expected); o The principles for consolidation at district level (what criteria will be used to assess village proposals; what criteria will be used

to assess district level proposals; how should consolidation take place); o The timetable (with deadlines) and feedback/communication mechanism. These planning requirements and procedures need to be discussed and agreed upon by the development clusters, the District Management Team and the DAC, and endorsed by the Full Council/Planning and Finance Standing Committee.

■ Compile the district planning guidelines, e.g. using the following format: 1. Introduction (why these guidelines, how to use them, who to ask for assistance); 2. Main points from SDDP as framework for village and district level planning (strategic objectives & targets, priorities,

indicators, conditions, assumptions and strategies for implementation); 3. General guidelines for operational District Development Plan and annual Budget;

3.1 Village participatory planning (guiding principles, methods, procedures, outputs); 3.2 Preparing a comprehensive DDP (criteria for assessing village level and district level plans, methods and procedures

for consolidation, output); 4. External funding sources and requirements (what funds are available, under what conditions); 5. Timetable and deadlines; 6. Feed back, preparing for implementation; 7. Signatories. Annex. Standard Bills of Quantities for Common Infrastructure Works



Box 15: Common pitfalls of ACP

■ District and village plans are usually over-optimistic: stated activities exceed by far the human and financial resources available. Strict selection of activities in line with the priorities of the villages is crucial for a realistic plan.

■ Development plans attempt to keep all stakeholders happy and therefore often lack focus, leading to support of non-relevant activities.

■ The wheel is re-invented. Existing evaluation reports, review missions, SWAP documents, national policies, development statistics and other relevant literature are often not used as input to the planning process.

■ The development plan has not changed anything. The implementation of the previous year’s plan is not critically assessed and lessons learnt are ignored. If planning hasn't changed anything, it hasn't worked.

■ Planning is sector department oriented. There is no coordination with other departments and NGOs, missing out the opportunity for synergy. This often leads to a waste of scarce resources.

■ Planning fatigue of villages and staff due to undertaking more than possible. ■ Sector departments insist on implementing the bulk of activities, while their human resources are a constraint. There is

insufficient outsourcing to villages, the private sector and NGOs. ■ Many proposed budgets are not cost effective and often proposed in order to complement salaries. This affects credibility of the

planning process as a whole and deters potential donors. ■ Consolidated sector plans often remotely represent VDPs. ■ Participatory planning is rushed well beyond the pace and capacity of the village community. ■ Planning becomes an acceptable excuse for non-action. Multiple planning requirements constrain practical implementation and

monitoring. ■ Development Plans are often not read and shelved even before the ink has dried as they are not realistic and irrelevant.





5. FACILITATING VILLAGE PARTICIPATORY PLANNING

5.1 Introduction

This chapter describes the actual planning process in the village and how to facilitate and support it to result in a village development plan. Particularly, the chapter helps you in: • Short listing villages for participatory planning

and dissemination of information and guidelines

• Clarifying village roles and responsibilities in planning, budgeting and re-planning, and ensuring adequate community representation.

• Timing the village planning and organising the first village meeting

• Taking stock of available information for situation analysis in a systematic way

• Making use of Participatory Rural Appraisal • Using the Opportunities & Constraints format

• Facilitating the setting of village development priorities

• Establishing village development budgets • Organising annual re-planning Several village planning methodologies have been used in Tanzania. The Ministry for Local Governance (PO-RALG) promotes the Opportunities and Obstacles to Development approach (O&OD) as the national planning methodology. This chapter helps you to well organise the O&OD process in the village. Chapter 5.5 and 5.9 are based directly on the O&OD methodology. For further information, please refer to the O&OD field manuals.

The legitimacy of the participatory planning process depends entirely on the proper representation of the community. Government regulations require a quorum of 50% so that decisions of the village government or assembly are valid.



5.2 Dissemination of information and guidelines

Inform villagers in time of the up-coming planning exercise. Make sure that an official invitation letter for participation is sent to the village government, with a copy to local NGOs and other village agencies and committees. You may use the village information (display) board to display the letter and other relevant information. Make sure a copy of the letter is also sent to the WDC. The letter should be signed by the DED and at least mention the following: • Background and context with reference to

previous VDP. • The objectives of the participatory planning

exercise for the village. • The proposed timetable and the process

foreseen in the village. • The Village Planning Facilitation Team and its

role (refer Chapter 2.6) • Expected village participation. • A request to make the necessary preparations,

inform participants and provide for a local venue and possibly other resources such as refreshments and food.

• The planning guidelines (see Chapter 4.8) as attachment.

In informing the village, pay particular attention to all financial aspects of the VDP, such as funding priorities and opportunities, budget ceilings and limitations, and fund transfer modalities. Clarity on all these issues will prevent villagers from starting on a wrong footing. In terms of available development funding, the sector-wide programmes of education, health and agriculture are important. Villagers have to grasp and understand what these sector wide programmes have to offer and how they can benefit. Apart from specific information covering these issues in the planning guidelines, it is good to prepare leaflets with essential information on each sector wide programme and distribute them to all VEOs and WEOs. Make sure that the information provided helps the proposed participants of the village planning exercise to understand what is expected from them and the ‘do’s and the don’ts’! This will help prevent “planning fatigue” (Box 16).

5.3 Community representation

The value and legitimacy of participatory planning depends entirely on the proper representation of the community in the process. Low turnout and

poor representation of the different village groups during meetings are a bad start and should be prevented. If this happens, it is a sign of poor communication or lack of community interest. Your guidance may be critical to ensure proper representation of various ‘social strata’ of the community. Care should be exercised to avoid government staff or influential political/business personalities dominating the planning process. Box 16: How to prevent planning fatigue

All of us have at one time or another been confronted with villages showing little interest in participatory planning. Villages may reject outright the idea of yet another planning exercise. Paying allowances is then the quick fix, but will it lead to good results? The reality in Tanzania is that all districts have conducted participatory planning in one way or another. Many villages have invested considerable time in the process. Unfortunately, many village plans that have been prepared are shelved, are of poor quality and are never implemented. No wonder there is planning fatigue. Therefore: ■ Always take the comments of the village seriously and

analyse why they reject the offer. ■ Build on existing plans even if they are of insufficient

quality. Focus on the priorities of the last exercise and facilitate implementation.

■ Make sure that the core activities of the actual village plan are implemented in order to create enthusiasm.

■ Encourage local ownership and emphasise the villagers’ own responsibility rather than that of the government and donors.

■ Be honest and do not bend to social pressure. Do not make easy promises to the community. Invest in communication. If activities were not approved for funding, explain immediately why and how the problems can be overcome in the future.

■ Avoid overlap. Coordinate better between different development actors operating in the same villages

■ Make sure that the facilitators provide quality, so that there is no need to have the same exercise re-done. Take care that the village plan is properly documented and that sufficient copies are available at the village and in all village agencies.

The following suggestions help to assure adequate community representation: • Carry out a wealth ranking exercise. This is a

PRA tool used to identify poor, average and prosperous families in the village. Organise sub-groups for planning and prioritisation along these categories.

• Based on a Venn diagram analysis of the village, another PRA tool, identify the major interest groups of the community. Invite the representatives of these major interest groups to the planning exercise.

• Make sure representatives of all sub-villages or hamlets attend.

• Emphasise from the start that leaders are to support the interest of the groups they represent and not their individual agendas.



• Encourage the representatives to discuss the outcome in their hamlets and to provide feedback to the VDCs.

• During village assemblies, use ranking rather than voting for prioritising development issues (see 5.9.3) as it allows for open consensus.

5.3.1 Women and minorities Equal and functional gender representation during planning workshops and decision-making is important. It is also compulsory as stipulated in national policies. If too few women attend, they will rarely be very active. To allow for women to speak out, special sub-groups of women should be formed. Sub-groups of women during village planning provide the appropriate forum to express female concerns and decide on gender specific solutions. It is important to allow women to rank their development priorities separately. In most villages, there are specific minorities such as small tribes, disabled people, recent immigrants, etc. Appropriate and functional representation of such minorities during core decision-making is also

important. Sub-groups of these minorities can help to formulate their concerns independently. The concerns and priorities of the women and minorities should be separately documented in the village development plan. Merging these beyond recognition into the overall, as is often done, will only reduce the quality and relevance of the VDP. 5.3.2 NGOs and grassroots structures In the village, participatory planning should not focus exclusively on the formal government structures such as the Village Council. Parallel to what was stated in Chapter 2 and 4 on stakeholder collaboration at the district level, and in line with the national policy, the active collaboration of CBOs, church groups, traditional institutions and NGOs should be supported and facilitated, also at the village level. More resources will thus be mobilised for village development. NGO staff and church leaders could be resourceful members of sub-committees.

Mere numbers of women in the planning exercise is not enough. Special sub-meetings should be organised to allow women to express their opinions freely.



5.4 Village versus hamlet level planning

The recommended focal point for CPDP and extensive participatory planning workshops is the village level. Some districts, though, may have experience in facilitating CPDP at the sub-village level. Because of increased cost, increased time and other, mainly logistical, reasons this is not recommended. Trying to reach all sub-villages would be an impossible task. Moreover, the village is the lowest level of local government, represented by the village government. The village government is legally recognised and is in direct contact with the District Council. Representatives of all respective village hamlets such as chairpersons and appointees should participate in the village level planning. It is their responsibility to represent the concerns of their constituency and to give feedback to their sub-village about decisions taken and about the VDP itself. A village may decide, though, to organise planning sessions at hamlet level for purposes of increased ownership and mobilisation of the beneficiaries.

In addition, some development activities may only involve certain hamlets and not all of them. Examples are traffic security along a new tarmac road, a shallow well or a hamlet land use plan. In case a village decides to have planning sessions at hamlet level, these should be done prior to the village level PP workshops.

5.5 Roles and responsibilities in village planning

In villages and wards, a number of main actors can be distinguished, each of them having distinct roles and responsibilities with respect to the various phases in the participatory planning process (Table 7). A key role is also played by several village institutions: the village assembly, the village council and the various village-planning groups. The village assembly sets the initial development priorities, assigns representatives to be involved and ultimately endorses the VDP. The grassroots democracy in Tanzania hinges on the functioning of the village assemblies.

Table 7: Responsibilities of main actors in village development planning Stakeholder Main Responsibility

Villagers ■ Active participation in village assembly. ■ Critical review of VDP, village expenditure and revenue forecasts. ■ Participation in PP workshops and technical committees. ■ Representation in special planning groups.

Village Chairperson ■ Chairs the village assembly and the village council meetings ■ Informs and mobilises the community for the planning process. ■ Participates in sub-groups in PP.

Hamlet Chairperson ■ Member of the Village Council. ■ Provides feedback from the hamlet to the planning process and vice versa. ■ Possible resource person for PP workshops in sub-village (wealth ranking, transect walks). ■ Records and verifies population data of the hamlet. ■ Endorses and mobilises community contribution.

Village Extension Officer ■ Secretary of the Village Council. ■ Compiles the results of PP process into a draft VDP and presents it to Village Council ■ Presents the VDP to Ward Development Committee. ■ Forwards the VDP to the district (attention DED). ■ Compiles and provides village baseline data. ■ Organises logistics (invitations to people, organising meetings, assessing capacity for local

contribution etc). ■ Displays the approved village development plan to the public.

Ward Extension Officer ■ Secretary of WDC. ■ Supports the village council and the village planning process. ■ Liaises with the technical departments. ■ Verifies whether regulations of village councils and village assemblies are respected. ■ Compiles and provides ward baseline data. ■ Consolidates draft WDP and presents it to WDC. ■ Forwards the ward development plan to DED. ■ Displays ward sector development plan in public.

NGOs, faith based organisations

■ Resource persons for village facilitation team. ■ Members of ward development committees.

Councillor ■ Chairperson of WDC. ■ Feedback from district standing committees to constituency and vice versa. ■ Mobilising, village community, ward and village leadership.

Source: adapted from O&OD manual



Their functioning should, however, not be taken for granted. Village assemblies are strengthened if their role in the participatory planning process is formalised by the District Council. Make sure that government laws related to the composition of village assemblies (quorum, gender and minority representation, representation of all sub-villages etc.) are observed. Consider closely the various suggestions given in Box 17 on how to strengthen the functioning of the village assemblies. Box 17: Strengthening the functioning of the village assembly

■ Make sure that the population is informed in time about the dates and important agenda points of the assembly meetings.

■ Announce the agendas of the village assembly on sub-village and church notice boards.

■ Stimulate transparency and accountability amongst village and hamlet leaders.

■ Organise village assembly meetings during a period when the labour requirements at household and farm level are low and people have time to attend.

■ Do not rush decisions. If no consensus is reached, allow for task forces to hammer out details or allow a second day of discussions.

■ Also consider that: Although each and every villager may have participated in the planning process, it still may happen that there is some “pre-cooking” and lobbying by political and administrative leaders who pursue their own interests. The role of the district team is to mediate and bring back the discussion to the main stream planning process. Rural communities have their own informal ways of decision-making. It is good to map these during the PRA exercise (Venn diagrams highlighting the formal and informal institutions). Tribal norms still play an important role in decision-making.

As part of the process, village planning groups are formed and elected by the village assembly. They are primarily responsible to work out specific proposals, to collect data, or to analyse costs and feasibility of proposed activities. If present in the village, technical staff from NGOs and sector departments can be nominated to these planning groups. The results of all groups are compiled by the VEO into the draft Village Development Plan.4 The village council is responsible for reviewing and improving the draft VDP prepared by the VEO. The village council submits the VDP to the village assembly and oversees its implementation. Figure 5 depicts the functions of the actors in the various stages of the village planning process: After 4 Note that in the O&OD methodology, these village

planning groups are often called ‘village facilitation teams’. However, this guideline reserves the definition of ‘village facilitation team’ for the team that facilitates the planning process at the village.

the first start-up village assembly, the VFT helps to generate additional information using PRA tools (see below). This information is reviewed, together with secondary data available, in village planning groups per sector to work out proposals. Thereafter, the VEO and the facilitation team put these together into a first draft village development plan. Finally this draft plan is processed by the village council, reviewed by the Ward Development Committee for final approval in the concluding village assembly.

5.6 The first village meeting: village ownership of the process

The village planning process starts with a village assembly meeting. Make sure that members of the DFT attend this first session in support of the VFT, to provide information, to explain the planning guidelines, to elaborate the role of various stakeholders and generally, to give support to structure the village planning process. Typically, a village assembly meeting will include the following: • Presentation and discussion of the objectives of

village planning. Elaboration on planning guidelines. Agreement on the relevance of this exercise for the village.

• Overview of main steps with a review of existing village planning data to make choices on what needs to be done.

• Explanation and clarification of the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders.

• Appointment of special workgroups representing the hamlets and different types of households in the village (female headed, poor, rich, pastoral etc).

• Agreement on how to do the village planning, a work-plan: timetable of events, required sub-groups, representation, who attends and where; facilities needed.

• Brainstorming on village resources and opportunities.

• Overview of contributions and support from village, ward and district.

Make absolutely sure that the conclusions and agreements reached during this meeting are recorded in official minutes and endorsed as a formal ‘contract of agreement’ for implementation of the participatory village planning. Once a village has gone through a participatory planning process and has appreciated its outcomes, a village by-law can be agreed upon stipulating the use of participatory planning for the future. With the passing of such by-laws, annual planning is fully institutionalised at the village level and becomes a routine exercise.



Figure 5: First-time ‘intensive’ Village Participatory Planning Process

Village Assembly Outlining process Clarifying roles Electing of sub-group representatives Outlining planning guidelines Inventorising of existing planning & PRA experience Brainstorming on resources/opportunities

Village Assembly

Amendments VDP Final approval VDP

Village council

Amendments and endorsement

of 3 year VDP

Draft 3-year VDP Detailed for year 1 Indicative for year 2 & 3

Village Planning Facilitation team (VFT) • Data collection • Situation analysis (PRA

tools, sector checklists) • Prioritisation • Planning

4 – 5 days

1 day

1 day

1 day

Sub-group work Specific groups involved: • Men/women • Youth/elderly • Minorities Carry out planning activities: • PRA /data collection • Analysis • Proposal of activities per sector • Development of costs & local contribution

Village External Facilitation

Ward Development Committee

Advices Village Council on: • Coherence with district,

sector policies • All technical matters, quality,

relevance and cost efficiency of proposals

• Village cross-cutting issues • Duplication, overlap with

proposals from other villages

District Planning Facilitation Team

• Training and back stopping

VFT • Coordination of ACP from

village to district level

Hamlet 1

Hamlet 2

Hamlet 3

Hamlet 4

Adapted from: O&OD Manual



5.7 Secondary data collection and analysis

As mentioned above, the village assembly during the first session is invited to report and review relevant previous planning exercises. These form an important input into planning. The facilitation team needs to make a list of existing PRA, planning and training documents/outputs and collect them. If they are not available in the village, make sure they are obtained from project offices or the district information centre. Reliable statistics on village development are also an important input to the planning process. These include data on population, education, health, water, agriculture, revenue collection and development funding in the past. Such data will help the community to better understand the situation in their village, especially in comparison to national and district averages. Ensuring that secondary data is available before the planning exercise will help save valuable time for in-depth planning. Data collection is part of the routine responsibilities of civil servants and the following statistics should be available:

• Village Extension Officer: population registers, village revenue & expenditure, service delivery in the village. Agricultural extension officer: production data, average yields etc.

• Head teacher: pupil registration, teacher/pupil ratio, book/pupil ratio, pupil/classroom ratio etc.

• Dispensary and health-center: Basic statistics on morbidity and health services.

However, be critical about the data as incorrect records can lead to wrong conclusions. Ensure the village statistics are reliable and up-to-date. Help the civil servants to translate the data into useful indicators. For instance, the total number of books in the school can be divided by the number of pupils in order to get the pupil/book ratio. The ratio can be compared with the national average or the target of the Ministry of Education. The core data should be displayed on the village announcement board. The available documentation and relevant (PRA) information will determine what still needs to be done during the participatory planning exercise in the village.

Powerful traditional and political leaders can disrupt democratic decision making.

AGREE AGREEAGREE



This means that there is no uniform schedule and work plan for all villages. Based on available documentation and previous planning work done, you can ‘cut corners’ and help save time and funds.

5.8 Participatory Rural Appraisal

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is often confused with Participatory Planning (PP). However there is a significant difference. PP encompasses the comprehensive process of planning development with primary stakeholders. PRA is an important methodology and tool box for PP. It provides facilitative and participatory techniques to help people collect relevant information, analyse problems and develop their own solutions. PRA elicits local knowledge, makes planning more transparent, and strengthens local capacities. Table 8, provides an overview of commonly used PRA tools. The VFT needs to be trained in how to use them selectively for the village PP. The use of too many PRA tools should be prevented. It only leads to too much information that is often not used and PRA fatigue with the villagers. The use of PRA methodologies and instruments are not ‘written

in stone’. On the contrary, they should be used in a flexible manner and ‘inventing’ new methodologies appropriate for the circumstances is a sign that the purpose is understood. Most PRA exercises should disaggregate according to gender. This will show the relative position of men and women for each issue and how this affects their respective analysis of the situation and proposals for the future.

5.9 Preparing the Village Development Plan

Based on the data generated and secondary data available, villagers can start on the actual planning. This is done in small sub-groups – planning groups – with facilitative support from the VFT. If it is the first time the village is involved in participatory planning the work is done in four steps (Figure 6): 1. Identifying development opportunities and

constraints. 2. Formulation of specific objectives and

activities. 3. Ranking of activities. 4. Drafting a budget.

Table 8: Overview of main PRA tools and their use

PRA tool Purpose Venn Diagram: Institutional Analysis

■ To identify the various actors in the village and their relative positions and relationships in village development and the further participatory planning process.

■ To sensitise villagers on roles & responsibilities of the Village Council. Wealth Ranking ■ To identify poor/average and wealthy households for adequate community presentation in the

planning process. ■ To develop understanding that there are different sub-groups in the community who require

different solutions. Service Delivery ■ To reflect on (lack of) existing services and define priorities for missing services. Resource Mapping

■ To make an inventory of (a) natural resources and land use, (b) social and ethnic stratification. ■ To assess development opportunities and the community’s own resources that can be

mobilised for village development. Transect Walk ■ To identify land use within the landscape and agro-ecological conditions. Historical Profile

■ To identify (a) trends and major development events, (b) development activities in the past and their impact, (c) track record of community self help initiatives as an indicator for the leadership of the village.

Agricultural Calendar ■ To list out major agricultural crops and major farm activities. Gender gap mapping ■ To map gender inequalities as obstacles to development. Daily Routine Diagram ■ To identify female/male workload and gender task division. Access to production factors and decision making

■ To understand gender-related access to production factors and decision making. ■ To outline development opportunities for women.

Labour calendar ■ To get an overview of labour fluctuations and availability. ■ To identify periods when villagers have time to organise the planning process and community

activities. Cash availability calendar.

■ To identify periods of cash shortage and access. ■ To decide on best period to mobilise community contributions for development activities.

Flow diagrams of goods, services, people, cash and natural resources

■ To outline the relationships of the village with the outside world. ■ To identify development opportunities.



Figure 6: Planning steps in the village

Village Database • MUTUA – health • Hamlet population registers • TSM-education • LGA M&E database

PRA Survey • Wealth ranking households • Village map • Transect walk • Time line village • Institutional mapping • Agricultural calendar • Gender gap mapping • Gender access HH

resources • Daily calendar

Village revenue & expenditure

Specific Objectives Vision 2025 1. Food security 2. Primary school education for everybody 3. Gender equality 4. Availability of primary health services for everybody 5. Family planning services for required age. 6. Reduction of child mortality rate to 3/4 7. Availability of safe drinking water for all 8. Increased life expectancy 9. Eradication of extreme poverty 10. Overcome inadequate cultural traditions 11. Good governance and respect for the rule of law 12. A well-educated and self-confident community

Checklists for each sector

3. Ranking of activities

Work in sub-groups facilitated by VFT: Women/men, elderly/youth

Poor/average/wealthy households Disabled/ethnic minorities

Draft Village Development Plan For advice/endorsement WDC, Final approval village assembly

District planning guidelines based on strategic development plan

Checklists for each sector Checklists for each sector

1. Identification opportunities and obstacles for development

2. Formulation of specific objectives and activities

4. For priorities: draft 3 year rolling plan & budget



In facilitating the preparation of the VDP, the objectives of the Strategic District Development Plan (SDDP) are taken as guiding principles. The SDDP provides priority objectives for the district, which is an important reference for village planning. This prevents the usual bias towards social services. In case the district does not yet have a SDDP, the national policy goals and specific objectives (Vision 2025) can be used as a reference (see Figure 6). A copy of the National Development Vision 2025 should be available in the village. CPDP facilitates a planning process that incorporates a comprehensive list of activities of all relevant programmes and actors, covering all relevant development sectors. In principle a VDP consists of all activities relevant for the development of a village, although not all activities require funding. Examples are regular village council meetings, internal audits of the village development funds (PEDP, health basket, etc.), village land use plans, settling land disputes, enacting village by-laws, law enforcement, collection of contributions, establishment of firebreaks around village and school, woodlots/forest reserves etc.

Yet, these activities are important for the proper functioning of the village and should therefore be part of the VDP. 5.9.1 Identifying development

opportunities and constraints Rather than starting with focusing on constraints, it is more fruitful to emphasise local opportunities and available resources for development. What are the resources available in the village and why are they not optimally used for local development? A self-assessment by villagers taking this question as a starting point puts ownership and responsibility for local development where it belongs: in the village. It is recommended to carry out a separate opportunity and constraint assessment for each sector based on the PRA results, production data and standard checklists. It is important that the VFT is familiar with the checklists. The O&OD manual (see ‘Guidelines for the village facilitator’) provides such checklists per sector. A range of issues and required data/indicators are listed.

The majority of village plans have no focus and will therefore not be implemented. Priority setting based on transparent criteria is crucial.



These help to guide and open up the planning exercise and broaden the planning horizon. These checklists also prevent the inherent technical bias of the VFT. However, do not use the checklists inflexibly. Keep local dynamics and priorities in mind. In addition, do not forget probing and explorative questioning. This will trigger analysis that is required for effective planning. Make sure that a checklist is only used after PRA and brainstorming exercises, after villagers have listed their opportunities and constraints, just to complement the villagers’ own analysis. 5.9.2 Defining development objectives Opportunities and constraints identified are translated into development objectives. Here too, the district strategic plan (based on the Tanzania development vision and local priorities) provides the framework for the village development objectives. Alternatively, the village can opt for the O&OD methodology, which proposes a number of standard development objectives (with a strong emphasis on health). Outputs and activities are then clustered per broad development objective. 5.9.3 Setting priorities and activities Planning is making choices. Making choices is based on setting priorities, which can be best done by ranking, not by voting. Voting implies accepting or rejecting proposals and will usually result in frustration among participants, leading to low morale and finally defaulting from the planning process. Ranking sets proposals in order of priority, without rejecting any of them upfront. It is also useful in dealing with more sensitive issues. To put priorities in the right order, it is important that the community does the ranking without external interference.

Basically, there are two ranking methods that can be used: • Pair-wise ranking. This is simply comparing the

activities or options in pairs. This is a quick but less transparent approach. If you do pair-wise ranking, make sure that the criteria used are properly discussed as they are indications of what is felt to be really important.

• Matrix ranking. This is a comprehensive comparison of a number of activities or options. These are assessed using a number of criteria agreed upon by the community. Each criterion can be given a special weight. Community members can verify the score per criterion. It is a powerful tool for presentations in the village assembly.

Box 18 gives generally accepted criteria for matrix ranking. However the village could opt for other criteria as well. Box 18: Useful criteria for priority ranking

■ Does the activity correspond to the most felt need? ■ Does a large part of the community benefit from the

activity? ■ Can rapid success be assured? ■ Is the risk of failure or problems low? ■ Is the activity cheap? ■ Is external funding available? ■ Does the activity also offer financial advantages to the

beneficiaries? ■ Does the activity fit into the local community pattern? ■ Are locally available resources used?

Table 9 gives an example of a matrix ranking. It is important that all involved agree on how high or low the scores should be (see last column of Table 9). The final scores are obtained through public discussion.

Table 9: Example of matrix ranking for proposed village development activities

Proposed activities Ranking Matrix By Gender

Construc-tion classroom

Water pumping scheme

Construc-tion office VC

Introduction resistant banana var.

Audit all village accounts

Explanation Score

Most felt need 4 3 1 4 3 Very strong=5, None = 0 Community benefits 5 2 1 5 5 100% = 5, <25%=1 Rapid success 1 1 2 4 5 <1/2 year =5, >2 years =0 Low risks 4 2 4 3 3 No risk=5, High risk=0 Costs

1 0 1 5 4 Local contribution <50.000 Tsh= 5, >2 Mil Tsh = 0

Available funding 5 2 1 3 3 Assured = 5, Not at all =0 Financial increase 1 3 0 4 4 150%=5, <25%=0 Fit local pattern 4 2 2 4 2 Yes= 5, No= 0 Simple to implement 2 1 2 4 4 Easy= 5, Complicated=0 Use local resources 3 2 3 3 2 Entirely=5, Only land =0

Ass

essm

ent c

riter

ia

Total

30 18 17 39 35 Score in bold for activities selected by men.



A proposal is made and other villagers chip in their opinion until a final agreement is reached. If activities are interdependent (for instance the construction of a gravity water scheme and watershed land use planning or the construction of a secondary school and lobbying for teachers), they should be clustered together during ranking so that implementation makes sense. Let women and minority groups develop their priorities separately from men. There will therefore be two tables – one with the priorities of women and the other one for priorities identified by men. A second ranking might be required, whereby women and men get consensus on the final village priorities. It is then important that both women and men are equally represented. It is recommended that the results of the ranking are attached as annex to the VDP and sent to the district (DED, DPLO) as a supporting document. A systematic use of matrix ranking also helps to prevent errors as mentioned in Box 19. Finally, following prioritisation, a decision has to be taken on the number of activities to be implemented per year. This is based on the: • History of implementing capacity of the village • Availability of external resources (see district

planning guidelines) • Village contribution.

Box 19: The need for information on national policies to set village priorities

In one village in the Kagera region, the bwana shamba proposed to introduce village coffee nurseries and to request funding from the district council. Farmers were to expand their coffee areas and produce more in order to compensate for the lower prices. With the promise of additional funding for nurseries, the village community adopted the proposal in the VDP. However, the proposed further expansion of the coffee acreage was not in line with the national policy. The world coffee market was in a structural glut. National policy therefore advised to phase out coffee production in marginal areas (large sections of Kagera region are marginal), promote coffee quality and improve processing and marketing rather than increasing production. The planning team had to inform the village that funding would not be made available for the coffee nurseries. A proper use of the ranking criteria and a critical dialogue between the villagers and the bwana shamba would have eliminated this proposal. The ranking exercise would have outlined that there is only a marginal financial gain for the coffee producers. A clear district policy on the matter would also have prevented wrong priority setting by the village.

5.9.4 Drafting the Village Development

Plan Table 10 gives a good format to bring the results of all the work into one planning matrix. Baseline data and PRA results are then used to develop quantitative indicators and benchmarks for monitoring. The format enables indication of activities for a three year period (Y1, Y2, Y3). The village plan can thus become a 3-year rolling plan when at the completion of each year, the previous year 2 will become year one, year 3 will become year 2 and a new year 3 is added on.

Table 10: VDP Planning matrix

Planning Matrix: 3-year rolling plan Specific objective

Opportu-nities

Con-straints

Reasons Solutions Implemen-tation steps

Who? Require-ments

Cost

When

Indicator

Tot

al

Villa

ge

Ext

erna

l

Y1 Y2 Y3 Specific Activity 1

Objective 1 Activity 2

Activity 3

Specific Activity 1

Objective 2 Activity 2

Activity 3



5.9.5 Village development budgets Once development priorities are established, a detailed and cost efficient budget has to be prepared. This requires a systematic review of a number of critical aspects. Good facilitation by the VFT, sometimes assisted by technical staff from the district, is crucial. As the trust of the community in the village executives hinges on the proper allocation and utilisation of development funds, VDP budgets need to be as transparent as possible. The VFT should ensure public scrutiny of the budget and should try to involve as many actors as possible to build in checks and balances for accountability and cost efficiency. The village council needs to review the draft budget while the WDC should give additional advice. The VEO presents the final village budget along with the village plan to the village assembly. In preparing the VDP budget, do not forget to critically assess previous years’ budgets, ask questions such as: Was the village able to use all the funds of the last years? If not, why? Was the village able to accomplish all its proposed activities; what were the bottlenecks and what can be learnt from these? Did the village contribute in full with expected levels of local contribution in cash and kind? What went wrong? and identify ways to do it better this year. The technical departments will have to provide the VFT with standard Bills Of Quantities for regular activities such as construction of roads, water infrastructure and buildings. This will help to meet standard costing and approved quality standards. Make sure these standards are adhered to. In case the VDP proposes specific technical projects beyond their planning and implementation capabilities (e.g. gravity schemes, bridges, etc.) a special technical survey will have to carried out by the district technical departments. Consider making a visit to other villages that have implemented similar activities to get a feedback on costs.

The village contribution in kind and in cash should be quantified and included in the budget. For many programmes this is an important consideration for allocating additional funds to top-up the budget of the VDP. In principle, voluntary labour by villagers and local building materials should be valued according to the prevailing market rates. A typical VDP budget as in Table 11 therefore has two distinct cost columns: one covered by local contributions and one by external funding. The yearly budget of Table 11 is of course derived from the 3 year rolling plan (Table 10 above). Outputs and activities of year 1 are carried forward to the yearly budget format. Details related to the costs and funding sources are filled out. The implementation is outlined per quarter. If total costs and budgets of activities are too high, consider the following: • Encourage the village to reduce the activities in

line with its resources and priority ranking. The village revenue and expenditure plan will help to determine the allocation of local resources.

• Look for collaboration with neighbouring villages to reduce costs by combining activities. One example is the clustering of transport requirements for the construction of primary schools or pooling of purchases of building materials (see Chapter 6.2).

5.10 Advice from Ward Development Committee

The draft VDP is submitted to the Ward Development Committee for advice. It is important to remember that the ward does not have a governance function, but only an advisory one. As in the past, the ward has no power to override decision from the village assemblies and village councils. The main purpose of the ward in relation to the village is to strengthen village governance processes and to coordinate and build the village capacities, while respecting village autonomy.

Table 11: Format village development budget year 1

Budget Costing Implementation period Priority Objective

Specific Activity

Resource Requirements

Unit Rate Days/ units

Amount Village Contribution

External Funding

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

1. 2.

1.

3. 1. 2.

2.

3.



Partly, this advisory role of the ward is already carried out by getting ward-based technical staff into the VFT such as WEOs, WECs, health officers, extension workers, etc. Particularly the WDC will do the following: • Give feedback on the district priorities in

relation to sector wide programmes, national priorities and service delivery statistics of the ward.

• Give feedback on all technical matters, quality, relevance and cost efficiency of the VDP.

• Assist villagers with quantifying resources that are required to carry out activities.

• Advice coordination mechanisms between the various VDPs.

All comments are written down per sector. However, be aware that many WDCs don’t have the required competence to advice on VDPs. You may consider to organise specific training for WDCs as part of a more comprehensive WDC capacity support programme (Chapter 10).

5.11 Review and endorsement by Village Council

After completion of the draft VDP, it is up to the Village Council to make a first assessment and to instruct for improvements of alterations, if any. The VFT could be of assistance by facilitating the assessment in particular with regards to planning and priority aspects. The consolidated comments and advice of the WDC is presented to the Village Council by the VEO and the village chairman. The Village Council then reflects on the comment and can suggest adjustments and alterations to the VDP before it is submitted to the Village Assembly for final approval. After approval of the VDP, the plan is submitted to the DPLO and to the WDC.

5.12 Annual re-planning

After a village has gone through a well facilitated planning exercise process as described above, or even when it has done a detailed planning under other programmes, the planning process for the following years can be relatively simple and short. The purpose of the annual re-planning is to evaluate the implementation of the 3-year VDP, to update the VDP also as an input for updating the district CDDP.

Here again, the village should be well informed about the re-planning exercise through a letter by the DED. This letter should remind the village of the need for assessing implementation of the previous VDP and indicate that, if interested, the village could formally request support to facilitate re-planning. Basically, the re-planning follows the same steps, procedures and formats as the first time planning, however the focus is on assessment and evaluation of the VDP under implementation. After one year of implementation, the relevance of the VDP will be under scrutiny and it will be possible to plan more realistically for the two years. Priorities are reviewed in the light of the changing context. Some activities would have been realised while others are carried forward for final completion. New activities may be identified and budgets will have to be updated. Moreover, tasks and responsibilities may also be reassigned in light of transfers, competence and commitment. As one year of the 3-year period of the VDP has come to an end, a new 3rd year will be added to the rolling plan to maintain the overall 3-year time frame. The priorities and activities of this 3rd year are broad and need not to be planned into too much detail. Many factors are not known for the 3rd year. It is however important to keep a medium-term focus. The review and re-planning process results in a new 3-year plan that follows the usual steps for technical advice and formal agreement: the WDC gives technical input and the village council submits the new plan to the village assembly for approval. A copy of the newly approved VDP is displayed on the village and school notice boards. Remember that all documents related to the VDP must remain in the village. These include the Village Development Plan, the Work Plan, the Memorandum of Understanding, Progress Reports and Monitoring and Evaluation Reports. Copies should be sent to all relevant development partners.

5.13 Final considerations

Facilitating the compilation of a VDP is a balancing act between two key aspects. On the one hand it is important to encourage village ownership, with the emphasis on support to village priorities; on the other hand some level of top-down prioritisation to reflect district priorities is also unavoidable.



The VFT has to make sure that the two aspects are in held in balance to the satisfaction of all actors concerned. In terms of funding and political focus, SWAPS such as for Education, Health and Agriculture are important. The link of participatory planning with PEDP and the health and agricultural sector wide programme and available funds is therefore very important and the VFT should provide all necessary information. The O&OD planning format covers all sectors. Based on the consolidated ward plans, the technical departments can extract the information for their respective sector. Once the government reform process is fully implemented, the line ministries are

supposed to better coordinate the formats and planning process. The formats at villages level should not differ from the ones at ward, district and regional level. This will enhance compilation considerably and make resources available for implementation. In terms of infrastructure, few villages have the capacity to implement more than the construction of two classrooms or a dispensary. During the village (re)-planning, the implementation capacity of the village should be taken into account, e.g. how the village has performed in previous years. Leadership and community contribution are two aspects that need to be given attention.





6. PREPARING A COMPREHENSIVE DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN

6.1 Introduction

This chapter addresses the activities at ward and district level to arrive at a Comprehensive District Development Plan. It gives you guidance on how village plans can be consolidated and matched with districts priorities, national programmes and, most importantly, with available resources. It clarifies • The process of assessing and consolidating

Village Development Plans • The compilation of comprehensive sector and

cluster development plans • The preparation of the comprehensive

development budget • The format for writing the Comprehensive

District Development Plan • The process of formalising the CDDP

6.2 Consolidating village plans at ward level

In the process of consolidating the village plans into the CDDP, the ward performs an important intermediate role. Once the village assembly has approved the final VDP, it is forwarded again to the WDC. After all final VDPs of a given ward are received, the Ward Executive Officer simply compiles the different plans and budgets into a single document. This is known as the Ward Development Plan (WDP). During this compilation, similar activities of different villages are grouped together, organised per sector. This facilitates the assessment and consolidation of VDPs into the CDDP. An example format for consolidation of VDPs by the WEO is given in Table 12.

While compiling the draft WDP, the WEO takes note of possible activities that: • Transcend the village level (e.g. a large water

gravity scheme, a wildlife conservation reserve, a bridge on the border between two villages, feeder roads that pass through several villages).

• May lead to conflict (e.g. development of livestock pasture area in one village that is adjacent to a conservation area in another village; health dispensaries proposed in two neighbouring villages; use of water in one village that may have repercussions on agricultural activities in another village).

• Are of relevance at ward level (e.g. construction or rehabilitation of health centre, secondary school).

Coordination by the ward between various villages in implementing activities may have distinct economic advantages (Box 20). Box 20: Economies of scale at ward level

A typical example where the ward can help the village to achieve ‘economies of scale’ is the transport of stones, bricks and sand. Most transporters are not interested in relatively small consignments. Only if several villages combine individual consignments into one substantial quantity will local and even regional contractors be interested, and for a much reduced cost too! For example, if the transport requirements for all schools in one ward are tendered as a package, the contract becomes substantial and even transporters of the regional headquarters will apply for a ward contract. It requires good coordination at the ward level to achieve this economy of scale and to advice and plan beyond the individual VDPs.

Table 12: Format for consolidation of VDPs at ward level

Sector: …………………….. Activity*: …………………………….

Budget Implementation

period Name of Village

Expected Output/ Indicator

Resource Requirements

Unit Rate Days/ units Amount Village

Contribution External Funding Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

* Use one table for each activity – this will make assessment and consolidation at district level easier.



The draft WDP and ways of economising are presented and discussed during a meeting of the Ward Development Committee. This meeting is attended by the elected councillor of the ward (chairman), the WEO (secretary), government staff seconded to the ward, all Village Council chairpersons and Village Executive Officers and representatives of non-governmental organisations and civic groups involved in ward development. All issues and decisions of this meeting are recorded in minutes-of-meeting (grouped per sector). These minutes are sent to the respective Village Councils and the District Council, together with the final WDP. But remember, the decisions of the WDC are advisory in nature, and should be treated as such. The District Council will consider the WDC’s advice when assessing and consolidating the VDPs into the CDDP. The DFT provides advice to the WEO/WDC during compilation and discussion of the WDP, particularly during the first and second years of village participatory development planning.

6.3 The Comprehensive District Development Plan

Although VDPs form the core input for the CDDP, other development proposals also need to be considered in preparing the CDDP. Many districts receive support from a considerable number of programmes and donors. The Ngara district, for example, has 35 development actors and programmes: 10 regional and district donor-funded programmes, 4 national sector programmes, and 14 local and 7 international NGOs with development activities. Many of these programmes and donors stipulate the type of activities to be supported, in line with national or donor/NGO policy and priorities. Relevant though these may be, they may not necessarily concur with the prime needs and priorities of the population. Examples are capacity building activities of District Council or NGO staff, district-wide campaigns/strategies for HIV/Aids and construction of secondary schools. Multiple development actors are a blessing but also a challenge. The burden is essentially one of dealing with fragmented funding and planning and reporting requirements. The blessing is less dependency on a single source of funding, flexibility and, in principle, better development coverage. Box 21 gives a number of practical suggestions for planning in such an environment. In short, the CDDP process consolidates and integrates plans and priorities from village communities with those of other district actors

within the framework of national and district strategies and priorities, while matching available resources. This process is visualised in Figure 7. Box 21: Suggestions on planning in a multiple donor/programme environment

■ Explain to new programmes, donors and central government representatives what is already established (networks, coordination structures, matching principles etc) in the district and encourage them to join in.

■ To avoid parallel efforts, take the lead as a District Council. Develop a multiple year plan based on excellent quality and cost efficiency (Chapter 3). The better the quality the bigger the likelihood that other programmes/donors will subscribe to it.

■ As a DPLO encourage collaboration between the different actors, organise exchange field and office visits to build goodwill.

■ The management of every programme has a cost. Streamlining reporting, monitoring and implementation modalities will reduce costs and increase effectiveness.

6.4 Assessment of village plans and proposals of other actors

The next step in the process is to assess the activities which have been planned by the different villages from the district’s point of view. Some requests for outside financial support may be too high. Some activities maybe unrealistic, others too expensive, some others could be very good, and some may just have to wait another year. How do you assess and how do you decide? At the same time, District Council departments, NGOs and other development actors would also have developed their own plans. Do these overlap with village plans? Are they complementary or do they conflict? Are they realistic, sustainable? Again, how do you assess and how do you decide? The assessment of village plans and other development plans is a crucial step in the comprehensive planning process. Plans may be accepted, conditionally accepted, rejected or postponed. Assessment of plans at district level is a sensitive process requiring close collaboration between the district planning office, the DFT and the technical departments/development clusters. The DFT is responsible for collation of plans per activity/sector and the first general assessment; the development clusters oversee the technical and financial assessment of activities by the technical departments, while the planning department is responsible for overall coordination. Objective criteria are needed to make the assessment easy and transparent.



Figure 7: The CDDP process

Assessment (general/financial/technical) & consolidation by development clusters Output: comprehensive sector development plan

1. Natural resources

2. Health & water

3. Works, trade & industry

4. Education

5. Local governance

Output: Improved draft CDDP

Deliberation Full Council

Review by Regional Secretariat

The Comprehensive District Development Plan CDDP

SWAPs guidelines • Health basket • PEDP • LGRP • Road fund • Agricultural

basket

MTEF/PO-RALG • Personal emoluments • Other charges • Development

o Water o Education, Health o Agriculture

NGO and other district-based development programmes

Review and amendments by standing committees

Finance & planning

Social Services

Economic Affairs

Village Development Plans (possibly consolidated into WDPs)

District development Planning guidelines

Sectoral proposals by district council departments

Proposals NGOs & other actors not covered by VDPs

Review and consolidation by planning department Output: draft Comprehensive District Development Plan

Technical review by department

Gui

delin

es a

nd in

puts

Ac

tual

ope

ratio

nal

plan

ning

Ap

prov

al a

nd F

orm

alis

atio

n of

pl

an

Strategic District Development Plan

Advice DAC



Such criteria are used systematically for all plans and are made known to all villages and other development actors at the start of the planning process through the district planning guidelines (Chapter 4). Adhere strictly to these criteria and inform villagers and other actors of the screening outcome in time. Three types of criteria are used in the assessment: • General criteria: common requirements for all

proposals requesting outside assistance. • Technical criteria: specific technical requirements

for sector specific proposals. • Financial criteria: cost sharing, Indicative

Planning Figures (IPFs), and other budgetary requirements of specific activities.

The assessment process is best done through a 4-step process: 1. Preparing for assessment 2. Assessment of plans on general relevance and

meeting general requirements 3. Assessment of plans on technical and financial

feasibility 4. Ranking and prioritisation of approved

proposals

Step 1. Preparing for assessment: The preparation of the assessment form by the planning department. This form has three parts: part one for general assessment, part two for technical and financial feasibility, and part 3 for prioritisation & ranking (Tables 13, 14, and 16). General criteria can already be entered as a standard on this form; technical and financial criteria, on the other hand, will need to be entered by the technical departments/development clusters. The preparation of a timetable for assessment. The DPLO sets the deadlines for the assessment process, in line with the general ACP timetable. Make sure that each person involved knows clearly what his/her responsibilities are in the assessment process. Step 2. General assessment: All plans and proposals are assessed first on general relevance, independent of whether they are completely self-financed or requesting district assistance. This is the task of the DFT. Village plans are assessed first, followed by plans/proposals of other actors. Use one assessment form for each activity. Criteria for general assessment include: • The extent to which the proposed activity is in

line with district development policy and priorities, as determined in the SDDP (refer to planning guidelines).

District Participatory Comprehensive Planning brings all actors together.



• The extent to which cost sharing requirements have been adhered to (refer to district planning guidelines).

• The extent to which other financial requirements (e.g. budget ceilings or IPFs) have been adhered to (refer to district planning guidelines).

• The extent to which the proposed activity duplicates or conflicts with activities from other villages and actors (refer to advice WDC, compare activities from other actors with VDPs).

• The track record in implementing projects (look at speed, quality and sustainability of past implementation).

• The capacity to implement (refer to number of activities proposed by the same village/actor)

Table 13 gives an example of a general assessment done using part 1 of the form and the above criteria. You may wonder whether the DFT can reject proposals that are completely self-financed by villagers or other actors. This will depend on the reasons for rejection. If the proposal is at odds with district/national policy, duplicates or conflicts with other proposals, then there is reason for rejection. However, if there are doubts concerning e.g. track record and implementation capacity, the DFT should only give advice. If you have reservations about the implementation capacity of a village or organization, approve those activities that are self-financed, and reject (some or all) activities that require external financial assistance.

As a consequence of the general assessment, some activities will be approved while others will be rejected. The approved activities are then collated per activity and sector, and submitted to the relevant development cluster. For example, all proposals related to the construction of classrooms are put together under the sector education, and submitted to the development cluster ‘education’. Make sure the relevant assessment forms are added. The rejected proposals are collated per actor (e.g. per village as far as VDPs are concerned and per organisation for other actors) and submitted to the DPLO. Step 3. Assessment of technical and financial feasibility: Each sector will have specific criteria to assess the technical and financial feasibility of proposals. Many of these have been included already in the district planning guidelines (Chapter 4). If any new instructions or guidelines have reached your office, the technical departments/development clusters should use these to update the financial and technical criteria per sector. Technical and financial criteria may include the following: • Does the proposal adhere to relevant national

programme guidelines and requirements? • Is the bill of quantities in line with national

guidelines and requirements? • Is the implementation schedule complete and

realistic? • Can the proposed activity be sustained,

technically? • Does the activity have an impact on

environment, gender equality (positive/negative)?

Table 13: Part 1 of assessment form: example of general assessment Activity: Construction of New Dispensary Location: Nyandekwa Village Source of Proposal: VDP: YES Others (specify): NONE Funding: Self-financed: ZERO Request for district support: IN FULL

PART 1. GENERAL ASSESSMENT (to be filled in by DFT) Criterion Score Argumentation Is proposal in line with district policies & priorities? Yes Construction and Rehabilitation of health facilities is a district priority. Are correct cost-sharing arrangements in place? Yes All cost sharing requirements have been correctly entered into plan & budget.

BOQ attached. Are other financial requirements adhered to? Yes Activity can either be funded by Health Basket or from village LGSP IPF. Is the community track record good? Yes Good track record. Last year 2 years, 2 classrooms completed. Does the community have the Implementation capacity?

No VDP proposes the construction of a dispensary and 2 classrooms. Experience shows that few villages can cope with an additional project alongside the construction of 2 classrooms (which receives higher priority in the VDP).

Are there duplications/conflicts with proposals from other nearby villages?

Yes A neighbouring village, Bukonda, has same proposal. According to WDC advice, Bukonda village should be given preference (better implementation capacity, and higher population).

Overall Assessment Activity not approved. Preference is given to construction of a dispensary in Bukonda Village.



• Do the implementing actors have sufficient capacity and expertise to carry out proposed activity?

• Should (part of the) the activity be out-sourced and to whom?

• Are cost-sharing contributions realistic? • Do budget items conform to current market

prices and district allowance policy? • Can the proposed activity be sustained,

financially? Table 14 gives part 2 of the assessment form – the technical and financial assessment. This assessment is assigned to the most experienced and competent staff member in the given field. It is the responsibility of the Development Cluster, though, to oversee that all criteria are used consistently and correctly by whoever is involved in the assessment exercise. The cluster also makes sure there is no

overlap of activities within one particular sector or between sectors within the cluster. Make sure that attention is given to coherence among activities of various departments in terms of technical design, costs, staff remuneration, and extension approaches etc. Develop and use standards such as standard bills of quantities and lists with standardised cost rates for equipment, materials, labour (skilled/non-skilled), allowances. The technical and financial assessment results in some plans being approved (some with modifications), and others being rejected. The rejected proposals are submitted to the DPLO, who organises them per actor and adds them to those proposals rejected during general assessment. The approved proposals go through the next step of the assessment process: prioritisation and ranking.

Table 14: Part 2 of assessment form: example of technical and financial assessment Activity: Construction of New Dispensary Location: Bukondo Village Source of proposal: VDP: YES Others (specify): NONE Funding: Self-financed: ZERO Request for district support: IN FULL

PART 2. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSESSMENT Criterion Score Argumentation Does the proposal adhere to all relevant national programme guidelines and requirements?

Yes Minimum requirements such as potential service outreach and distance to other health facilities are met.

Is the bill of quantities in line with national guidelines requirements?

Yes Bill of quantities conforms to Ministry of Health guidelines for dispensaries.

Is the implementation schedule complete and realistic?

No Implementation schedule too optimistic. Supervisory activities for construction have been forgotten. No activity foreseen for equipping new dispensary. Activity list and implementation schedule have been adjusted.

Can the proposed activity be sustained, technically?

Yes In line with district health policy, the dispensary will be run on cost-sharing basis. Proceeds from this will be reserved for maintenance. Staff and medication will be made available through Central Government disbursements.

Does the project have a neutral to positive impact on environment, gender?

Yes Neutral impact on environment; positive impact on gender (reduced distance to health facilities).

Do the implementing actors have sufficient capacity and expertise to carry out proposed activity? Should (part of the) the activity be out-sourced and to whom?

No Construction to be out-sourced through competitive tendering. Supervision to be conducted by outside consultant.

Are cost sharing contributions realistic? Yes Contributions of village in kind and labour have been correctly incorporated in plan & budget.

Do budget items conform to current market prices, district allowance policy?

No Several budget items are too high. Budget items have been adjusted according to current market rates.

Can the proposed activity be sustained, financially Yes In line with district health policy, the dispensary will be run on cost-sharing basis. Is there overlap with other activities? No

Overall Assessment Activity approved. Sub-activities have been revised to include supervision of construction and procurement of basic equipment. Budgets have been revised accordingly, in line with prevalent market rates.

Step 4. Prioritisation and ranking: The Development Clusters are now left with proposals that are generally relevant and technically and financially feasible. However, do these proposals sufficiently address all priority areas for the district as elaborated in the Strategic District Development Plan? Have all activities of the large sector programmes been sufficiently covered? Are

resources claimed in a sensible manner or are they spread too thinly over a large amount of smaller activities with limited impact? And are available resources sufficient to cover all approved proposals? These questions are addressed during prioritisation and ranking.



Table 15: Format of activity inventory sheets Result area: Education Output: Improved school infrastructure Activity: Construction Classroom

Proposal from: Proposed Budget (Tshs x 000) Serial Number Location VDP Other Expected output Total Community District

Council* Others

1 Village A X 2 new Class rooms Prim. School

4,500 1,500 3,000

2 Village B WARD 1 Dormitory for Sec. School

7,500 2,000 2,000 3,500

TOTAL

* Own resources or through Central Government grants and programmes. Start by making a quick inventory of all approved development activities and budgets according to the logic of the Strategic District Development Plan (Chapter 3). This defines result areas, often similar to the development clusters, outputs (per sector) and priority activities5. A format of such an inventory sheet is given in Table 15. Following the inventory, ask yourself the following three critical questions to help to set priorities: • Compare the activities with your district

priorities: Have all priority concerns been addressed? If not, which critical areas still need activities? Make note of those activities and look for ways to get them funded.

• Compare activities with sector programmes of the Central Government and other donors? Have all areas been covered? If not, which aspects are missing or under-developed? Make note of those activities, develop relevant proposals, and determine indicative budgets.

• Within a given sector, are resources spread out over an adequate number of activities, or too thinly? How does this effect implementation capacity and impact? If you decide to limit the number of activities, which activities deserve priority and why (Box 22)?

The final step is to match the plans with your budget ceiling per sector. To determine this budget ceiling is not always easy. You need to consider funds from all sources. Often, these ceilings have already been documented in the district planning guidelines. Use these as a basis and refine if indicative figures have changed. Be aware that certain budgets are restricted for very specific activities.

5 This logic refers to the logical relation between various

programme objectives, as normally reflected in the log-frame’. Please refer to Chapter 8.2.1 for further details.

Box 22: How to find the optimal mix of activities

Usually, every office and every ward wants a share of the development budget. However, if the budget is spread over a large number of departments and activities and no clear priorities are set, impact might be minimal and implementation may drag on for many years. You may consider a different approach that enhances impact and generates economies of scale and the enthusiasm of the population: 1. Focus the development plan on 2-3 core activities per

sector. 2. Pilot trials in 2-3 villages to experiment, build up

experience and identify the best approach. 3. After testing and evaluation, scale-up the village

experience into a district-wide approach. 4. Document the method in manuals and technical leaflets

for extension. 5. Train the relevant people at ward and village level. 6. Put in the full package of human and financial resources. 7. Generate political support (councillors, District and

Regional Commissioner) to reach a critical mass. 8. Phase out the activity once successfully implemented in

2-4 years. 9. Plan for the next set of core activities according to the

same steps.

Compare budget ceilings to the budgets of your prioritised activities. Do they match? Three scenarios are possible, each requiring different measures from your side: • Budget ceilings match directly with the total

budget of prioritised activities. This is the easiest but most improbable scenario. No measures need to be taken.

• Budget ceilings are higher than the total budget of prioritised activities. You may consider including activities of lower priority. Give preference to activities proposed by villagers.

• Budget ceilings are lower than the total budget of prioritised activities. This is the most common and most difficult scenario. You will need to eliminate some proposals from your list. For this, rank all activities in order of priority following the suggestions given in Box 23.



Box 23: Suggestions for eliminating activities to balance budgets

■ Give preference to proposals submitted by villages! ■ If you need to select amongst proposals for the same activity, determine the single most important criteria for ranking. ■ For example, for classroom construction, consider the current pupil-classroom ratio of each school requesting extension of

classrooms; for environmental activities, you may consider the extent of land/soil degradation. At another level, district policy may give higher priority to poorer areas, or areas with higher population density so that activities can benefit more people.

■ Rank all proposals according to the selected criteria. Add up the budgets of the highest ranked proposals until the budget ceiling has been reached. In the example below, activities 1 to 54 (in bold) can be accepted up to a total of TZS 160 Mil. Activities beyond this amount are dropped or postponed to the next year.

Activity: construction of classrooms Criteria for ranking: current pupil-classroom ratio of primary school Total budget available: Tshs 160 million (PEDP) School/Village Pupil-Classroom Ratio

(No of pupils in one C/room) External budget requirements (TZS)

Cumulative budget requirements (TZS)

School 1 83 3,500,000 3,500,000 School 2 75 1,750,000 5,250,000 School 3 75 3,500,000 8,750,000 ……… …. …. …. School 53 66 1,750,000 154,000,000 School 54 64 5,250,000 159,250,000 School 55 63 1,750,000 161,000,000 School 56 63 3,500,000 164,500,000 Etc.

Before proceeding with the consolidation into the actual district development plan, all decisions taken as part of the assessment have to be recorded. You may use the suggested format for part 3 of the assessment form given in Table 16. Proposals that had to be dropped because of resource constraints are submitted to the DPLO, together with their assessment forms.

Detailed plans and budgets need to be made for those activities that have been accepted, in line with stipulations of Central government sector programmes and other donors.

Table 16: Part 3 of assessment form: example of prioritisation and ranking Activity: Construction of Bukondo Dispensary Location: Bukondo Village Source of proposal: VDP: YES Others (specify): NONE Funding: Self-financed: ZERO Request for district support: IN FULL

PART 3. PRIORITISATION AND RANKING Following the prioritisation and ranking process, the proposal has been: Accepted Rejected Reasons for above decision: In line with the Strategic District Development Plan, construction of health infrastructure receives high priority. Although available funds do not permit approval of all proposals for dispensary construction, Bukonda Dispensary ranked higher than other proposals, in terms of the potential number of people to be served (estimated at 26,500). Date: ………………. Signature: ……………………… (Chairman of development cluster) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Checked/Approved: Date: ……………… Signature (DPLO on behalf of DED)

X



6.5 Preparing sector plans

The approved development activities need to be consolidated using the format of Table 17. This table follows the main elements of a logical framework (refer to Chapter 8.2.1) and can be filled out for each sector. When plans are summarised into one framework, it becomes easier to check for overlaps and gaps. Information on strategic objectives is derived from the Strategic District Development Plan. The main activities approved can be included under outputs. Information on specific (sub-) activities can also be found in the approved plans and proposals. Indicators and means of verification refer to what tells you whether you are successful and how you will measure this. This is discussed in more detail in Chapter 8.

6.6 Preparing sector development budgets

The quality of the district comprehensive budget will entirely depend on the quality of the sector development budgets. The Development Clusters need to ensure that sector budgets are properly done to avoid a lot of unnecessary work during consolidation. Use spreadsheets for the final preparation and consolidation of sector development budgets (Box 24). If budgets are prepared as word processing files, the planning workload increases needlessly. Training heads of departments and secretaries in the use of spreadsheets is an investment that will definitely pay off. (see Chapter 10) A typical budget for one output is shown in Table 18. Annex 1 gives you the format for the detailed budgeting that forms the basis of the figures such as in Table 18. A complete Excel workbook is available for your use on the CD-ROM accompanying this guide. Activity budgets, once calculated, need to be added up to find the output budget. Similarly, related output budgets need to be added up to find the sector budget. All this is done automatically if you use spreadsheets correctly. Once again, compare aggregated budgets with the budget ceilings and budgetary requirements of different programmes and donors. Do they still match? If not, a new round of adjustments is necessary: activity budgets may need to be reduced or specific cost categories may need to be adjusted. Some programmes, for example, put budgetary limits to cost categories such as operational or training costs. Can cost

efficiency be improved, e.g. can motorcycles replace cars? Are allowances correctly calculated, or can they be reduced? Continue to make adjustments in a transparent manner until all budgetary requirements are met. Box 24: Advantages of using spreadsheets

■ Standard costs can be entered through formulae and the computer calculates the expenditures automatically. There is no need to compute expenditures by hand.

■ The computer does all the mathematical operations. Calculation errors are avoided.

■ Formats of previous years can be used thus reducing the workload considerably.

■ Through the use of formulae, different scenarios can be tested at the push of a button. This helps to analyse the impact of costs in relation to budget ceilings, and it is easy to make the budget balance.

■ Individual spreadsheets of output budgets can be linked to each other so that changes are automatically adjusted in the sector and overall district budget. There is no need for typing everything all over again.

■ Budgets can be sorted on official government codes to see whether ceilings (e.g. operational versus investment costs) are respected.

■ Budgets can be sorted per donor or programme. It is therefore relatively easy to compile budgets according to the requirements of PO-RALG (MTEF), CG sector programmes or other donors. Controls can be built-in to verify the mathematical correctness of budgets.

■ Budget sessions generate many drafts and leave a bulky trail of paper. Spreadsheets can print the date automatically at the page footer, helping you to trace down the latest version.

6.7 Final consolidation of the CDDP

The Comprehensive District Development Plan and budget can be compiled from the sector and cluster planning tables and budgets. This is the task of the DPLO. Start by reviewing the sector plans and budgets prepared by the development clusters. Look at coherence and consistency. Check whether all requirements by donors, central government programmes have been properly addressed. Review budgets on cost efficiency. Usually, the following budget items require critical scrutiny. • Office expenditure: operational and

administrative costs in relation to investment costs.

• Unit costs that should be in line with prevailing market costs. A detailed budget whereby costs are calculated in terms of feasible targets (villages visited, people trained, classrooms constructed etc.) will help to make realistic estimates.

• Allowances in view of specific job requirements. Adhere to a clear policy.



Table 17: Format of Sector Development Plan Result Area (Cluster): E.g. Education Sector: Primary Education Year: 2004/5 Indicators/Targets Means of Verification Assumptions Strategic objective or purpose

To improve the quality of- and accessibility to primary education

See Chapter 8

See Chapter 8

See Chapter 8

Outputs 1. Construction of primary school classrooms See Chapter 8 See Chapter 8 See Chapter 8 2. Construction of teachers houses 3. Instructional material available 4. Improved School management 5. In-service training of teachers 6. School libraries

Implementation

Period Activities Indica-tors

Means of Verification Location Responsible

Person I II III IV

Remarks

Activities to realise Output 1primary school class rooms 1.1 Conclude MoU with village

See Chapter 8 Village A DEO X After signing

MoU operational planning to be finalised.

1.2 Collect stones etc (communities) (according to BoQ and cost-sharing arrangement)

See Chapter 8

Village A Village Chairman VEO School Head

X Capacity of village should be closely monitored. Assistance if needed.

1.3 Supervision Village A DEW etc. X X X X Work planning

technical staff DEO/DEW jointly

Activities to realise Output 2 Teachers houses 2.1 2.2 2.3 etc.

Activities to realise Output 3, etc. 3.1 3.2 3.2 etc.

Note: Activities proposed in VDPs are often similar to Outputs in this consolidation form.



Table 18: Example of summary sector budget (Using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet)

Year: 2004/5% of

District GrandCouncil Total

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Construction of Classrooms 0 153.500 0 245.000 248.000 24.500 671.000 69,3%Construction of Teacher's Houses 15.500 75.000 0 0 138.000 0 228.500 23,6%Improved Availability of Instructional Materials 5.430 5.650 0 0 33.450 0 44.530 4,6%Improved Management of Primary Schools 0 284 0 8.397 0 0 8.681 0,9%In-service Training of P/School Teachers 0 0 2.450 0 1.350 0 3.800 0,4%Establishment of P/School Librairies 0 5.600 0 0 0 5.650 11.250 1,2%

Total 20.930 240.034 2.450 253.397 420.800 30.150 967.761 100,0%

Sector: Primary Education

Output Code Description of Outputs

Financed by (in '000 Tshs):Commu-

nity CG SubsidySectoral Progr.

ABPs Others Total

Acc

ordi

ng to

MTE

F Re

quire

men

ts

• Transport costs. A map with an overview of the

distances between the villages in the district is helpful.

• Lump sum amounts. Queries are sent back to technical departments/ Development Clusters for clarification. Final consolidation starts only after all queries have been satisfactorily addressed. The approved set of planning tables and budgets per sector form the backbone of the CDDP. They summarise the plans of the different development actors to reach the agreed objectives, how they relate to each other, how much they will cost and how long it will take. For the tables to become understandable and accessible to others, you need to explain them. This means you need to write a narrative text to which the tables can be annexed. A recommended format for the Comprehensive District Development Plan is given in Box 25. A large part of the narrative text can be prepared by the Development Clusters, particularly Chapter 4 and main sections of Chapter 6. But the DPLO remains responsible for final review and editing. It is of utmost importance that those involved in writing are not overburdened with other tasks and responsibilities. Make sure that the DED authorises the time required for those involved in plan writing.

6.8 Presentation and approval of the CDDP

The draft CDDP needs to be channelled to the various committees of the District Council for presentation, review and approval. This process is time consuming in view of the meetings involved.

Each meeting requires careful preparation, not only by the DPLO, but also by members of the Development Clusters. The following needs to be done to get formal approval of the CDDP: • Presentation of the draft CDDP to the District

Management Team and the District Advisory Council for final discussions and review.

• Revision of CDDP, based on DMT/DAC recommendations, if required.

• Presentation of draft CDDP to District Council standing committees (finance & planning, social services, economic affairs).

• Revision/fine-tuning of CDDP based on standing committee recommendations, if required.

• Submission of draft CDDP to Regional Secretariat for comments and compliance check with national policies.

• Presentation of final draft of CDDP to the Full Council for approval.

In order to have successful meetings with the various actors: • Present the CDDP in Ki-Swahili. • Circulate the CDDP at least one week before

the scheduled meeting, so that everybody has time to study the documents and note down their comments.

• Summarise main features of the CDDP per cluster with a brief explanation (for the villagers) also in terms of tangible results.

• Present a short summary of the complex budget.

• Make use of audio-visual equipment (e.g. overhead projector).



Box 25: Format for the Comprehensive District Development Plan document

Title, sub-title Preface by chairperson Table of Contents Abbreviations Map of the district 1. Introduction (describes the consultative process to arrive at the CDDP) 2. District profile (gives a brief introduction to the district e.g.: geography, demography and ethnicity, administration, natural environment: agro-

ecological zones and land use, economy, special issues (e.g. refugees)). 3. Strategic framework for district development (Vision, mission, strategic objectives per main result areas (clusters), priority outputs;

implementation strategies (involvement of communities, role of NGO and private sector)) 4. District development plan per development cluster:

o Description of cluster and respective sectors (baseline data, opportunities and obstacles); o Overview of actors and programmes (Central Government, NGOs, donors) o Review of past performance: strengths & weaknesses o Priorities & justification; planned outputs and activities o Gender considerations o Risks (e.g. absorption capacity of villages, human resources, security, different donor approaches)

5. District development budget o Summary of district development budgets o Analysis of budget against budgetary requirements per financier

ANNEX Detailed Comprehensive District Development Plan Detailed Comprehensive District Development Budget

6.9 Informing villages and other development actors

Once the Full Council has formally approved the CDDP, you need to inform villages and other actors, also those not part of the district council establishment, on the status of their plans and proposals. Design a standard letter for all actors. For each actor – be it a village or NGO – annex a summary of the assessment results for all activities (in 3 categories: approved, approved but modified, and rejected). Present the reasons for modification and/or rejection in a clear and transparent way (see Box 16).

6.10 Final considerations

Many programmes and donors require specific plan and budget formats. The formats recommended in these guidelines can easily be amended to fit these requirements, although it will give you extra work. At present, this is unavoidable but make sure to submit the final CDDP too. The document may well convince them to do away with their own requirements and to accept the CDDP. 6

6 A new National Planning and Reporting system is currently

under development by PO-RALG – the LG-PlanRep system. PlanRep is a one-stop database in Access where all relevant data regarding planning and reporting can be stored, analysed and filtered according to requirement. Since PlanRep is based on e.g. DRDP experiences, data input

The Local Government Reform Programme requires you to compile a medium-term plan and budget framework annually, covering both the development and recurrent budgets (MTEF: Medium-term Expenditure Framework). The required format for development expenditure is very similar to the format used in the CDDP – it needs no revisions. However, MTEF guidelines do require District Councils to develop forward budgets for a three-year period. The budgets for the second and third year are indicative – try to distil indicative trends on budgetary requirements from the 3-year VDPs. It is advisable to develop the recurrent budget after finalising the draft development budgets. This is because recurrent expenditure (such as maintenance of capital investments) is often linked to your specific development interventions.

requirements will probably be very similar to what is advocated in these guidelines.



Successful participatory planning is steered by commitment for development. ‘Allowance based planning’ frustrates village ownership and dedication.





7. IMPLEMENTING THE COMPREHENSIVE DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN

7.1 Introduction

After an extensive planning process it all comes down to a timely and disciplined implementation of the Comprehensive District Development Plan. Failing to do so will undermine credibility of the planning process and eventually erode participation and interest of actors. This chapter shows how you can contribute to a smooth implementation by giving suggestions on how to: • Select the best implementation approach • Arrive at implementation work plans and

agreements • Ensure participatory implementation • Delegate financial administration

7.2 Selecting an implementation approach

Selecting the most viable approach for implementation of development activities is crucial for success. The central question here is: “Who will do what”? Generally, the role of the councils has changed in the last few years from that of implementer to coordinator and supervisor. Various options are now open for implementation.7 Villagers themselves can be the main implementers of many activities. They may do this with or without the help of a contractor. If villages have requested for (financial) assistance from the district, supervision and guidance can be provided by the relevant department. If well organised, implementation by villagers reduces the work load at the district level and further increases ownership at the village level. In villages, the actual implementer can be an existing community group or community-based organisation (CBO), such as a water user group, a school committee, a church group, or a farmer extension group. If such a group does not exist for the foreseen activity, the village government will delegate the implementation to the relevant Village Standing Committee. The chosen group will prepare the work plan, timetable and responsibilities. It will be in charge of the

7 A reference manual for Procurement and tender procedures

for LGAs, based on Public Procurement Act 2001, is currently being developed by LGRP in collaboration with the DRDP.

implementation and logistics. Charging a CBO with the job will build its capacity and will ensure proper operation and maintenance. The CBO will meet as often as is deemed necessary to monitor the progress of the activity and keep records of its findings. It will liaise with the Village Government and Standing Committee for coordination and transparency. Alternatively, you may choose to carry out the implementation by district staff, as in the case of training and awareness raising. Questions you then have to ask yourself are: • Is there sufficient staff in the District Council

with the necessary expertise? • Do they have time, over and above their

routine responsibilities? • Is the activity in line with their regular tasks? • Are implementation and supervision

responsibilities separated so that quality is assured?

If most of these questions are answered with ‘no’, outsourcing and sub-contracting to the private sector or NGOs may be the better option. District procedures for outsourcing and sub-contracting need to be followed. If substantial contract sums are at stake, you need to involve the District Tender Board. Alternatively, technical staff may be ‘loaned’ from other departments. In choosing the implementation strategy, consider cost efficiency, benefits to the target group, sustainability, feasibility and risks, probability to get results, and organisational and institutional issues. Be flexible and make choices. Be aware that implementers may not clearly understand the link between participatory planning and participatory implementation. Likewise, they may not all be equally equipped with participatory methods and techniques. Therefore, ensure that for the implementing actor you choose the best and train the rest.

7.3 Preparing implementation work plans and agreements

Knowing who is supposed to do what, your implementation strategy, the chosen implementers of all activities need to prepare detailed implementation work plans. The heads of technical



department will supervise this while final approval is with the DPLO. Even when a given activity has several financiers, only one work plan is prepared, taking into consideration the possible different requirements of the financiers. The work plan is drafted in the form of a contract. The bill of quantities, drawings and lists of village contributions that were prepared in the planning stage are attached to the work plan. The implementation work plans related to specific department are collated into a department or cluster work plan, showing who is responsible for what and when. This permits the development of a simple supervision schedule, which is prepared by the head of the department concerned. Copies of the work plans should be given to the DFT for co-ordination purposes and to the district treasurer for financial management. The preparation of a realistic and concrete work plan is a pre-condition for the actual release of funds. Once the work plan has been completed, the main agreements between village governments and the district will be formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (Box 26). This confirms the equal partnership between district and village and builds ownership at the village level.

Box 26: The Memorandum of Understanding

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is the formal expression of an agreement between two or more parties. It spells out in detail who does what, when and how. All inputs of the parties are usually indicated in monetary terms. A MoU may include agreed conditions such as deadlines, penalties, etc. All parties sign the MoU. Although not legally binding, this agreement may be used in settling disagreements or disputes that may arise.

Usually, a MoU covers the following topics: • Name of partners who enter into the agreement • Responsibilities of each partner • Technical details (i.e. BoQ of construction

works, maps) • Work plan for the implementation of activities

(time schedule, who is responsible for what, quantitative and qualitative indicators)

• Schedule for the release of assistance for implementation

• Supervision modalities • Administrative procedures and reporting

requirements • Penalties • Procedures for settling disputes • Signatures of parties

An MoU is important to formalise the partnership between the village and the District Council.



The clauses in the MoU should not be too strict. However, they should anticipate possible complications, and provide alternative solutions in the event they occur. A good MoU also keeps all parties alert (Box 27). Box 27: Putting a MoU to good use

When two villages, each on its side of the river, had planned to build a drift, the District agreed to co-fund and to provide three lorries for transportation. A MoU was concluded indicating requirements, division of tasks, deadlines, etc. As the drift was going to be a big one, the villages had to prepare 900 lorry loads of stones. The deadline for the delivery of stones was 30 August as it would give the District Engineer time to finish the structure before the onset of the rains in December. Understandably the engineer was worried about this deadline, and so he included a penalty clause in the MoU: “…for every day the villages are late with the stones, a penalty of TZS 20,000/- will be charged.” By doing so, the engineer could hire labourers to do the job in the event the village would fail to deliver. One day, the three lorries did not turn up to transport the stones and the two Village Chairmen were quick to send a bill to the District Engineer charging him TZS 60,000 for reneging on the agreement. A practical joke that ended with a laugh and the effect that the lorries were back the next day. They completed the drift in record time and it now connects two regions. Thanks to two villages with their diligence and creativity, and an engineer who felt obliged!!

7.4 Participatory implementation

The key factor that will ensure success of implementation and sustainability of the activity is active participation of villagers involved. This should be relatively easy after their active involvement during the planning process of the VDP. Participatory implementation of activities will follow the agreed work plan and MoU, also produced in a participatory way. Note that each sector often has its own sector-specific participatory approach. Agriculture has farmer-led extension and participatory technology development. Irrigation and drinking water supply probably applies participatory water management. Health has its Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST). Make sure that the respective technical departments or other implementers are familiar with the relevant participatory approach for the sector and apply these consistently during the implementation. This will further enhance village interest and enthusiasm to participate in its own development.

7.5 Delegation of financial management

For any development project, sound and transparent financial administration is extremely

important. Release of funds should be linked to financial reporting. Delayed reports mean delayed funding. It is important to ensure that the appropriate financial administration systems are in place, working and adhered to. Within the District Council, this is the responsibility of the Office of the Treasurer. Villagers should be given a stake in the financial management of their own activities. This improves transparency and builds up capacity within the village (Box 28). It may even turn out to be cost saving when villagers are prepared to contribute a greater part than was budgeted for, or when they opt for less capital investment, fearing the high burden of maintenance. But villagers should have the power to decide on how they wish to spend the money thus saved. Encourage villages to keep their own records. If not trained to do so, train them! Ideally, the relevant implementation group in the village should include a person with an active interest and talent for bookkeeping (store keeping, finances, etc.). If this person is unfamiliar with the matter, training should be considered, possibly by someone from the accounts section of the District or the Community Development or Cooperatives Department. Box 28: Positive experiences with delegated financial management

Delegation of financial responsibility to villages has encountered much scepticism; the level of training would be too low to handle accounts, it would only increase embezzlement, etc. However, the Primary Education Development Programme 2003 review observed that Village School Committees generally administered funds better, as compared to District Education Departments! The secret is that decentralised financial management involves more actors, ensuring better supervision.

Effective decentralised financial management can be realised by: • Informing all actors and the villages about

approved budgets and expenditure against budgets. Don’t limit this information only to village leaders, but make use of public notice boards accessible to the general public. Make sufficient number of copies of the development plan and distribute widely among stakeholders at village ward and district level.

• Creating checks and balances through formal delegation of financial supervision and audit functions. For instance, teachers have to account to school committees, who in turn are accountable to the village governments and WDCs.



• Carrying out regular external audits, both financial and technical. Publishing the audit results and discussing these with relevant bodies such as village governments and school committees.

• Providing villagers with simple training in financial administration.

• Using the carrot and stick approach: e.g. proper financial management is rewarded with increased funding for the next year, poor financial management is immediately penalised.

• Training women in financial administration and preferably entrusting them with the finances, as women are usually more trustworthy and conscientious with money than men.

With the ongoing local government reform and increased donor focus on poverty alleviation, more financial and implementation responsibilities will be delegated to the villages and CBOs in the future. As such, it is good to prepare the villagers to take up these responsibilities.

7.6 Staying on the right track

No doubt, while trying to implement such a district development plan you will encounter certain obstacles and constraints. Here are some final, general, suggestions to help you stay on the right track: • Be pro-active: seek active collaboration with

other development partners. Do not assume that others will take the lead, even though it is your job to promote and encourage them to ultimately take the lead.

• Use clear work plans: work plans as described above will help you and your development partners to prevent many problems and misunderstandings.

• Prevent bureaucracy and red tape. • Avoid ad-hoc interference: with good planning

and preparatory work, you will be able to foresee many of the problems that may interrupt or stagnate the process. Therefore, plan in such a way that they can be dealt with in time. Structural ad-hoc changes during the implementation process should be avoided.

Fostering checks and balances at all levels will enhance the credibility of village and district leaders.



• Deal with corruption: if you follow this handbook, you will find that the entire process, from planning to implementation to evaluation, calls for a high degree of transparency. It is such transparency that will prevent corruption. If corruption becomes apparent at the village level, let the village deal with it. They are better able to cope with it, certainly if it affects them directly. If it happens in your own environment at the District Council, follow the standing rules and do not hesitate to report the matter to the DED or District Manpower Management Officer.

• Be disciplined: you cannot expect others to act in a disciplined manner, if you do not show it yourself! Your success as a planner depends on your own discipline and integrity. While the DED is often regarded as the person who has ultimate responsibility for Council affairs, do not forget that the DED in turn holds you responsible for planning and co-ordination of the development activities. So, be prepared!





8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

8.1 Introduction

This chapter shows you how to integrate (participatory) monitoring and evaluation (M&E) into the regular development planning and implementation cycle of CPDP. In particular, it helps to: • Understand the basic concepts of a M&E

system based on a logical framework • Design and implement a M&E plan • Put a Participatory M&E approach in place • Include monitoring and evaluation of the

CPDP process itself

8.2 The basic concepts

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the participatory planning process and the implementation of its respective outputs are extremely important. M&E ensures that the district follows the overall development direction formulated in the Strategic District Development Plan (Chapter 3). Moreover, M&E is critical to establish accomplishments of the district, ward and village development plans. M&E, if systematically, timely and correctly carried out, can provide you with useful information to follow up on strategic choices, on priorities and project implementation. Before setting out the practical guidelines, the next paragraphs explain a number of basic M&E concepts. 8.2.1 The Logical Framework The logical framework (log frame) is a tool for planning and managing development processes and activities. The planning consolidation tables of Chapter 6 are by and large based on it. The format of a log frame is usually a four column grid that shows the linkages between: • Project intentions, formulated in ‘Objectives’;

• Assessments of achievements, formulated in ‘Indicators’ which can be measured and verified objectively;

• Ways of checking progress, formulated in ‘Means of Verification’;

• Expected events or situations outside project control that can influence the project, formulated in ‘Assumptions’.

Table 19 shows a typical log frame. Donors sometimes use different terms for the same elements of a log frame and this may be somewhat confusing. Log frames are not just static multi-year outlines. They can change as activities develop. Using periodic monitoring information, you can adjust the annual plan and modify the log frame to reflect what can realistically be achieved in the remaining time. 8 The rows of the log frame have an increasingly shorter time span and an increasing level of practicality. Following this logic, the “objectives” are defined at consecutive levels: • Goal is the fundamental change for the target

population in the long run. Achievement of the goal is known as impact. An example is a reduced number of people having lung cancer.

• Purpose is the change among the target population in direct response to activities in the medium-term. Achievement of the purpose is known as an effect. For example a reduced number of people smoking cigarettes. A purpose is often found as a strategic objective for a sector in the SDDP (Chapter 3, also compare Table 17 in Chapter 6).

• Output is the product of the programme within a shorter planning period. Achievement of outputs is measured in results. For example the number of anti-smoking campaigns organised. Outputs are often given as main activities in village development plans.

8 A reference manual for M&E in Ki-Swahili is: ‘Midahalo ya

Maendeleo Vigigini, ushirikishwagi wa walengwa kweni mi panogo ya maendeleo’, TRACE, 1998.

Table 19: Structure of a typical log frame Objectives Indicators Means of Verification (MoVs) Assumptions Goal Purpose (s) Outputs Activities Inputs



• Activities in a log frame are all that is done to achieve an output. Achievement of an activity is often measured in processes e.g. (1) anti-smoke campaigners mobilised and instructed, (2) work plan for anti-smoking campaigns prepared, (3) permission from Local Government to campaign requested.

• Inputs are of course the resources necessary to execute activities, and include issues such as transport, stationery, staff, time, etc.

8.2.2 The monitoring and evaluation

system All the measures you take to realise effective monitoring and evaluation form together the M&E system. It is the information system used to assess the progress, performance and impact of the CDDP. The M&E system has two separate sets of activities: • Monitoring activities • Evaluation activities Monitoring is the collection and management of data and information. Monitoring information is collected on a continuous basis throughout the implementation of the CDDP. Typical monitoring questions are: Is the implementation going well? Is the work being done as planned? Is the quality of the implementation satisfactory? Are costs under control? Are activities contributing to the expected outputs? Are institutional changes affecting the implementation? Are the contextual factors changing? All key actors can and should play a role in monitoring. Monitoring is mainly concerned with assessing outputs, activities and inputs. Evaluation is the periodic assessment and analysis of the plan using monitoring data. Evaluation is mainly concerned with assessing achievements in relation to goal and purposes. After a period of implementation, it is necessary to look back and consider the CDDP as a whole. How successful has its implementation been? Have the outputs been realised? Are we on track in reaching the purposes? This information helps to learn from experience and improve your approach in subsequent years. Moreover, as Manager and Coordinator of the planning process, you need this information for reporting and for feedback to the district actors. Evaluations in CPDP are usually done annually. A more thorough evaluation using external consultants can be undertaken after 3 to 5 years. Indicators are “things” you can measure to check whether proposed changes have occurred. Finding good indicators is not very easy and requires some

experience and initial training. They should be formulated in a SMART way meaning that they should be: Specific, Measurable, Accurate, Reliable and Time-bound. They should also be: • Relevant: directly linked to the “objective” at

the appropriate level • Technically feasible: easy to be measured and

assessed. • Useable: easily understood by the actors and

using information provided by the indicator • Participatory: so that the target community and

other actors can be really involved in carrying out the monitoring and evaluation.

Table 20 gives a series of possible indicators for the planning example discussed in Table 17 of Chapter 6.

8.3 Making monitoring and evaluation work

In the true spirit of CPDP, all relevant actors play a part in the monitoring and evaluation of the district plan. M&E of the plan requires a structured approach and needs allocation of staff, time and resources. Specialised staff within the district should be assigned to oversee M&E of the CDDP and could include appointed and trained M&E officers from each of the Development Clusters. For purposes of sector specific M&E and data management, it is recommended to have departmental staff trained in M&E as well. Of course, overall coordination remains with the DPLO’s office. 8.3.1 The M&E Plan While drafting the Comprehensive District Development Plan (Chapter 6), the M&E team under the guidance of the DPLO should prepare a M&E plan. This plan describes all M&E requirements and responsibilities in respect of the CDDP. There are four important reasons for the early preparation of a M&E plan: • Attention to M&E encourages critical reflection

on CDDP objectives, assumptions, indicators and activities.

• Adequate provision can be made at the outset for meeting the cost of M&E.

• M&E can be incorporated from the start into the various CDDP components.

• Information users, including the target population, can participate in designing an appropriate M&E system that is acceptable and useful for their needs, not just for CDDP managers, donors etc.



Table 20: Sector development planning table with examples of M&E indicators

Result Area (Cluster): Education Sector: Primary Education Year: 2004/5 Indicators/Targets Means of Verification Assumptions Strategic Objective or Purpose

To improve the quality of and accessibility to primary education

Net enrolment rate, transition from Primary to Secondary School, etc.

DEO statistics, SS statistics, examination results, etc.

Legislature on privately managed P. and S. Schools completed, PS fees legislature adopted, etc.

Outputs 1. Construction of primary school

classrooms No of new classrooms constructed, pupil:classroom ratio

DEO statistics, school management reports, reports Inspectorate, etc.

Local construction ability available, Maintenance policy in place, Construction material available, etc.

2. Construction of teachers houses 3. Instructional material available 4. Improved School management 5. In-service training of teachers 6. School libraries

Implementation Period Activities Indicators Means of

Verification Location Responsible Person

I II III IV Remarks

Activities to realise Output 1 1.1 Conclude MoU with Village Signed MoU Village Registry

DEO Registry Village A DEO X After signing MoU

operational planning to be finalised.

1.2

Collect stones etc (communities) (according to BoQ and cost-sharing arrangement)

No of trips sand No of Bricks on site

Site visit and physical inspection

Village A Village Chairman VEO School Head

X Capacity of village should be closely monitored. Assistance if needed.

1.3 Supervision No of visits by technical staff

Work log, Village A DEW X X X X Work planning technical staff DEO/DEW jointly

etc.



The M&E plan can simply be based on the consolidated sector/cluster planning tables (Chapter 6). However, the tables themselves do not provide enough detail to prepare such plan. More information is required as to WHO will do WHAT, WHEN and WHERE, what METHODS will be used and how the information will be ANALYSED and REPORTED. You can prepare an M&E plan by taking the indicators of the consolidated tables and answering the given questions. Table 21 shows an example of a simple M&E planning matrix that emerges when you do this. Note that this example shows the M&E requirements for one indicator at one objective level (purpose). Basically, the M&E Plan for the CDDP is a simple compilation of all M&E matrices, particularly at output, activity and input level. Be practical and set priorities for what really needs to be done and can be done. Take a final look at the M&E Plan and check whether the following is really clear: • Who is responsible for collection of which

information and when? • Who is responsible for analysis of information,

what method is used, and how are results communicated?

• Who is responsible for (management) decisions based on (new) available information?

8.3.2 Implementing the M&E plan If well prepared, the implementation of the M&E plan can be rather straight forward. Make very sure that responsibilities of the various actors are clearly communicated and that resources such as transport, Daily Subsistence Allowances, stationery are budgeted for and made available on time. Formats for reporting should be designed in advance and clearly understood9. Under the overall supervision of the DPLO, the Development Clusters are essentially responsible for overseeing the implementation of the M&E plan for their respective clusters. This is however largely delegated to cluster M&E officers, who work closely with sector staff assigned to M&E and data management. For a successful implementation of M&E activities by each Development Cluster the following needs to be done: • Preparing specific M&E work plans assigning

(field-) staff (including DFT) to specific M&E assignments, timing, etc.

• Training, supervising, coaching staff in all aspects of M&E

• Overseeing that M&E activities are implemented correctly and on time

• Preparing field visit reports, training reports, etc.

• Analysing and verifying of data • Consolidating reports into different formats for

different information users • Making sure that reports are made available to

the respective information users

9 Currently, PO-RALG (through the LGRP) is designing a

computerised M&E system for a number of sectors. The LG-M&E system is adequate to print out standardised reports on these sectors and to filter data in the way you want.

Table 21: Example of format for M&E planning Purpose Increased number of women seeking maternal health services at a health facility Indicator % of all deliveries in project area attended by trained health worker

M&E Requirements: Where to find information?

HMIS (DMO), community women giving birth in past year, village health committees, women bringing babies for EPI, TBAs, Health Staff

What methods to use? Review records, census projections, surveys, group meetings, key informants, focus groups Who is responsible? M&E staff of DMO, counterparts, NGOs, community workers How often to collect data?

monthly; quarterly; semi-annually; annually, baseline; mid-term; final

How to analyse data? quantitative, tallies and trends, quantitative, correlation, quantitative patterns, ask and answer why? What is Information is used for?

Assessing trends: are we on track? If not, why? To make adjustments; Comparative assessment, Set foundation for measuring change, Assess strategy effectiveness, Assess project effects

With whom is Information is shared?

Direct partners; DMO staff, Development cluster partners; donors; interested groups, villagers

How is information shared?

Project reports, group meetings: presentation with support graphs, tables, maps, discussion, informal meetings, radio programmes



8.4 Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation (PM&E)

Monitoring and evaluation is only effective if done in a participatory manner. PM&E builds collaboration and understanding among the actors, including the villagers, and provides an interesting learning experience for all involved. Through joint monitoring exercises, it is easier to agree on common planning and reporting formats, and to create a common understanding of the opportunities and constraints regarding the CDDP. The most crucial part of all monitoring takes place in the village, where activities are implemented. People with a direct stake in the activity and benefiting from it live in the village and are keen to see the activities succeed. At present, though, little attention is paid to monitoring at village level involving the villagers themselves. Although villagers are involved in implementation, they are not considered experts in measuring success or failure. But when the villagers have taken an active role in the participatory planning process, they are usually ready and interested to take responsibility for M&E too. An example of a participatory monitoring assessment with villagers using the

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) methodology is provided in Table 22. It clearly shows the ability of villagers to articulate critical issues at various levels Delegating M&E assessments to villages is a step that most districts have yet to make. Therefore, genuine participatory M&E will require a major shift of organisational culture at your level. This is indeed a challenge. Usually the implementer of a specific activity is responsible for monitoring and providing feedback to decision makers at a higher level. At the village level, the chosen implementation group/CBO or the respective village standing committee will report to the village government at regular intervals. Staff from the district planning office, development clusters and departments will receive feedback from the implementer through field reports, training reports etc. Moreover, field visits and meetings with stakeholders concerned will give a picture about the progress of a specific activity. Most districts do not yet have a culture of systematic self-reflection and continued adjustment resulting from experiences on the ground.

Capacity building of villagers and district staff for M&E is important.



Table 22: Results of Participatory M&E using SWOT methodology Example: Construction of classrooms

Topic Current status Strength Weakness Proposed improvements Implementation capacity (staff, transport, subcontract)

Inadequate supervision due to lack of staff allocation, transport and funds.

District task force was created to overview implementation of PEDP.

Not enough manpower Limited transport Inadequate skills at village level to carry out routine supervision. Staff assigned many other responsibilities leaving no time for field supervision.

■ Some staff should be exclusively assigned the supervision tasks and no other duties.

■ More transport available for technical staff. ■ Training selected school committee

members to supervise the day-to-day construction work.

■ Training contractors on quality and BoQs will reduce the monitoring problems.

■ Geographical areas (wards) to be assigned to individuals for increased accountability rather than covering the entire district with one team

■ Start experimental phase with sub-contracting supervision to qualified NGOs (performance monitoring contract).

Coordination District task force meets in principle every Monday for reporting.

District task force is the foundation for good departmental collaboration.

Many people involved with limited coordination. Instructions given by non-technical staff are not in line with technical requirements. Interdepartmental communication not enough.

■ Stronger involvement of the Works Department is required to improve standardisation and quality.

■ All documents from Ministry of Education should be forwarded and discussed with District Engineer.

Link physical supervision & payments

No link between payments and supervision.

Sub-standard quality. Payments prior to the finalisation of the works.

■ Payments to be only done in line with the progress of works.

■ Payments to be made only after inspection and approval.

■ Enforce proper system of payment

Available documentation & use

Most construction sites do not follow standard maps and BoQs. There are no standard contracts with technical specifications signed by the school committee and contractor

No Poor quality delivered by craftsmen and contractors. No legal means to address inadequate performance of the contractor. No adherence to standards of Ministry.

■ Each construction site should have its file with certificates, overview of payments, contracts, letters and memos.

■ The DE and DEO develop a standard contract for the employment of a contractor or craftsman.

■ School committees adhere to the standard contracts.

8.5 Monitoring & evaluation of the CPDP process

If the process of participatory planning is of poor quality, then the implementation of the plans also suffers set backs. It is therefore essential to pay sufficient attention to M&E of the CPDP process itself. This determines largely whether the approved village plan reflects the real needs of the villagers. The monitoring and evaluation of the participatory planning process is essentially the responsibility of the DFT.

Table 23 gives a number of simple indicators to assess the level of participation in the preparation of the village plan. You may design your own list with additional criteria, data and targets. Include these in the DFT work plan (Chapter 4). Information on the village planning process itself that is needed to fill out Table 23 should be included in the VDP (Chapter 5). In other words, you have to make sure that the VDP has a chapter that describes the planning process that took place, mentioning tools used, number of days spent, etc. Pay attention to this aspect in the training of the village teams.



Table 23: Indicators for M&E of the CPDP process at village level

Indicator Reference/Target Ideal Score

Actual Score

Number of people actively participating in village participatory planning

At least 50% of all residents in the target area 10

Number of days spent on village participatory planning

Hamlet level: 2 days, village level: 5 days 10

Gender considerations Gender segregated data in PRA; 1/3 of villagers participating are women; VDP includes priorities of women

10

Village records Minutes, quality of relevant meetings 10 PRA tools used At least 5 different tools used 10 Facilitation Satisfaction rate of participants 10 Copies of VDP kept in the village No=0, 10 = PRA outputs and VDP kept, accessible to

all (displayed) 10

Village leadership Institutional commitment to participate and lead/ chosen by consensus

10

Level of understanding Outcome test * 10 TOTAL SCORE 100

* Refers to a simple test under development by DRDP.

Active monitoring and evaluation by villagers creates accountable leadership.





9. COMMUNICATION AND REPORTING

When so many people play a role in preparation and implementation of the CDDP, one of your key tasks is to keep everybody adequately informed, and that too on time. If you do not communicate adequately with the different actors, they are bound to loose interest. This chapter gives you a number of practical suggestions on how to structure communication and information sharing with actors. It elaborates: • Who are the main users of information and

what are their information interests • What kind of information is required by the

different actors in the various steps of preparing the CDDP

• What are the main reporting formats for CPDP and who is responsible for reporting

9.1 Users of information

An important first step is to carefully consider the different users of CDDP-related information. Some persons will be interested in the achievements and lessons learned in a project, others need information on their specific role or how to participate in actual decision-making. Each group of users require specific sets of information, possibly with a specific format. All the actors involved in the process of CPDP need to be informed regularly about progress in planning and implementation. Make sure to ask them (especially project management, staff, and target populations) what kind of information and communication they require, and also what not. This not only simplifies your work but also makes sure that information is actually used. Key categories of people and organisations who should receive information on the CPDP include: • Communities involved: villagers, village

governments, village committees, women’s groups

• Local organisations, NGOs, CBOs, community groups, cultural and church leaders

• District Governments: district staff, politicians • Central Government: the Regional

Administrative Secretary, sector ministries • Donors

Table 24 gives an overview of the main categories of actors in CPDP and their specific interests for information. Although information needs of various actors are clearly different, they often receive the same documents, in the same formats. As a result the message doesn’t often get across! For instance, it doesn’t make sense to send bulky progress reports in English (required by a certain donor) to the Full Council. Instead make a summary of the main issues and have that translated into Ki-swahili. Consider the information user, his/her specific information requirements and ability to access information provided. Use the simple guidelines in Box 29 to present information. Box 29: Guidelines for presenting information

■ Know your audience, what they need to know, and why. ■ Know when the information is needed. ■ Be brief and to the point. ■ Use simple and clear language. ■ Follow a logical sequence of presentation. ■ Choose presentation methods that fit the audience (e.g. do

not use written material with illiterate villagers or very long reports for busy politicians).

■ Choose a variety of ways to present information.

The following paragraphs give you tips on how to organise information dissemination during each phase of the planning and implementation process.

9.2 Information dissemination at the start of CPDP

When initiating CPDP at the district level, all development actors need to be adequately informed on CPDP (Chapter 4). The provision of information is critical to ensure that they support it and get involved. Table 25 gives a summary of the main information dissemination activities proposed for this stage. It is important that this is done in accordance with the general time-line of the CPDP process, as outlined in Chapter 4.7.



Table 24: Main actors in CPDP and their interests for information on CPDP

Stakeholders Interests for information on CPDP Community Traditional Leaders, Cultural and Religious Leaders

■ To understand the planning process and the importance for participation and support

■ To make informed decisions on whether to support CPDP ■ To get support of villagers/constituencies for CPDP ■ To determine levels of contributions and (moral) support

General community, target group such as women, farmers, youth, elderly etc.

■ To be informed on CPDP, its objectives, strengths and weaknesses ■ To know exact timetable and expected levels/modalities of participation ■ To be prepared for CPDP related village meetings ■ To know which village priorities are selected and what contributions are expected ■ To know the management arrangements for selected village proposals ■ To be informed on ward and district selection of proposals ■ To know about disbursement of funds for village activities ■ To be able to hold implementers and administrators accountable

Local Organisations NGOs, CBOs ■ To be informed on CPDP, its objectives, strengths and weaknesses

■ To know exact timetable and expected levels/modalities of participation ■ To be prepared for CPDP related village meetings ■ To know which village priorities are selected and what contributions are expected ■ To integrate activities into village plans ■ To know management arrangements for selected village proposals ■ To be informed on ward and district selection of proposals ■ To know about disbursement of funds for village activities ■ To be able to hold implementers and administrators accountable

Local Government District staff

■ To know the village plans and priorities ■ To train, support and follow up DFT and VFTs ■ To plan, coordinate and manage CPDP in collaboration with other actors ■ To allocate resources, staff, etc. for implementation of CPDP ■ To monitor budgets and expenditures ■ To monitor physical implementation and impact on beneficiaries

Councillors (Standing Committees, Full Council)

■ To understand the rationale and methodology of CPDP from village to district level ■ To understand the planning process and the importance for participation and

support ■ To get support of villagers/constituencies for CPDP ■ To be aware of village priorities and understand the consolidation at district level ■ To inform ward and villages on selection of activities and available budgets ■ To hold executive officers accountable for budget expenditure and physical

implementation ■ To formulate new district policy

Central Government Regional Administrative Secretariat ■ To advise the District Council on the CPDP process

■ To advise on (multi-) annual district development plans ■ To provide technical expertise on specific sector programmes and activities ■ To relate District Development Plans with national priorities ■ To track and advise on physical implementation

Donor Community District donors (Multi-lateral, bi-lateral, NGOs)

■ To be aware of district strategic plans and annual development plans ■ To allocate finances and (other) support ■ To monitor expenditure against approved budgets ■ To monitor impact and physical implementation

Timely dissemination of information is important at this stage to make sure that CPDP activities are incorporated into the regular schedule of activities and that competent staff are allocated to the district and village planning facilitation teams and released from their regular responsibilities. Written

communication in Ki-swahili is essential to ensure that actors at the village level understand the messages. In view of the current plan-year of the Government, the most appropriate time for communication of the mentioned information to respective stakeholders is early January.



Table 25: Main information dissemination activities at start of CPDP Type of Info From To Recommended Form

Planning guidelines PO-RALG, RAS DED Letter, planning instruction General info on CPDP, objectives, time-line, participants, etc.

DED, DPLO All stakeholders concerned: Councillors, HoDs, Clusters, Village Government, VEO, WEO, WDC, VDC, NGOs, Private Sector, members of DAC

Brochure, letter, DMT meeting Cluster meeting, Awareness meeting, Radio broadcast

Work plan for main facilitating groups

DPLO DFT, VFT, departments and development clusters

Instruction letter, work plans, meetings, DMT

Work plan for staff of DFT, VFT

DPLO, DFT Individual team members Instruction letter

Timing, work plan and staff allocation departments

DPLO, HoDs Departments DMT Meeting

Timing, work plan and staff allocation other NGOs

DPLO NGOs, private sector organisations Invitation letter, cluster meeting, DAC meeting

9.3 Information dissemination for

facilitating village planning

Adequate communication with the villagers is crucial to making village planning a success. It is obvious from the preceding chapters of this manual that an instruction letter alone to the VEO will not do! All villagers, local organisations and groups need to be informed and mobilised in order to get their interest and participation. This can be done by sending information directly to local NGOs, churches and community groups, rather than waiting for the VEO to inform everybody. In the later stages of planning and during implementation of the village plan, there will be specific village committees (e.g school, health, environment etc.) that need to be contacted directly with specific information. Table 26 gives a summary of main information activities at this stage. Again, it is important to stress timeliness and adherence to the general time-line of the CPDP process (Chapter 4).

Within the current government planning cycle, the most appropriate time would be in the period February to April. Clearly, the VFT plays a crucial role in direct communication with the village. In particular, the village-based members of the team are well positioned to get messages across to fellow villagers. A village notice board can support their efforts (Box 30). Initially, the VFT is guided in this by the DFT, but over time and with more capacity built, can operate more independently. As mentioned before, apart from the first year, the focus of the planning process in the subsequent years will be more on evaluation and re-planning. This means that information and communication requirements will also slightly change.

Table 26: Information dissemination activities for facilitating village participatory planning

Type of Info From To Recommended Form General info on village development planning, its objectives, ownership and participation requirements

VFT Villagers, VEO, VC, to local NGOs, churches, community groups, etc.

Letter, Brochure, Display on village notice board, Radio broadcast

Timing of VDP for specific village, details of process, who needs to be involved, resources, venue, allowances if any, request for preparations and all practical arrangements

(DFT)/VFT WEO, VEO, VC, representatives of hamlets, local NGOs, churches and community groups

Letter, Meeting

Information on district & national priorities (SDDP), relevant district criteria and planning criteria, IPFs, village matching contributions, etc.

(DFT)/VFT All villagers Orally during VPP meeting, extract of SDDP, Display on ward, village, and dispensary notice boards

Basic statistical data (health, education, population, etc.) available at the district

(DFT)/VFT VEO/WEO Village facilitation team

Ward and village profiles of LGA M&E database



Box 30: The Village notice board

Communication is a major bottleneck in rural Tanzania. The village notice board is a low cost, but very efficient method to reach a broad public on development and administrative issues. It is therefore a good idea to use the village notice board systematically. The VEO should display the following information on the board: ■ Timetable of the village development planning process ■ Summary of the village development plan and budget ■ Priority list of development issues ■ Village statistics on education, health, water, roads and

other services ■ Development funds received from PEDP, health basket

and other donors for the village ■ Revenue collection The publication of the detailed allocation and use of development funds and revenue is now compulsory in many districts. This is an excellent way of promoting transparency and fostering good financial management. In order to reach women, a display board can also be installed at the dispensary. During vaccination days, many mothers will have time to read the announcements and the information will be spread easily.

9.4 Information dissemination for consolidating the CDDP

Consolidation of village plans and those of others into one district plan is mainly done at the district level (Chapter 6). Within the current government plan-year, the consolidation process should take place in May. Main information sharing activities at this stage are described in Table 27 and relate to specific and sequential work plans of the various actors agreed upon in the DMT and closely monitored by the DED.

9.5 Information dissemination for approval and sharing of CDDP

Processing and approving the draft CDDP is mainly the task of actors at the district and regional level. In accordance with the current government planning cycle, this process should be completed before mid June. Once approved, all stakeholders need to be informed of decisions taken (Refer Chapter 6). Proper communication with villages is critical if you want the momentum created during participatory planning to be maintained. If village proposals have been rejected, reasons for such rejection should be clearly mentioned and explained. Main information activities at this stage are described in Table 28.

9.6 Reporting as part of M&E

The monitoring activities of the CDDP usually result in a wide variety of reports e.g. field-visit reports, workshop implementation reports, supervision reports, financial statements, etc. These reports are prepared by the main implementer of a specific activity as indicated in the implementation work plan. The immediate superior, e.g. Head of Department, Manager of NGO or village committee, verifies the reports submitted by implementers. Often these reports are also necessary to support expenditure claims.

Table 27: Information dissemination activities for consolidating the CDDP Type of Info From To Recommended Form

Village and Ward Development Plans

VFT, VEO, WEO

DFT, Departments VDP, WDP according to agreed format

Formats for consolidation of sector plans and budgets, formats for consolidation of cluster plans and formats

DFT HOD, Clusters NGOs

Explanatory letter with pre-agreed specific formats (hard-copy and softcopy: e.g. excel spread sheets, etc.)

Specific work plan DFT and its individual staff

DPLO DED, DMT

Specific work plans for departments and its allocated staff

HoDs DFT

Work plans and meeting schedule for development clusters

Clusters DFT

Standard formats



Table 28: Information dissemination activities for approval and sharing of CDDP Type of Info From To Recommended Form

Summary of accepted and rejected VDP proposals for specific villages, plus explanations, clarifications

DFT/VFT Councillor

Villagers, VEO, VC, local NGOs, churches, community groups, etc.

Formal letter (annex approved and rejected plans with justification). Information leaflet for village notice boards.

Draft CDDP as approved in the DMT

DED Standing Committees, DAC, RAS

Revised CDDP after consultation with Standing Committees, RAS, DAC

DED Full Council

Refer to Chapter 6.8 and Box 25

General information plus summary of priorities and special projects

Council information department

Wider public Radio broadcast, (local) news papers and news letters.

The information thus collected is consolidated into CDDP progress reports on finances and physical implementation. Usually, progress reporting follows the normal government schedule and is done quarterly. Although the District Treasurer and DPLO are ultimately responsible for financial reports and physical progress reports respectively, the development clusters should discuss the

implementation reports at cluster level, before ‘feeding’ into the main district reports. Table 29 gives formats for the quarterly progress reports and indicates who is responsible for compilation and authorisation.

Table 29: Main reports in CDDP

Type of Report Suggested Content From To Consolidated Financial Progress Report (Development Cluster) (Quarterly)

A complete overview of financial ‘State of Affairs’ of CDDP per development cluster. Expenditures per various GFS levels versus approved budgets; Analysis of expenditures and detailed information of deviations. Details on bank and cash balances, income received, etc. The report should be based on EPICOR 7.2 software, verified and commented by the internal auditor.

Step 1: Individual activity implementation reports by implementor Step 2: Sector implementation reports by HoD Step 3: Development Cluster reports Step 4: Consolidated financial report by DT Step 5: Final financial report by DED

Immediate supervisor Development Cluster DT DED Standing Committees, FC

Consolidated Physical Progress Report (Development Cluster) (Quarterly/annually)

Detailed information on status of physical implementation versus approved CDDP outputs and activities per development cluster. Summary of main organisational and institutional issues influencing implementation. Overview of delivery of project activities and outputs versus targets. Management responses to observed constraints and possible modifications to the cluster planning tables. Annually, overview of realisation of CDDP effects and impact, and an assessment of unwanted side effects.

Step 1: Individual activity implementation reports by implementer Step 2: Sector implementation reports by HoD Step 3: Development Cluster reports Step 4: Consolidated financial report by DT Step 5: Final financial report DED

Immediate supervisor Development Cluster DPLO DED Standing Committees, FC





10. CAPACITY BUILDING FOR CPDP

10.1 Introduction

By now you have a good overview of the steps, activities and staff requirements to make CPDP work. But are the people and organisations mentioned ready to play their roles in the process? If not, this chapter will help you in organising specific capacity building activities for the main actors in the process of CPDP. In particular, this chapter gives you guidance on how to: • Organise training for the district and village

teams • Prepare a human resources development plan • Design capacity building support for functional

staff, institutional actors, councillors, WDC and VDC

• Decide on outsourcing of training support and cope with staff transfers.

10.2 Capacity building of those who facilitate the planning process

In preparing a capacity building strategy for the main facilitators of CPDP (DFT, VFT), a good assessment of their existing skills and knowledge in relation to their roles and responsibilities is a crucial first step. For example, members of the DFT may know participatory planning and PRA methodology but lack exposure to real village planning and interaction with various actors. If you do such an assessment for all relevant staff as a basis for preparing a capacity building strategy, you are in fact developing what is called a human resources development plan for CPDP. CPDP requires a way of working and use of methods and tools that are different from what many people in the district have been used to and have been trained in. The introduction of participatory planning therefore requires concerted attention to building the capacity, knowledge, skills and attitudes, of all involved. This is true at the district, as well as the ward and village levels. Capacity building is not limited to a first training of the DFT and the VFT. It includes supporting the facilitators in the field, reviewing experiences with village facilitators at the end of the season, providing adequate resource materials, giving real responsibility to the village facilitators, giving one or two the opportunity to present information on PP at a Council meeting, etc. In other words, be creative in looking for opportunities to build capacity and use existing mechanisms, meetings and

media where possible to reduce costs. The next paragraphs will focus on specific training interventions for the DFT and the VFT. 10.2.1 Training the District Planning

Facilitation Team The main role of the DFT is the overall facilitation of CPDP from village to district level (Chapter 2.5). The related tasks require the team to have a good understanding of the CPDP process and all the tools, formats and methodologies used. It also requires a number of functional and general management capacities such as project planning, organisation, M&E, facilitation, report writing, negotiation, etc. Preferably, most of these skills should be available among the DFT members and in fact, should determine selection of DFT members prior to CPDP. The main areas for capacity building of the DFT are summarised in Box 31. Box 31: Main capacity building areas for DFT

1. CPDP process, steps, tools and formats ■ Benefits of CPDP compared to conventional planning and

its limitations ■ The CPDP cycle, its timing, the link with other

government planning activities ■ The village planning process, methods, and tools ■ Preparing a CDDP 2. Planning, organisation and management ■ Planning CPDP ■ Preparation of work plans, log frames, budgets and

spreadsheets ■ M&E, participatory M&E ■ Reporting 3. Training of other actors, facilitation of participatory training events ■ Facilitation skills for training ■ Planning and organisation of training events ■ Coaching and supervision ■ Other training related issues

Training of the DFT should be top priority with the allocation of sufficient time and resources. However, not all members of the DFT need training in all the mentioned areas. Each receives training with respect to his/her specific responsibility in the team. Consider making a training plan for each DFT member. This will help to ensure that resources are budgeted for and set aside. Preferably, DFT members should be assigned for longer periods, and their transfers should be kept at a minimum. The first main induction



training could be provided by outside training institutions or by experienced district-based trainers. 10.2.2 Training the Village Planning

Facilitation Team The VFT plays a critical role in village planning. Capacity building of the VFT should cover the following areas: • The CPDP process, the role of village

participatory planning and its contribution to CPDP (Chapter 2)

• The actual village planning process, tools and methods used (Chapter 5 and OO&D manuals)

• Management of village participatory planning, roles and responsibilities, timing

• Facilitation skills, questioning, listening, moderating group sessions

• Development planning and budget formats • Basics of the log frame methodology • Participatory M&E • Interaction with village government, village

assembly An example of a typical first VFT training schedule is given in Table 30. As with the DFT, you need to assess the training needs of the individual members of the VFT, their existing skills and experiences, before planning training in detail. Again, consider making a training and coaching plan as a basis for mobilising and reserving resources. Preferably, VFT members should be assigned for a multi-annual period, and changing of members should be minimised. The first training can be provided by the DFT, assisted by outside training institutions or consultants if necessary. The first training workshop should be highly interactive, reflecting the spirit and meaning of participation that is so crucial to successful preparation of a VDP. Trainers who, during the training, demonstrate ability in involving participants, listening to them, including their issues in the discussion and effectively facilitating group discussions, will be the most convincing in conveying the central message of VPP. The more opportunity participants are given to practice the methods and tools during the training, the more confident they will be in using these in the field. Special capacity strengthening interventions are required for the village-based members in the VFT. Usually, they are very committed, but lack the relevant skills training. Some may have had previous experience in participatory work. It is a good strategy to provide coaching to this group of

facilitators and to bring them together, from time to time, for further training and exchange of experiences. For the VFT, coaching in the field is as important as formal training. Supervision, coaching and mentoring of the VFT by the DFT and DPLO is very important, particularly during the first planning exercise. Close interaction in the field also provides the DFT and DPLO an opportunity to learn about the quality of the CPDP. This will generate information to improve the planning guidelines and give concrete examples for use during further training events. It may so happen that during training or in the course of the actual facilitation some facilitators of the VFT show little interest or understanding of PP or are simply not committed and do not perform. In such cases, it is best to discontinue his/her assignment in order to maintain the energy and smooth flow of the CPDP process in the village. As part of the capacity building process, you should organise an evaluation workshop with the district and village teams at the end of the annual planning process. This allows you to assess the CPDP process and encourage learning from experiences. Thereby, the different teams can be better prepared for the next planning cycle. In addition, particular subjects could be discussed in more detail than during the initial training, and new topics such as Participatory M&E could be introduced. You may also wish to combine the training events for the DFT and VFT. This would help reduce costs and allow people at various levels to learn from each other. The guidelines above suggest separate training events because of the specific nature of these trainings, particularly at the initial stages, but where possible and feasible, joint training could be considered.

10.3 Capacity building for others

Success of the CPDP process also depends on the capacity of a wider range of actors. Capacity building of such actors should be included in a general capacity support plan of the council and its collaborators. Specifically, capacity support should be considered for: 1. Departmental staff 2. CPDP partners, organisations and other fora 3. Councillors



Table 30: Two-week schedule for a VFT training Week 1: theory background Week 2: village practical

Day Subject Subject Monday

Development planning Project cycle management Link planning – monitoring – evaluation Link village plans – national plan Need for comprehensive planning Planning methodologies: strengths & weaknesses Introduction to Participatory Planning

Facilitate village assembly meeting Brainstorm on resources opportunities Define priorities Elect representatives to different working groups Afternoon: Discussion of strengths and problems encountered Feedback on skills and methodologies applied

Tuesday

Facilitation Who is a good facilitator Adult learning Managing groups & individuals & energizers. Facilitation methods (+ practicals) Use of facilitation materials (+ practicals) Conflict mediation Village community representation Role of community planning Social structure in village: types of households Marginal communities Community representation Village government structures and their role Development activities benefiting large section of population (+ practicals) Village and ward facilitators Role in different planning steps Selection procedure

Coaching village sector groups and facilitators PRA Data collection Afternoon: Discussion of strengths and problems encountered Feedback on skills and methodologies applied Evaluation of the day by facilitators

Wednesday

Methodology of PP and PRA Constraints and opportunities Focus on existing village resources Steps and formats Need for clear development priorities Village absorption capacity Matrix ranking to set village priorities

Coaching village planning groups SWOT analysis Developing priorities Afternoon: Discussion of strengths and problems encountered Feedback on skills and methodologies applied Evaluation of the day by facilitators

Thursday

Tanzania development vision 2025 Log-frame, SDDP Development sectors, clusters: Health, education, agriculture, good governance Sector checklists for village planning Importance of comprehensive planning District planning guidelines Cross-cutting issues: Aids/environment/gender

Coaching village sector groups and facilitators Ranking priorities Developing 3-year plan Afternoon: Discussion of strengths and problems encountered Feedback on skills and methodologies applied Evaluation of the day by facilitators

Friday

Budgets Village revenue External sources of funding in the district Matching principles Budget formats for sectors Standard costs of recurrent village projects BoQs and price lists Managing the village planning process Time, resources, process indicators

Coaching village sector groups and facilitators Priority activities 3-year rolling plan Action plan 1 year Budget 1 year Afternoon: Discussion of strengths and problems encountered Feedback on skills and methodologies applied Evaluation of the day by facilitators

Saturday

Data collection Role of data in village planning Type of data available at the village and ward Problems with quantitative data Qualitative data: trends and ranking LGRP M&E database PRA tools to generate qualitative data

Facilitation village council Presentation of draft plan by sector groups Review draft plan Endorsement final plan Afternoon: Feedback on skills and methodologies applied Evaluation of the process by facilitators



10.3.1 Capacity building of departmental staff

Departmental staff may need to be strengthened in their functional areas. Try to make an assessment of existing job descriptions, followed by a staff audit and staff appraisal. Based on the findings, make a capacity building programme to improve functional requirements.10 • The DPL office and staff need to be able to

coordinate the whole CPDP process, guide the main actors such as the DFT and the VFT, and liaise with individual departments, NGOs, DMT, standing committees and Full Council. Functional areas that may need improvement are general planning skills, participatory planning including PRA methodology, log frame approach, M&E, reporting, facilitating meetings of development clusters, logistics management, information management, and data storage and analysis.

• The District Treasurer’s office and staff play a

crucial role in consolidation of the development (and recurrent) budget, and in critical review of department and cluster budgets. During implementation of the CDDP, their tasks will be in financial administration, budget control, and preparation of financial reports. Functional areas that could be improved are financial administration using Epicor 7.2, cheques and budget control, stores management, internal auditing, and financial reporting.

• The District Executive Director is in charge of

the whole CPDP process, but delegates this task to the DPLO. The DED still plays an important role in providing general direction, supervision and control. Functional areas in which capacity support can be given are: policy development, strategic management, team management, delegation, communication, chairing meetings, leadership, and change management.

• Sector departments have specific technical

responsibilities with regard to CPDP, and in particular, the critical assessment of technical proposals and related budgets. During implementation, they would need to monitor

10 As stated, this capacity support programme should ‘fit in’ to

a more comprehensive Human Resources Development Plan for the council. For the preparation of such plan it is recommended to follow national modalities as currently implemented through the LGRP (Restructuring manual; step 14-16).

and supervise implementation. Specific areas for improvement and capacity support are likely to be: functional technical expertise, delegation of tasks, team work, planning and budgeting, M&E, supervision, formulation of TORs, transfer of knowledge, and report writing.

• The Ward and Village Executive Officers play

an important role in the ward and village, respectively. Important areas for capacity building are: planning and budgeting, M&E, report writing, financial administration, communication, and leadership.

10.3.2 Capacity building of partner

organisations and fora In view of their important role in CPDP, specific efforts to build the capacity of CPDP partners, organisations and other fora, some of which are newly established, should be considered. • The Development Cluster works towards more

‘holistic’ development plans, crossing borders between traditional sectors. It is a forum for dialogue between government and non-government actors in a specific development domain. Functional areas that are most likely for capacity building are: management and facilitation of meetings, dialogue and negotiating skills, sector strategic planning, delegation of tasks, and M&E.

• The District Advisory Council (DAC) is a

forum to create dialogue and understanding between various development actors at district level. If it does not yet exist, then the proposed members should be sensitised before the forum is launched. If it is already established, the main areas in which capacity could be enhanced are: meeting and discussion techniques, consensus building, strategic thinking, and policy formulation and development.

• Capacity building for NGOs, CBOs and the

private sector to participate in the CPDP process also needs attention. This could be for individual organisations, or for representative organisations such as NGO networks or special interest groups (e.g. the chambers of commerce). Here, capacity building is most likely to be in: strategic and policy management, organisational development, financial administration, fund raising, and leadership.



Participatory planning without a good attitude is not effective. 10.3.3 Capacity building of Councillors,

WDC and VDC The councillors, Ward and Village Development Committees play an important role in the preparation of the VDP and WDP. Councillors are also important as decision makers of the CDDP and as policy makers for the Strategic Development Plan. They represent the political dimension of the CPDP and are involved not only in defining the development direction, but also in issues of governance such as accountability, transparency and participation. Councillors concern themselves with the roles and relationship of the administrative and political arms of the District Council. In the Tanzanian democratic system, the lines of accountability between the administration, elected representatives and their constituents, as well as the flow of information between these levels are important. Within such a context, training in the following aspects should be considered: • WDC: Strategic thinking, development

planning and budgeting, M&E, log frame approach, financial administration, setting

criteria and reviewing VDPs, the main sector programmes, and assessment of BoQs.

• VDC: Strategic thinking, development planning and budgeting, M&E, log frame approach, financial administration, assessment of development proposals.

• Councillors: Strategic thinking, policy development, the basics of democratic governance, communication and information management, leadership, development planning and budgeting, M&E, log frame approach, financial administration and procedures, chairing of meetings.

10.4 Outsourcing of capacity building

Many departments, and especially the planning department, are over-stretched due to limited human resources and increasing administrative responsibilities. As the trend of decentralisation continues, this situation will only worsen. Outsourcing, e.g. of training activities, is in this case a potential solution. It can also improve the quality of training, as supervising and implementation roles are separated and payments are made in line with



performance. An overview of strengths and weaknesses of outsourcing as opposed to implementation by district staff is given in Box 32. Outsourcing of training can be successful, if: • A country-wide overview of service providers

(NGOs, consultants, existing projects, training institutions, etc.) with relevant expertise could be established by the DPLO. Information on consultants can be obtained from other districts, the region and sector programmes.

• Targeted sub-contracting is used instead of a general tender announcement.

• Responsibilities of both parties are documented in a contract.

• Training targets are qualified and quantified. • A common training manual is used. • Payments are based on performance.

10.5 Coping with staff transfers

It is quite common that well-trained government staff is transferred to other positions or even outside the district. You may still ensure effective CPDP implementation by taking note of the following suggestions:

• Formalise the position of the DFT as an institutionalised unit with a clear mandate and Terms of Reference (Chapter 4).

• The same should be done for the people involved in the team: formalise their role through an approved job description

• Select VFT members who are resident in the village and with strong roots in the local community.

• Strengthen the role of the village-based VFT members vis-à-vis officials and NGO staff.

• Provide training to new staff, replacing those trained before. If the number is too small to organise a separate training in the district, ensure that the new staff join a relevant training in another district; or give them a good on-the-job training.

• Make sure that all plans, procedures & formats used are well recorded and stored in an accessible place.

• Prioritise training of committed people at ward and village level. Having an emotional link to their home area, they are unlikely to move out.

• Consider outsourcing of key functions to organisations with a permanent presence and interest in the district.

Box 32: Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing of capacity building

Mode of Intervention

Advantages Disadvantages

Own implementation by departments

■ Embedded in the district council structure ensuring strong linkages with the government.

■ Experience gained through training provides opportunities for in-house teaching and additional capacity building for district staff.

■ Payment of allowances complements government salaries.

■ Most departments do not have sufficient human resources to provide the proper training facilitation.

■ As payments are not related to the quality of training, no incentives are created for performance.

■ No separation of the supervision and implementing tasks which does not foster quality.

Outsourcing through sub-contracts, NGOs or tendering.

■ Easy output control, if contracts are well prepared and provide quantitative benchmarks.

■ Competitive selection based on capacity of the implementing partner leads to better training results.

■ Payments related to performance, therefore quality is usually better.

■ If training collaboration is with NGOs, additional funding and human resources are mobilised and will complement district council resources.

■ The reflection on contracts and budgets improves the preparation and cost efficiency of the training.

■ Tendering will often be more expensive. ■ Preparation of tenders and good contracts

requires time.



ANNEX: Budget format example (Output level) in MS Excel

Documents

MAKING LOCAL GOVERNANCE A REALITY...Making Local Governance a Reality iv A Guide for District Facilitators Managing Participatory Planning for Development 6. PREPARING A COMPREHENSIVE