Course Content
Introduction to Agricultural Projects
This module introduces the foundational concepts of project planning in the agricultural sector. Students explore the critical distinction between broad development programs and targeted projects. Discussions focus on how capital investments in agriculture drive rural transformation, and the specific complexities such as biological timelines, climate dependency, and land tenure that make agricultural projects uniquely challenging compared to industrial ones.
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1.1 Definition Project
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Project planing
The linkage between projects and programs
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The Importance of Project Planning
Project Parametres
1.2 The linkage between projects and programs
It is necessary to distinguish between projects and programs because there is sometimes a tendency to use them interchangeably. While a project refers to an investment activity where resources are used to create capital assets, which produce benefits over time and has a beginning and an end with specific objectives, a program is an ongoing development effort or plan which may not necessarily be time bounded. Examples could be a road development program, a health improvement program, a nutritional improvement program, a rural electrification program, etc. A development plan is a general statement of economic policy. National development plans are further disaggregated into a set of sectoral plans. A development plan or a program is therefore a wider concept than a project. It may include one or several projects at various times whose specific objectives are linked to the achievement of higher level of common objectives. For instance, a health program may include a water project as well as a construction of health centers both aimed at improving the health of a given community, which previously lacked easy access to these essential facilities. Projects, which are not linked with others to form a program, are sometimes referred to as “stand alone” projects. Projects in such context are the concrete manifestations of the development plans in a specific place and time. One can think of projects as subunits and bricks of programs, which constitute the national plan (usually the direction is from plans to projects). We have to note that projects could be either public or private. It is the smallest operational element prepared and implemented as a separate entity in a national plan or program. From the above discussion it can be seen that the major difference between a project and a program is not so much in objectives stated but lies more in scope, the details and accuracy. A project is designed with a high degree of precision and details as regards its objectives, features, calculation of returns and implementation plan. A program by contrast is general, lacks details and precision and aims at a broader goal often related to a sectoral policy of a country or departmental policy of an organization. Perhaps the distinction between projects and programs would be clear if we see the basic characteristics of projects. Projects in general need to be SMART. S – Specific 1 A project needs to be specific in its objective. A project is designed to meet a specific objective as opposed to a program, which is broad. A project has also specific activities. Projects have well defined sequence of investment and production activities and a specific group of benefits. A project is also designed to benefit a specific group of people. M - Measurable Projects are designed in such a way that investment and production activities and benefits expected should be identified and if possible be valued (expressed in monetary terms) in financial, economic and if possible social terms. Though it is sometimes difficult to value especially secondary costs and benefits of a project, attempt should be made to measure them. Measure costs and benefits must lend themselves for valuation and general projects are thought to be measurable. A – Area bounded As projects have specific and identifiable group of beneficiaries, so also have to have boundaries. In designing a project, its area of operation must clearly be identified and delineated. Though some secondary costs and benefits may go beyond the boundary, its major area of operation must be identified. Hence projects are said to be area bounded. R – Real Planning of a project and its analysis must be made based on real information. Planner must make sure whether the project fits with real social, economic political, technical, etc situations. This requires detail analysis of different aspects of a project. T – Time bounded A project has a clear starting and ending point. The overall life of the project must be determined. Moreover, investment and production activities have their own time sequence. Every cost and benefit streams must be identified, quantified and valued and be presented year-by-yea
ASPECTS OF PROJECT PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS
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ASPECTS OF PROJECT PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS
Agricultural Project Planning and Analysis Course Code: RDAE 341

Project Parameters:

Five constraints operate on every project:

  • Scope
  • Quality
  • Cost
  • Time
  • Resources

These constraints are an interdependent set; a change in one can cause a change in another constraint to restore the equilibrium of the project. In this context, the set of five parameters form a system that must remain in balance for the project to be in balance.

Scope

It is a statement that defines the boundaries of the project. It tells not only what will be done but also what will not be done. In the information systems industry, scope is often referred to as a functional specification. In the engineering profession, it is generally called a statement of work.  Scope may also be referred to as a document of understanding, a scoping statement, a project initiation document, and a project request form. This document is the foundation for all project work to follow. It is crit­ical that scope be correct.

Beginning a project on the right foot is important, and so is staying on the right foot. It is no secret that scope can change. We do not know how or when, but it will change. Detecting that change and deciding how to accommodate it in the project plan are major challenges for the project manager.

Quality

Two types of quality are part of every project. The first is product quality. This refers to the quality of the deliverable from the project. The second type of quality is process quality, which is the quality of the project management process itself. The focus is on how well the project management process works and how can it be improved. Continuous quality improvement and process quality management are the tools used to measure process quality.

A sound quality management program with processes in place that monitor the work in a project is a good investment. Not only does it con­tribute to customer satisfaction, it helps organizations use their re­sources more effectively and efficiently by reducing waste and rework. This is one area that should not be compromised. The payoff is a higher probability of successfully completing the project and satisfying the customer.

Cost

The dollar cost of doing the project is another variable that defines the project. It is best thought of as the budget that has been established for the project. This is particularly important for projects that create deliverables that are sold either commercially or to an external customer.

 

Cost is a major consideration throughout the project management cycle. The first consideration occurs at an early and informal stage in the life of a project. The customer can simply offer a figure about equal to what he or she had in mind for the project. Depending on how much thought the customer put into it, the number could be fairly close to wide of the actual cost for the project. In more formal situations, the project manager prepares proposal for the projected work. That proposal includes an estimate (perhaps even a quote) of the total cost of the project. Even if a preliminary figure had been supplied by the project manager, the proposal allows the customer to base his or her go / no-go decision on better estimates.

Time

The customer specifies a timeframe or deadline date within which project must be completed. To a certain extent, cost and time are inversely related to one another. The time a project takes to be completed can be reduced, but cost increases as a result.

Time is an interesting resource. It can’t be inventoried. It is consumed whether we use it or not. The objective for the project manager is to use the future time allotted to the project in the most effective and productive ways possible. Future time (time that has not yet occurred) can be a resource to be traded within a project or across projects. Once a project has begun, the prime resource available to the project manager to keep the project on schedule or get it back on schedule is time. A good project manager realizes this and will protect the future time resource jealously

Resources

 Resources are assets, such as people, equipment, physical facilities, or in­ventory that have limited availabilities, can be scheduled, or can be leased from an outside party. Some are fixed; others are variable only in the long term. In any case, they are central to the scheduling of project activities and the orderly completion of the project.

 

 For systems development projects, people are the major resource. Another valuable resource for systems projects is the availability of com­puter processing time (mostly for testing purposes), which can present significant problems to the project manager when it comes to project Scheduling.

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