.

CHAPTER THREE
Project Identification and
Selection
 Project Identification
• Project identification is the initial phase of the
project cycle.
- It begins with the conceiving of ideas or
intentions to set up a project.
- These ideas are then transformed into a project.
• In this stage, national development plans and
strategies are translated in to specific investment
projects based on felt human needs.
• Project ideas are normally initiated by a perceived
need [PROBLEM or OPPORTUNITY] in an
organization and converted in to a formal project
proposal.
 Sources of project ideas
The community, researchers, experts,
local leaders, Policy makers,
entrepreneurs, donors, NGOs, Planners,
etc.

Government policy priorities, unusual

events, external threats, unsatisfied demands,
under utilized natural resources, etc.
 Who identifies projects?
•Various organizations, whether local or
foreign, state owned or private, government
ministries, development banks, interest
groups, CBOs (community based
organizations), NGOs and of course
individuals can identify projects.
 Logical Framework Approach
(LFA)
•LFA is the main tool used for project
design during the Identification and
Formulation phases of the project cycle.
•Using the LFA during Identification helps to
ensure that project ideas are relevant, while
during Formulation it helps to ensure
feasibility and sustainability.
 Using LFA helps:
• Clarify the purpose of and the justification for
a project
• Identify information requirements.
• Clearly define the key elements of a project.
• Analyze the project’s setting at an early stage.
• Facilitate communications between all parties
involved.
• Identify how the success or failure of the
project should be measured.
 Approaches to project identification

There are two major approaches to project

identification :
(a) Top-down approach
(b) Bottom-up approach
 Top-Down Approach
•Projects are identified based on demands
from beyond the community.
•This may include directives from:
•international conventions (such as Kyoto
Protocol/ climate change)
•international institutions that have
determined particular priorities and thus
projects
•national policy makers identifying
projects that pertain to party manifestos
and/or national plans.
 Advantages of Top-Down Approach
• It may be a rapid response to disasters like
floods, war outbreak because there is limited
time and chance to consult the beneficiaries.

• It can be effective in providing important

services like education, health, water, roads etc.

• It can contribute to wider national or

international objectives and goals

Limitations of Top-Down Approach

• Assumes external individuals know better than
the beneficiaries of the service.
 Bottom-Up Approach
•In this approach community/ beneficiaries
are encouraged to identify and plan the
projects themselves with or without
outsiders.
 Advantages of Bottom-Up Approach

• Develops people’s capacity to identify problems

and needs and to seek possible solutions to them.
• Provides opportunities of educating people.
• Helps people to work as a team and develop a
“WE” attitude
• Resources are effectively managed; dependence
reduces, there is increased equity, initiative,
accountability, financial and economic discipline.
 Limitations of Bottom-Up Approach
• Not always effective for projects that require
urgency to implement
• Time-consuming and requires patience and
tolerance.
• People sometimes dislike the approach because
they do not want to take responsibility for action.
• The agency using this approach is never in
control and cannot guarantee the results it would
want.
• The priorities of communities may not fit with
national or international priorities that seek to
have a broader impact.
Project Identification in Both approaches
• Involves needs assessment
-Collecting, processing and analysing data on
problems/ needs of communities
• Review of secondary data
- Look at books, survey reports/ research papers,
publications, media reports, internet etc.
• Collecting and analyzing primary information
• Interviews
• Community mapping
• Focus Group Discussions
• Other methods
Steps in Project identification and
selection
•Stakeholders analysis
•SWOT analysis
•Problem analysis
•Objective analysis
•Alternative Analysis
 a) Stakeholders analysis
• Stakeholder is any individuals and/ or organizations,
group or community who are actively involved in the
project and whose interests are directly affected by the
outcome of the project /program.
• Stakeholder’s could be targeted groups/ beneficiaries,
negatively affected groups, decision makers, funding
agencies, implementing agencies, community leaders,
potential opponents and supporting groups, etc.
• The main goal of stakeholders analysis is to identify,
assess and develop an idea/opportunity with a view to
perceived needs and how well it fits into the
organization's programs and strategies.
 Purpose of stakeholders analysis
 To identify those groups who, directly or
indirectly, will affect or be affected by a project.
 To estimate the probable impact which various
stakeholders will have on the project.
 To identify measures to enhance stakeholder
support for the sustainable development
objectives of the project.
 To determine, through consultation, the issues,
concerns and information needs of different
stakeholders.
Stakeholder Analysis promotes the three necessary
conditions for the effective implementation of a
project:
• Inclusion: that stakeholders feel they are valued,
consulted and part of the change process which the
project represents
• Awareness/ Commitment: that stakeholders
understand and believe in the objectives and
implementation strategy of the project.
• Capability: that stakeholders believe they can cope
with and benefit from the changes which the project is
intended to bring
b) SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a tool for institutional appraisal

and a brainstorming exercise in which the
representatives of the organization participate
fully.
Purpose:
•To assess the performance and capacity of the
participating units, divisions of organization.
•Each participating unit has to undertake SWOT
analysis.
SWOT stands for:
• Strengths - the positive internal attributes of the

organisation
• Weaknesses - the negative internal attributes of the

organisation
• Opportunities - external factors which could improve

the organisation’s prospects

• Threats - external factors which could undermine the

organisation’s prospects
c) Problem Analysis
•Begins with identifying a core problem.
•A problem- is an obstacle, impediment,
difficulty or challenge, gap or any situation
that needs solution.
•Problems Analysis visually shows the
causes and effects of existing problems in
the project area, in the form of a Problem
Tree.
•It clarifies the relationships among the
identified problems.
 It involves three steps:
1. Identification of the stakeholders affected
by the proposed project;

2. Identification of the major problems faced

by beneficiaries; and

3. Development of a problem tree to

establish causes and effects.
 Problem Tree Analysis
Purpose:
- to identify major problems and their main causal
relationships.

Output:
- a graphical arrangement of problems differentiated
according to ‘causes’ and ‘effects’
 Steps in Undertaking Problem Tree
1. Identify a “core” or central problem

2. List all the problems related to or stemming

from the core problem

3. Determine which related problems are

causes and which are effects of the core
problem

4. Arrange the problems in a cause-effect

heirarchy around the core problem
Problem Tree
Problem Tree
EFFECT

CAUSE
 Problem tree Analysis
Relies on:
• Group-based inter-action eg. Workshop format
• Participation of key stakeholders
• Achieving consensus on problems, causes and
effects
• Process facilitation
Example 1:1
Subject of the workshop is food security, the possible problems
mentioned in relation to this subject are:
• Food production on hills • Dikes are degraded
decreasing • Soil fertility on hill slopes is
• Ethnic clashes in neighboring decreasing
districts • Soil erosion on hill slopes
• Food shortages
• Irregular supply of inputs for
• High incidence of malnutrition rice production
• Canals are blocked • High immigration rates
• Rice production in low lands • Irrigation water does not reach
decreasing fields in desired quantity
• Poor maintenance of irrigation
facilities
 High incidence of
Problem Tree malnutrition

Food shortages

Rice production
Food production High immigration
in low lands
on hills decreasing rates
decreasing

Irrigation water does Irregular supply of Soil fertility Ethnic clashes in

not reach field in inputs for rice on hill slopes neighboring
Effect
desired quantity production is decreasing districts

Canals are Dikes are Soil erosion on

blocked degraded hill slopes

Cause

Poor maintenance
system for irrigation
facilities
 d) Objective Tree Analysis
• An objective tree is a technique for identifying
the objectives that will be achieved as a result of
solving the problems cited in the problem tree.

• The objectives are also displayed as a series of

means and ends relationships.
• The ‘negative situations’ of the problem tree are
converted into solutions, expressed as ‘positive
situations’.
Analysis of Objectives
•Transforming the problem tree into an
objectives tree by restating the problems as
objectives.
•Problem statement converted in to
positive statements
•Check the means-ends relationships to
ensure validity and completeness of the
hierarchy (cause-effect relationships are
turned into means-ends linkages)
 Incidence of
Malnutrition reduced
Diagram of objectives
Improved Food
situation

Rice production Food production

in low lands Lower
on hills increased immigration
increased
rates

Sufficient irrigation Regular supply of Soil fertility on Less ethnic

water reaches the inputs for rice hill slopes clashes in
End
fields production increased neighboring
districts

Canals Dikes are Soil erosion on hill

cleared upgraded slopes reduced

Means

Maintenance
irrigation facilities
improved
 e) Alternative Tree Analysis
• is a technique for identifying alternative solutions or
course of action that can be used to achieve the same or
alternative objectives and the display of this information in
a simple format.
• is a process in which specific project strategies are
selected from among the objectives and means raised in
Objectives Analysis, based upon selection criteria.
• The aim of alternative strategy analysis is division of the
objectives tree into more consistent smaller sub-units that
may, compose the core for a project.
• Each of the sub-units of the objective tree can represent an
alternative strategy for the future project.
 Criteria for selecting the alternative

• RELEVANCE: the strategy corresponds to the needs of

the stakeholders.
• EFFECTIVENESS: the lower level objectives of the
strategy will contribute to achievement of the project
purpose.
• EFFICIENCY: cost-effectiveness of the strategy in
transforming the means into results.
• CONSISTENT with development policies
• SUSTAINABILITY of the project
• ASSUMPTIONS and RISKS
 Incidence of
Malnutrition reduced
Diagram of Alternatives
Improved Food
situation

Rice production Food production

in low lands Lower
on hills increased immigration
increased
rates

Soil fertility on
Sufficient irrigation Regular supply of hill slopes
water reaches the inputs for rice increased
fields production
Less ethnic
clashes in
neighboring
districts
Canals Dikes are
cleared upgraded Soil erosion on hill
slopes reduced

Maintenance
irrigation facilities
improved
 Alternatives for decision
• Let us assume that agricultural inputs are
provided by one NGO, soil conservation
activities are already in place by agriculture
office, and conflict is on the process to be
resolved by Local Elders.

•Therefore, the project will focus on the

irrigation system alternative