SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT

Course: EE 105

TOPIC 3: PLANNING

1.0 Planning:
 Critical managerial activity and primary function of
management
 It is a decision-making activity requiring the process of
ascertaining objectives and deciding on activities to attain
these objectives
 Managers assess the future, determine the goals and
develop the overall strategies to achieve these goals
 It has three characteristics namely; anticipatory in nature
(i.e a decision has to be made now as to what to do and how);
a system of decisions; and focused on desired future results.

2.0 Importance of Planning

 Planning is essential in modern business as it takes into
account the possible future developments including rapid
technology changes, changes in consumer preference and
competition
 Planning puts focus on objectives. Objectives provide a
direction and all planning decisions are directed toward
achievement of these objectives
 Planning anticipates problems and uncertainties
 It is important because of scarce resources and uncertain
environment with a fierce competition for these resources
 Planning helps the process of decision-making about future
activities
 Plans permit the organization to obtain and commit
resources
 Plans allow members to carry on activities consistent with
the chosen objectives and procedures
 Planning is necessary to facilitate control. Controlling
involves the continual analysis and measurement of actual
operations against the established standards. These
standards are set in the light of objectives to be achieved.
 Plans allow monitoring of the objectives.
3.0 Principles of Effective Planning
 Keep aims crystallized: Aims and objectives must be
SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Attainable, Realistic
and Time bound)
 Develop accurate forecasts based on quantitative methods
 Involve subordinates in the planning process
 The plan must be a sound one based on sound
assumptions and accurate information
 Don’t be over-optimistic: Plans should be objective not
based on feelings, emotions and intuition
 Decide in advance the criteria for abandoning a project
 Keep your plan flexible (need for constant review for need
of revision and modification)
 Review long-range plans on a short range basis
 Fit the plan to the environment. Assess the current as well
as the future environment

4.0 The Planning Process

 It is built on the framework of the statement of mission,
specific objectives and plans developed to achieve these
objectives
 The Mission: is the very reason for the organization’s
existence. It sets out why the organization exists and what it
should be doing.
 A clear mission statement is concise, focused, worthy,
imaginative and realistic
 Above the mission, there is a need to have a “Vision” of
what the organization is to become
 Vision – is general directional and motivational guidance
for the entire organization
 Goals and Objectives: Goals are refinements of the
mission. Help to describe the organizations philosophy.
Objectives are specific statements about anticipated end-
results of any activity. Objectives should be SMART

5.0 Basic Steps in the Planning Process

1. Establish a goal or set of goals
- Decision on what the organization wants
- Involves identification of priorities
2. Determine the planning premises
- Define the assumptions upon which planning will be
based
- Assess the present situation and future possibilities
(including assessment of resources)

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 3. Identify the aids and barriers to goals
- what factors in the internal and external environments
can help the organization achieve its goals
- what factors might create problems (SWOT analysis)

4. Develop a plan or set of actions for reaching the goal(s)

- Develop alternative courses of actions
- Evaluate them
- Select the most suitable course of action

6.0 Management By Objectives (MBO)

 It is the philosophy of management that emphasizes that
managers and subordinates work together in identifying and
setting up objectives and make plans together in order to
achieve these objectives
 It is also referred to as “Management by results” or “Goals
Management” based on the assumption that involvement
leads to commitment and motivation
 Also referred to as a formal set of procedures that
establishes and review progress toward common goals for
managers and subordinates
 The MBO process consists of the following steps
- Establish long- range objectives and plans
- Establish specific short-term organizational objectives
- Establish action plans
- Appraise results (measure and evaluate performance)
- Take corrective actions

7.0 Plans
 Plans are action statements aimed at achievement of
organizational objectives
 A good plan should address the following
- What activities are required to accomplish the objectives
- When should these activities be carried out
- Who is responsible for doing what?
- Where the activities should be carried out?
- When should the action be completed?

7.1 Types of Plans

 Two types of organizational plans: Standing plans and
single- use plans (Grouped under operational Plans)
 Standing Plans: Those which remain the same for long
periods of time and are used in organizational situations that
occur repeatedly. Examples are policies, procedures and
rules.

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  Single-use Plans: These focus on relatively unique
situations within the organization and may be required to be
used only once. For example, programmes and budgets

Organizational Plans

Standing Plans Single-use Plans

Policies Procedures Rules Programme Budget

s

Standing Plans
 Policies: A policy is a statement and a pre-determined
guideline that provides direction for decision-making and
action taking. A policy maybe specific or broad in nature;
deals with one or many aspects of a problems or a situation;
place wider or narrow limits within which action is to be taken
and specify steps to be taken when a decision is to be made.
 Procedures: While policies cover a broad area of action,
procedures prescribe the exact manner in which an activity is
to be completed. It is a series of steps established to
accomplish a specific project. They generally indicate how a
policy is to be implemented and carried out. They are more
precise guidelines permitting little or no individual
discretion
 Rules: A rule is very specific and a narrow guide to action.
It has to be strictly followed and is generally enforced by
invoking penalties.

Single-use Plans
 Programmes: A programme is a single-use plan designed
to carryout a special project, solving a problem or achieving a
group of related goals
 Budgets: a budget is financial plan that covers a
specified period of time.

8.0 Levels of Planning

Essentially there are three levels:

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  Strategic planning: is the process of determining overall
objectives of the organization and the policies and strategies
adopted to achieve these objectives.
- It is a process by which an organization makes decision
and takes actions that affect its long term performance.
- Usually covers a time period of up to ten years and
involves a major commitment of resources.
- It deals with the total assessment of the organization’s
capabilities, its strengths and weaknesses and an objective
and analytical evaluation of the dynamic environment

 Tactical planning: While strategic planning focuses

on where the organization will be in the future, tactical
planning, also known as “intermediate planning”
emphasizes on how it will be done.
- It covers a shorter period of time (1-2 years) and involves
middle level management

 Operational planning: operational plans are the

responsibility of lower level management and involve unit
supervisors, foremen and so on.
- These are short-range plans covering a time span of about
one week to one year
- These plans are more specific and they determine how a
specific job is to be completed in the best possible way.

9.0 Opportunities and Obstacles to Development (O & OD)

Overview:
 The Government is committed to enhance community
participation in development planning and budgeting.
 Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are charged with the
rights and powers to involve the people in planning and
implementation of development programmes.
 For details see Regional Administration Act No. 19 of 1997
and the Local Government Authorities Act No. 6 of 1999.
 The government gives priority to harmonization of rural
development approaches through fostering participatory
development.
 It focuses on empowerment of the people to be able to
plan and implement their own plans.
 Currently there is a National Framework on Participatory
Planning and Budgeting at district level.

10.0 What is O & OD?

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  It is a methodology for harmonizing the different
participatory approaches and facilitates the bottom-up
approach to planning
 It is an intensive consultative process that uses
participatory tools to come up with the comprehensive village
and district plans
 It has been developed to institutionalize the local
government reforms in line with the government aspirations
to devolve decision-making powers to the communities.
 Aims at empowerment of the people
 Government envisages to restore the spirit of self-
reliance, local resource mobilization, transparency and
accountability whereby communities participate in planning,
decision-making, implementation and ownership of their
development initiatives.

11.0 Salient Features of O & OD

 A planning methodology which enables the community to
recognize available opportunities which can be utilized to
address obstacles to development
 It helps members of communities become aware of their
own resources and how to make better use of them.
Emphasizes greater local self-reliance.
 The process uses the Tanzania Development Vision (2025-
Mainland or 2020 Zanzibar), as a broad national policy guide.
 The output of the O & OD process is a comprehensive plan
rather than an action plan
 It has both a Rural and Urban process
 Participatory tools include; the village map, transect walks,
historical time lines, seasonal calendar, institutional analysis,
daily activities calendar by gender, household wealth ranking,
focus groups and identification of sources of income and
expenditure.

12.0 Conceptual Definitions

Opportunities: Refer to resources available within or outside

the community, which can be used by that
community.

Obstacles: Hindrances to optimal utilization of existing

development opportunities. For example; social
obstacles like outdated traditional beliefs;
economic obstacles like lack of working capital;
political obstacles like ideological differences

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 and technical obstacles like lack of qualified
personnel or technology

Causes: reasons for existence of obstacles

Intervention: an act to address the obstacles

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

Monitoring:- A routine process of assessing the use of inputs

and transformation of inputs to outputs

- Is the collection and management of data and

information

- Monitoring provides the implementers with

information to be used for strategic decision-
making in the process of project/programme
implementation

- The aspects of monitoring include financial,

and administrative progress, physical progress
of project, and the level of commitment and
participation of all stakeholders involved.

- It is a management tool

Evaluation: - Is a periodic assessment of work done,

project design, results and impact using
monitoring data.

- It provides information to determine whether

 The benefits of the project have reached the
target group
 The activities in the programme were
relevant to the target group
 The targets set out for the project were
realistic
 There are unforeseen effects as a result of
the project activities

Tools for M&E

 Plan of action (work schedule)

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  Progress reports
 Review meetings
 Field visits observations

Emphasis is on participatory M&E

13.0 The Logical Framework Approach (LFA)

- A method for project
planning
- It is an analytical
tool for planning and managing project or activity
- It is a tool used in
Project Cycle Management (PCM)
- It presents
objectives, results, activities and resources in the
activity/work in a logical and systematic way
- It generates
indicators that will help continuation and evaluation
LFA – Framework Supports Project because
- It promotes
participation
- It is objective –
orientated
- It is target group
orientated
- It visualizes the
analysis
- It creates consensus
- It controls and
verifies the progress of the project (indicators)
- It evaluates effects
(indicators)
- It helps adjusting
(external factors)

13.1 Analytical Framework of a Programme/Project

1. Analysis of context
Political factors affecting the project
Partners: problems, interest (SWOT-analysis). Analysis of target
groups; problems, interest, SWOT analysis of the staff
2. Problem analysis
3. Analysis of objectives
4. Analysis of strategy
5. Project planning

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13.2 What is the Log Frame?
The log frame (or Project Planning Matrix) provides a one page
summary on a Project, Programme, product, or strategy:
WHY is it carried out
WHAT is expected to be achieved
HOW it is going to achieve these results
WHICH external factors are crucial for its success
HOW we can assess its success
WHERE we will find the data required to assess its success
WHAT resources are required and its cost

The Design
The Log frame is usually a Four column grid. Rows represent
the levels of objectives, including the means required to
achieve them (vertical logic). The columns indicate how the
achievement of these objectives can be verified (horizontal logic)

Narrative Indicators/ Means/Source Assumptions

Summary Achievement/ of verification
Strategy/Intervention Objectively (MOV)
Logic/Hierarchy of verifiable
Objectives Indicators
(OVI)
GOAL
PRUPOSE
RESULTS/OUTPUTS/
OBJECTIVES
ACTIVITIES (INPUTS)

13.3 The Formulation of Indicators of Achievement/Objectively

Verifiable Indicators
 To properly define an indicator, we must
know the target for the next higher level
 Indicators define the performance standard
to be reached, which is required to achieve a stated objective.
 They specify what evidence will tell us, if an
Overall Goal, Project goal/Purpose or Result/Output is
reached, in terms of
- QUANTITY
- QUALITY
- TIME
- LOCATION/AREA
- TARGET
GROUP/PARTNER INSTITUTION

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 Indicators
focus on important characteristics of an objective and form a
basis for Monitoring and Evaluation

A Good indicator is
 Substantial
(reflects essential content of an objective)
 Objectives
oriented (Means-ends relationships can be directly attributed
to the project)
 Independent
 Realistic
 Time-bound

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