Molayezo – an Example of the Logical Framework Approach

This is an example to help you understand how the Logical Framework Approach can be used to link organisation strategy to programme and project planning. We have called the organisation in the example Molayezo.

Molayezo is an NGO that is involved in community development. Molayezo was set up to offer practical development assistance to communities. It is particularly concerned about the more isolated communities where poverty is threatening the lives of people. Much of its work so far has been providing information and advice. However, many in the organisation feel this has been too adhoc. They believe Molayezo has been responding to requests from all over the place rather than working consistently with communities so that they can make a significant contribution to helping communities develop. The staff have decided they need to rethink their organisational strategy. This is how they went about it.

They prepared for the planning process and worked out who should be involved. They decided to include key contacts from communities they had provided adhoc assistance to in the past. One of these was Mqanduli in the Eastern Cape. After Molayezo had prepared for the planning process by analysing the key stakeholders to identify who should be involved and how and whose needs, interests and concerns should be prioritised, they began the planning process.

They analysed the needs of these isolated communities by working with the community organisations from a number of communities, including Mqanduli, to collect information on the problems and issues they face. They then analysed the information and needs identified through this research by:

They had some fairly hot debates before they came to agreement in each area of the analysis. Once they had done this, they spent a fairly long time discussing what their goal and purpose should be. The needs of these communities seemed so complex and their own capacity to make a difference seemed so limited in comparison. Their discussions on the causes and effects of the key problems and issues had, however, made the members of community organisations feel energised. They assured Molayezo that if they had access to reliable information, a concrete project that the community could work on immediately and support for ongoing mobilisation and organisation of the community they could make good progress. The analysis of stakeholders had also enabled everyone to see that there were also a number of other groups they could draw on for assistance, both in government and outside.

At first many staff argued that the purpose of their work should be to ensure that the people living in isolated communities have the resources necessary for sustainable social and economic development. In the end they came to the conclusion that, although they would like to have this as the purpose of their organisation, they could not realistically achieve this on their own. This would have to be the longer-term goal to which Molayezo could only realistically make a contribution.

The goal that was finally agreed was, "The people in isolated rural communities have access to the resources they need for sustainable rural and economic development."

The purpose they decided on was, "People living in isolated rural communities have access to reliable, relevant information and advice and a centre around which to organise in order to access their rights as citizens and improve their social and economic situation."

Molayezo’s own strengths and capabilities were really related to providing information and assistance. Molayezo recognised that, if their contribution was to be useful and relevant to the communities, the communities would need to be a key partner in the process of identifying what information was most needed. They also believed that, if their work was to be sustainable, they must be able to eventually hand over the advice centre to the full control of the community. In order to have any serious impact themselves, they would need to be able to move on to assisting other communities establish advice centres while ensuring that those they had worked with continued to have access to information on request. The communities’ own strengths and capabilities would be crucial. In the stakeholder analysis, they had recognised that the communities had many resources to draw on but that the community organisations were often still too small, fragmented and new. An advice centre would be useful as a basis to unite community organisations and to mobilise community resources and assistance from government and other potential partners.

This had been a difficult and messy discussion but at the end of it, all those involved felt excited at the possibilities. Members of Molayezo’s staff had been able to work out differences of opinion on their role in development work. The representatives of the community organisations felt far more comfortable. They had been unsure of Molayezo and what its agenda was. Now they felt they knew them better, understood their intentions and felt part of the process. They had found the process of collecting and analysing the information useful. It had given them new ideas on what they could be doing with Molayezo and on their own to improve their lives.

They then moved on to deciding what objectives they would need to set to ensure they achieved this purpose. They used their analysis, particularly of Molayezo’s own capacity as an organisation, to develop the following concrete objectives.

This is what their summary of the different levels of objectives and the other three aspects of planning (indicators, sources of information and important assumptions) of their organisational strategy looked like:

Objectives

Criteria or indicators

Source of Information

Important Assumptions

Goal :

The people in isolated rural communities have access to the resources they need for sustainable social and economic development

All target communities show a significant improvement in the in 75% of the indicators used by the UNDP to assess the level of development within 5 years. (The UNDP is an international agency that has developed indicators of development)

A comparison between the baseline information collected in our situation and needs assessment and analyses done 2 and 5 years later.

All levels of government remain committed to eradicating poverty.

Commitment to action by community members

Purpose

People living isolated rural communities have access to reliable, relevant information and advice and a centre around which to organise in order to access their rights as citizens and improve their social and economic situation

All information needs identified in our needs analysis are met within two years of start-up.

Participation in community organisations has increased by 40% within two years.

A participative evaluation to be held after two years with the community.

Records of community organisations and an independent evaluation to be conducted by the donor.

Community organisations develop the capacity to organise effectively.

Continued donor support.

Objectives

The systems, processes and contacts necessary to ensure access to reliable advice are in place at our offices within two months and updated on the basis of needs identified by the pilot projects.
The residents of Mqanduli and ….(4 other rural communities) are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.
The residents of 10 other rural villages are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.
A basic information file covering all relevant legalisation, regulations and services and including copies of forms is available for use within four months.
All staff have undertaken the necessary self-development work based on identified gaps in their skills and knowledge within two months.

(Only indicators for the first two objectives are provided.)

1.1 An effective plan to meet identified information needs is agreed within one month.
1.2 Information available is clearly listed within 2 months
1.3 Materials identified as required are developed within deadlines.
1.4 Requests for information listed as available are met within 24 hours.

2.1 Effective programme plans relevant to the needs of each community are agreed within 3 months.
2.2 All needs identified and plans made are effectively achieved within two years.
2.3 The 5 pilot centres are evaluated effectively so that we improve our ability to establish other centres.

1.1 Record of meeting to agree plan
1.2 List of information

1.3 Annual evaluation by staff and communities
1.4 Annual evaluation by staff and communities

2.1 Record of meeting between Molayezo and each community to agree plan.
2.2 Evaluation done jointly by Molayezo and each community and then independently by the donor.

Support of other NGOs – specifically those providing advice and information on legal issues and technical issues related to social and economic development.

Continued donor support.

The communities of Mqanduli and ……villages support the strategy and are committed to the plans.

Activities

The activities recorded who was responsible for planning and implementing programmes to achieve each of the objectives in the organisational strategy, e.g.:

Nonhlanhla will take responsibility for using the information from our needs analysis to develop and implement a strategy and plan to achieve Objective 1 within two months.
Vusi and the fieldworkers unit develop a strategy and plan for implementing pilot projects in Mqanduli and ….villages by …(date)

(Here Molayezo listed some of the resources that would be necessary to develop the programmes in the organisation. )

Note that in the activities column, they recorded agreements about who would be responsible for developing strategy, plans and implementing each of the objectives set and by when. Each of the objectives becomes the purpose of a separate programme that one person or a team is responsible for planning and implementing. The following is an example of how the programme Vusi and the team of fieldworkers are responsible for links to the organisational strategy. The purpose of the organisation has become the goal of Vusi’s project and so on as the links are made:

Organisational strategy

Goal :

The people in isolated rural communities have access to the resources they need for sustainable social and economic development

Programme planning level

Purpose

Goal :

Objectives

The systems, processes and contacts necessary to ensure access to reliable advice are in place at our offices within two months and updated on the basis of needs identified by the pilot projects.
The residents of Mqanduli and ….(4 other rural communities) are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.
The residents of 10 other rural villages are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.
A basic information file covering all relevant legalisation, regulations and services and including copies of forms is available for use within four months.
All staff have undertaken the necessary self-development work based on identified gaps in their skills and knowledge within two months.

Purpose

The residents of Mqanduli and ….(4 other rural communities) are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.

(Only one programme is shown here. Other programmes would have other objectives as their purpose.)

Activities

The activities recorded who was responsible for planning and implementing programmes to achieve each of the objectives in the organisational strategy, e.g.:

Nonhlanhla will take responsibility for using the information from our needs analysis to develop and implement a strategy and plan to achieve Objective 1 within two months.
Vusi and the fieldworkers unit will develop a strategy and plan for implementing pilot projects in Mqanduli and ….villages by …(date)

Objectives

Only the following objectives of this programme are shown:

Each community is committed to the specific strategy agreed for that community within six months
Community members have directly benefited from one priority issue that has been jointly and successfully taken up by Molayezo and the community in each village within 1 year.
Each of the 5 villages has access to reliable, relevant information and advice and a centre around which to organise in order to access their rights as citizens and improve their social and economic situation within two years.
Each village successfully takes over the advice office project in their community by the end of two years.
Each of the 5 villages has access to continued limited support from Molayezo on request for up to 3 years after they take over the advice office project.

Activities

This programme decided to divide the activities into projects where one fieldworker would be responsible for achieving all the objectives 1 to 4 above for one specific community. Sipho took responsibility for the project in Mqanduli.

Note that the activities required to achieve the programme objectives have become projects that one fieldworker is responsible for planning and implementing with each village. This is to ensure that each village has a project that is appropriate and relevant to their needs, interests and concerns. It allows on person from Molayezo to see the whole process through from analysing needs to planning, implementing and evaluating. The fieldworker’s team will meet to compare progress and report on their evaluation to the rest of the organisation. Below is how Sipho’s project for Mqanduli links to the programme planning and to the organisational strategy:

Organisational strategy

Goal :

The people in isolated rural communities have access to the resources they need for sustainable social and economic development

Programme planning level

Purpose

Goal :

Project planning level

Objectives

The systems, processes and contacts necessary to ensure access to reliable advice are in place at our offices within two months and updated on the basis of needs identified by the pilot projects.
The residents of Mqanduli and ….(4 other rural communities) are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.
The residents of 10 other rural villages are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.
A basic information file covering all relevant legalisation, regulations and services and including copies of forms is available for use within four months.
All staff have undertaken the necessary self-development work based on identified gaps in their skills and knowledge within two months.

Purpose

The residents of Mqanduli and ….(4 other rural communities) are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.

(Only one programme is shown here. Other programmes would have other objectives as their purpose.)

Goal

The residents of Mqanduli and ….(4 other rural communities) are fully in control of a centre capable of providing relevant and reliable advice within two years.

Activities

The activities recorded who was responsible for planning and implementing programmes to achieve each of the objectives in the organisational strategy, e.g.:

Nonhlanhla will take responsibility for using the information from our needs analysis to develop and implement a strategy and plan to achieve Objective 1 within two months.
Vusi and the fieldworkers unit will develop a strategy and plan for implementing pilot projects in Mqanduli and ….villages by …(date)

Objectives

Only the following objectives of this programme are shown:

Each community is committed to a specific strategy agreed for and by that community within six months
Community members have directly benefited from one priority issue that has been jointly and successfully taken up by Molayezo and the community in each village within 1 year.
Each of the 5 villages has access to reliable, relevant information and advice and a centre around which to organise in order to access their rights as citizens and improve their social and economic situation within two years.
Each village has successfully taken over the advice office project in their community by the end of two years.
Each of the 5 villages has access to continued limited support from Molayezo on request for up to 3 years after they take over the advice office project.

Purpose

The people of Mqanduli have access to reliable, relevant information and advice and a centre around which to organise in order to access their rights as citizens and improve their social and economic situation within 2 years.

Activities

Objectives

1. Four out of five women in Mqanduli, who currently qualify for maintenance grants, have been able to access them effectively within one year.

(Only one objective is shown here but there would need to be others)

Activities

(The actions that must be taken to achieve each objective)

Section 3 recommends six basic planning steps it is useful to follow in developing any plan. It provides guidelines on issues related to how to complete each step effectively. The same organisation is used as an example throughout, but uses the project in Mqanduli that they have identified as the basis for the examples