Writing convincing research proposals and effective

scientific reports
A learning module

Sylvester Dickson Baguma, Ponniah Anandajayasekeram

and Ranjitha Puskur

ILRI
INTERNATIONAL
LIVESTOCK RESEARCH

INSTITUTE

Authors affiliations
Sylvester Dickson Baguma, National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), Uganda
Ponniah Anandajayasekeram, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ranjitha Puskur, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2009 ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute).

All rights reserved. Parts of this publication may be reproduced for non-commercial use provided that
such reproduction shall be subject to acknowledgement of ILRI as holder of copyright.

Editing, design and layoutILRI Publication Unit, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

ISBN 9291462446

Correct citation: Baguma SD, Anandajayasekeram P and Puskur R. 2009. Writing convincing research
proposals and effective scientific reports: A learning module. ILRI (International Livestock Research
Institute), Nairobi, Kenya. 488 pp.

ii

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction to the workshop
Part A: Writing a convincing proposal
Trainers guide: Session 1: Paradigm shifts in agricultural research and development
and emerging challenges
Session 1: Summary of presentation slides: Paradigm shifts in agricultural research and
development and emerging challenges
Session 1: Notes to trainers: Paradigm shifts in agricultural research and development
and emerging challenges
Trainers guide: Session 2: What sort of projects do donors like? When and when not to write
a full proposal?
Session 2: Summary of presentation slides: What sort of projects do donors like?
When and when not to write a full proposal
Session 2: Notes for trainers: What sort of projects do donors like? When and when not
to write a full proposal
Session 2: Individual exercise on what sort of projects donors like
Session 2: Individual exercise on when and when not to write a full proposal
Trainers guide: Session 3: Competitive grants program and how to respond and qualities
of a convincing proposal
Session 3: Summary of presentation slides: Competitive grants programs and how to
respond and qualities of a convincing proposal
Session 3: Notes to participants: Competitive grants programs and how to respond and
qualities of a convincing proposal
Session 3: Pair exercise on qualities of a convincing proposal
Trainers guide: Session 4: Proposal format and order of preparation
Session 4: Summary of presentation slides: Proposal format and order of preparation
Session 4: Notes to participants: Proposal format and order of preparation
Session 4: Individual exercise on proposal format and order of preparation
Trainers guide: Session 5: Project goal(s) and the projects contribution
Session 5: Summary of presentation slides: Project goal(s) and the projects contribution
Session 5: Notes to participants: Project goal(s) and the projects contribution
Trainers guide: Session 6: Project objectives, anticipated outputs and beneficiaries
Session 6: Summary of presentation slides: Project objectives, anticipated outputs and
beneficiaries
Session 6: Notes to participants: Project objectives, anticipated outputs and beneficiaries
Trainers guide: Session 7: Inputs, activities, work plan
Session 7: Summary of presentation slides: Project inputs, activities, work plan
Session 7: Notes to participants: Project inputs, activities, work plan
Session 7: Exercise Project inputs, activities, work plan
iii

Trainers guide: Session 8: Project management, monitoring and evaluation

Session 8: Summary of presentation slides: Project management, monitoring and
evaluation
Session 8: Notes to participants: Project management, monitoring and evaluation
Session 8: Exercise
Trainers guide: Session 9: Logical framework, indicators and measuring impact
Session 9: Summary of presentation slides: Logical framework, indicators and
measuring impact
Session 9: Notes to participants: Logical framework, indicators and measuring impact
Trainers guide: Session 10: Project proposal budgets
Session 10: Summary of presentation slides: Project proposal budgets
Session 10: Notes to participants: Project proposal budgets
Trainers guide: Session 11: Project background and summary section
Session 11: Summary of presentation slides: Project background and summary sections
Session 11: Notes to participants: Project background and summary section
Part B: Scientific writing
Trainers guide: Session 12: When and why should a scientist report research
Session 12: Summary of presentation slides: When and why should a scientist
report research?
Session 12: Notes to participants: When and why should a scientist report research?
Trainers guide: Session 13: Structure and preparation of a scientific paper
Session 13: Summary of presentation slides: Structure and preparation of a
scientific paper
Session 13: Notes to participants: Structure and preparation of a scientific paper
Trainers guide: Session 14: Different types of scientific publications
Session 14: Summary of presentations: Different types of scientific publications
Session 14: Notes to participants: Different types of scientific publications
Trainers guide: Session 15: Writing style and readability
Session 15: Summary of presentations: Writing style and readability
Session 15: Notes to participants: Writing style and readability
Trainers guide: Session 16: Overcoming hurdles to publication and information dissemination
Session 16: Summary of presentations: Overcoming hurdles to publication and
information dissemination
Session 16: Notes to participants: Overcoming hurdles to publication and information
dissemination
Annexes
Annex 1: Answers: What sort of projects do donors like?
Annex 2: Answers: When and when not to write a full proposal
Annex 3: Answers: Qualities of a convincing proposal
Annex 4: Answers: Proposal format and order of preparation
Annex 5: Answers: Inputs, activities, work plan

iv

Annex 6: Answers: Project management, monitoring, evaluation

Annex 7: An example of a work plan for a project: Generation of knowledge and technologies
that ensure sustainable utilization of fish stocks (capture fisheries) on Lakes Kyoga,
Kwania and Bisina (in digital version)
Annex 8: An example of a project logframe: Development of propagation establishment
techniques and harvesting methods that ensure market quality of forest products
Annex 9: ILRI style guide for editors and writers
Annex 10: Preferred usage
Annex 11: CABI peer review form
Annex 12: Examples of call for proposals
12.1: Manual for preparing a grant application for the ACP Science and Technology
Programme
12.2: Call profiles
12.3: DM2009 competition guidelines
12.4: ACP Science and Technology Programme Grant Application Form
12.5: Grant contractExternal actions of the European Community
12.6: Livestock calls for proposals
12.7: Step-by-step instructions for filling out the online proposal form
12.8: Call for proposalsKachwekano profiles
12.9: CAPRI request for proposalsSponsoring empirical research on securing access to
natural resources
12.10: ACP Science and Technology Programme guidelines for grant applicants
12.11: Guidelines for grant applicantsAnnex BBudget for the action
12.12: Guidelines-for-grant-applicantsAnnex CLogical-framework
12.13: Project proposal call: NRM and biodiversity conservation in the drylands of eastern
and central Africa

Acknowledgements
This module could not have been produced without the support provided by ILRI senior management.
We would like to record our deep appreciation and sincere thanks to Dr Carlos Sere, Director General
of ILRI, Mr Bruce Scott, Director of Partnership and Communications, Dr John McDermott, Deputy
Director General, as well as members of the Board of Directors for their continuous support and
guidance.
We would also like to thank Dr Denis Keytere, Director General of the National Agricultural Research
Organization (NARO), Uganda, for allowing Mr Sylvester Dickson Baguma to participate in this
exercise.
This module is a direct response to a request made by Graduate Fellows of ILRI. The content of this
module was drawn from a large number of sources. We are grateful for the authors of these various
publications. The content of the module was presented during a training session for the Graduate
Fellows in Addis Ababa and Nairobi. The feedbacks received from participants certainly added value
to this module.
Finally, we would like to thank all those who either directly or indirectly contributed to the content
as well as the development of this module. This is a work in progress and we would welcome any
suggestions and comments.
Authors

vi

Foreword
The growth in agricultural research investment was very rapid in the 1970s and slowed down since the
mid 1980s. The rate of expansion of research staff has been more rapid than that of funding, resulting
in a growing proportion of research funds being used to pay salaries and an acute shortage of operating
funds for undertaking research. As national public sector spending on research is falling, many National
Agricultural Research Systems are heavily depending on donor funds to support research. This situation
is more acute in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world. In order to keep the research
agenda moving, it is critical for individual agricultural research scientists and their organizations to
find new sources of funds. While the available research resources are declining, there has been a
universal move towards the use of competitive funding for research. Many institutes also started moving
towards results based contractual arrangements. That means a successful researcher will have to write
convincing proposals to secure funds and be able to widely publish the results (outputs and outcome)
of their work to attract more resources.
During one of the interactions between the management of the Capacity Strengthening Unit, and
the Graduate Fellows of ILRI, the students identified the need for additional training in areas such as
experimental design and data analysis, oral and poster presentation, scientific writing and proposal
writing, project management, and leadership training. ILRI also noted that although a large number
of theses were produced by the Graduate Fellows, they were not prolific enough in writing scientific
papers and journal articles. This module is a response to this request. The training module was primarily
intended to assist the Graduate Fellows to write convincing proposals to access the available competitive
funds, and also to write and publish the results of their work widely. Once the Graduate Fellows leave
ILRI, we also want them to train their own colleagues in the systems they come from. To enable this,
the learning module is designed to include learning objectives, handouts (teaching notes) and the
PowerPoints used during the presentations for every session. Where relevant, exercises and additional
references are also provided. The materials are presented in the form of Reusable Learning Objects so
that the users can make use of the relevant sections based on the target group and purpose.
The materials have been drawn from many sources, but the key ones are the training module prepared by
the former ISNAR (How to write convincing proposals 2003) and a book titled Writing and presenting
scientific papers (Malmfors et al. 2004).
Although the primary audiences of this module are ILRI Graduate Fellows, the materials can be easily
adapted by our national research partners. The users are expected to modify and change the content
to suit their specific context and need. We are planning to update this module periodically to respond
to the changing needs and circumstances. Hence, any feedback and constructive comments from the
users are very much appreciated.

Ponniah Anandajayasekeram
Manager, Capacity Strengthening Unit
ILRI

vii

Introduction to the workshop

Workshop objectives

Writing convincing research

proposals and effective
scientific reports:
A learning module

Goal of the training workshop

To strengthen the skills of:

Project proposal writing and resource

mobilization in agricultural research and

Effective scientific writing

Objectives of the workshop

To provide participants with knowledge and

skills to be able to conceive projects and write

them up in a way that will convince donors to
fund them

To improve participants ability to mobilize

resources for agricultural research

To impart necessary knowledge and skills for

effective scientific writing

Expected outputs of the workshop

Improved knowledge and skills in research
project proposal writing

Participants able to mobilize resources required

for conducting agricultural research projects

Participants able to produce high quality research

papers/communication products

Thank you!

Project cycle, research process, scientific paper

Target group identification
Problem identification
Research question
Collection of background information

New knowledge
technology information

Clear definition of problem and causes

Diagnosis
Defining purpose and objective
Scientific Paper

Analysis of data
Interpret results
Draw conclusion

Evaluation

Results
Analysis
Interpretation
Discussion
Conclusion
Implications
Limitation

Introduction
Background
Literature Review
Research Gap
Goals
Purpose
Objectives
Materials
Methods
Design options

Deciding on the interventions

activities methodology

Planning

Implementation

Monitoring
Collecting data

Trainers guide
Session 1: Paradigm shifts in agricultural research
and development and emerging challenges
Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Be familiar with the ongoing transformations and paradigm shifts in the agricultural
research for development
Have a good understanding of the emerging challenges confronting the R&D system

Training materials

Flip chart
White boards
Assorted chisel marker pens

Time needed

1.5 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary presentation Paradigm shifts in agricultural research and development and emerging
challenges

45 minutes

Group exercise

60 minutes

Participants share their experiences in four groups

Plenary presentation Trainer leads participants in discussing answers to the group exercise

30 minutes

Session 1: Summary of presentation slides: Paradigm shifts in

agricultural research and development and emerging challenges
1.1

Session 1

Challenges of the R&D systems

and
changing paradigms

1.2

Objectives of the session

1.3

List and explain the changing

paradigms in research for development

Identify and describe the emerging

challenges of agricultural research for
development systems

Major goals of agricultural research

Produce agricultural technologies to

contribute to rapid economic growth

Provide options for adaptation to changing

global economy; changing policies and;
emerging environmental concerns

Contribute to the reduction of poverty by

increasing the supply of staples

Increasing international competitiveness of

national economies

1.4
Guiding principles of agricultural research
for development

Innovation Systems Perspective (ISP)

Value Chain Approach (VCA)
Impact Orientation (IO)
Research for Development (R4D)

Complementary and mutually reinforcing

1.5

Changing context

1.6

Ongoing transformations
Changing paradigms
Emerging challenges

Reform agenda within the R&D arena

Redefinition of role of government in agricultural R&D
Decentralization/Privatization of agricultural R&D activities.
Broader and active stakeholder participationpluralism in service
provision, networks and partnerships.

New funding arrangements.

Separation of financing from service provision and research
execution

Changing the funding base to competitive funding.

Orientation of R&D to be more outward looking, client oriented
and impact driven.

Embracing systems perspectives.

1.7

Reform agenda (contd..)

Increased recognition of cross-sectoral

linkages

Globalization of research and emerging

regional and continental bodies

Increased use of networks and partnerships

Commercialization of smallholder
agriculture

Changing attitude and mindset of change

agents

1.8

Exogenous trends contributing to

the reform process

Changes in the political and

socioeconomic context

Changes in the market context

Changes in the demand for R&D services
Change in research technologies,
methodologies and approaches

Changes in the organizational context

1.9

Emerging agri-food systems

Massive increase in food moving across national
borders

Rapid rise and economic concentration of

supermarkets

Creation of private standards in addition to public

standards

New technologies to extend shelf-life of produce

Non-price competition among supermarket
chains

Increased differentiation of food products by class

New forms of relationships between suppliers
and buyers

1.10

Paradigm shifts in agricultural R&D

1.11

Led by

Approaches for technology

development

Framework for organizational analysis

Changing expectations

Approaches to agricultural research

Traditional linear model for research and
extension

Farming systems perspective (OFR/FSP)

Participation/Participatory research methods
Action research
Rural livelihoods
IAR4D*
Agri-food systems/Value chain*
Positive deviance

1.12
Approaches to agricultural research (contd..)

Knowledge development, dissemination and use

continuum

Doubly green revolution

Rainbow revolution
Knowledge quadrangle participatory innovations,
information, knowledge and education quadrangle
with ICT playing a critical role

1.13

Organizational analysis
NARIs
NARS (loose conglomerate of agencies and
actors involved in agricultural research)

AKIS (R,E,T in one system; knowledge triangle)

Innovation systems perspective*

1.14

Innovation system
Innovation, innovation system and
innovation systems perspective

1.15
Application of systems thinking in agriculture

Framework for technology development

and dissemination (TDD)

Organizational analysis within R&D

Both are interlinked

10

1.16

Systems thinking and its application in agriculture

Framework for technology development

Framework for organizational analysis

NARIs-Focus on generation of
knowledge (public sector research
institutes only)

Cropping systems
Farming systems

National systems framework

Household production system

- National agricultural research

system (NARS)
National agricultural extension
system (NAEs)
National agricultural Education
and training systems (NAES)

Farming systems research (FSR)

(Focus on research)
Farming systems research and
extension (FSR/E)
(Focus on Research & Extens
Farming systems approach (FSA)
Focus on research, ext. and training

Agricultural knowledge and

information system (AKIS)
s

Farming systems development (FSD)

R+E+T+Policy + Institutions

Focuses on knowledge
generation and diffusion

Agricultural research for

development (AR4D)
Agricultural innovation system (AIS)
Focus on knowledge generation,
diffusion and application

1.17

Factors contributing to the adoption of ISA in agriculture

A number of factors contributed to the adoption of
AIS:

Successful application of the concept in the

industrial sector

Inadequacy of the existing framework to be all

inclusive in terms of coverage

Multiple sources of innovation model

Inadequacy of the linear model to explain the
process of innovation

Increase demand for demonstrated

developmental impact Impact orientation.

1.18

Innovation vs Invention
Invention delivers new technology/knowledge
as solution to a problem things new to the
world

Innovation Economically successful use of

invention is innovation, delivers social and
economic change

Knowledge cannot be regarded as innovation

unless it is transformed into products and
processes that have social and economic use

11

1.19

Innovation
Innovation
In its broadest sense, innovation covers
the activities and processes associated
with the generation/production,
distribution, adaptation and use of new
technical, institutional, organizational
and managerial knowledge.

1.20

Innovation
Innovation
Deals with product innovation, process

innovation, management, organizational

and institutional innovation and service
delivery innovation.

Two important factors are knowledge

and networking.

Value of knowledge increases with its

use, and exchange can only be

realised in a cooperative environment.

1.21

Organizations and institutions

Organizations are entities created by individuals
to support the collaborative pursuit of specified
goals. Formal organization is that kind of
cooperation that is conscious, deliberate, and
purposeful.

Institutions are the rules of the game which

prohibit, permit, or require certain actions.

Whether formal or informal, they are recognized
and generally followed by members of the
community.

12

1.22

Innovation system
An innovation system is
a group of organizations and individuals

involved in the generation, diffusion,

adoption and use of new knowledge and their
actions and interactions

the context and institutions that govern the

way these interactions and processes take
place.

Associated learning
Not a theory, but an organizing principle
Can be defined at different levels
It is an analytical construct

1.23

National innovation system (NIS)

(Innovation ecology)

The network of organizations in the public

and private sectors whose activities and
interactions initiate, import, modify and
diffuse technologies (Freeman 1997)

Those institutions that affect the process by

which innovations are developed, delivered

and adopted (laws, regulations, customs,
norms).

Incorporates actors, processes as well as

products.

1.24

National innovations systems (contd..)

Reveals that R&D organizations are one

type of knowledge agents in a larger
system

Need for multiple roles for R&D

organizations

Importance of institutions and framework

conditions

13

1.25

Agricultural innovation system

(Innovation ecology)
A collaborative arrangement bringing

together several organizations and

individuals working towards a desired
change in agriculture can be called
agricultural innovation system (AIS)

1.26

Agricultural innovation system

A dynamic processes of interacting embedded in specific institutional and policy contexts
Demand domain
s Consumers of food and food products in rural and urban areas
s#ONSUMERSOFINDIVIDUALRAWMATERIALS
s)NTERNATIONALCOMMODITYMARKETS
s0OLICY MAKINGPROCESSANDAGENCIES

Enterprise domain
5SERSOFCODIFIEDKNOWLEDGE
producers of mainly tacit
KNOWLEDGE
s Farmers
s#OMMODITYTRADERS
s)NPUTSUPPLYAGENTS
s#OMPANIESANDINDUSTRIES
RELATEDTOAGRICULTURE
particularly agroprocessing
s4RANSPORTERS

)NTERMEDIARYDOMAIN
s NGOs
s%XTENSIONSERVICES
s#ONSULTANTS
s0RIVATECOMPANIES
and other
entrepreneurs
s&ARMERANDTRADE
associations
s$ONORS

Research domain
-AINLY0RODUCINGCODIFIED
KNOWLEDGE
s National and international
agricultural research
organizations
s5NIVERSITIESANDTECHNICAL
collages
s0RIVATERESEARCH
foundations Sometimes
PRODUCINGCODIFIEDKNOWLEDGE
s0RIVATECOMPANIES
s.'/S

Support Structures
s"ANKINGANDFINANCIALSYSTEM
s4RANSPORTANDMARKETINGINFRASTRUCTURE
s0ROFESSIONALNETWORKSINCLUDINGTRADEANDFARMERASSOCIATIONS
s%DUCATIONSYSTEM

1.27

Agricultural innovation systems include

Traditional sources of innovation (ITK)
Modern actors (NARIs, IARCs)
Private sector including agro-industrial firms
and entrepreneurs (local, national and
multinational).

Civil society organizations (NGOs, farmers

and consumer organizations, pressure
groups).

14

1.28
IS of a commodity chain (Innovation ecology)
Enabling environment
Political stability, law and order, infrastructure,
Governance favorable micro
-macro andsectoral policies,
etc.

Agro-industry
(Input supply)

Agricultural production
(Farm production)

Agro industry
(Product marketing)
Processing
Value adding
Marketing

Facilitating Institutions
Policies, legal framework, market, information,
quality control Research, extension, training, credit,
etc.)
Facilitating Services
Transport, storage, packaging, facilitating,
equipment, import and export, communication,
promotion, etc.

1.29
Intervention based innovation systems
An intervention-based innovation system
incorporates

the invention system, as well as

the complementary economic processes

required to turn invention into innovation and

subsequent diffusion and utilization

intervention-based Innovation systems do not occur

automatically

it is the problem situation that defines a

particular innovation opportunity

1.30

Intervention-based innovation systems are

created for a purpose,

they will change in content and patterns of

interaction as the problem situation evolves and

they are constructed at mico-and macro levels.

Although the IS can be defined at different levels
(national, sectoral, commodity and
problem/intervention), the most relevant
innovation system is the one that is constructed
to address a particular problem i.e., intervention
based

15

1.31

Innovation systems perspective

Using the innovation lens in analyzing critical

constraints; identifying, implementing and

assessing appropriate interventions and;
subsequent utilization of knowledge generated.

Suggests the analysis of three elements

Components (organizations and actors)
Relationships and interactions (institutions)
Competencies, functions and result of such
interactions

1.32
Key features of ISP

Focus on innovation as its organizing principle

Makes the distinction between organizations
and institutions explicit

Learning and role of institutions are critical

Partnership and networks are integral parts
Escapes the polarized debate demand driven
Vs. supply push

1.33

IAR4D
a new approach to help research contribute
more effectively and efficiently to poverty
reduction and sustainable NR use

to mainstream a new way of doing business

that ensures that research does not only lead

to knowledge and publications, but also and
most of all contributes to change and
innovation for the betterment of people,
while also preserving the natural resource
base for future generations

16

1.34

The 4 pillars of ARD

Intensifying
small holder
farming

Developing
appropriate
policies

Sustainable
NRM

Developing
efficient
Market

Organizational
and
Institutional
change

Knowledge
management
and
information sharing

M&E and
Impact
Assessment

Capacity
Building

1.35

Major thrusts of IAR4D approach

Set of principles for conducting research for
development

New research agenda that addresses interaction

between NRM, production systems and
agricultural markets and policies

Institutional change for new partnerships

involving all stakeholders in the agricultural

innovation system

1.36

Key steps in AR4D procedure

The 4 phases of the ARD procedure
I

Organizing the Team

II

Defining the System

of Interest
iteration

Problem

iteration

III

Identifying Strategies

Report

IV

Formulating Research
Plans

Research
Proposals

17

1.37

Value chain/Commodity chain/Agri-food chain

A value chain describes the full range of

activities which are required to bring about

a product or service from design through
the different phases of production, delivery
to final consumers, and final disposal after
use

From hoe fingers

From Plough fork

1.38
A simple value chain has four basic links

Design

Production

Transformation
Packaging

1.39

Marketing

Consumption
and recycling

Processing
actual sale

Agricultural food chain: Value adding

Consumer
Feedback
Distribution, Exporting
Marketing
Processing and packaging

On-Farm Production

Input

18

Value

1.40

Why is value chain analysis important ?

Value chain analysis plays a key role in understanding the

need and scope for systemic competitiveness growing
division of labor, global dispersion of production of
components

Efficiency in production is only a necessary condition for

successfully penetrating regional and global markets

Entry into the various markets: national, regional, and

global requires an understanding of dynamic factors
within the whole value chain

Commercialization of smallholder production system and

market orientation

To reap the maximum benefit it is important to

understand the nature, structure, and the dynamics of the
value chain.

1.41

Value chain analysis cont.

In the real world, value chains may be much more
complex

Intermediate producers may feed into a number of

value chains e.g. the forestry, timber

1.42

The forestry, timber and furniture value chain

Seeds
Chemicals

Design
Machinery

Machinery
Forestry

Water
Extension
Services

Sawmills

Machinery

Furniture
manufacturers

Logistics, quality
advice

Buyers

Domestic
wholesale

Paint, adhesives,
upholstery etc.
Foreign Wholesale
Foreign Retail

Domestic retail
Consumers
Recycling
Extracted from Kaplinsky and Morris (2000)

19

1.43

Industry value chain

Primary
Transport
production
(farming)

Processing

warehousing
and
distribution

1.44

Retail
and
marketing

End
consumer

Industry value chain

Available Margin

Primary

Warehousing

Retail and

(farming)

44

Innovative
es to
methodologi
e farm
th
at
s
es
oc
pr
need to
removes the
w
ra
rt
po
ns
tra
produce

w
Ne ogies
l
hno e the
c
e
t
uc
r e d st of
co ssing
ce
pro

1.45

20

End
consumer

Efficient retailing
streamlines the cost
of selling to the end
consumer

Emerging Challengs

Global financial crisis

Emerging diseases

Emerging food and energy crisis

Greater concern for the environment
Climate change
Trade, market liberalization and emerging agrifood systems
Growing need for inter-sectoral linkages

1.46

Emerging challengs (contd)

Changing expectations from science,

technology and innovation

Underinvestment in agriculture and

agricultural research

Technological advances in biotechnology

and ICT

Globalization of private agricultural

research and innovation

Meeting commitments and targets

1.47

Main messages

Approach to research is changing

What constitutes R4D systems
(organizations and institutions) has
changed
Emerging challenges require R4D systems
to be dynamic and flexible

1.48

Thank you!

21

Session 1: Notes to trainers: Paradigm shifts in agricultural research

and development and emerging challenges
1.1

Introduction

During much of the 1970s and 1980s, investments in agricultural research were largely motivated
by concerns about growing population, a finite resource base, import substitution and food security
at both global and national levels that required a clear focus on increased food productivity. In the
1980s, natural resources management and environmental preservation received much higher priority
in the research agenda, as well as food safety in the industrialized countries. In the recent past, with
the advancement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), poverty alleviation has come to the
forefront as one of the developmental goals. At present, the major goals of agricultural research are:
to produce agricultural technologies to contribute to rapid economic growth; to provide options for
effective adaptation to a rapidly changing global economy and changing policies; to address emerging
environmental concerns and to contribute to the reduction of poverty (and food and nutritional security)
by increasing the supply of staple products and by increasing the international competitiveness of
national economies (Rajalahti et al. 2008).
For a considerable period, the public sector research investment and research policy has focused on
national agricultural research organizations/institutes (NAROs/NARIs). In this paradigm, public funds
were provided as a block grant, usually through the Ministry of Agriculture, to a centralized research
department or institute who then set research priorities and executed research through a network of
research centres under the control of NARO/NARI. In the 1990s, this paradigm has been challenged,
since it failed to consider a variety of other public and private organizations that are involved in
research policymaking and research execution (Byerlee 1997).
The research approach was also challenged, as the traditional approach (often referred to as the top
down approach) to agricultural research and development was not having significant impact on the
development of small-scale agriculture. The researchers and development practitioners argued that
an appropriate technology could only be developed if it was based on full knowledge of the existing
farming system and livelihood system, and technologies should be evaluated not only in terms of
their technical performance in specific environments, but also in terms of their conformity with the
objectives, capabilities and socio-economic conditions of the target group of farmers. As a response to
these challenges, there is a gradual evolution of the central source model of innovation of the 1970s
and 1980s to the current agricultural innovation systems approach. This evolution occurred as a result
of the identified weaknesses of the predominant paradigm of the time, and the emerging challenges
and needs of the society.
Over the years, the agricultural R&D arena has seen a number of paradigm changes and transformations.
In this chapter, we will first discuss the reform agenda within the agricultural R&D arena, then the
paradigm shifts and the changes in the global food systems. Currently, the knowledge generation,
dissemination and the utilization process within the agricultural sector is guided by four complementary
and mutually reinforcing principles. They are the innovation systems perspective, value chain
approach, impact orientation and research for development. These concepts are briefly discussed so
that the reader is familiar with these developments and effectively use this understanding in developing
winning proposals. However, it is worth noting that impact orientation and research for development
are implicit in the concept of innovation.

22

1.2

Reform agenda within agricultural R&D

The policy and institutional context within which agricultural research and innovation occurs have
changed dramatically over the years. Rapid changes continue to take place in the structure and authority
of governments, the global economy, the structure of the farming sector and in the global and local
food industries. The institutional landscape is also changing dramatically with the third parties (such
as non-governmental organizations, farmer organizations and civil society organizations) playing an
important role in agricultural R&D.
Ongoing reform agenda within the agricultural R4D includes:
Orientation of research to be more systems based, outward looking, client oriented and, impact
driven
Redefinition of the role of government
Decentralization and privatization of agricultural R4D.
Broader and active stakeholder participation and pluralism in service provision
Increased recognition of cross-sectoral linkages
Globalization of research and emergence of regional, continental and global coordinating bodies
Increased use of networks and partnerships
New funding arrangements including separation of financing from service provision and research
execution
Commercialization and market orientation of smallholder agriculture and
Changed attitude and mindset of the change agents (research, extension and other service
providers)
Given the sweeping reforms that are taking place, the R&D systems are facing a transition period in
which they will need to restructure themselves, confront new demands, and adjust to new political,
scientific, institutional and economic environment.

1.3

Emerging agrifood system

The last several decades have also seen a profound change in the nature of the global food system.
These changes include:

Massive increase in the volume of food moved across national borders (both formal and informal)
Rapid rise in supermarkets globally
Economic concentration in the super market sector
Creation of a multiplicity of private standards, often built on top of public standards
Rise in third party certification of food production and entire supply chain
Development of new technologies designed to extend shelf life of agricultural products
Shift towards non-price competition among super market chains
Greater differentiation of food products by class and
Development of new forms of (contractual) relationships between suppliers and buyers

These changes offer both challenges and opportunities to the smallholder producers. In some instances,
they can squeeze small producers out of certain markets, contributing to greater poverty and inequality.
On the other hand, if the smallholder farmers respond positively, this can offer new sources of income
and a marked improvement in the quality and safety of food.

23

1.4

Paradigm shifts in agricultural R&D

Agricultural research and development has been undergoing paradigm shifts over the years which is
in fact affecting their organizational structure, management style, as well as the way business is done.
We have seen a shift from a single commodity and mono-disciplinary base to an innovation system
and a multidisciplinary based approach together with a change from topdown research model to
participatory approach to research for development.
The system thinking is not new to agricultural research and development. It has been there since
the 1970s when a significant shift in paradigm occurred by moving away from the topdown, linear,
technology development and transfer model to the introduction of farming systems approach (FSA).
Since then, the application has evolved gradually to the various participatory approaches to the current
innovation systems approach. Now the use has been extended to the application in the organizational
analysis resulting in the Agricultural Innovation System concept. This evolution is traced in Figure 1,
and it is the result of the changing needs and expectations of the society.
Framework for technology
development

Framework for organizational

analysis

Cropping systems

NARIs Focus on generation

of knowledge (Public sector
research institutes only)

Farming systems

National systems framework

- National agricultural

Household production system

Research system (NARS)

- National agricultural

Extension system (NAEs)

Farming systems research (FSR)

(Focus on research)

- National Agricultural

Education and training

systems (NAES)

Focus on generation of
knowledge

Farming systems approach (FSA)

Focus on research, ext. and
training

Agricultural Knowledge and

Information System (AKIS)

Focuses on knowledge
generation and diffusion

Farming systems development

(FSD) R+E+T+Policy +
Institutions

Agricultural research for

development (AR4D)

Agricultural Innovation System (AIS)

Focus on knowledge generation, diffusion and
application

Source: Anandajayasekeram et al. (2005).

Figure 1. Evolution of systems thinking and its application in agriculture.

24

The origin and application of the innovation systems perspective (ISP) in agricultural research can
be traced to a number of sources. These include: the successful application of the concept in the
industrial sector of the developed economies, the multiple source of innovation model for agricultural
research and technology promotion as suggested by Biggs (1989); the inadequacy of the linear model to
explain the actual process of innovation in the real world; the inadequacy of the existing organizational
frameworks to be all inclusive in terms of the coverage of the various actors; and the increasing demand
for demonstrated developmental impacts and the expanded mandate and expectations from the R&D
communities (research for development).
The main attraction of innovation systems framework stems from the fact that: it recognizes innovation as
a process of generating, accessing and putting knowledge into use; explicitly recognizes the interactions
and knowledge flows among different actors in the process; emphasizes that institutions are vital in
shaping the nature of these innovations and learning as a means of evolving new arrangements specific
to local contexts (Sulaiman 2008).

1.4.1 Innovation, innovation system (IS) and innovation systems perspective (ISP)
In the literature, different authors have defined the term innovation differently (ECm 1995; Drukker
1998; OECD 1999; Quintas 1977 cited in ISNAR 2001). The simplest definition is anything new
introduced into an economic or social process (OECD 1999). The most useful definition of innovation
in the context of R&D is the economically successful use of invention (Bacon 1998). Here invention
is defined as a solution to a problem. This allows us to make distinction between knowledge and
innovation. Taking a brilliant idea through, on an often painful journey to become something which is
widely used, involves many more steps and use of resources and problem solving on the way.
In the past, science and technology generation were equated with innovation. It is crucial in
recognizing that innovation is strongly embedded in the prevailing economic structure, which largely
determines what is going to be learned and where the innovations are going to take place. Moreover,
such innovations are not limited to technological (both product and process) innovations only but
also include institutional, organizational, managerial and service delivery innovations. This also
emphasizes the notion that the responsibility of agricultural research organizations does not end with
the production of new technology or knowledge only. They can claim success when their innovations
are being disseminated, adopted and used (Chema et al. 2001).
Innovations are new creations of economic significance. They relate to the production of new knowledge
and/or new combination of existing knowledge. The critical point to note is that this knowledge cannot
be regarded as innovation unless it is transformed into products and processes that have social and
economic use (Edquist 1997). This transformation does not follow a linear path but rather characterized
by complicated feedback mechanisms and interactive relations involving science, technology, learning
production policy and demand. The use of the term innovation, in its broadest sense, covers the
activities and processes associated with the generation, production, distribution, adaptation and use
of new technical, institutional and organizational, managerial knowledge and service delivery (Hall et
al. 2005).
The thinking until the early 1990s was that innovations were created by knowledge and technology
production processes and through formal R&D initiatives by firms and technology creating agents
such as universities and publicprivate research institutes. The assumption was that the market would
draw upon the technological resources it needs, as and when necessary. The demand for knowledge
25

would be identified by the formal R&D systems, produced and passed down to those who necessarily
apply it because of its usefulness (Hartwich and Meijerink 1999). In reality, however, innovations are
not only associated with or stem from major scientific discoveries, but also often develop as a fairly
minor scientific and technological advances and can occur without any research (e.g. through learning
and adaptation process). Therefore, innovations can be generated by different organizations, group or
individuals and the conventional research institutions is only one such entity.

Innovation system
An innovation system is a group of organizations and individuals involved in the generation, diffusion,
adaptation and use of new knowledge and the context that governs the way these interactions and
processes take place. In its simplest form, an innovation system has three elements: the organization
and individuals involved in generating, diffusing, adapting and using new knowledge; the interactive
learning that occurs when organizations engage in these processes and the way this leads to new
products and processes (innovation); and the institutions (rules, norms and conventions, both formal
and informal), that govern how these interactions and processes take place (Horton 1990). People
working on similar issues, be it in a specific commodity sector, at a particular location or in any
problem area, tend to form a chain or network that can be described as innovation system.

Agricultural innovation system

A collaborative arrangement bringing together several organizations working towards technical change
in agriculture can be called Agricultural Innovation System. Such a system may include the traditional
sources of innovations (indigenous technical knowledge); modern actors (NARIs, IARCs, advanced
research institutions); private sectors including agro-industrial firms and entrepreneurs (local, national
and multinationals); civil society organizations (NGOs, farmers and consumer organizations, pressure
groups); and those institutions (laws, regulations, beliefs, customs and norms) that affect the process
by which innovations are developed and delivered. Agricultural innovation system can be defined
at three levels: national, commodity-based, and intervention-based. A typical national agricultural
innovation system is presented in Figure 2. An AIS within an agrifood chain is presented in Figure 3. An
intervention-based innovation system can be developed based on the nature of the problem and the
context in which the innovation is applied (see section 5 for details).

Intervention based innovation system

It is important to make sure that the innovation system is not confused with the invention system.
Innovation system incorporates the invention system as well as the complementary economic processes
required to turn invention into innovation and subsequent diffusion and use. Innovation systems do
not occur naturally; it is the problem situation that defines a particular innovation opportunity. Hence,
innovation systems are created for a purpose, they will change in content and patterns of interaction
as the problem sequence evolves and they can be constructed at micro- and macro levels. Thus,
although the innovation systems can be defined at different levels (national, sectoral, commodity and
problem/intervention), the most relevant innovation system is the one that is constructed to address
a particular problem. As Antonelli (2001, 2005) argues, innovation systems are constructed to solve
local innovation problem and they are constructed around a market problem (along the value chain)
that shape innovation and not problems that shape the growth of science and technology.

26

Informal institutions, practices and attitudes

Examples: Learning orientation; trust; communications; practices; routines

Agricultural research
and education systems
Agricultural
education system
* Primary/secondary

institutions
Political channels

Consumers

Stakeholder
platforms

* Post-secondary

Agricultural
research system
* Public sector
* Private sector
* Third sector

Agricultural value chain

actors and organizations

Agricultural
advisory services
* Public sector
* Private sector
* Third sector

Trade, processing,
wholesale, retail

Agricultural
producers
* Different categories

Integration in
value chains

Input suppliers

Agricultural policies and investments

General agricultural policies and specific agricultural innovation policies

Linkages to other
economic sectors

Linkages to general
science and technology

Linkages to
international actors

Linkages to
political system

Source: World Bank (2007).

Figure 2. A national agricultural innovation system.

Innovation systems are constructed to address specific problems. These systems are very specific in
nature and deal with the connection between the relevant components of the ecology as well as ensure
that the flow of information is directed at a specific purpose. Depending upon the problem at hand,
there can be multiple innovation systems supported by the same innovation ecology. Moreover, since
the solution of one problem typically leads to different and new problems, we would also expect that,
as the problem evolves, the actors in the system as well as their interconnectedness will also vary.
Thus, while the ecologies are more permanent, the problem-focused innovation systems are transient
or temporary in nature. Once a particular problem sequence is solved, the associated system can be
dissolved. The dynamism of an economy/value chain depends on the adaptability with which innovation
systems are created, grow, stabilize and change as problem sequence evolves (Metcalfe 2008, 442). A
problem-focused innovation system can be trans-boundary in nature or cut across national boundaries
and may be spatially unconstrained. This problem-focused, transboundary, and dynamic nature of the
innovation system is the most relevant one for the R&D community.

27

Enabling environment
Political stability, law and order, infrastructure,
governance, favorable micro macro and sectoral policies, etc.
Agroindustry
(Input supply)

Agricultural production
(Farm production)

Agro industry
(Product marketing)

Processing

Value adding

Marketing

Facilitating Institutions
Policies, legal framework, market, information, quality
control research, extension, training, credit, etc.)
Facilitating services
Transport, storage, packaging, facilitating, equipment,
import and export, communication, promotion, etc.

Source: Anandajayasekeram et al. (2005).

Figure 3. AIS in an agrifood chain/agri business system.

Innovation systems perspective

Innovation systems perspective implies the use of innovation lens in the design, implementation and
evaluation of the activities of the various actors involved in the innovation process. Innovation systems
perspective (ISP) sees the innovative performance of an economy as depending not only on how
individual institutions (firms, research institutes, universities etc.) perform in isolation, but on how
they interact with each other as elements of a collective system and how they interplay with social
institutions such as values, norms and legal frameworks. ISP suggests the analysis of three elements:
the components of the system, principally its actors; the relationships and interactions between these
components; and the competencies, functions, processes and results such components generate.
Therefore, the analytical implications of ISP are that there is a need to consider a range of activities and
organizations related to research and development and how these might function collectively and the
need to locate R&D planning and implementation in the context of norms and the cultural and political
economy in which it takes place, i.e. the wider institutional context.
The key features of ISP are (Hall et al. 2005):
Focus on innovation (rather than research/technology/knowledge) as its organizing principle;
Helps to identify the scope of the actors involved and the wider set of relationships in which
innovation is embedded;
Escapes the polarized debate between demand driven and supply push approaches;
Recognizes that innovation systems are social systems, focusing on connectivity, learning as well
as the dynamic nature of the process;
Leads us to new and more flexible organizations of research and to a new type of policymaking
for science, technology and innovation;
Emphasizes that partnerships and linkages are integral part of the innovation system;
Emphasizes that learning and the role of institutions are critical in the innovation process; and
The dynamics do not depend on the agents expanding the frontier of knowledge but on the
innovative abilities of a large number of agents. This dynamics depends on the strength of
information flows and the absorptive capacity of the individual agents of institutions and of

28

society as a whole. The innovation processes depend on the interactions among physical, social
and human capital, but mostly on the absorptive capacity of individual agents (Ekboir 2004).
A good understanding of the concept of innovation, innovation systems and the innovations systems
perspective is vital to develop successful proposal as most of the funding agencies are looking for
developmental impacts of research.

1.4.2

Agricultural research for development (AR4D)

The agricultural research for development takes a systems approach that goes beyond integrated natural
resources management to encompass the domains of policies and markets and the effects that these
have on the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of agriculture. The four pillars of agricultural
research for development and their important interactions are presented in Figure 4. The procedure
recognizes that the general approach to rural transformation involves intensification of subsistenceoriented smallholder farming systems, better management of natural resources while intensifying their
use, developing more efficient markets and enabling policies.

Intensifying
smallholder
farming

Sustainable
NRM

Developing
appropriate
policies

Developing
efficient
market

Organizational
and
institutional chain

Knowledge
management
and
information sharing

Capacity
building

M&E and
impact
assessment

Figure 4. The 4 pillars of ARD and their important interactions.

29

Agricultural research for development requires additional mechanisms to foster integration of these
four dimensions and a new way of doing research and development. Therefore, the support pillars of
agricultural research for development include:
Promotion of organizational and institutional change to enable cross-disciplinary research and
development and multi-institutional collaboration.
Capacity building of the various stakeholders (farmers, scientists, and other relevant stakeholders)
Information and knowledge management and
Continuous monitoring and evaluation and systematic approach to impact assessment.
The agricultural research for development in fact utilizes the various participatory methods and tools.
The four key steps in the agricultural research for development process are team organization, defining
the system of interest, identifying strategies, and plan formulation (Figure 5). These steps are discussed
in the following sections based on material prepared by International Centre for Development-oriented
Research in Agriculture (ICRA).

Organizing the team

Problem

Defining the system

II

of interest
interation

III

IV

interation

Identifying strategies

Formulating research
plans

Report

Research
proposals

Figure 5. The four phases of the ARD procedure.

Phase I:

Team organization

The AR4D procedure starts from the assumption that one or more organizations (including your own)
and other stakeholders have identified a problem or area of concern, or an idea for intervention.
It also assumes that addressing this problem requires concerted action of these organizations and
stakeholders. This may require a team of professionals from these organizations, comprising specialists
in the various disciplines needed to address the problem. It is assumed that by using the various
diagnostic procedures the clients and stakeholders have agreed on a sufficiently well-defined specific
problem. Clear planning requires that your team develops a good understanding of the problem
statement and the output that the client expects at the end of the process.

30

At the end of this phase, the team should have produced the following outputs:

Team is composed, mandates are defined, and resources are made available (at least for planning)
An agreed upon team work procedure established
The problem is clearly stated and the expected output is clearly defined
Work plan is formulated and approved by all partners
A mechanism for monitoring is established

Phase II:

Define the system of interest

Here the team looks at policy issues, markets, institutional issues and other macro-development in
and outside agriculture that may have an influence on the problem and on attempts to solve it. It
is important to identify the system that needs to change in order to address the problem that was
defined in phase I. We have to look at all elements needed for the change within the mandate of the
stakeholders involved. It is of little use to suggest changes that the stakeholders do not have the power
to change or influence.
At the end of this phase, the following outputs must be in place:
Description of how the wider macro trends influence the problem
Redefinition or further elaboration of the problem as seen from different perspectives
Demarcation of the system of interest

Phase III:

Identify strategies

Here there is need to engage all stakeholders involved in the system of interest defined in phase II
to identify strategies that will bring about the desired changes, under different scenarios based on the
external factors influencing the system of interest. There may be also a need to stratify the target group
based on resource endowments, capabilities, strategies and vulnerabilities. It is also important to assess
the anticipated effect of these alternative strategies on the environment (sustainability), vulnerable
groups (social equity) and the competitiveness of the enterprises of the various stakeholders in the
system of interest.
If this screening process shows that strategies have anticipated negative effects, then these need to
be addressed through accompanying measures or the strategy should be dropped. Agreeing to some
concrete strategies may usually require compromise between different stakeholders. Each strategy
should be assessed in terms of their ecological, social and economic implications. These aspects
should be considered simultaneously. The relative importance of each of these analytical perspectives
is dependent on the problem and usefulness of each in terms of finding a possible/viable solution. This
integrated analysis should result in the following outputs.
Description of two or more alternative scenarios for future
Definition of what changes are needed in the system of interest to address the problem under the
different scenarios
Typology of the stakeholders affected differently by the problem who require different strategies
Collective strategy to achieve changes in the system of interest that address the problem
Careful documentation of the analysis completed.

Phase IV:

Formulate plans

At this stage, it is necessary to list the development and research activities needed to realize the strategy.
The contribution of each stakeholder in the implementation of the agreed upon strategy defined in
31

Phase III is identified. As available resources are usually not enough to implement all activities, there
may be a need to prioritize the list of activities/options identified. The criteria for prioritization must
deal with the balance between the extent to which each activity is likely to contribute to the solution of
the problem, the cost and time needed for the activity as well as the risk of failure of the activity.
The final step is the formulation of convincing development and research proposals for the activities
of highest priority; and mobilization of resources to implement them. The process of implementation
(based on the operational plan), monitoring, evaluation and the eventual impact assessment of the
intervention needs to be worked out as part of the planning process. As most participants are familiar
with the participatory approaches to knowledge/technology development and transfer process, it may
be possible to easily integrate the missing elements from the AR4D process described in this section.
But a clear understanding of the process will certainly assist in the development of convincing/winning
project proposals.
It is important to ensure that the innovation system perspective, value chain analysis, research for
development and impact orientation are effectively integrated in the proposal.

1.4.3 Value chain

A value chain describes the full range of activities required to bring a product or service from conception,
through the different phases of production, delivery to final consumers, and final disposal after use
(Kaplinsky and Morris 2000). It is worth noting that production is only one of a number of value-added
links in the agrifood chain (Figure 6). Some people refer to this chain as from hoe (plough) to the finger
(fork). A simple value chain has four basic links.

Design

Production

Transformation
Packaging

Marketing

Consumption and
recycling

Processing
Actual sale

Figure 6. Value links in the agrifood chain.

In the real world, value chains are much more complex than this simple depiction. In many circumstances,
intermediary producers in a particular value chain may feed into a number of value chains.
Agricultural value chains are defined by a particular finished product or closely related products
and includes all firms engaged in input supply, production, transport, processing and marketing of
the product, and their associated activities, interactions and institutions governing the activities and
interactions. It entails the addition of value as the product progresses from input supply to production to
consumption. It includes input suppliers, producers, itinerant collectors, assembly traders, transporters,
wholesalers, processors, exporters, and retailers. The key issue addressed in value chain analysis is
vertical coordination: coordinating and harmonizing the vertical stages of production, transformation
and marketing

32

Porter (1985) distinguished two important elements of a modern value chain analysis:
Various activities which were performed in particular link in the chain and
Multi-linked value chain or the value system.
Both these elements are subsumed in the modern value chain descried in Figure 7.

Consumer

Distribution, exporting

Information

Marketing

Processing and packaging

Value
addition

On-farm production

Input
Figure 7. Agricultural food chain: Value adding.

In many developing countries, there is heavy emphasis on the commercialization of smallholder

production system; and production is increasingly becoming market oriented. In order to reap the
immediate benefit, it is important to understand the nature, structure, and the dynamics of the value
chain related to the various enterprises engaged in by the smallholder farmers. Given the new agricultural
innovation system perspective, we need not only understand the dynamic but should also focus on the
enabling environment, facilitating institutions as well as services associated with a given value chain.

1.5

Emerging challenges

In the previous sections, we discussed the organizational and institutional transformations taking place
within the agricultural research for development and the associated paradigm shifts to address the
broadened agricultural agenda. In addition, the system is also confronted with a number of emerging
challenges which shapes the priority agenda. Some of the key challenges currently facing the R&D
communities are as follows:

1.5.1 Emerging food and energy crisis

In the recent past, global food prices are increasing at an unprecedented rate and analysts say that they
will continue to remain high for a considerable period. Both the demand side and supply side factors
contributed to the current price crisis. The demand side factors include: economic growth and the
associated changes in life style and eating habits in many countries; diversion of food crops (maize,

33

sugarcane) for making biofuels: declining world stock piles, financial speculation in commodity markets
(a collapse of the financial derivatives market); and of course the increase in population (although at
a slower rate). The supply side factors include: increased fuel and fertilizer prices and the associated
increase in cost of production (and low input use); biofuel subsidies pushing production towards biofuel
rather than food; idle crop land under a conservation program, export bans and tariffs by many grain
exporting countries; production shortfalls from natural disasters and the long-term effects of climate
change; trade liberalization making many developing nations depend on food imports (subsidized)
which are cheaper; loss of crop lands due to mainly soil erosion, water depletion and urbanization and
finally declining investments in agriculture.
The continuing increase in fuel prices is pushing countries towards biofuels. As a result of rising energy
costs, inputs such as fertilizers become more and more unaffordable for small farmers who are at the
centre of response to the world food crisis. Transport costs have become higher and higher once again
resulting in higher consumer prices. Thus the rising fuel prices and the emerging food crisis are closely
linked.

1.5.2 Environment and climate change

Since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, it is generally accepted that the environmental agenda is inseparable
from the broader agenda of agriculture for development. Both intensive as well as extensive agriculture
lead to environmental consequences. To address the expected climate change challenges and impact,
R&D need to play a major role in increasing the adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable groups in
different regions. The climate change could create changes in the geographical production patterns,
as well as deterioration of natural resource base due to scarcity of water and rising temperature. It will
also affect parasites like the tsetse fly and parasitic diseases such as malaria. With the increased risk of
droughts and floods due to rising temperatures, crop yield losses are imminent. World agricultural GDP
is projected to decrease by 16% by 2020 by global warming.
Although SSA produces less than 4% of the world green house gases, the regions diverse climates and
ecological systems have already been altered by global warming and will undergo further damage
in the years ahead. Sahel and other arid and semi-arid regions are expected to become even drier. A
third of Africas peoples already live in drought-prone regions and climate change could put the lives
and livelihoods of an additional 75250 million people at risk by the end of the next decade (Africa
Renewal 2007). Climate change will create new food insecurities in the coming decades. Low income
countries with limited adaptive capabilities to climate variability and change are faced with significant
threats to food security.

1.5.3 Trade, market liberalization and the emerging agrifood system

The global and national food systems are increasingly being driven by consumer interests, changing
consumption patterns, quality and safety concerns and the influence of transnational corporations and
civil society organizations. The changes in the emerging food systems such as rapid rise and economic
concentration in supermarkets need for quality standards; a shift towards non-price competition among
supermarket chains, biosafety issues and the development of new forms of (contractual) relationships
between suppliers and buyers offer both challenges and opportunities. They can either squeeze small
producers out of certain markets contributing greater poverty and inequality or can offer new sources
of income and market improvement in the quality and safety of food.

34

1.5.4 Emerging diseases

The incidence and impacts of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria are well documented. Additional
threats and challenges are posed by emerging diseases. Approximately 75% of emerging diseases are
transmitted between animals and human beings; the increasing demand for meat increases this risk of
transmission. Serious socio-economic consequences occur when diseases spread widely within human
and animal populations.

1.5.5 Growing need for intersectoral linkages

One of the major constraints to getting agriculture moving in SSA is the general lack of comprehensive
policies and weak intersectoral linkages. Now there is growing awareness that a number of sectors such
as agriculture, education, health, water and energy are very closely linked. Thus any agenda to transform
the smallholder agriculture should follow a multisectoral approach and capture the synergies between
technologies (seeds, fertilizer, livestock breeds); sustainable water and soil management, institutional
services (extension, insurance, financial services) and human capital development (education and
health)all linked with market development (World Development Report 2008).

1.5.6 Changing expectations of science and technology and innovation

Over the years, there has been a significant change in the expectations of science and technology and
innovations, from increasing crop and livestock productivity to creating competitive responsive and
dynamic agriculture, that directly contribute to the Millennium Developmental Goals.

1.5.7 Underinvestment in agriculture and agricultural research

Public spending on agricultural research as a proportion of agricultural GDP in Africa declined from
0.93 to 0.69% between 1980s and 1990s (ECA-OECD Review 2005). The current average level of
public expenditure to support agriculture is around 4%. CAADP reports estimate that if the MDGs are
to be met, 10% of the national budget should go to the agricultural sector and at least 2% of the GDP
should go to national agricultural research and development by 2010.

1.5.8 Technological advances in biotechnology and ICT

Conventional biotechnologies have been around for a very long time, while genetic modification (GM)
technologies have emerged more recently. GM technologies are making rapid progress worldwide.
Biosafety is a highly technical field, which typically requires high initial investments for building the
necessary human resource capacity and institutional infrastructure (including laboratories and green
houses for risk assessment or testing and identification of genetically modified organisms).
The revolution in ICT technologies and increased access to them in developing countries is enabling
a variety of new approaches to capacity building and knowledge sharing and exploitation of these
opportunities require additional investments.

1.5.9 Globalization of private agricultural research and innovation

In the recent past, there is a trend towards globalization of private agricultural research. Drivers of
globalization of R&D are growing markets for agricultural products and agricultural inputs (reduced
restrictions on trade in agricultural inputs), new technological opportunities due to breakthrough in
35

biotechnology; improved ability to appropriate the gains from innovations, improved policy environment
for foreign investments and technology transfer (tax breaks); and growth in demand due to increased
income and policy changes (Pray 2008). If carefully nurtured and managed, this may offer additional
opportunities for publicprivate partnership to mobilize additional resources and to move the poverty
reduction agenda forward.

1.5.10 Meeting commitments and targets

Over the last several years, countries in the regions are committed to a number of targets and goals.
Under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, targets are set for: reducing hunger and
poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, improving maternal
health and nutrition, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and ensuring conservation
and the enhancement of basic life-support systems including land, water, forests, biodiversity and
the atmosphere. There is increasing evidence to show that we will not meet any of the targets set for
2015.
In 2001, African heads of state adopted the strategic framework to develop integrated socio-economic
development framework for Africathe New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) under the
auspices of the African Union (AU). The agricultural agenda of NEPAD is driven by the comprehensive
African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP). This strategy calls for an annual growth rate of
6.5%. At least 10% of the national budget as defined in the Maputo Declaration (February 2003)
should be allocated to agriculture.

1.5.11 Global financial crisis

The current financial crisis is contributing significantly to the slow down of many countries resulting
in reduction in the capital availability at a time when accelerated investment is urgently needed in the
agricultural research and development arena. Although the current food and financial crisis developed
from different causes, these two crises have fed into each other and could have significant impact on
financial and economic stability and, political security (von Braun 2008).
The projected low economic growth is likely to have negative second-round effects for investment and
productivity with direct ramifications for food prices and food security around the globe. IFPRI (2008)
has projected that under slow growth and declines in agricultural investment, the prices of major
cereals increase significantly. According to projections in SSA, per capita consumption would be 10%
lower in 2020 and its share of the number of malnourished children will increase from one fifth in 2005
to one fourth in 2020. The study concluded that if the developing countries and investors can maintain
agricultural productivity and investment under recession, they can avoid many of the negative effects
of slower growth.
To sum up, there is a need for agriculturalists to grow intellectually and operationally from a narrow
focus on agriculture and technological research and dissemination to a better understanding of rural
societies and their needs. There is a need to seek greater understanding of alternative pathways for
rural economic development, placing the role of agriculture in perspective, and redefining the role,
mission, and strategy of the agricultural institutes and agents as facilitators of rural economic growth.
This calls for change in the mind-sets of the change agents and greater flexibility and creativity in
defining the agenda as well as in defining new publicprivatecivil society partnerships on the basis of
whatever is necessary to improve opportunities, productivity and income generation capacity of poor
rural households.
36

References
Anandajayasekeram P and Dixon J. 1998. Evolving methodological considerations, empowerment and capacity
building in the farming systems approach. An invited paper presented at the 6th annual conference of the
Southern African Association of Farming System Research and Extension, Lusaka, Zambia, 24 February
1998.
Anandajayasekeram P, Dijkman J and Workneh S. 2005. Innovation systems approach and its implication to
agricultural research and development. Presentation made at the Southern and Eastern African association for
farming systems research-extension (SEAAFSRE), Lilongwe, Malawi, 1921 September 2005.
ASARECA (Association for Strengtheneing Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa). 2003. Strengthening
capapcity of NARS for managing regional networks and projects. ASREACA, Entebbe, Uganda.
Bean R and Radford RW. 2002. The business of innovation: Managing the corporate imagination for maximum
results. AMACOM, New York, USA.
von Braun J. 2008. Food and financial crises: Implications for agricultural and the poor. Brief prepared for the
CGIAR Annual General Meeting, Maputo, Mozambique, December 2008. CGIAR (Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research), Washington, DC, USA.
Chema S, Gilbert E and Roseboom J. 2003. A review of key issues and recent experiences in reforming agricultural
research in Africa. Research Report 24. ISNAR (International Service for National Agricultural Research), the
Hague, the Netherlands.
Christoplos I, Farrington J and Kidd AD. 2001. Extension, poverty and vulnerability: Inception report of a study for
the Neuchtel Initiative. Working Paper 144. ODI (Overseas Development Institute), London, UK.
Clark NG. 2002. Innovation systems, technology assessment and the new knowledge market: Implication for the
third world development. Journal of the Economics of Innovation and New Technology 11(45):353368.
Conway G. 1998. The doubly Green Revolution: Food for all in the 21st century. Penguin Books, New York, USA.
Edquist C. (ed). 1997. Systems of innovation, technologies, institutions and organizations. Printer Publishers,
London, UK.
Freeman C. 1982. The economics of industrial innovation. Frances Printer, London, UK.
Hall A and Nahdy S. 1999. New methods and old institutions. The systems context of farmer participatory research
in national agricultural research systems: The case of Uganda. AgREN Paper No. 93. Agricultural Research and
Extension Network. ODI (Overseas Development Institute), London, UK.
Kaplinsky and Morris. 2000. A handbook for value chain research. Paper prepared for IDRC. IDRC (International
Development Research Center), Ottawa, Canada.
Krebs V. and Holley J. 2002. Building sustainable communities through network building.
Lundvall BA. (ed). 1992. National systems of innovation: Towards a theory of innovation and interactive learning.
Pinter Publishers, London, UK.
Metcalfe S. 1995. The economic foundations of technology policy: Equilibrium and evolutionary perspectives. In:
Stoneman P (ed), Handbook of the economics of innovation and technological change. Blackwell, Oxford,
UK.
Metcalfe S and Ramlogan R. 2008. Innovation systems and the competitive process in developing economics. The
Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 48:433446
Positive Deviance: A new paradigm for addressing todays problems today, 2005. Http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/
Barabar-Waugh/artciles/positive_deviance.html
Rling NG. 1988. Extension science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Rothwell R. 1992. Successful industrial innovation: Critical success factors for the 1990s. Research and
Development Management, 22/3:221239.
Sulaiman VR. 2008. Extension from an innovation systems perspective. A paper presented at the IFPRI conference
on advancing agriculture in developing countries through knowledge and innovation. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
April 7, 2008
Wolf S and Zilberman D. 2001. Knowledge generation and technical change: Institutional innovation in agriculture.
Springer.
Wycoff J. 2004. The big ten innovation killers and how to keep your innovation system alive and well. (www.
thinksmart.com).

37

38

Trainers guide
Session 2: What sort of projects do donors like?
When and when not to write a full proposal?
Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

B
e able to avoid writing projects that donors do not like
Be able to decide on the right time to write a full proposal

Training materials

F lip chart
White boards
Assorted chisel marker pens

Time needed

1.5 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary presentation

What donors want in projects and when to write a full proposal

40 minutes

Group exercise

Participants share and answer in groups of four the structured

true or false question

20 minutes

Plenary presentation

Trainer leads participants in discussing answers to the group

exercise

30 minutes

Break

Health break

20 minutes

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Introduction: What sort of projects do donors like?

When and when not to write a full proposal
Structured True of False questions for group work

39

Session 2: Summary of presentation slides: What sort of projects

do donors like? When and when not to write a full proposal
2.1

What sort of projects do

donors or funders like?

2.2

Circumstances under which scientists

write proposal

Thesis or academic proposal

Competitive grants
Proposal for donors
To secure resources during annual planning

Whatever be the circumstance, you want your

proposal to convince the reader

2.3

Source of funding
Most of the international funding for NARES

researchers and extension workers come from

development donors

There are a few donor agencies specifically

interested in research for generating knowledge

E.g., Canada-based IDRC International

Development Research Centre

For the most part, development donors are only

interested in research results that can contribute

to development goals and objectives i.e research
for development (R4D)

40

2.4

Development donors want to

give their support to
Projects that can make a marked, measurable

and rapid improvement in the living conditions

of poor or marginalized and vulnerable people

Projects that can make a marked, measurable

improvement in the environment

Projects with low risks and high returns

Projects that beneficiaries (end users) have

themselves claimed as priorities, i.e demanddriven and client-oriented

2.5

Development funding partners want to

give their support to (contd)
Proposals that offer a team composed of strong

research partners whose experience and

qualifications give them a comparative advantage
over others to carry out the project i.e
multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder
involvement

Proposals whose level of detail indicates that the

authors have given careful thought to the design

and implementation of the project Project logic

Proposals with a modest yet realistic budget, that

is within the means of the target donor

2.6

Projects that are novel or innovative

Funders will not like .

Over-ambitious projects that claim more

than they can possibly achieve in the time

specified and for the funds requested

Projects that call for infrastructure and

capital investment, unless the need for

these can be very clearly identified and
linked directly to the project activities

Poorly written and poorly presented

proposals i.e lack of clarity

41

2.7

When and when not to write a

full proposal
Preparing a concept note takes a fraction of the

time needed to prepare a full proposal. Proceed to

full proposal when;

You are responding to a competitive grants

program

You have submitted an unsolicited (unasked for)

concept note to a donor, who has responded by
asking you to provide more information

A funding partner/donor has asked for more than

a 37 page concept note, and wants you to
submit a full proposal

The best basis for a full proposal is a good concept

note

2.8

What is a concept note?

A concept note is a short version of a proposal
It has the same structure as a full proposal
It has fewer details and takes far less to
prepare

It is a useful format for getting your project

ideas

approved internally
linked with the ideas of your partners
communicated to busy donors

2.9

When to prepare a concept note

You are submitting a sole source proposal
You want to find out if a donor is interested
Your ideas are at a primary stage

42

2.10

Differences between a concept note

and a full proposal
Concept note

Full proposal

37 pages long

10 pages minimum, average 20 pages

Summarized in bullets
(title, budget, etc.)

Begins with a summary section

Background section one

page or less

Background section about 10% of

total

Activities summarized, in
Activities are written up in detail
time line

10

2.11

Beneficiaries, impact
summarized

End users and impact described in

detail

Summary budget is
adequate

Budget details required including

budget notes

Annexes minimized

Annexes often required

Moving from a concept note

to a proposal
You will need to add or expand several sections
You will need to reassemble your project design

team and partners to think through the additional

details required to write a full proposal

You now have a chance to make changes to the

project that you described in your concept note

So long as the basic concept of the project

remains the same, you should feel free to make

these changes in the light of evolving internal
and external realities

2.12

Thank You!

43

Session 2: Notes for trainers: What sort of projects do donors like?

When and when not to write a full proposal
2.1

IntroductionWhat sort of projects do donors like?

Most of the international funding for NARES researchers and extension workers come from development
donors, such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank (multilateral funders) and DfID,
USAID, CIDA, SIDA and NORAD (bilateral donors). There are a few donor agencies specifically
interested in research. One such is the Canada-based IDRCthe International Development Research
Centre. But for the most part, development donors are only interested in research results that can
contribute to their development goals and objectives.
Development funding partners want to give their support to the following:
Projects that can make a marked, measurable and rapid improvement in the living conditions of
poor or marginal people. This means that to sell your project to a donor you will need to carefully
trace the path between the results of your research and how those results will make a difference
for the end users.
Projects that can make a marked, measurable improvement in the environment. This may have to
do with preserving biodiversity, conserving water, improving soils, preventing erosion, etc.
Projects with low risks and high returnsi.e. are likely to achieve their objectives within the
allocated time and budget and within the constraints of the location, while likely to yield
impressive benefits for the end users. As you are designing your project, you need to think
carefully about whether the situation in your location has elements that might render the project
outputs or impacts very difficult to achieve.
Projects that beneficiaries (end users) have themselves claimed as priorities. This means that you
may need to get information about their needs and preferences from the potential end users of
your research.
Proposals that offer a team composed of strong research partners whose experience and
qualifications give them a comparative advantage over others to carry out the project. Very few
projects (except very small ones) are nowadays implemented by just one organization. This means
that you will need to be making linkages with potential partners to complement your own inhouse skills.
Proposals whose level of detail indicates that the authors have given careful thought to the design
and implementation of the project.This module will help you to include this level of detail.
Proposals with a modest yet realistic budget that is within the means of the target donor. The topic
on budgets will help you to prepare budgets that are convincing to donors.
Projects that are novel or innovative. The first thing that a funding partner will ask when picking
up a concept note or proposal is, Whats new about this? You need to have a good answer to this,
early on in your proposal. One of the topics in this module will show you how to write a section
on What Has Already Been Done, so that you can be sure you are not repeating work done by
others.
Funders will not like all of the following:
Over-ambitious projects that claim more than they can possibly achieve in the time specified and
for the funds requested. Although donors may not know your particular field of specialization in

44

detail, they have lots of project experience, and will have a good sense of what can and cannot be
done within a given time and budget.
Projects that call for the purchase of vehicles and computers, unless the need for these can be
very clearly identified and linked directly to the project activities. As you can probably imagine,
funders often receive proposals that are little more than requests for these items, for the individual
use of the proposers.
Poorly spelled and poorly presented proposals. Nowadays, with spell-checks and computers, there
is no excuse for turning in a shoddy proposal. At the same time, you should not go for something
too glossyif you can afford to produce something really fancy, the funder may feel that perhaps
you dont really need the money you are asking for!

2.2

When and when not to write a full proposal

Preparing a concept note takes a fraction of the time needed to prepare a proposal. So you should only
proceed to the development of a full proposal under the following conditions:
You are responding to a competitive grants program
You have submitted an unsolicited (unasked for) concept note to a donor who has responded by
asking you to provide more information.
A funding partner/donor has asked for more than a 37 page concept note, and wants you to
submit a full proposal
In all other cases, you should start to write up your project ideas in the form of a concept note. Also,
the best basis for a full proposal is a good concept note. For these two reasons, we strongly recommend
that you learn how to write a convincing concept note.
Table 1. Differences between a concept note and a full proposal
Concept note
37 pages long
Summarized in bullets (title, budget etc.)
Background section one page or less
Activities summarized, in time line
Beneficiaries, impact summarized
Summary budget is adequate
Annexes minimized

Full proposal
10 pages minimum, average 20 pages
Begins with a summary section
Background section about 10% of total
Activities are written up in detail
End users and impact described in detail
Budget details required
Annexes often required

Thus, as you move from a concept note to a proposal you will need to add or expand several sections.
You will need to reassemble your project design team and partners to think through the additional
details required to write a full proposal. You now have a chance to make changes to the project that you
described in your concept noteyou may want to change the sites, or the activities, or include new
elements in your design. So long as the basic concept of the project remains the same, you should feel
free to make these changes in the light of evolving internal and external realitiesi.e. things that have
happened since you first thought of the project and discussed it with your peers.

45

Session 2: Exercise 1
Individual exercise on what sort of projects donors like
Please mark the following true or false
a.

Funding partners will look favourably on proposals that have the potential to increase the incomes
of low-income smallholders or that recommends to smallholders various types of trees whose
fruits can be harvested, and that can be planted on hillsides to prevent soil run-off in the rainy
season. True False
b. Donors will never fund proposals unless more than one organization is involved in the
implementation of the project. True False
c. Donors will only fund projects with low risks and high returns. True False
d. Investors are always on the look out for interesting, unusual and innovative projects. True False
e. You should never include a request for computers in a project, for fear of looking greedy and
turning off your target donor. True False
f. You can help give your project an edge over others if you can show that the end-users of your
research are really eager to get its benefits. True False

See Annex 1 for answers.

46

Session 2: Exercise 2
Individual exercise on when and when not to write a full proposal
Answer the following questions. Use your pad and pencil to take notes
a.
b.
c.

Give two occasions when it is appropriate to write a full proposal, rather than a concept note.
In a concept note, the first section consists of some bullets (giving the project title, total budget,
duration, partners, location etc.). What is the equivalent in a full proposal?
Name two other elements you would find in a full proposal that you would not find in a concept
note.

See Annex 2 for answers.

47

48

Trainers guide
Session 3: Competitive grants program and how to respond
and qualities of a convincing proposal
Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Understand the nature and content of different competitive grant programs
Be able to decide on the right time to write a full proposal
K
now how to respond to calls for competitive grants
Internalize the qualities of a convincing proposal and be able to apply them in
their subsequent proposal writings

Training materials

Coloured cards
Flip charts
White board and assorted chisel marker pens

Time needed

2:55 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary presentation

Ask participants for their experience in competitive grants

and identify those who have won any

30

Ask participants in groups of four to write down what they consider to

be the five most desired qualities of a convincing proposal each quality on one card
Plenary presentation

Competitive grants programs and how to respond and qualities of

a convincing proposal

1 hrs

Group exercise

Competitive grants programs and how to respond and qualities of

a convincing proposal

15 minutes

Plenary presentation

Trainer leads participants in discussing answers to the

exercise

30 minutes

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Competitive grants programs and how to respond and qualities

of a convincing proposal
Guidelines for group work exercise 2

49

Session 3: Summary of presentation slides: Competitive grants

programs and how to respond and qualities of a convincing
proposal
3.1

Competitive grants programs

and how to respond

3.2

What are these programs?

Calling for proposals and choosing the best, based
on certain selection criteria

This is a growing trend around the world

It is used by national, regional and international
funding sources

3.3

Call for proposals

50

Which organizations are eligible to compete?

Deadline for submission of proposals
Permitted length of proposals
Format you should use for the proposal
Topic or topics that are of interestpriorities
Sites and locations that are of interest

3.4

Call for proposals (contd)

Size of the grants available

Required number and types of partners desired
Goal(s) that the projects should address
Desired impact
Criteria that will be used to review the proposals
and choose the winnersselection criteria

3.5

How should you respond?

Read and re-read the call carefully

Understand all the key points
Follow the instructions to the letter
Accept that the donor agency is telling you exactly
what it wants

Do not believe that somehow you know better than

the funding agency and what it really wants

Understand that bids from ineligible groups will

not be read

If the donor requires you to partner with a private

sector group to qualify for a particular grants
program, do not bother to apply unless you have
such a partner.

3.6

Finding out about competitive

grants programs

Internet
Physical visits
Newspapers/Newsletters
Colleagues
Regular circulation

51

3.7

Qualities of a convincing proposal

3.8

What are the hidden messages of a

good proposal
Something important needs doing right away!
Some group of people are suffering and/or the
environment is under grave threat

We have a sensible, cost-effective approach to

tackling the problem

We have thought through all the details of the

project

3.9

What are the hidden messages of a

good proposal (contd)
We have collected the ideal team of people,
qualified and experienced to do the work

Our approach builds on what others have done

before

We are ready and eager to do the work

If we do the work, our end-users will be
significantly better off

All that is needed is your support

52

3.10

Trace the logic that links your research results

with the solution of an important problem.
Explaining who will be responsible for disseminating
results to end-users

Explaining the conditions under which dissemination

will take place

Explaining the strength of interest of end-users in

applying/using research results

3.11

Trace the logic that links your research results with

the solution of an important problem (contd.)

Explaining the difficulties that might prevent results

being used Risk factor

Explaining at what stage (i.e. how many years after

the start of the project) the application of results will

start to be seen

Explaining how and who will measure the extent to

which your results were applied

3.12

Where to place your silent messages

Section of proposal Implicit message to reader
Background and
Something important needs doing right away!
goal and objectives
Beneficiaries
These are the people who need our help
Activities
We have a good approach to do this important
thing
Budget
Our approach is cost-effective
All sections
We have thought throug h all the details
Work plan
We have collected the ideal team to implement
and annexes
the project they are highly qualified and
experienced
Background
Our approach builds on the work that others
have done before
Outputs and
impact
All sections

If we do the work, our end-users will be

significantly better off
We are ready and eager to do the work all
that is needed is your support

53

3.13

Thank you!

3.14

54

Session 3: Notes to participants: Competitive grants programs

and how to respond and qualities of a convincing proposal
3.1

Competitive grants programs and how to respond

3.1.1 What are these programs?

Competitive grants programs are a growing trend around the world. Both national and international
funding sources now choose to spend at least part of their funds by requesting proposals and choosing
those they like the best, based on certain selection criteria.
Donors announce their interest in receiving proposals by issuing of a call for proposals or request for
proposals or request for applications. In these calls, the funders reveal a great deal about the type of
projects they want to fund. For instance, these calls will likely specify many, if not all, of the following
things:

Which organizations are eligible to compete?

Deadline for submission of proposals
Permitted length of proposals
Format you should use for the proposal
Topic or topics that are of interest
Sites and locations that are of interest
Size of the grants available
Required number and types of partners desired
Goal(s) that the projects should address
Desired impact
Criteria that will be used to review the proposals and choose the winners

A number of examples of call for proposals are presented in Annex 12.

3.1.2 How should you respond?

The single most important thing about responding to a call for proposals from a donor is to read and
reread the call carefully, underlining all the key points, and then to follow the instructions to the
letter. One of the great advantages of the competitive grants programs from your point of view is that
the donor agency is telling you exactly what it wants. You do not need to guess. Nor should you second
guessi.e. believe that somehow you know better than the funding agency what it really wants.
Believe every word in the request for proposals. Your submission will indeed be reviewed according
to the selection criteria, so you would be foolish not to follow them. Bids from ineligible groups will
not be read, so do not bother applying to a program for which you (and your partners) are not properly
qualified. For instance, if the donor requires you to partner with a private sector group to qualify for a
particular grants program, do not bother to apply unless you have such a partner.
In some of the later topics in this training module, we will be presenting you with a generic proposal
format that you can use if:
(a) you are not responding to a call for proposals
(b) your organization does not have a preferred format, and
(c) your target donor has not suggested you use a format applied by his or her agency.
55

This generic format is no better than any other. But if you write your proposal using this format, you will
readily be able to adapt it to the needs of any research or development donors needs.
However, when you are responding to a call for proposals from a competitive grants program, we
recommend that you do not use this generic outline, but directly follow the instructions in the call. In
other words, believe the words of the donor, rather than what you learn in this training module!

3.2

Finding out about competitive grants programs

Because more and more funding agencies are using competitive grants programs, you need to know
about them. You can find out easily by carefully reading the web pages of the major donors in your
country every few months. You can, and should, visit the donor agencies that have offices in your
capital city, and ask them about any grant programs they have ongoing or planned for the future. Here
are just a few of the donor agencies likely to be supporting competitive grants programs. You will be
able to find their addresses in their web sites.
Bilateral development donors

Australia
Canada
Netherlands
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
China
India
Brazil
Taiwan
Japan

Multilateral development donors

European Union
African Development Bank
Asian Development Bank
Inter-American Development Bank
International Fund for Agricultural Development

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has started a number of new
initiatives recently. These are called Challenge Programs and they attempt to bring together researchers
of all kinds from all types of organizations to work together to address some of the worlds biggest
development challenges. To be sure that all interested parties are involved, each of these programs
has a competitive grants element, and your organization may well be eligible to bid. You can find out
more about these programs by reviewing the CGIAR website at www.cgiar.org and reading up on the
Challenge Programs. At least two or three are now approved, and more are planned for the future.

56

3.3

Qualities of a convincing proposal

What are the hidden messages of a good proposal? A convincing proposal is one that convinces
your reader to provide funding for your project. All convincing proposals, regardless of size, or even
content, share the same key qualities. Although it does not say so in these words, all convincing proposals strongly convey all of the following messages:
Something important needs doing right away!
Some groups of people are suffering (and/or the environment is under grave threat)
We have a sensible, cost-effective approach to tackling the problem
We have thought through all the details of the project
We have collected the ideal team of people, qualified and experienced to do the work
Our approach builds on what others have done before
We are ready and eager to do the work
If we do the work, our end-users will be significantly better off
All that is needed is your support!

Writing a research proposal to a development donor: These implicit messages need to be conveyed to both a development and a research project. In the proposal for a research project, you will
need to trace the logic that links your research results with the solution of an important problem that
is causing suffering for some group of people or has the potential to benefit some groups of people.
Tracing the logic may involve:

explaining who will be responsible for disseminating results to end-users

explaining the conditions under which dissemination will take place
explaining the strength of interest of end-users in applying/using research results
explaining the difficulties that might prevent results being used
explaining at what stage (i.e. how many years after the start of the project) the application of
results will start to be seen
explaining how and who will measure the extent to which your results were applied

Where in the proposal do you convey the hidden messages? Table 1 shows which sections of
the proposal convey these messages.
Table 1. Where to place your silent messages
Section of proposal
Background, goal and objectives
Beneficiaries
Activities
Budget
All sections
Work plan and annexes
Background
Outputs and impact
All sections

Implicit message to reader

Something important needs doing right away!
These are the people who need our help
We have a good approach to do this important thing
Our approach is cost-effective
We have thought through all the details
We have collected the ideal team to implement the projectthey are highly
qualified and experienced
Our approach builds on the work that others have done before
If we do the work, our end-users will be significantly better off
We are ready and eager to do the workall that is needed is your support

57

Session 3: Pair exercise on qualities of a convincing proposal

Answer the following questions. Use your pad and pencil to take notes.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Where in the proposal would you show your interest in ensuring that end-users are benefiting
from the results of your research?
Name two things that you want readers to think and feel when they read your background
section.
In a research proposal, is the author required to show the potential impact of his or her research
results (outputs)?
Where in the proposal can you show that you have tried to anticipate everything that might
happen during the implementation of your project?
Can a proposal have as its goal both something to do with people and something to do with the
environment?
Do you think you need to sell the quality of the people who will implement the project in your
proposal?

See Annex 3 for answers

58

Trainers guide
Session 4:

Proposal format and order of preparation

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Develop a proposal following a standard format
Know which parts of the proposal are prepared first and which ones are
prepared last

Training materials

Flip charts
White boards
Assorted chisel marker pens

Time needed

45 min

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary presentation

Ask participants to highlight the section of a proposal. After listening 15 min

the section in their chronological order, the trainer then asks them to
identify which ones are written first till the last

Plenary presentation

Proposal format and order of preparation

25 min

Summary

Trainer summarizes the session

5 min

Session 4

Switch to session four

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Proposal format and order of preparation

59

Session 4: Summary of presentation slides: Proposal format

and order of preparation
4.1

Proposal format and

order of presentation

4.2

Proposal format
There are several formats of proposals
Format is dependent on the funding agency
Every donor/funding agency have their own
preferred format or outline

Despite the several formats, some sections are

common in all proposals

4.3

Generic proposal format

The generic (conventional) proposal format has
the following sections not necessarily the same
order

1. Title

Title is the first and most read part of a proposal.

It tells the reader what the project is all about
(focus of the proposal)

2. Executive summary (sometimes abstract)

Summarized form of a proposal describing what

the proposal is about and what will be
accomplished

60

4.4

Generic proposal format (contd )

3.

Introduction/background
Explains:
What is the problem (problem statement)
Why is it urgent, (justification)
What has already been done (summary of literature review)
Identify the gaps that your research is addressing

4.

Goal and purpose/objectives

What are you going to do in the project? and

What do you want to achieve?
Note: Sometimes this section is included under introduction

4.5

Generic proposal format (contd)

5. Inputs

Describes goods and services that you need to

achieve your objectives (personnel, equipment,

transport, chemicals etc.)

6. Activities/methods and work plan

Describes the details of what you will do

Explains how you will achieve your objectives
Describes how you will schedule the
implementation of what you will do

4.6

Generic proposal format (contd)

7. Expected outputs

What will be in place at the end of the project

It is evidence which shows that resources were
properly used

8. Beneficiaries and impact

Who will benefit from the results/outputs?

In what way?
How will you measure the impact, and when
will it be observed?

What would be their contribution?

61

4.7

Generic proposal format (contd)

9. Monitoring and evaluation
How can you track the project progress in terms
of implementation and promised results?
How will the project be assessed at its end?
Helps to take corrective action if the expected
results are not forthcoming as anticipated
10. Budget

Shows how much it will cost and how the cost

items were estimated

11. Logframe

Project summary, aid to data collection for

monitoring and evaluation

4.8

Other sections in a proposal

Proposal can be biological or socioeconomic
Be aware of the following sections:
Environmental and ethical issues
Gender concerns
Concerns for marginalized and vulnerable people
Hypotheses
Scope of the project
Sometimes priorities/subject matter is determined by
the funding agency

Annexes:
CVs and academic transcripts of investigators
Sometimes detailed budgets
Maps
Strategic plans or medium plans, etc as required
4.9

Recommended order of preparation

for a proposal

62

Objectives
Inputs
Activities/Methods
Outputs
Budget
Beneficiaries, goal and impact
Monitoring and evaluation
Background
Summary
Review, editing, cover letter

4.10

Examples of donors proposal formats

Maendeleo agricultural technology fund
SECTION 1

1.1 Title
1.2 Summary (1/2 pages)
1.3 Problem statement and project rationale
(1/4 page)

1.4 Technology(ies) under consideration

(1/4 page)

4.11

Examples of donors proposal formats

(contd.)

1.5 Purpose and objectives (1/4 page)

1.6 Partnership and linkages (1/2 page)
1.7 Approaches and methodology (1.5 pages)
1.8 Social and environmental context of the
project (1/4 page)

1.9 Potential to generate social and economic

impact (1/4 page)

1.10 Potential for scaling up (1/2 page)

1.11 Potential sustainability (1/2 page)
(financial sustainability, social sustainability,
environmental sustainability & institutional
sustainability)

4.12

1.12 Monitoring and evaluation (1/4 page)

1.13 Track record and legal status of host/lead
institution (1/4 page)

1.14 Work plan and time frame (1 page)

1.15 Logical framework (1 page)
SECTION 2

Budget
Use the budget guidelines

63

Session 4: Notes to participants: Proposal format and order

of preparation
4.1

Proposal format and order of preparation

Proposal formats: Most donors have their own preferred format or proposal outline. Ask your target
donor before you start writing. If the donor does not have a preferred format, you may use that which
is used by your institute. If your institute does not have a preferred format, you might think about
instituting one, since it would be helpful if everyone in the institute was writing in a similar way. For
example, you might consider modifying the generic proposal outline shown below.
Table 1. Generic proposal format
Summary

(What is this proposal about?)

Background

(What is the problem, why is it urgent, what has already been done?)

Goal and objectives

(Why are you doing the project, and what do you want to achieve?)

Inputs

(What things will you need to achieve your objectives?)

Activities/methods and work plan (What will you do? How will you achieve your objectives?)
Outputs

(What will be in place at the end of the project?)

Beneficiaries and impact

(Who will benefit from the results/outputs, in what way? How will you
measure the impact, and when will it be observed?)

Monitoring and evaluation

(How can you track the project progress in terms of implementation and
promised results?How will the project be assessed at its end?)

Budget

(How much will it cost?)

If you use this generic format, you should have no difficulty in repackaging the material (i.e. rearranging
the sections, and perhaps changing some of the terms) to suit the template or format used by any donor.
In addition to the sections shown above, you may also need some annexes to show supporting material
for your project. Some of these annexes might include:
a copy of a logframe for your project
CVs for your implementation team
Statements about past performance of your institute and your partners
You will also need a cover letter to submit with your proposal.
Order of preparation: Although the proposal will be submitted in the order shown in Table 3, we do
not recommend that you prepare the sections in that order. We suggest that you prepare the proposal
in the order of steps shown in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Recommended order of preparation for a proposal
1. Objectives

6. Beneficiaries, goal and impact

2. Inputs

7. Monitoring and evaluation

3. Activities/methods

8. Background

4. Outputs

9. Summary

5. Budget

10. Review, editing, cover letter

64

Notice that Step 10 is as important as all the others. Having your colleagues review your proposal a
little after it is finished will yield many useful suggestions for improving your proposal, and may make
the difference between convincing your donor or not.
This order of preparation ensures that you first concentrate on the heart of the projectthe five key
elements of the project design. Once you have those things clearly written down, you can start to write
some of the selling parts of the proposali.e. the Impact and Background section. The Monitoring
and Evaluation section is separated from the heart of the project, because we assume that your institute
has a regular program of reviewing its ongoing projects. You will mention this in your proposal, along
with the specific issues about the monitoring and evaluation of this particular project. The Summary
is always written last, since you need to have all other sections finished before you can summarize
them.

65

Session 4: Individual exercise on proposal format and order

of preparation
Mark the following statements true or false.
a. You should always use the generic proposal outline when submitting a proposal to a
donor. True False
b. The Summary is always the first section in a project proposal. True False
c. You may have annexes in a full proposal. True False
d. The budget section of a proposal is always the last in the presentation, and so it should be worked
on last. True False
e. The outputs section is one of the places where you are selling your project. True False
f. If you are describing a research project, the methodology you are using should be described in
the Activities section. True False

See Annex 4 for answers.

66

Trainers guide
Session 5:

Project goal(s) and the projects contribution

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Understand and appreciate the need of a good project goal
Be able to write a relevant project goal
Be able to establish appropriate and realistic project contribution

Training materials

Assorted markers
Flip chart

Time needed

30 min

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary presentation

A PowerPoint on project goal(s) and the projects contribution

65 min

Participants reactions

Participants are given an opportunity to ask questions or make

contributions in relation to the topic

5 min

Group work

Review examples of given project goals

15 min

Break

Health break in preparation for session 5

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Proposal format and order of preparation

67

Session 5: Summary of presentation slides: Project goal(s)

and the projects contribution
5.1

Project goal(s) and the

projects contribution

5.2

Project title
After identifying your niche area, then develop a
title for the project

Title is the first and most read part of a proposal

Importance of title

Title gives the first impression of a proposal

It influences vital decisions by the reader and

predisposes (inclines) him/her either positively

or negatively about the proposal

5.3

Role of a title in influencing

acceptance of a proposal
Reviewers of proposals form an initial opinion
about a proposal from the title

Confusing, clumsy, vague or inappropriate title

induces the reviewers to develop negative opinion

about the proposal and may remain biased against
its content regardless of its worth

Confusing or inappropriate title usually makes it

difficult to understand the content of the proposal

68

5.4

Types of titles
There are 3 types: Indicative, hanging and
question titles

Indicative titles

Most common type

It states the subject of the proposal rather than
expected outputs

E.g. Role of agricultural credit in alleviating

poverty in eastern Uganda

Sometimes such titles become too long &

clumsy

5.5

Types of titles (contd)

Hanging titles

Hanging titles have two parts. A general first part

followed by a more specific second part

It may be useful to reword long, clumsy and

complicated indicative title

E.g. Alleviation of poverty in lowland areas of

Eastern Uganda: the impact of agricultural credit

Question titles

Are less commonly used and are acceptable, e.g.

Does agricultural credit alleviate poverty in
Eastern Uganda?

5.6

Guidelines for writing a good title

The title should not be wordy should contain less
than 15 words

Make the most important words stand out, usually

by putting them first

Be faithful to the content of the proposal

Be accurate, concise and specific
Contain as many of the key words as possible and

be easy to understand
E.g. (1)Adaptation of pedal thresher for smallholder rice farmers.
(2) Recovering the degraded lands in eastern
Tororo district
(3) Development of rain water harvesting options
for Karamoja region

69

5.7

Guidelines for writing good

title (contd)
A title should not:

Contain abbreviations or formulas

Promise more than is in the proposal
Be general
Contain details that should appropriately come
under another part of the proposal

Contain unnecessary words such as Some notes

on..; An investigation on .

5.8

What is a goal?
Goals are higher-order, lofty aspirations
Goals are large statements of what you hope to

accomplish
Often difficult to measure and articulate requires
scaling down to target population
Expressions of things that we would like to improve
in our world
They create a setting for what you are proposing
In your proposal, you need to identify a goal to
which your project will contribute, even though
that contribution may be very small
You need to choose a goal which is common to
your country, your institute and your donor

5.9

Examples of a goal

70

Alleviating poverty (increasing household incomes)

Protecting or preserving the environment
Enhancing biodiversity
Improving infant and maternal nutrition
Improving food security

5.10

Reasons for a project goal

First, it is the reason why you are doing the research
or the project

Second, it is the reason why the donor will fund

your project

Third, it is how your project can make a difference

to one of your countrys problems, aspirations of
the target population

5.11

Results

Beyond project outputs

Goal
(Impacts)

improvement in society
Intermediate Intermediate effects of
outputs on target households
Immediate

Implementation

Gap

5.12

Long-term, widespread

Outputs
Activities
Inputs

Immediate effects of

outputs on individuals

Products and services

produced

Tasks personnel

undertake to transform
inputs to outputs
Financial, human, and
material resources Binnendijk, 2000

An example of selecting a goal

Project
Our sample project is designed to test the nutritional
and economic advantages for Malawian farm
families with less than 2 ha of land with aquaculture
of tilapia species over a three year period. Its author
got members of his design team together to
brainstorm some goals to which this project might
contribute, and how
Goals
Poverty alleviation
Household food security
National food security
Improved on-farm nutrition (women and children?)
Improved on-farm health (larger babies?)
Increased farm incomes
Decreased urban migration

71

5.13

Goals and questions to address

They chose poverty alleviation
How many people qualify as owning less than 2 ha of
land? How large a sample would need to be tested to
get meaningful results?
What baseline data would need to be collected on the
current situation of poverty in the area income,
expenditure for individual, household, whole target
group, etc.? How much would it cost to do the preproject testing? Who would carry out the survey?
By how much could the project possibly increase
household incomes under ideal circumstances? What
would it take to mean that the families received no
extra income at all? Could a reasonable range of
possible increase be estimated?

13 How soon could income improvements be seen?

How would those improvements be measured?

5.14

Goals and questions to address

(contd)
They chose household food security
Were households insecure before? If so, how
insecure? A pre-project survey would likely be needed
to make any comparison
What would happen if the fish died during the project?
Would the head of household likely sell the fish for
cash, rather than keep some or all for household
consumption?
How would household food security be measured? In
number of meals eaten by the family? In calorie intake
for all family members? Who would measure this?
How much food security could the tilapia contribute
14under the best of circumstances?

5.15

Exercise
Based on the thinking in our example, now take a

little time to think about the possible goals you might

select for a project like this one i.e. a workshop on
How to Write a Convincing Proposal. First list
some possible goals, and then for the one you select,
list some of the questions you will need to answer in
your proposal.

72

Session 5: Notes to participants: Project goal(s) and the projects

contribution
5.1

Proposal format and order of preparation

You are doing your research for a good reason. Development donors are spending their money for a
good reason. We call those good reasons goals. Goals are high-order, lofty aspirationsexpressions
of things that we would like to improve in our world. The UN, for instance, in 2000 issued a set of 10
year Millennium Goals, the first one of which called for the world to unite to cut the rate of poverty by
half by 2010.
In your proposal, you need to identify a goal to which your project will contribute, even though that
contribution may be very small. And you need to choose a goal which is common to your country, your
institute and your donor. Here are some of the goals which you might select:
Alleviating poverty (increasing household incomes)
Protecting or preserving the environment
Enhancing biodiversity
Improving infant and material nutrition
Improving food security
Your project will almost certainly have an effect on more than one of those goals, but we suggest that
you choose only one in your project proposaland certainly no more than two. The reason is that you
will need to present in your proposal several details about how your project relates to the selected goal.
By choosing more than one, you double the work you will need to do.
Why does your project need a goal? For several reasons:
First, it is the reason why you are doing the research or the project
Second, it is the reason why the donor will fund your project
Third, it is how your project can make a difference to one of your countrys problems.
You may feel that as a researcher, your main duty is to achieve important research results. But nowadays
that is not enough. As I have said earlier, today, and certainly if you want to attract funds from a
development donor, you need to show the link between your research results (i.e. your project outputs)
and the extent to which they might contribute to the goal(s) you have selected.
Lets take an example to look at how you might go about selecting a goal. The sample project is
designed to test the nutritional and economic advantages for Malawian farm families with less than 2
ha of land of growing farmed tilapia in farm ponds over a three year period. Its author got members of
his design team together to brainstorm some goals to which this project might contribute, and how.
In addition to poverty alleviation, the team came up with six possible goals:

Household food security

National food security
Improved on-farm nutrition (women and children?)
Improved on-farm health (larger babies?)
Increased farm incomes
Decreased urban migration

73

They picked twopoverty alleviation and household food securityto explore further, because these
were of great importance in their country. Here were their thoughts as they considered the two possible
goals:
For household food security
Were households insecure before? If so, how insecure? A pre-project survey would likely be
needed to make any comparison.
What would happen if the fish died during the project?
Would the head of household likely sell the fish for cash, rather than keep some or all for
household consumption?
How would household food security be measured? In number of meals eaten by the family? In
calorie intakes for all family members? Who would do this measurement?
How much food security could the tilapia contribute under the best of circumstances?
For poverty alleviation
How many people qualify as owning less than 2 ha of land? How large a sample would need to
be tested to get meaningful results?
What baseline data would need to be collected on the current situation of poverty in the area:
income, expenditure for individual, household, whole target group, etc.? How much would it cost
to do the pre-project testing? Who would carry out the survey?
By how much could the project possibly increase household incomes under ideal circumstances?
What would it take to mean that the families received no extra income at all? Could a reasonable
range of possible increase be estimated?
How soon could income improvements be seen?
How would those improvements be measured?

74

Trainers guide
Session 6: Project objectives, anticipated outputs
and beneficiaries
Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Write convincing project objectives
Be able to write a relevant project goal
State and describe relevant and appropriate project deliverables

Training materials

Assorted markers
Flip chart

Time needed

45 min

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Ask participants to distinguish between project goals, objectives and

outputs and show their relationship
10 min

Plenary presentation

Project objectives and anticipated outputs

Summarizing key issues

The trainer summarizes the main issues to consider when developing

project objectives and expected outputs
5 min

Change of session

Transition into session 7

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Project objectives and anticipated outputs

30 min

Reading notes on project objectives and anticipated outputs

75

Session 6: Summary of presentation slides: Project objectives,

anticipated outputs and beneficiaries
6.1

Project objectives and

anticipated outputs

6.2

Project objectives and anticipated

outputs
Objective? Goal?
Try and differentiate between goals and objectives
and include both

Goals are statements of what you hope to

achieve at the end of the project

Can be difficult to measure and articulate

Project purpose reflects necessary outputs but not
sufficient to achieve the goal

Goals create the setting for what you are

proposing

6.3

Objectives and outputs (contd)

Examples

1. To provide 500 mothers in Oromia Woreda with

relevant information regarding child health and
nutrition

2. To reduce the degree of malnutrition among young

children in Oromia Woreda

3. To assist mothers in Oromia Woreda in learning

how to effectively apply health and nutrition
information to improve child health

4. To teach mothers in Oromia Woreda to evaluate

changes in the health of their young children.

76

6.4

Objectives and outputs (contd)

General objective

This is the purpose that your project intends to

achieve
Objectives
The key element of your projects design
They describe exactly what you intend to do
Get their meaning and wording exactly right
Do this with your design team of between three to five
people
Number your objectives, and use them to organize
later sections of the proposal
Collectively they should enable to achieve the project
purpose

6.5

What makes a good objective?

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound
Compare:

1. To enhance knowledge of market

opportunities for fishermen

2. To provide fishermen with twice-weekly

news bulletins about fish prices in all markets
within a 20 mile radius

6.6

Good objective (contd)

Specific

Measurable Achievable -

Realisti

Time-bound -

Give clear details about what you

want to do
Give some sense of the scope of
what you intend to do and how it
will be measured
Make sure that your objectives
are achievable within the budget
you have asked for, and with the
team of people you propose to
implement the project
Achievable within the context of
the country its climate and
socio-political realities
Achievable within the time period
of the project.

77

6.7

Example 1
Look at the following two examples:

1. Original: To enhance the proposal-writing

capacity of ILRI participants

2. SMARTer: To provide a 15-topic training program

for 45 ILRI participants to improve their proposalwriting skills

6.8

Example 2
1. Original: To develop drought resistant
fodder varieties that can be grown with
saline water

2. SMARTer: To develop at least two new

drought-resistant fodder varieties that can be

grown with 3 grams of salt per litre of water.

6.9

Project anticipated outputs

Outputs of a project are those things that will be in

place at the end of the project, that would not have

existed without the project

Outputs may be tangible (like a new building or a

new publication) or intangible (like a skill or a new

knowledge)

You need to specify in your proposal all the outputs

you anticipate and you will deliver at the end of
the project

78

6.10

Anticipated outputs (contd)

Outputs relate directly to your objectives
Objectives clearly state what it is you want to do
in your project

In the outputs section you state what you expect

will be in place at the end of the project, as a
result of your efforts to achieve the objectives

If your project is likely to have negative outputs of

any quantity, you may want to reconsider the
design of your project

6.11

Milestones Intermediate outputs

Good monitoring helps to identify intermediate results
Milestones for the Gambia Caliandra Project
Month 6: Baseline survey of current Caliandra
varieties and harvests in Gambia
completed
Month 12: Six new varieties planted together in a
test pattern in at least 100 home
gardens.
Baseline survey published and
distributed to agricultural research
establishments
Month 18: Number of home garden tests sites
increased to at least 200
First harvest data collected by postdocs and collated at research station

6.12

Intermediate outputs (contd)

Month 24: -

All 500 test sites now operational

Second harvest data collected and
being analyzed

Month 30: -

First draft of final report on varietal

comparisons completed

Month 36: -

Data on quantity of Caliandra

obtained in three harvests being
analyzed
Final report on varieties and harvests
presented at workshop bringing
together donor, extension workers,
researchers and farmers

79

6.13

Intermediate outputs (contd)

Intermediate outputs or results will allow you, every six
months, to see if your project is on trackto assess
progress.

6.14

Writing about beneficiaries/

end users

6.15

Things that your readers want to know

For whom is your research ultimately designed?

Whom is your project trying to make better off?
What sort of people are these?
What are their circumstances now, without the
project?

How might their circumstances change, if the project

is funded?

80

6.16

Understand the beneficiaries

Sit with your design team, brainstorm about the

potential end-users of your project outputs.

Carefully sample the potential beneficiaries and

confirm their characteristics and their needs
through participatory surveys/interviews

Understand their culture and attitudes towards the

changes expected from the proposed intervention

6.17

Understand the beneficiaries

Will your project have a positive effect on any of the
following?

Poor urban consumers?

Refugees from neighboring war-torn countries?
AIDS orphans?
Pregnant or nursing mothers?
Unemployed youth?
Landless laborers?
Fishing communities? etc,etc.

6.18

Emotive realistic description

Emotively

Write a sentence or two about each group.

Provide some statistics (with source, if at all
possible)

Provide details that make those people seem real

to the reader.

Describe the unemployed youth as desperate

and volatile groups, who can cause social
unrest.

81

6.19

Emotive realistic description

What may be most appealing to a potential donor?
Providing some positive benefit for this group
Explain recent surveys suggesting half-a-million
AIDS orphans in your country
Most of these are heading families or living on their
own or trying to take care of other siblings, with or
without the disease.
These children often make do with only one
substandard meal per day
As a result they are severely malnourished, and
unable to continue fending for themselves
These few details may help the reader to identify
with the plight of these poor people, and want to
support your project, that may make a difference,
albeit small, to their wellbeing

6.20

Emotive realistic description

Here is a sample description of a group of target
beneficiaries.
This project, which seeks to plant 5 million trees over a
3 year period, will achieve a variety of environmental
benefits. It will provide urgently needed employment for
an often over-looked group in province Y. The World
Bank estimates that there are over 100,000 landless
laborers in the rural areas of this highland province,
who have lost their jobs in the South African mines, and
are now urgently seeking alternative work

6.21

Emotive realistic description (contd...)

In years of better rainfall, the larger farms might have
absorbed many during harvest time, but three years
drought has put a dent in this prospect. These laborers
have been used to large pay checks in the mines,
sending home significant remittances to provide food
and education for their families. From being people
who were admired in their home towns and villages,
these men cannot now provide for their families and
may become a liability to their communities.

82

6.22

Emotive realistic description (contd...)

It is hoped that the tree project will be able to offer
at least part time jobs to as many as half of these
laborers in the province.

It is important to include a discussion of all the

possible beneficiaries specially disadvantaged
groups, like those out-of-work migrant miners.

6.23

Reference file
Start a file on beneficiary groups for all future project
development. This file might contain useful statistics,
newspaper articles, magazine clippings and other
sources of news about various poor segments of your
society. You will find that being able to quote from
material in this file will greatly strengthen the quality of
your writing about project beneficiaries and end-users.

6.24

83

Session 6: Notes to participants: Project objectives, anticipated

outputs and beneficiaries
6.1

Project objectives

The objectives of your project are the key element of your projects design. They describe exactly
what it is you intend to do, if you receive the financial support you seek. Because of their importance,
you need to spend considerable time in getting their meaning and wording exactly right. We strongly
recommend that you do this with your design team of between three to five people. Brainstorming your
objectives will be much easier and more enjoyable than working out the language on your own.
Every proposal will have a separate objectives section. Many proposal readers may look at that section
first. That is one of the reasons for being careful to get the wording quite right. You are encouraged to
number your objectives, and use them to organize later sections of the proposal, such as the activities
and outputs sections, described below.
What makes a good objective? It is something that you can tell, at the end of the project, whether you
have succeeded in achieving it or not. To enhance knowledge of market opportunities is not a good
objective, because you have not specified how much knowledge you expect to add in your project.
Even one additional fact might allow you to claim that your objective had been achieved, but that
would not please a potential investor. A much better objective would be something like To provide
fishermen with twice-weekly news bulletins about the fish prices at all markets within a 20 mile radius.
This would no doubt enhance knowledge of market opportunities, and would also enable a reviewer
to assess whether or not your project had indeed achieved its objective.
There is a neat acronym for preparing good objectives, called SMART. SMART stands for five elements
of what makes a good objective. It should be:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound

By specific we mean you should give some details about what it is you want to do; in our example,
we specify that the end-users are fishermen, and that we will be sharing information about fish prices
at nearby markets.
By measurable we mean you should give some sense of the scope of what you intend to do. In our
example, we have indicated our news bulletins will be twice weekly. We could have indicated the
number of fishermen (e.g. fishermen living along the east coast of Sri Lanka) to make our objective
even more measurable. Perhaps this would be evident from the parts of the proposal already written.
But by giving more details, we make it easier again to assess the extent to which we have succeeded in
meeting our objectives at projects end.
By achievable we mean you should make sure that your objectives are achievable within the scope
of your project (i.e. with the budget you have asked for, and with the team of people you propose
to implement the project). Your donor readers, who have read many project proposals, will have a
good sense of what is achievable for what sort of budget in the country in which they work. They will

84

know, for instance, that you will need at least two experts to do that market-information enhancement
projectone an economist and the other a translator, who can put the information into terms that the
fishermen will understand. If you forget to include the translator, your reader will feel that your project
(as you have designed it) is not achievable. (Notice that the achievability of the project cannot be
seen from the objectives alone, but takes into account what you have written in other sections of the
proposal.)
By realistic we mean that your objective must be achievable within the context of the countryits
climate and socio-political realities. For instance, if our fisher people cannot read and write, then our
news bulletins must come via radio. But if the families are too poor to own radios, how can the news
get through? Are there communal radios? Who listens to them? You need to ensure that what you want
to do in your project is do-able in the context of the reality of the people you are hoping to help.
By time-bound we mean that your objective must be achievable within the time period of the project.
We may be able to get our twice-weekly fish price information to our fishers within a two-year project,
but we may not be able to get these fishers to change their behaviour as a result of having that new
information in that time. Changing human behaviour always takes longer than you think!
So, when you are preparing the objectives for your proposal, remember to think SMART.
Exercise: Look at the following two examples:
Original: To enhance the proposal-writing capacity of ILRI participants
SMARTer: To provide a 15-topic training program for 45 ILRI participants to improve their
proposal-writing skills
Original: To develop drought resistant fodder varieties that can be grown with saline water
SMARTer: To develop at least two new drought-resistant fodder varieties that can be grown with 3
grams of salt per litre of water.

6.2

Project anticipated outputs

The outputs of a project are those things that will be in place at the end of the project that would not
have existed without the project. Outputs may be tangible (like a new building or a new publication) or
intangible (like a workshop or a new knowledge). You need to specify in your proposal all the outputs
you anticipate you will deliver at the end of the project.
Here are some examples. In item (a) of the above exercise, one output of your project might be at least
100 new fish ponds on small farms in Southern Malawi. In item (b) one output might be two types of
fruit tree shown to grow quickly and provide fruit for sale within two years. In item (c) an output might
be one approach to chick-deaths that proved effective in keeping alive more than 85% of young chicks
in the test area.
If your project is a piece of research, your outputs may be research resultseither answers to a research
question or the answer to a hypothesis you have posed. For instance, supposing you were testing the
hypothesis that there is an inverse relation between adoption of new technologies and the level of
poverty of potential adopters. The result of your research might be statistical proof that the poorer the
farm family, the less likely they were to adopt a new technology. The output might be the writing up of
this information in a report to your donor, or a paper given at a conference or workshop.

85

Every proposal will have its own separate section in which you are encouraged to list all the possible
outputs of your project.
Outputs relate directly to your objectives. In your objectives you state what it is you want to do in your
project (or piece of research). In the outputs section, you state what you expect will be in place at the
end of the project as a result of your efforts to achieve the objectives.
Your project will likely have several outputs. Brainstorm with your design team to be sure that you
are listing all the possible (positive) outputs your project might have. If your project is likely to have
negative outputs of any quantity, you may want to reconsider the design of your project.
Some people, including some donors, prefer to call outputs deliverables. This is a useful term, because
it helps to convey the idea that you are promising to deliver the outputs, if the donor provides you with
the money. This is the case. If your proposal is successful in attracting donor funds, it will be turned into
a grant agreement (or similar document) which will specify the outputs you are expected to deliver
in return for receiving the grant. Any evaluation of your project or grant will be assessing the extent to
which you did, indeed, deliver those outputs.

6.3

MilestonesIntermediate outputs

In a project of two or more years, you are likely to achieve outputs well before the end of the project.
In fact, you are encouraged to identify outputs that you may achieve (deliver) regularly throughout the
project. Why? To help you monitor your project.
You will want to keep a tight control on the development of your project by having a good monitoring
or tracking scheme. A key tool in this project monitoring is to identify intermediate results, or outputs,
at regular intervals in the project. You can then assess, as you go along, if you have achieved those
results, as anticipated.
For instance, in a three-year tomato-improvement project, you may wish to specify a milestone every
six months, as shown in the table.
Illustrative list of milestones for the Alemaya Lablab Fodder Project
Month 6:

Month 12:

Month 18:

Month 24:

Month 30:

Base-line survey of current Lablab Fodder varieties and harvests in Alemaya

completed.
Six new varieties planted together in a test pattern in at least 100 home gardens.
Baseline survey published and distributed to agricultural research establishments
The number of home garden tests sites now numbers at least 200
First harvest data collected by post-docs and collated at research station
All 500 test sites now operational
Second harvest data collected and being analysed
First draft of final report on varietal comparisons completed

Data on quantity of Lablab Fodder obtained in three harvests being analysed
Month 36: Final report on varieties and harvests presented at workshop bringing

togetherdonor, extension workers, researchers and farmers
Notice how this list of intermediate outputs or results will allow you, every six months, to see if your
project is on track. For instance, if in Month 24 you find that only 350 sites are now testing the various
Lablab Fodder varieties, you will know you have a problem you need to address. You will need to
86

understand why your sites are far fewer than anticipated. If necessary, you may need to adjust your
project design. You will need to explain this to your donor. Much better to do this at the end of Year 2,
which you still have time, than at the end of the project, when you will annoy your donor by springing
an unhappy surprise, that you did not deliver the outputs you promised. An annoyed donor, faced with
an unexpected negative surprise, is unlikely to be thrilled about follow-on funding for your next piece
of research!
Note: In writing proposals we always use terms like Year 1, Month 30, Week 4, etc., rather than
real dates, like 2005 and February. This is because we can never know when a donor will agree to fund
a project, and thus cannot be sure when a project will start. The use of Year, Month or Week, plus a
number, allows you to specify the duration of certain activities, etc., without making your proposal out
of date at any time.

6.4 Project beneficiaries/end users

For the moment, all that you need to know here is that in some parts of the project proposal you can let
your hair down and write with a bit more emotion than you usually do. One of those places is in the
section where you write about the beneficiaries or end-users of your project outputs or research results.
First of all, you will have to decide who you think those end-users are. For whom is your research
ultimately designed? Whom is your project trying to make better off? What sort of people are these?
What are their circumstances now, without the project? How might their circumstances change, if the
project is funded? These are the things that your readers want to know.
We suggest you sit with your design team and brainstorm about the potential end-users of your project
outputs. Will your project have a positive effect on any of the following?

Poor urban consumers?

Refugees from neighbouring war-torn countries?
AIDS orphans?
Pregnant or nursing mothers?
Unemployed youth?
Landless labourers?
Fishing communities?

Try to think beyond your usual target beneficiariesperhaps smallholder farmers, and be a little more
specific.
Once you have identified all the groups that might benefit, try to write a sentence or two about each
group, providing some statistics (with source, if at all possible) and some details that make those people
seem real to the reader. Your object is to make your reader care about the situation of these people. For
instance, you may describe the unemployed youth as desperate or angry. These are volatile groups
who can cause social unrest. Providing some positive benefit for this group may be most appealing
to a potential donor. You may explain that some suggest there may be as many as half-a-million AIDS
orphans in your country, many living on their own, trying to take care of other siblings, with or without
the disease. You may mention that these children often must make do with only one meal per day, often
of substandard food. As a result, they are severely malnourished and unable to work for a living. These
few details may help the reader to identify with the plight of these poor people, and want to support
your project, that may make a difference, albeit small, to their wellbeing.
87

Here is a sample description of a group of target beneficiaries. This project, which seeks to plant
literally thousands of trees over its three-year life to achieve a variety of environmental benefits, will
provide urgently needed employment for an often over-looked group in Country Y. The World Bank
estimates that there are over 100 thousand landless labourers in the rural areas, who have lost their
jobs in the South African mines, and are now urgently seeking alternative work. In years of better
rainfall, the larger farms might have absorbed many during harvest time, but this years drought has
put a dent in this prospect. These labourers have been used to large pay checks in the mines, and to
sending home significant remittances to keep their families in food and education. From being people
who were admired in their home towns and villages, these men are now the object of pity, and their
families are dependent on the charity of others. It is hoped that the tree project will be able to offer at
least part time jobs to as many as half these labourers in the three highland provinces. Notice that even
in an environmental project, with a goal of preventing soil degradation and preserving arable land, it is
important to include a discussion of all the possible beneficiaries, not just the nations farmers and food
consumers, but specially disadvantaged groups, like those out-of-work migrant miners.
Your project will probably benefit various fairly privileged groups, like other research organizations, or
may be politicians and civil servants, or the like. You may mention these groups as potential users of
your research results or project outputs, but do not highlight these groups as your donor is not really
interested in spending money to benefit these people.
We recommend that you start a file on beneficiary groups for all future project development. This file
might contain useful statistics, newspaper articles, magazine clippings and other sources of news about
various poor segments of your society. You will find that being able to quote from material in this file
will greatly strengthen the quality of your writing about project beneficiaries and end-users.

88

Trainers guide
Session 7:

Inputs, activities, work plan

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Establish necessary and sufficient activities that can result into outputs
State and describe relevant and appropriate project deliverables
Identify necessary inputs for activity to be implemented
Develop an appropriate project plan for effective and efficient implementation
and management

Training materials

Coloured cards
Felt pens

Time needed

1 hr

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

The trainer highlights the relevance of each component of the

5 min
presentation. He/she makes a distinction between annual, quarterly,
monthly and weekly plans and when is each appropriate

Plenary presentation

Project inputs, activities, work plan

Group exercise

Participants are organized into groups to discuss the questions and 10 min
answers to the exercise on project inputs, activities, work plan.

Plenary presentation

The trainer together with the participants discuss the correct responses to the questions

Break

Health break

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: project inputs, activities and work plan

40 min

5 min

Reading notes on project inputs, activities, work plan

89

Session 7: Summary of presentation slides: Project inputs,

activities, work plan
7.1

Project inputs, activities

and work plan

7.2

Activities
Describes for the reader full details of what you
want to do with the inputs

Explains how you will achieve your objectives

Persuades your reader that you have carefully
thought through exactly what you will do

This is where methods and materials are discussed

of achieving the objectives

Activities may consist of key and sub-activities

7.3

How to write activities

90

To write activities well, your objectives

should be very clear and focused (SMART)
Activities should be well thought through
for every objective
Within each objective, the activities should
be arranged in logical order with clear flow
of information.
Explain clearly how (methodology) you will
address/solve each activity sometimes
including key inputs like personnel, lab
equipment, etc.

7.4

How to write activities.

Number the activities in a logical order following
your objectives/outputs.

Objective 1
Activity 1.1
Activity 1.2
Activity 1.3
Objective 2
Activity 2.1
Activity 2.2
Etc

7.5

Activities..
Every sentence specifies who will do what, when,
where and for how long

Write all sentences in active voice, starting the

sentence with the person(s) who will do the
particular action

Do not use we

7.6

How to write activities.

Sometimes activities are described and arranged

according to project outputs.

However project outputs are derived from the

objectives.

In some formats, the donor wants you to describe

the key activities leading to achieving
objectives/outputs and then put subsequent for
explanation (methodology) of addressing the
activities.

91

7.7

Discuss activities for this objective

To identify local market requirements, opportunities
and socioeconomic constraints for improving the
profitability of local rice processing industry in the
mid-northern agro-ecological zone

7.8

Work plan
It is sometimes called time line or implementation
time line

It shows the implementation time frame of the

project activities presented in tabular form

Make sure that all the activities you want to

undertake is included in the work plan. This has

implication on developing budgets and
milestones

Arrange the activities in a logical order as

explained under activities

7.9

Example of simple work plan

Activities
J
Output 1
Activity 1.1
Activity 1.2
Activity 1.3
Output 2
Activity 2.1
Activity 2.2

92

Time line
F
M A

7.10

Example of simple work plan (contd)

The previous example is good for a multi-year but
if the plan is for a single year, you need to show
your plan on quarterly basis. Some activities can
overlap.

In other formats of work plan include :

1. milestones and total annual budgets. E.g. Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation
2. people/stakeholder responsible for each key
activity
3. total budget for each activity
4. Etc.

7.11

Inputs
Describes goods and services that you need to

achieve your objectives (personnel, equipment,

transport etc.)

Once you have defined your objectives, the next

job is to list all the things you will need to achieve

those objectives

7.12

Critical inputs
Most critical inputs required are:
1. Personnel

Time of the people who will work on the project

is one of the major inputs for projects

It is always important to specify the area of

specialisation, highest degree attained, numbers

required and time to be spent by each on the
project

This information is best presented in tabular form

Include partner personnel requirements

93

7.13

Critical inputs.
2. Travel
Air fares, rail fares, renting vehicles, running
vehicles, taking taxis, etc
3. Per diem
for travel for project staff, for trainees, etc
4. Training, workshops, conferences
5. Office supplies and services
electricity, phones, fax, paper, etc

7.14

Critical inputs
6.

Office equipment
computers, printers, copiers, etc.

7.

Office space

8.

Equipment (farm, laboratory, etc)

The cost of all inputs constitutes part of the

project budget.

Estimate the total cost of inputs including

those you will not ask from the donor

Identification of inputs is usually done

iteratively with the activities.

7.15

Thank you!

94

Session 7: Notes to participants: Project inputs, activities, work

plan
7.1

Project inputs

Once you have defined your objectives, i.e. what you want to do, the next job is to list all the things
you will need to achieve those objectives. Those are your project inputs. In research or development
projects, often the most important input is the time of the people who will work on the project. In your
proposal you will need to specify the amount of time you expect you will need of all the people who
will work on the project.
The best way to list the personnel inputs you need will be to make a chart something like this:
Illustrative personnel requirements for project X
Position/expertise
Principal investigator/chief of party
Economist
Post doc/project assistant
Extension agent
Evaluation specialist

Person month for project

Full time for 3 years
3/year for 3 years
9/year for 3 years
4 in Year 1, 6 in Year 3
2 in Year 1, 3 in Year 3

Remember, if your project is going to be implemented with partner groups, they will also have their
list of personnel requirements to add to yours. In addition to personnel, you are likely to need some
combination of some or all of the following types of inputs:

Travel (air fares, rail fares, renting vehicles, running vehicles, taking taxis etc.)
Per diem (for travel for project staff, for trainees etc.)
Training, workshops, conferences
Publications
Office supplies and services (electricity, phones, fax, paper etc.)
Office equipment (computers, printers, copiers)
Office space
Farm equipment

Some of these inputs you may already have (like office space, training facilities), but will need to
allocate to the project. This is also true for your in-house personnel, who will already be paid for, but
whose time will have to be allocated to the project. You will need permission from management and
the various people involved to ensure that this allocation is possible.
The cost of all your inputs constitutes the budget of your project and proposal. Please note that you will
need to estimate the total cost of your project (i.e. the cost of all the inputs), even if you are not going
to ask an external donor to fund them all. This is because management will need to know the full costs
of whatever project you undertake.
When preparing you input list, be sure to be as thorough and exhaustive as possible. You do not want
your project to fail because you forgot to include some key inputs. For instance, it is no use planning a
wonderful training program if you do not include provision for getting the participants and trainers to
the site. Or if you forget that it takes time, people, copiers and paper to prepare the training materials.

95

7.2 Project activities

In the Activities section of the proposal you will tell the reader what you want to do with your inputs.
This is a section in which the more details you put in, the more convincing you will sound. A detailed
Activities section will persuade your reader that you have carefully thought through exactly what it is
you will do. In a way, if your project gets funded, this section will constitute your project work plan.
The best way to write a good Activities section is to ensure that every sentence specifies who will do
what, when, where and for how long. Here is a good Activities sentence. In Month 1, the economist will
design a baseline survey of household incomes in the project site, and in Month 2, she will administer
it to the target 200 families. Try to write all sentences in the active voice, starting the sentence with
the person(s) who will do the particular action. Do not use we as this is too vague to be convincing.
Avoid passive sentences like the trees will be planted along the sides of the fields. This sentence does
not tell who will do the planting. It is less convincing than the extension agent will provide the target
farmers with free seedlings, and will reward every family that plants at least 40 trees with the equivalent
of USD 10 in local currency.
If you are describing a research project, you may wish to have a subsection, titled Methodology
within Activities, to describe your research methods. But remember that unless your readers are also
researchers or scientists; do not make this subsection too technical. And the same tips applyuse the
active voice, and explain who will be doing what in your research method.

7.3

Project work plan

In a concept note, you may summarize all the activities in a simple time line or work plan of the type
below:
Activities
J

Time line
M

Output 1
Activity 1.1
Activity 1.2
Activity 1.3
Output 2
Activity 2.1
Activity 2.2

In the full proposal, you will need both a narrative Activities section, as described above, and a chart or
time line, summarizing the key activities and people who will do them. Depending on the size, scope
and complexity of the project, you may also need other charts, lists and narratives. For instance, you
may need:

96

A training plan (listing all the courses you expect to give)

A workshop plan
A reporting plan
A publications plan
A purchasing plan
A distribution plan (e.g. of seedlings, seed, brochures etc.)
A grant-making plan (if your project involves making small grants to end users).

The more details you can provide, the more convincing your proposal will be, and the more the project
will come alive for your reader. Of course, you should not try to make your project more complex than
need-be, and if your project is relatively simple, you may need none of these special plans.

97

Session 7: Exercise: Inputs, activities, work plan

Answer the following questions, Yes or No. Use your pad and pencil to take notes forquestions df.
a. Do all full proposals need a narrative Activities section as well as a chart or diagram showing the
time line of activities? Yes No
b. Should researchers include a section of research methods in their proposals? Yes No
c. Do you need to include in your list of inputs those things for which the donor will not pay (as
perhaps the salaries of researchers at your NARS)? Yes No
d. How can you improve this sentence from the Activities section of a proposal: Several varieties
will be tested for their drought tolerance in the first year of the project?
e. What is usually the most important input to projects in agricultural research for development?
f. When should you include a workshop plan in your proposal?

See Annex 5 for answers.

98

Trainers guide
Session 8:

Project management, monitoring and evaluation

Session objectives

Training materials

Time needed

By the end of this session participants will:

Appreciate the need for proper management of a project

Identify what and how should be monitored

Identify what and how should be evaluated

Describe the M&E plan necessary for a project

Assorted markers

Felt pens

Flip charts

2:15 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

The trainer leads the participants in brainstorming on the buzz words

of M&E
15 min

Plenary presentation

Project management, monitoring and evaluation

1:30 hrs

Group exercise

Participants are organized into a group to discuss the questions and

answers to the exercise on project management, monitoring and
evaluation

20 min

Plenary presentation

The trainer together with the participants discuss the correct responses
to the questions
10 min

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Project management, monitoring and evaluation

Reading notes on project management, monitoring and evaluation
guidelines for group exercise

99

Session 8: Summary of presentation slides: Project management,

monitoring and evaluation
8.1

Project management,
monitoring and
evaluation

8.2

Project management
If your project is a simple one, involving only one

organization, and perhaps only one project site, you

may not need a section on project management

But if your project involves one or more partners,

and/or one or more countries or project sites, you

will probably need to explain to your reader how
you plan to manage the project

If the project is very complex indeed, you may want

a separate section on project management

Otherwise you may choose to talk about this topic

as a subsection of work plan, or as part of a
separate heading called Project management,
monitoring and evaluation

8.3

Some of the things you might include

under this topic are.
Organogram that shows the structure of the

management team identifying the project leader

(or manager) and the positions of the other key
personnel

Table showing the roles and responsibilities of the,

say, five senior most project personnel

Table showing the roles and responsibilities of

each of the project partners

Description of the number of meetings you intend

to have to manage the project, giving the
frequency of the meetings, where they will take
place, who will attend, and what will be decided.

100

8.4

Roles and responsibilities of key

personnel
Project
position
Project
leader

Key tasks

Overall project management and monitoring

Calls all project meetings
Prepares project reports
Supervises other project personnel
Economist Designs, administers baselines survey
Advises project leader on economics related issues
Designs, administers end-of-project survey
Analyzes survey data, prepares report on economic impact
Agronomist Designs, implements tomato field trials
Works with extension personnel to involve farmers
Monitors field trials for possible annual redesign
Analyzes data for each harvest, prepares annual
assessments

8.5

Buzz group discussion

What is monitoring?
What do we monitor?
Why do we monitor?
What is evaluation?
What are the key differences between
monitoring and evaluation?

8.6

Monitoring
Monitoring is a regular process of observation
and recording of changes taking place in a
project or program

It is a process of routinely/continuously

gathering information on all aspects of the

project

It is observation systematic and

purposeful

It helps one to measure the performance of a

project, process, or activity against expected
results.

101

8.7

Monitoring involves..
Giving regular feedback about the progress of a
project to the donors, implementers and
beneficiaries of the project

Reporting and feedback enables the gathered

information to be used in making decisions for

improving project performance

Learning and documentation is key in the

process of monitoring and evaluation

8.8

Why monitoring?
Monitoring is very important in project planning
and implementation

It is like watching where you are going while

riding a bicycle

you can adjust as you go along and ensure

that you are on the right track

8.9

Why monitoring?
Analysing the situation in the community and its
project

Determining whether the inputs in the project are

102

well utilized
Identifying problems facing the community or
project and finding solutions
Ensuring all activities are carried out properly by
the right people and in time
Using lessons from one project experience on to
another and
Determining whether the way the project was
planned is the most appropriate way of solving
the problem at hand.

8.10

Aspects that are monitored

Budget
Activities
Project objectives (results,

Progress monitoring

purpose, overall goals,

assumptions, risks, see LF)

Performance monitoring
Process monitoring
Outcome/impact monitoring

8.11

What is evaluation?
Evaluation is a systematic process of judging what
a project or program has achieved particularly in
relation to activities planned and overall
objectives.

In addition, evaluations usually deal with strategic

issues such as program/project relevance,
effectiveness, efficiency (expected and
unexpected), in the light of specified objectives,
as well as program/project impact and
sustainability.

8.12

Evaluation

involves comprehensive analysis of the

project/program with the aim of adapting strategy
and planning and influencing future policies and
programs.

This implies that evaluation is a more

complete and thorough process and a less
frequent form of reflection.

It usually takes place at certain points in

time, e.g. mid-termfinal evaluationand
leads to more fundamental decisions.

103

8.13

Types of evaluations

Ex-ante evaluation
Ongoing evaluation (can be mid-term)
Terminal evaluation
Ex-post evaluation (long after completion = Impact
assessment).

Internal evaluation
External evaluation

8.14

Key aspects of evaluation

Relevance - Was/is the program or project a

good idea given the situation to improve? Was

the intervention logic correct? Why or why not?

Efficiency - Have resources been used in the

best possible way? Why or why not?

Sustainability - Will there be continued positive

impacts as a result of the program or project
once it has finished?

8.15

Key aspects of evaluation

Quality- Conformity to requirements, meeting
customer/client requirements

Performance or effectiveness - Have the planned

results been achieved? Why or why not?

Impact - To what extent has the program or

project contributed towards its longer term

goals? Why or why not? Have there been any
unanticipated positive or negative consequences
of the project? Why did they arise?

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8.16

Types of impact

8.17

Production impact
Economic impact
Social-cultural impact
Environmental impact
Spillover effect
Intermediate impacts

Monitoring and evaluation:

Key differences
Monitoring: What are we doing?
Tracking inputs and outputs to assess whether
programs are performing according to plans
(e.g., people trained, condoms distributed)
Evaluation: What have we achieved?
Assessment of impact of the programme on
behaviour of target group
(e.g., increase in condom use for risky sex,
reduced HIV prevalence)

8.18

In summary
Include milestones i.e. intermediate outputs or
results in your project to help you design your
monitoring plan

The inclusion of milestones (things you expect to

achieve at different points in the life of the project)

allows you to check every so often to determine
whether these milestones have been achieved

In a project proposal you need to explain how you

plan to monitor the project. In other words, you need

to tell (like in the Activities section), who will do
what, when, where and for how long

105

8.19

In summary.
Evaluation looks at the contribution of the
project to the well-being of its end-users.

Such an evaluation might ask about the value of

the project to (a) its end-users and hence (b) its
investors (i.e. donors)

Note:
All data should be collected as part of the
implementation

Adequate resources should be allocated

Lessons learned should be summarized

8.20

Thank you!

106

Session 8: Notes to participants: Project management, monitoring

and evaluation
8.1

Project management

If your project is a simple one, involving only one organization, and perhaps only one project site, you
may not need a section on project management. But if your project involves one or more partners, and/
or one or more countries or project sites, you will probably need to explain to your reader how you
plan to manage the project.
If the project is very complex indeed, you may want a separate section on project management.
Otherwise you may choose to talk about this topic as a subsection of work plan, or as part of a
separate heading called Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation. Some of the things you
might include under this topic are:
Organogram that shows the structure of the management teamidentifying the project
leader (or manager) and the positions of the other key personnel
Table showing the roles and responsibilities of the, say, five senior-most project personnel
Table showing the roles and responsibilities of each of the project partners
Description of the number of meetings you intend to have to manage the project, giving the
frequency of the meetings, where they will take place, who will attend, and what will be decided.
(Do consider, by the way, involving your donor in one or more of these meetings each year.) Here
is an example of a project organogram.
Project management arrangements for project X
Project leader

Pasture agronomist

Livestock economist

Leader at Site 1

Leader at Site 2

Here is an example of part of a table of roles and responsibilities of personnel:

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Roles and responsibilities of key personnel

Project position
Project leader

Livestock economist

Pasture agronomist

8.2

Key tasks
Overall project management and monitoring
Calls all project meetings
Prepares project reports
Supervises other project personnel
Designs, administers baselines survey
Advises project leader on economic matters
Designs, administers end-of-project survey
Analyses survey data, prepares report on economic impact
Designs, implements tomato field trials
Works with extension personnel to involve farmers
Monitors field trials for possible annual redesign
Analyses data for each harvest, prepares annual assessments

Monitoring and evaluation

8.2.1 Why M&E?

In graduate thesis proposal, there is no coverage of M&E. Many people think that M&E is external
activity. The current thinking is that M&E should be integral part of project planning and implementation.
However, this is a section which is poorly written. M&E requires resources but it is not always budgeted
for. It should be noted that this is the section which is read devotedly by donors. It is used for output
and financial accountability.

8.2.2 Monitoring
Definition: Continuous assessment of; This sometimes called conventional monitoring or progress
monitoring
Activitiesagainst work plan
This sometimes called conventional monitoring or
Resourcesproject design
progress monitoring
Outputsperformance monitoring
Outcome monitoring (Outcome = impact = people level impact, immediate outcome,
intermediate outcome and ultimate outcome)effect of the output of the ultimate
beneficiaries
Process monitoringincreasingly becoming important because of participatory approaches

Why monitor?
Monitoring is done to identify deviations from the norm or plan and any anticipated problems to and
to take corrective action. The activities of monitoring include; recording data, analysis (to generate
information), reporting and data management including storage.
As we saw in Topic 6, you need to include milestonesi.e. intermediate outputs or resultsin your
project to help you design your monitoring plan. Monitoring is something you need to do in all
projects. It means checking regularly to see that you are progressing as you had planned. The inclusion
of milestones (things you expect to achieve at different points in the life of the project) allows you to
check so often in order to determine whether these milestones have been achieved. If not, you have
the opportunity to (a) find out what went wrong, and (b) if necessary, redesign the project. It is much

108

better to do small course corrections over the life of the project than to suddenly come to the end and
find you have missed all your targets (i.e. outputs) by a great deal. In the latter case, you really do have
a failed project, one from which you have learned no lessons, and pleased no-onenot yourself, your
beneficiaries or your donor.
So regular, planned, methodical monitoring is a very important way of making yourself credible with
your actual and potential funders.
In a project proposal you need to explain how you plan to monitor the project. In other words, you
need to tell (like in the Activities section), who will do what, when, where and for how long. The more
details, the more convincing you will be.

8.2.3 Evaluation
As we shall see in the next two topics, evaluation is a much more complex thing than monitoring.
Monitoring merely concerns itself with measuring the distance between what is actually happening,
as compared to what was envisaged some time previously. Evaluation looks at the contribution of the
project to the well-being of its end-users. Such an evaluation might ask about the value of the project
to (a) its end-users and hence (b) its investors (i.e. donors). In our most recent example, the evaluation
might ask, after the project is over: Did the tomato project contribute to increasing household incomes?
If so, by how much? When was the increase seen? Will it be sustained for the coming years? This sort of
evaluation is often called impact assessment; we will discuss it further in Topic 10.
Some evaluations are done internally, perhaps by a special group of evaluation experts in your institute.
Or they may be done by outsiders, selected because they are not involved in any way with the project,
and thus have more objectivity than people in your institute may have.
You can usually include the funding for an external evaluation at the end of your project in your
proposal budgets. Donors like external evaluations because they often need the results of these for their
own records, to show whether or not they made a wise investment in your project. So by including the
funding for this in your budget, you may be helping the donors own efforts. You can always discuss this
point with your donor during grant negotiations.
You should also value an external evaluation, since you can use the results to learn from your past
projects, and if you have done a good job with your projects, have something nice to quote when
writing about your past performance.
Boilerplate sections: The three topicsproject management, monitoring and evaluation belong
together because at some institutions (hopefully including yours), these topics are a regular part of how
their projects are managed. In other words, at some institutes or organizations, project management,
monitoring and evaluation are regular parts of everyday life. All ongoing projects are regularly
reviewed by senior management to check that (a) they are being properly managed, (b) that they are
progressing as envisaged in the project proposal and work plan, and (c) that their contribution to the
goals of the projects are being properly assessed. If such regular reviews are indeed part of the way in
which your institute works, then by all means say so in your project proposals. You can write up your
institutes approach to the three topics (or whichever is appropriate) in language that can be used in all
proposals.

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We use the term boilerplate for any pieces of writing that can be used, without editing, for several
proposals and several donors. We suggest that you review and revise any boilerplate sections you may
have about once a year, to be sure they are up to date, and relevant to that you are doing.
If you have these boilerplate pieces you can either insert them into the appropriate section of the
proposal, or attach them to the proposal as annexes. If you prefer to use them as annexes, be sure to
refer to these annexes in the text. Thus you might say: Institute A has a policy of reviewing all projects
once a year, to check on progress with respect to milestones, and if necessary make project changes.
More on this policy and how it operates in practice is shown in Annex 3. Or, Institute B has a small
Impact Assessment Unit, staffed with a statistician and two social scientists. This Unit, described in
Annex 2, will be responsible for the evaluation of this project.

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Session 8: Exercise: Project management, monitoring

and evaluation
To show you understand the items in this topic, please mark the following statements true or false.
a.

You should include some boilerplate sections on monitoring and evaluation, even if your institute
does not have a regular system for doing these things. True False
b. An organogram shows how your project will be managed. True False
c. For a complex project, you should include the roles and responsibilities of all the project
partners. True False
d. You cant monitor a project without milestones. True False
e. Evaluation looks at the contribution your project has made to its goal. True False
f. If your project is simple, you wont need to monitor it or to do an evaluation. TrueFalse

See Annex 6 for answers

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112

Trainers guide
Session 9:

Logical framework, indicators and measuring impact

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Appreciate the importance of a logframe in project management
Develop a logical framework of a project
Relate the logframe indicators to intended project impacts and as the basis for
measuring such impacts

Training materials

Assorted markers
Flip charts

Time needed

1 hr

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Ask participants for their experience in developing project log frames

and relevant indicators. What challenges have they encountered in
developing project log frame and how they have been able to overcome them
10 min

Plenary presentation

Logical framework, indicators and measuring impact

Group exercise

Participants are organized into a group to study an example of project

logframe
5 min

Plenary presentation

Trainer asks participants to clarify and share their opinions on the

logframe examples

Change of session

Session 10 starts

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Logical framework, indicators and measuring impact

35 min

5 min

Reading notes on logical framework, indicators and measuring

impacts project log frame examples

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Session 9: Summary of presentation slides: Logical framework,

indicators and measuring impact
9.1

Logical framework,
indicators and measuring
impact

9.2

Outline

Logical framework
What are indicators
Types of indicators
Indicators at different levels
Qualities of a good indicator
Measuring impact

9.3

Logical framework

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9.4

The objective hierarchy

How lower level activities contribute to the higher
level objectives and how these in turn help achieve
the overall project purpose and goal IFAD 2004

Project strategy (Objectives Hierarchy)

Assumptions
(hypotheses)

Goal
Goal

Component
purpose

9.6

Component
purpose

Output

ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

Output Output Output

ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

Output

ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

Output Output Output

ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

Component
purpose

ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY

9.5

The logframe logic

Aids in the identification of the expected causal
links or program logic in a results chain

Results chain: inputs

outcomes and

activities
impact

outputs

Leads to the identification of performance

indicators at each stage

Leads to identification of risks that could impede

the attainment of objectives

Collect relevant data to measure the

outcome/impact

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9.7

Vertical logic

9.8

Goal
Purpose
Outputs
Activities
Plan and budget or inputs

Logical framework - Format

Objective
hierarchy

Indicators - Means of
OVI
verification

Assumptions
and risks

Goal
Purposes
Outputs
Activities
PrePreconditions
conditions

9.9

Goal
The long-term objective, change of state or improved
situation that project is intended to contribute to:
Regional, national or even community level desired
long term objectives
Predetermined and programs have very little control
over e.g. Millennium Development Goals or poverty
eradication
Goal should agree with what beneficiaries want
(Values and aspirations)
Goal should be oriented to what people are Able
To Do
Goal should take cognizance of what people are
Allowed To Do in the given framework conditions

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9.10

Purpose
Purpose is the statement of impact/Outcome the
program intends to have on the beneficiaries

Observable changes in behavioural patterns

Observable changes status
Observable changes in performance

9.11

Outputs
The products, services or result that projects or programs
are directly responsible for and MUST be delivered for
the purpose to be achieved

A set of outputs should contribute to the purpose

(Significantly)

Logical sequence - when necessary

Carefully worded to avoid sounding like activities

9.12

Activities
Tasks personnel undertake to transform inputs to

outputs.
These are actions taken by implementers which are
required to deliver on the outputs by using inputs
such as funds or technical assistance
Activities:
Carry out diagnostic survey to assess available feeds
on farm
Formulate appropriate rations
Conduct feeding trials including participatory
monitoring of options
Output: Appropriate and cost effective dairy cattle feeds
developed and validated

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9.13

Risks and assumptions

External environment conditions upon which the
attainment of project outputs and contribution to
purpose depends = External indicators

Need to make realistic assumptions about the

external environment. Avoid killer assumptions

since they nullify the whole plan!

9.14

Definition of an indicator
Specific information that provides evidence about
the achievement of planned impacts, results and
activities

Indicators are qualitative or quantitative criteria

used to check whether proposed changes have
occurred

They can be used to assess if objectives,activities

or outputs have been met

They provide a standard against which to measure

or assess success or progress of a project against
set standards.

9.15

What are indicators?

Indicators are yardsticks that can be used to

118

demonstrate whether change has or has not

taken place
They provide meaningful and comparable
information to changes
They are measurable or tangible signs that
something has been done or that something has
been achieved
Indicators help you understand where you
are
which way you are going and
how far you are from where you are going.

9.16

Types of indicators
Quantitative indicators

Qualitative indicators

Should be reported in

Qualitative statements
Measure perceptions
Measure attitude,

terms of a specific
number (number,
mean, or median) or
percentage.

Assessing the

behavior

Narratives

significance of an
outcome requires data
on both number and
percent.

9.17

Quantitative vs. qualitative

Quantitative indicators are useful for summarizing

large amounts of data and reaching generalizations

based on statistical projections.

Qualitative indicators can "tell the story" from the

participant's viewpoint, providing the rich

descriptive detail that sets quantitative results into
their human context.

One set of indicators is not better than the other;

each has its own strengths and weaknesses

It is important to combine both

9.18

Quantitative and qualitative indicators

Examples - Quantitative
Number of
Proportion of
Percentage of
Amount of
The ratio of
Length of distance
Weight of
Size of
Areas of/spread of
Value of
etc.

Examples - Qualitative
Level of
Presence of
Evidence of
Availability of
Quality of
Accessibility of
Existence of
Sustainability of
Improvement of
Ability to (e.g.
skills)
Potential of
etc.

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9.19

Qualitative/Quantitative
Quantitative
Information # of kms road
built

Methods

Analysis &
reporting

# households
with access to
clean water
Direct
observation
(measuring/
counting)
10 km roads built
in 1 year

Qualitative
Villagers perceptions about
benefits/problems of the road
Reasons why villagers dont
use wells for drinking water
Discussion groups with
villagers about how quality of
life has changed

50% of the villagers reported

that they did not use the wells
because the river was closer
50% of HH using
Stories, text, descriptions,
wells for
pictures
household use

9.20

Qualities of a good indicator

In general, indicators should:

be verifiable (where and how to we get

information about the indicator)

measure what is important and not what is easy

to measure

measure only changes that can be linked or

attributed to the project/programme (they must

be specific and relevant)

be targeted in terms of quantity, quality and

timing

measure either quantitative or qualitative change

9.21

Qualities of a good indicator

Cream
Clear (precise and
Specific
Specific
unambiguous)
Measurable Participatory Relevant (appropriate
to the subject at hand)
Attainable Interactive
Economic (available
Realistic Communicable at reasonable cost)
Time-bound Empowering Adequate (able to
provide sufficient
basis to assess
Disaggregated
performance)
Monitorable
(amendable to
independent
validation)

Smart

120

Spiced

9.22

Characteristics of indicators
Valid : proxy to assess expected impact,
better be approximately correct than precisely
wrongAron

Precise: measure, perceived & interpreted clearly

Consistent: range of applicability across projects
Analytically sound : changes related to project
Policy relevant & sensitive to trends & change
context

Specific: reflect project aims

Comparable: across time and space
Measurable: data readily available

9.23

Contents of an indicator
What is measured to track progress?
Verbal/visual picture of success
Indicator
What, target group, when should
described parameter be observed
Rationale Why indicator for measuring/
observing
Definitions What do key terms/concepts mean or
what is the formulae for calculation
Targeting Basis of info for target elaboration &
how
Validity/
Condition for validity & missing info
ltd
Data colln What, where, how + quality +
accuracy
Parameter

9.24

Developing indicators
Develop indictors to meet your own needs
Developing good indicators usually takes more

than one attempt and requires the involvement of

competent technical, substantive & policy experts
participation
Arriving at the final indicator you will use takes
time
Always pilot!

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9.25

Continued
Using pre-designed indicators (they are indicators
established independent of project context;
MDGs, WB, UNDP etc.)

Consider the importance

Context (does it require adaptation or
supplementation)

Select more than one indicator per outcome

Add and drop as you streamline
Change indicators to avoid manipulation

9.26

Developing indicators using predesigned

indicators (2)
Pros

Cons

Aggregated across
similar projects,
programs, policies
Reduces cost of data
collection

Doesnt address
individual country
goals
Viewed as imposed

It can be easily
harmonized

No key stakeholder
participation
Leads to adoption of
multiple & competing
Ind.

9.27

Proxy (indirect) indicators

better be approximately correct than precisely

wrong
Proxy indicators are needed when it is difficult to
measure the outcome indicator directly.

Used when data on the direct indicator is not

available
Used when data collection is expensive.

Used when it is not feasible to collect data at

regular intervals.

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9.28

Examples of direct and indirect (proxy)

indicators

Direct indicators
% increase of income
at household level
# of households with
greater 100$
disposable income after
all basic living costs
have been met
Number of individuals
who are members of
community initiative
groups

9.29

Indirect (proxy indicators)

Indicator for improved
standard of livingincreased number of
television aerials
# households with TV
# number of households
with tine roof.
Indicator for community
empowermentincreased frequency of
community members
speaking at community
meetings

Pre-designed indicators (-MDGs,

World Bank, IMF)
Pros
They can be
aggregated across
similar projects and
policies
Reduce costs of
building multiple
unique measurement
systems
Make possible greater
harmonization

9.30

Cons
They dont address
country specific or
organizational goals
They are often viewed
as imposed
They dont promote
key stakeholder
participation
They can lead to the
adoption of multiple
competing indicators.

Indicators at different levels

Overall
objective

Impact indicators

Project
purpose

Purpose indicators

Outputs

Output indicators

Activities

Process indicators

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9.31

Indicators at different levels

Process indicators measure the extent to which
planned activities are taking place.

Output indicators measure tangible deliverables

as a result of accomplishing a set of activities

Outcome indicators measure the extent to which

program objectives are being met.

Impact indicators measure the extent to which the

overall goals of a program are achieved.

External indicators

9.32

Limits of control and accountability

Ends
Beyond
project
control

what the
project
/programme is
contributing
towards

Goal - Impact
Purpose
Key Results
Sub Results
(Outputs)

Within
project
control

Activities
Tasks

what is
within the
direct
management
control of a
project/
programme

Means

what
overall the
project /
programme
can
reasonably be
accountable
for achieving

Adapted from Materials Developed by ITAD

9.33

Example of indicators at different levels

Goal
Improve infant health

and survival
Impact indicators
(diarrhea disease
incidence; infant
mortality rate)

Objective
support and promote breast
feeding

Outcome indicators
(% of babies breastfed

within 1 hour of delivery;

% of babies exclusively
breastfed at 1 month;

% of babies exclusively
breastfed at 3 months;

average age at introduction

of complementary foods;

% of babies breastfed at 6
months; % of babies
breastfed at 12 months)

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9.34

Activities (with examples of process

indicators)
Train maternity care

% of maternity staff/

9.35

staff and other birth

attendants
Deploy breastfeeding
counselors in health
facilities and in
community
Promote formation of
mother-to-mother
support networks
Provide education on
breastfeeding through
health facilities and in
community

birth attendants
trained
(no. of breastfeeding
counselors deployed;
no. of mothers
counseled)
(no. of mothers joining
mother-to-mother
networks)
(% of mothers and %
of general population
receiving or recalling
key messages)

Indicators & project responsibilities

Responsible
Overall
Owners/
objective beneficiaries
Project
Purpose
Outputs
Activities
Inputs

9.36

Owners/
beneficiaries
Project
Manager
Project
Manager
Project
Manager

Weaknesses in indicator design

Indicators are usually discussed and defined late
in the planning process

Indicators are designed to meet scientific

research needs and are therefore less appropriate

and meaningful for the beneficiaries

They are often not measurable in terms of costeffectiveness

There are usually too many indicators

Indicators which are easy to measure are
preferred

Quantitative indicators are favoured to produce

hard and reliable statistics

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9.37

Weaknesses in indicator design

They are usually not developed by stakeholders
and/or beneficiaries and therefore do not
represent their reality

Indicators are donor driven since they have to

legitimise the support for the respective
project/programme

Indicators are often an outcome of a desk study

to prepare a proposal, satisfy funding
requirements or to establish a baseline

9.38

It should be noted that.

Once critical minimum set of indicators are identified,
then works out
Baseline
Information needed
Data needed to generate the information
Method of collection
Frequency of collection
Who collects it
Who analyses it and report it
Who should use the information
Resources required
How data will be stored and managed

9.39

Advantages and uses of logframes

Improving design quality - Clear purpose, outputs,
performance indicators and assessment of risks

Summarizing design of complex activities

ensuring that decision makers analyze
assumptions and risks

Assisting in the preparation of detailed operational

plans

Engages stakeholders in the planning and

monitoring process thereby providing an objective

basis for activity review monitoring and evaluation

When used dynamically, an effective management

tool to guide implementation, monitoring and
evaluation

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9.40

Disadvantages of logframes
If managed rigidly, stifles creativity and innovation

Needs updating during implementation

Training and follow-up on the use of log-frames
paramount

9.41

Thank you!

127

Session 9: Notes to participants: Logical framework, indicators

and measuring impact
The Logical Framework Approach (LFA) is an instrument for objective-oriented planning of projects.
LFA was developed during the 1960s and has been widely spread all over the world since the 1970s.
Today it is used by private companies, municipalities and by almost all international development
organizations, when assessing, and making follow-ups and evaluations of projects/programs.
The method may also be used for analysis, assessment, follow-up and evaluation of projects. What the
method is used for depends on the role of its users and their needs.
It is an instrument to improve the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of a
development intervention. The systematic application of the method, with good judgement and sound
common sense, can help to improve the quality, and hence the relevance, feasibility and sustainability
of development cooperation.
An ideal situation when planning a project is when the owner of the project (the cooperation partner)
and the development partners (e.g. donors and consultants) are clear about their respective roles and
when the project owner, the cooperation partner, assumes the main responsibility for the planning,
implementation and follow-up of the project. Hence true local ownership should exist. The owner of a
project is always the local organization (the cooperation partner). Promoting local/recipient ownership
of projects and programs is recognized as a key issue in the strategy for sustainable development
cooperation.
LFA is based on the idea that the user, the project owner, assumes the main responsibility for the
planning process. However, assistance with planning may be needed and useful. LFA has the aim of
improving the quality of project operations and can only achieve this if the user has a good grasp of
the method and uses it throughout the entire project cycle. Therefore, it is useful to start cooperation by
integrating information on LFA in the dialogue between the parties concerned. Most steps in the LFA
method are often used during participatory workshops.
LFA is used to:
1)
2)
3)
4)

identify problems and needs in a certain sector of society

facilitate selecting and setting priorities between projects
plan and implement development projects effectively
follow-up and evaluate development projects.

What the method is used for depends on the role of and the needs of its users.
LFA is:
An instrument for logical analysis and structured thinking in project planning
A framework, a battery of questions which, if they are used in a uniform way, provide a structure
for the dialogue between different stakeholders in a project
A planning instrument, which encompasses the different elements in a process of change
(problems, objectives, stakeholders, plan for implementation etc). The project plan may be
summarized in a LFA matrix, the log frame

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 An instrument to create participation/accountability/ownership

Common sense.
Objective-oriented planning means that the point of departure of the planning process is the problem
analysis, which leads to the objectives and finally makes it possible to choose the relevant activities.
Hence, before making a plan of activities, an analysis of the problems and objectives is necessary.
The LFA is not a control instrument and thus does not replace different control systems such as
environmental assessment studies, gender analysis or financial control systems.
The LFA method should be used during all phases of a project cycle (i.e. during preparation,
implementation and evaluation). When the LFA analysis has been performed, the plans made with the
aid of the analysis should be used and followed-up actively at each project meeting. Normally, it is
necessary to make certain adjustments throughout the project implementation phase. The LFA method
must be used with flexibility and with a great sense of feeling of what is required in each situation.
The LFA is a suitable tool to use for capacity development, the effort to facilitate for individuals, groups
or organizations to better identify and deal with development challenges, by facilitating discussion
among stakeholders to identify obstacles to change. During the problem analysis the needs and
approaches for different forms of capacity development can be recognized and made transparent. The
problem analysis shows whether professional knowledge is needed among the individuals involved,
or whether it is necessary to use a broader approachfor example to strengthen organizations, or
whether there is a need to improve institutional frameworks (legislation or policies).
We noted that many evaluations nowadays were focused on measuring the impact of projects on their
selected goal. In effect, this form of evaluation is an exercise in measuring or assessing the impact of a
project on its target beneficiaries.
Imagine you are proposing a project that will introduce to some poor farmers a new rice variety that
has in-built vitamin A. You are not sure if this new variety will be acceptable to the farmers, or what
its effect will be. You believe it may be able to improve the health of poor women and children in the
families of farmers with less than two hectares of land, and you use this goal to sell your project to a
donor who you know is very concerned with this target group. How do you assess, in your proposal,
the extent to which this new variety might have the desired impact on the health and nutrition of your
target beneficiaries? How do you propose to measure that impact? What do you need to write in the
project proposal?
What you need to do is explain the logic of why you think your project might have the desired effect.
If the farmers adopt this rice, and if they keep a proportion for home consumption, you assume that
women and children will receive about 75% more vitamin A than they do at the present time. The
literature suggests that a significant increase of this kind could make an appreciable difference, within
a few years, to the incidence of eye disease, anaemia and overall malnutrition. So you are going to be
looking for evidence of a slowdown in these ailments. This evidence will be in the form of indicators
things to look for to show that you are having the impact you want. In this case you might select one
or more the following indicators:
Fewer visits by mothers and children to health clinics
Higher levels of haemoglobin in blood tests

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 Higher weights of children when they go to clinics and the children are healthier when attending
school
Fewer complications at childbirth
You would choose those indicators that were easy to measure, and that would give you a good picture
of the difference that new rice was making.
You would, of course, have to have some before-the-project data to compare with the after-the-project
assessment. And you would have to include the collection of that pre-project data as part of the proposed
project, remembering that this activity would require personnel, travel, and other inputs.
You will rarely find donors unwilling to pay for pre-project baseline surveys and post-project impact
assessments, so it is definitely advisable to include these in your project, if appropriate.
As with so many other sections of the proposal, we strongly suggest that you prepare the indicators and
measuring impact section by working with your project team. By brainstorming with your colleagues,
you can come up with a much wider range of potential indicators, and do a better job of selecting those
which will make your post-project measurements as easy as possible.
Remember, that if you already have an impact assessment unit or specialist in your institute, be sure
to write this up as a boilerplate piece for all your project proposals. You need not include pre- and
post-project surveys in all project proposals. But you should always trace the logic of how your project
might, in time, make a real contribution to your project goal. You need to do this because, for the most
part, impact is what your development donor wants to buy. And the quicker and greater the impact, the
more your donor will like your project idea.
We noted in Topic 5 that impact was related directly to the project goal. So depending which goal you
choose for your project (and it should be a goal that is common to your institute, your country and
your potential donor), the impact of your project may take many forms. We suggest that you develop
an impact check listwriting down all the possible impacts of your sort of work might have on various
potential target beneficiaries. Keep adding to that list, and consult it whenever you are writing project
proposals.
Here is an illustrative and partial list to get you going. Will your project result in:

More education for poor people?

Higher family incomes?
Better health for infants or children?
More employment for widows or orphans?
Enhanced community participation?
New use for indigenous knowledge?
More public sector accountability?
New roles for the private sector?
Inputs for improved decision-making?
New food sources for urban dwellers?
More jobs for young men and boys?
Import substitution for poor economies?
Improved child nutrition?

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If you claim one or more of these benefits in your project, remember that the impacts you can quantify
are the most impressive. Increasing household incomes by 10% in five years is more impressive than
just claiming you will raise incomes. So stick your neck out a little, and give an estimate of how much
of a good thing your project might be able to contribute.

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132

Trainers guide
Session 10:

Project proposal budgets

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Prepare a project budget

Training materials

Assorted markers
Felt pens
Flip charts

Time needed

2:15 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Ask at least 3 volunteer participants to explain how they have been

developing project budget
05 min

Plenary presentation

Project proposal budgets

Group interaction

Trainer asks participants to raise questions, contributions or critical

reflection on the presentation
5 min

Break

Health break

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Project proposal budgets

35 min

Reading notes on project proposal budgets

133

Session 10:
budgets

Summary of presentation slides: Project proposal

10.1

Project proposal budget

10.2

What is budget?
It is the pricing of all the inputs required by the
project activities
Well detailed activities with the corresponding
required inputs makes budgeting very easy.
It also enables you to develop a more realistic
budget.

10.3

Common terminologies
1. Bay windows

It is something you can surrender or give away

during budget negotiations or eliminate if your
budget gets a sudden cut

Examples of things you could consider for bay

window are:

134

An additional project site

An extra workshop
A further quarter for field trials
A second training program

10.4
2. Direct costs
Are costs of project inputs
E.g. personnel, travel, vehicles communication,
etc.
3. Indirect costs
Are costs of items that do not contribute directly
to the project but they are sometimes important
E.g. rent, library in the institute, supervision
costs by the Director, etc.
Depending on the project, all these should be
budgeted and included in the main budget
Note: Not all donors are willing to fund indirect
costs

10.5

Elements of quality budget

Budgets should be clear, transparent and easy
to understand

Every line item should be footnoted with unit

costs

Every budget should have a heading, and

should indicate in which currency it is shown

Figures should be rounded, usually to the

nearest 000s

Budgets should be realistic, and not greedy

Follows the formats of the funding agency or
of the host institution

10.6

Tips for developing good budget

Develop well detailed activities
Identify all the necessary inputs required for
each detailed activity

Not under-budgeted
Study and understand clearly those inputs the
donor can fund

Weed out the inputs available with you or

your organization, cost them and present them

as your contribution.

Study and fully comprehend the budging

format of the funding agency/donor

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10.7

Go to the open market to find the current prices

of various inputs

Develop few bay windows to help you in

negotiations

Involve your accounts staff in budgeting

Consider the inflation factor
Develop a yearly requirement of inputs such as
personnel, equipment, fertilizers, etc.

10.8

Example of scheduling inputs

Inputs

Quantities
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Personnel
Endocrinologist
(person months)
Economist
(person months)
Equipment

10.9

Double cabin
pick-up (km)
Computer

500

1000

500

Example of scheduling inputs

Some donors give summarized budget format.

In such cases it is advisable to develop detailed

budget of every activity in your organizations
format and then aggregate to give into what the
donor wants

To improve effective budget management, it is

always advisable to arrange your detailed
budget according to your activities.

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10.10

How do you generate your

yearly budgets?

10.11

Tips for generating yearly budgets

Yearly budget is governed by:
Work plan
Personnel schedule
Equipment schedule, etc.
Sometimes donor budget limits:
Look at your work plan to see start and end of
each activity.

Make the budget estimates for each input

schedule for the activity from start to end

10.12

Tips for generating yearly budgets.

Some activities take more than one year to

finish. In such cases estimate how much the

activity will require on yearly basis while
bearing in the work plan

Add budgets of each activity to be implemented

in that year until the end of the project life

Where partners are involved clearly indicate

who contributes what

Also indicate out of the total funding what your

organization will contribute

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Session 10:

Notes to participants: Project proposal budgets

10.1 Project proposal budgets

A proposal budget is the pricing of all the project inputs. So, if you have done a good, thorough job of
listing all the inputs, all that now needs doing is to put a price on each input. Your finance office can
probably help you with this.
Here are some tips for preparing convincing budgets. Each point will be elaborated in this topic.
Organizations should use a consistent budget format in all proposals, except for those where the
donor has a preferred budget style or outline.
Organizations should issue budget guidelines to ensure that everyone in the institute is preparing
budgets under the same financial assumptions, and that the same costs are offered to all donors in
all proposals.
Budgets should be clear, transparent and easy to read. (You will not be there to explain anything!)
Every line item should be footnoted with unit costs.
Every budget should have a title, and should indicate in which currency it is shown.
Figures should be rounded, usually to the nearest 000s.

Budgets should be realistic, and not greedy.

Under-budgeting should always be avoided.
Bay windows (explained below) can help in grant negotiations.
Indirect costs are legitimate costs, and should be included in all budgets.
Every proposal, no matter how small, should have a summary budget. Large projects, or full
proposals, may require additional budgets, by partner, by site or by activity.

Budget formats: Every organization has a slightly different budget format. Some donors insist you use
their style, while others will accept whatever is usual for a grantee. Here is a fairly typical format.
Illustrative budget format

Personnel
Travel
Supplies and services
Vehicles, equipment, capital costs
Evaluation
Indirect costs
Inflation and contingency

Grand total
Whichever style or format you use, be sure to use the same for all proposals coming from your
organization, unless the donor asks you to use theirs. By having your own style, you ensure consistency
in your internal financial management and allow your institute to develop a consistent budget image.
Budget guidelines: If your organization is going to have a steady stream of proposal going to different
donors, you will want to ensure consistency by issuing proposal budget guidelines. These will give
guidance to everyone in your institute who works on proposals on such things as the price of key inputs
like personnel, equipment, supplies and services, workshops, indirect costs etc. Your finance office
would be the right people to draft these guidelines for approval by your Director General and Board.

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Qualities of a good budget: A good budget should be clear, transparent and easy to read. This means
that anyone can pick up your budget and understand it, without you having to be there to explain your
cost assumptions. The paragraphs below will provide you with tips on how to ensure your budgets are
clear, transparent and easy to read.
Footnote every line item: A transparent budget shows exactly how you achieved your line item totals.
You do this by footnoting each line item with the unit cost. Here is a simplified example.
Summary budget for project X in USD 000
Line item
Personnel (1)
Travel (2)
Equipment (3)
Total

Year 1
15
5
70
90

Year 2
20
10
10
40

Total
35
15
80
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Three person months of a senior agronomist at USD 5000/month for both years, plus one month
of an economist at same cost in Year 2.
One RT airfare and per diem from Site A to Australia @ USD 5000 in Year 1 and two in Year 2.
In Year 1USD 10,000 for seedlings, USD 20,000 for fertilizer and USD 30,000 for tools for
farmers. In both years, USD 10,000 for renting well-drilling equipment.
Notice how the footnotes make it quite clear how you arrived at each of the totals in the budget.
Rounding the numbers and naming the currency: We recommend rounding to make your budgets
easier to read; you can see how this is so, by looking at the examples below.
Figures for two years of a project, expressed two ways
(a) In un-rounded USD

(b) In rounded USD 000s

Year 1

Year 2

42,580

42,580

24,500

24,500

17,000

17,550

15,525

16,750

2,000

2,000

43

43

24

24

17

18

16

17

You always need to explain in your budget which currency you are using. This will depend on the
circumstances and the donor. Never assume that your reader will know!
Getting your budget just right: You want to avoid a greedy budget and under-budgeting. Nothing is as
frustrating as an under-budgeted project. If you lack the funds to do a good job, you and your partners,
your donors and your beneficiaries are all going to be disappointed. So resist any temptation to promise
too much for the money available. If a donor cuts your budget, you will need to cut the objectives and
activities accordingly, and you need to make clear to the donor that fewer outputs will be delivered.
At the same time, a padded, greedy budget will turn off your funder completely. Do not be tempted to
inflate salaries or travel costs. Some eagle-eyed finance person in the donor agency will catch all and
any inflated unit prices.

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In sum, offer a moderate, realistic budget within which you are convinced that you can deliver the
promised outputs.
Bay windows: A bay window (one that juts out in a semi-circle) in a new house in an extrasomething
nice but not essential. A bay window in your project is the same thingsomething that you would like
to include in your project, but something that you can do without if necessary.
A bay window is therefore something you can give away during budget negotiations or eliminate if your
budget gets a sudden cut. We recommend you consider including one or two bay windows in your next
project designs. Here are some examples of things that would qualify:

an additional project site

an extra workshop
a further year of field trials
a second training program

Notice that these are extra project elements, not inflated prices. Their inclusion will not annoy your
potential donor, and, if you are lucky, you will be able to keep all your bay windows!
Indirect costs: All projects have direct coststhese are the inputs to the project, as we have described.
In addition, a project has indirect costs. These are the costs of things such as rent and lighting in your
office, the library in your institute, the services of your finance office, the supervision of your DG.
You need these items to implement the project, but only a little bit of each, and it is very difficult
to say exactly how much of each will be needed for each project. To spare you the time and effort
involved in calculating how much of these items you need for each project, the convention is to use an
indirect cost recovery rate. All organizations do this, both public and private sector. Basically, the rate
is obtained by dividing all the costs not directly attributable to specific projects, and dividing that by
the number of activities and projects.
Indirect cost recovery rates vary greatly, depending on the type of organization. In the business of
research and development projects, rates of 10 40% are common.
Not all donors are willing to pay for indirect costs. If not, you can claim this cost as part of your
matching funds, and your contribution to the project. But other donors will pay, especially if you
charge all donors (even if they dont pay), and your rate is properly derived and audited. Once a donor
has paid your indirect cost recovery rate on one grant, they will likely do so in all future grants, so it
worth negotiating on this.
Back-up budgets: We have noted several times that all proposals, even the shortest of concept notes,
when submitted to a donor, should be accompanied by a one-page project summary budget. Often
this is all that you will need to at least arouse a donors interest in your idea. But in a large, complex
project, involving one or more partners and perhaps several countries, you are likely to need back-up
budgets to fully explain your project.
One thing we recommend is that you consider giving each partner (and your institute) a separate
budget. If you and your partners sign off on these separate budgets before submitting the proposals to a
donor, this will prevent any kind of argument about the allocation of project funds. Some donors now
require these separate budgets, for the same reasonthey dont want fights about money to slow down
project implementation.

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You may also want to give more details about the specific costs of certain project activities, like field
trials, or study tours, or training courses. Use your own judgement. The intent of these additional
financial details is to give your reader confidence that you have carefully thought through all the details
of your project, including what it will cost.
Often, too, the donor will have financial requirements for a full proposal, and you will learn about
these in discussions or through filling in the appropriate forms.

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Trainers guide
Session 11:

Project background and summary section

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Identify the main issues considered in writing the background and summary
sections of a project proposal

Training materials

Assorted markers
Felt pens
Flip charts

Time needed

2:15 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Ask at least 2 participants to describe the difference between

abstract, summary and background

5 min

Plenary presentation

Project background and summary section

30 min

Plenary interaction

Trainer gives an opportunity to participants to ask questions,

contribute or raise their opinions. If there are any light bulbs,
participants are encouraged to share them with others.

10 min

Summary

Trainer summarizes the salient features of the session and announces end of day

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Background and summary section

Reading notes on project background and summary section

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Session 11:
Summary of presentation slides: Project
background and summary sections
11.1

Background section
and summary

11.2

Headings in the background section

This section of the proposal, which comes early on,
after the summary, can take different headings
depending on the donor.

Justification (good reason, explanation, validation,

rationalization)

Context (situation, perspective, framework,

circumstance, environment)

The problem (puzzle, question, challenge, obstacle,

predicament)

11.3

Headings (contd)

144

Need for the project (can imply justification,

context, problem to be solved and rationale)

Background (setting, environment, surroundings,

conditions, circumstances)

Rationale (basis, foundation, justification,

motivation, underlying principles)

11.4

Background Sequence of preparation

Whatever you call it
This section guides you in your writing of the

proposal. It sets the context and sometimes with

reviewed literature for your proposal

This is one of the places where you can best

sell your project to the donor

Independent of when you write the background

section make sure you revisit it once project

proposal is complete

11.5

Background Style and presentation

Be as short and sharp as possible (length depends

on the type of proposal)

Avoid telling your reader facts they already know,
and those that have nothing directly to do with your
project
Resist the urge to tell your reader basic facts and
figures about the country in which you plan to
work, unless these figures are either new or
startling, or have a direct bearing on your work

11.6

Background Style and presentation

Try to be careful in your use of language
It is very helpful to have a friend, outside of your
area of focus/expertise, read your background to
make sure that the language is readable and
minimizes the use of:
Jargon
trendy or "in" words
abbreviations
colloquial expressions
redundant phrases
confusing language

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11.7

Background Style and presentation..

Position your project in relation to other efforts and
show how your project:
a. will extend the work that has been previously done,

b. will avoid the mistakes and/or errors that have been

previously made,

c. will serve to develop stronger collaboration between

existing initiatives, or

d. is unique since it does not follow the same path as

previously followed

11.8

Background Style and presentation

It is essential to include a well documented

statement of the need/problem that is the basis

for your project

What are the pressing problems that you want

to address?

How do you know these problems are

important?

What other sources/programs similarly support

these needs as major needs?

11.9

Background Style and presentation

It can really help gain funding support for your
project if:
You have already taken some small steps to
begin your project

An excellent small step that can occur prior

to requesting funding is a needs assessment
that you conduct (survey, interviews, focus
groups, etc.)

If you have written up your need assessment

as a short report, cite it in your background
section

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11.10

Background Style and presentation

A good background section is a page or less in a

concept note, and at maximum three pages in a long

(3040 page) full proposalexception may be thesis
proposal
You can make it easier to read by illustrating your
text with a few well-chosen graphs, pictures and/or
diagrams
Organize the text with sub-headings
Make the location, the beneficiaries and their
problems come alive for the reader
Ensure logical flow

11.11

Background Style and presentation

Among others, always use the following two
sub-headings both in the concept note and in the
full proposal:

The problem and why it is urgent

What has already been done
What is the knowledge gap

11.12

Background Style and presentation

At the end of the sub-section What has already
been done, your reader should have no doubt
that the project you are proposing is the next
logical thing that needs to be done. So the
section that follows, goal and objectives, will
follow seamlessly in the readers mind. If you
can create this feeling in your readers mind, you
will have succeeded in writing a good
background section

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11.13

Background Style and presentation

Check to see that the potential funding agency is

committed to the same needs/problems that your

proposal addresses
Clearly indicate how the problems that will be
addressed in your project will help the potential
funding agency in fulfilling their own goals and
objectives
As you write, keep the funding agency in your mind
as a "cooperating partner" committed to the same
concerns that you are

11.14

Summary

11.15

Summary versus abstract

Sometimes used interchangeably
They both serve to reduce long text to essential key
points

A summary usually concentrates on the essentials

of a larger thing

Abstract is a more specialized form of summary

shorter, clearer

Summary is a little detailed-out version of abstract

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11.16

Summary.
The summary is a very vital part of the proposal

It comes first
It may be the only part that some people ever read
It summarises the whole project
Although it comes first, it cannot be written until all
the other sections of the proposal are complete

11.17

Summary/Abstract.

Always write this section last

Refer to all the other sections in your summary
Take great care with the wording
Be as brief as you can. Two pages for a long
document is acceptableone page is even better

11.18

Summary/Abstract.

In a proposal to a donor, highlight any known

donor interests

Write simply and directly

Include the specific request for funds in the first,

or latest the second sentence

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11.19

Summary/Abstract.

Be specific and concise

Do not go into detail on aspects of your proposal

that are further clarified at a later point in your
proposal

The project summary should "paint a picture"

of your proposal in the mind of the reader

It should establish the framework so that the rest

of the proposal has a frame of reference

11.20

Summary/Abstract.
Use the project summary to begin to show your

11.21

150

knowledge of the organization from which you

are requesting funds
Key concerns of the funding organization can be
briefly identified in relation to your proposed
project
If you will be collaborating with other
organizations make sure some of their interests
are also highlighted in the summary. This can
assist in strengthening the collaboration by
recognizing them at the very beginning of your
proposal

Summary/Abstract.

Prepare the project summary after you have

completed the entire proposal (and you understand
all aspects of your proposal very well)

Insert this last piece of writing at the beginning of

your proposal

Session 11:
Notes to participants: Project background
and summary section
11.1 Project background
This section of the proposal, which comes early on, after the summary, may have a number of titles,
including (sometimes can be used interchangeably):

Justification (good reason, explanation, validation, rationalization)

Context (situation, perspective, framework, circumstance, environment)
The problem (puzzle, question, challenge, obstacle, predicament)
Need for the project (can imply justification, context, problem to be solved and rationale)
Background (setting, environment, surroundings, conditions, circumstances)
Rationale (basis, foundation, justification, motivation, underlying principles)

Sequence of preparation: Whatever you call it, here are some tips on preparing this section well. Most
importantly, do not write this background section first. Many novice writers think this is the place to
start, but it is not. This is one of the places where you can sell your project to the donor, and it should
not be written until you have completed all the sections covering the heart of your project designi.e.
goal, objectives, activities, outputs and budget.
Style and presentation: As you will learn from the module How to write for non-technical audiences,
the background section is a place where you can use a different style of writingit is a place where
you can write with more urgency and passion than in other sections.
One of the things you should avoid is telling your reader various facts they already know, and that really
have nothing directly to do with your project. Resist the urge to tell your reader various basic facts and
figures about the country in which you plan to work, unless these figures are either new or startling, or
have a direct bearing on your work. A donor working in Cairo once told me that she would scream if
she received one more proposal telling her that the Nile is the longest river in Africa.
The key to a good background section is to be as short and sharp as possible. A good background
section is a page or less in a concept note, and at maximum three pages in a long (3040 page) full
proposal.
You can make it easier to read by illustrating your text with a few well-chosen graphs, pictures and/
or diagrams. You need to organize the text with subheadings. And you should refer to your sources,
although without the need for footnotes, as in a journal article.
The sort of style that is highly appropriate for a background section of a proposal is that used in the
science and technology section of the Economist magazine. You should try to make the location, the
beneficiaries and their problems come alive for the reader by using interesting words, and arresting
examples. Short sentences and words will make your piece easy to read and give your reader an idea
of the urgency of the problem.
We recommend that in the next few proposals that you prepare you always use the following two
subheadings:
The problem and why it is urgent
What has already been done

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These two subheads are recommended for use in the concept note, and are equally recommended for
the full proposal.
You need the heading: The Problem and Why It Is Urgent for several reasons. For one thing, if the
problem isnt urgent (compared to other things) why should it be done? And if it isnt urgent (compared
to other projects) why should the donor fund it? And if the beneficiaries dont want it badly, why should
time and money be spent on it? By using this sub-heading you can be sure that every sentence under it
will be directly relevant to selling your project to the donor.
Using the subheading What Has Already Been Done is equally important, as it will remind you that
all projects build on what has happened before. Your readers want to know where your project fits in
the array of activities that have gone before.
By citing the work of others in your field you show you know the field and demonstrate your scientific
credentials; not including this section by contrast, betrays your ignorance and will not create a good
impression on your reader. Always mention any other relevant donor projectson the same topic in
other countries, or on related topics in the same country. It is your business to find out about these, by
asking, by searching the web, or by whatever means.
At the end of the sub-section What Has Already Been Done, your reader should have no doubt that
the project you are proposing is the next logical thing that is needed. So the section that follows,
Goal and Objectives, will follow seamlessly in the readers mind. If you can create this feeling in your
readers mind, you will have succeeded in writing a good background section.

11.2 Topic 15: Project summary

The summary is a vital part of the proposalit comes first, and it may be the only part that some people
ever read. Although it comes first, it cannot be written until all the other sections of the proposal are
complete. So you should write this section after you have finished all the heart of proposal sections,
as well as the background.
You need a summary for all proposals (or reports, or other forms of writing) longer than, say, six or seven
pages. For shorter proposals, or reports, a brief introductory paragraph or set of bullets (as for example
when writing a concept note) is all you will need.
Here are some tips for preparing a good summary:

Always write this section last

Refer to all the other sections in your summary
Take great care with the wording
Be as brief as you can. Two pages for a long document is acceptableone page is even better
In a proposal to a donor, highlight any known donor interests
Write simply and directly

Include the specific request for funds in the first, or latest the second sentence.
In the exercise below, you will find an outline of a summary for just about any type of proposal. If you
use this outline, and fill in the blanks with details of your project, you should have prepared a simple,
direct and inclusive proposal summary. Try not to leave any blanks, unless the sentence really does not
fit your project.

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I suggest that until you get proficient at writing summaries of our own, you continue using this outline
for proposals to donors who do not have specific proposal formats of their own.
Exercise for Topic 15: Please review the concept note titled Sweet smells and tangy tastes: reviving
the essential oil industry in White Lands coconut-growing areas, at the bottom of this page. Use the
material in this concept note to prepare a summary using the sample outline that follows.Use your pad
and pencil to take notes and check your notes with the explanation provided.

11.3 Sample outline for a proposal summary

This proposal requests (name of donor) to provide USD for (name of your organization) and
(names of partners) to (project objectives summarized) in (location of project). The
proposed project will take years, and involve a team of (give the positions).
The need for this project is urgent. (Tell why in one or two sentences. If possible refer to related donor
projects) The proposing team is anxious to achieve the desired outputs and impacts as soon as
possible. To do so, the team will (summarize the project activities in one or two sentences).
This project builds on previous work by (your organization, others) that has (tell what has
already been done). The beneficiaries, (describe them in a phrase), are eager to participate in
the project. (the names of your organization and any partners) are ideally suited to conduct the
proposed project (tell why in a sentence or two).
As a result of this project, (the anticipated impact) should be experienced by the end-users by
(estimate a time).

11.4 Sample concept note to use for this exercise

11.4.1 White land
Project title: Sweet smells and tangy tastes: Reviving the essential oil industry in White Lands coconut
areas.
Expected budget and duration: USD 600,000 over three years;of which approximately USD 400,000
is requested as a grant from donor x
Partners: Department of Horticulture scientists with assistance from University of White Land
Location and sites: Three White Land coconut areas
Related donor projects: (to be completed when potential donor is identified)

11.4.2 The problem and why it is urgent

About 150 years ago, White Land had a thriving and profitable essential oils sector, centred on the
export of ilang-ilang oil to Europe. World War I led to the closure of most firms in the business,
and subsequently production moved to French territories, leading to the death of the whole industry.
However, White Landers never lost their taste for essences and oils, and today the country imports over
3500 metric tons, with a value of more than USD 25 million.

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The Government of White Lands budget is stretched to the limit, so savings of this size can make a
real difference, freeing up funds for high-priority investments in womens health and education. These
essence crops having once grown, there is no doubt that they can once again flourish in White Land.
In particular, Department of Horticulture scientists believe that the countrys large coconut areas offer
the ideal location, offering both shade and nitrogen nutrition for the young plants.

11.4.3 What has already been done

For the past five years, scientists from the University of White Land have been helping staff of the
Department of Horticulture to identify crops that might be grown in the country to lower the nations
import bill. Last year, essential oils surfaced as one of the top six possibilities as described in a paper
widely circulated to government and university personnel. The paper made exciting reading for two
staff of the Plantation Crops Division, who saw the essential oils idea as a way to reignite interest in the
stagnant coconut plantation sector. The two principal proponents of this project, Dr CCG and Ms RAR
of the Plantation Crops Division, felt that coconut would offer the ideal environment for a pilot project
to test the feasibility of bringing the essential oils industry back to life in White Land.

11.4.4 Project goal, objectives, and activities

The goal of the project is to create new agriculture-based industries in White Land while cutting the
cost of importing agricultural products into the country.
The general objective of the project is to determine whether essential oils can be cost-effectively grown
in White Lands coconut plantation areas.
The specific objectives of the project are: (1) to determine the levels of nitrogen and shade under
coconut canopies that will provide optimum growth and development conditions for selected essences,
and (2) to identify which of six selected essences are most suitable for cultivation under coconut.
The following activities will be undertaken:
The project team (consisting of the two principal scientists and a research associate from the
University) will select three coconut areas with the following features:
Site A, with newly planted coconut, representing 0% shade
Site B, with coconut providing 25% shade
Site C, with coconut providing almost overlapping canopy >75% shade
In each area, during Months 23 of the project, staff of the selected coconut plantations will plant
six essences (sweet basil, lemon grass, citronella, vetiver, peppermint, and spearmint).
In each area, plantation staff will apply three nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 30, 60 g/plant).
The principal scientists will supervise the gathering and analysis of data on key morphological and
physiological features over the three years of the project, using a two-factor factorial experiment
(shade x fertilizer level) format.

11.5 Inputs and project management issues

The project will require personnel expenses and maintenance and operating expenses. Staff time
required will include three person-months/year by the two principal scientists and four person months/
year by a university research associate. Graduate students will help with data gathering and analysis.
Labourers will be hired from among the plantation staff. The project will purchase seedlings and
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fertilizer and use a Department of Horticulture motorcycle as the project vehicle. The Department of
Horticulture will be responsible for all aspects of the project, from grant compliance to production of
reports. The University of White Land will be working under a subcontract.

11.6 Beneficiaries, outputs, and impacts

The main output of this project will be a report published by the principal scientists at the end of Year 3,
reporting on the experiment, identifying which essences are particularly suitable for cultivation under
coconut, and making recommendations on the production technology for those essences that proved
most successful.
The impact of the project will depend on the results of the experiment. If, as expected, several of the
selected essences are found to thrive under coconut, the project has the potential to revive the entire
essential oils industry in White Land. In this case, the impact will be at both the micro and macro
level. On the one hand, consumers in White Land will be able to purchase the essences they need
on a local market at cheaper, local prices. On the other hand, the White Land economy will benefit
through savings on the import bill, the creation of new jobs in the revived industry, and the expected
boost to the stagnant coconut plantation sector. These impacts are likely to be felt gradually, starting
approximately one year after publication of the projects final report, as commercial planting and
growing of essences takes hold. The full impact of the project will likely not be felt until a decade after
the project is over. If the experiment has a positive outcome, it will have many beneficiaries. These will
include essential-oil consumers, those who work and invest in the coconut plantations, and ultimately
all citizens of White Land, who will benefit from the improvements to the countrys economy.

11.6 Budget issues

The requested funds will be used to remunerate University of White Land staff and coconut plantation
labourers, and for the purchase of project inputs such as seedlings and fertilizer. The Department of
Horticulture will pay for the time of the principal scientists, but will charge an administrative fee of just
over USD 12,000 per year for managing the project and its grant funds.

11.7 Project cover letter

Cover letters for solicited and unsolicited proposals: In this module we have been trying to give you
advice about how to write proposals to submit to international development donors. As we said at the
beginning, if you are responding to a competitive grants program, the call for proposal will include
instructions of how to bid, and these instructions will almost certainly give you advice about what to put
in your cover letter. Usually this letter will give details of your eligibility to compete in the program.
But if you are not responding to a request for proposals, but rather writing to a donor who did not solicit
(ask for) your proposal, you need to craft a rather different cover letter. You will need a letter that both
serves to introduce your proposal, and also paves the way for you to find out what the donor thinks
about it.
To whom should you write, and who should sign: The first thing you need to decide is to whom
you are going to write. By this stage in the project development, you should already have had some
correspondence with the donor, in connection with preparing your concept note. It will have been

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because the donor liked you concept note that he or she asked you to prepare a full proposal. So you
may want to write to the person you have been dealing with. But you may also want to write to the most
senior person in the donor organizationi.e. go right to the top. You may wish to do this, because you
know that that person will be making the final decision. Or you may have been told by your contact in
the donor agency that that is what you should do. Note that if you do address the letter to the local or
regional director of the donor agency, you should write the letter for the signature of your own seniormost person, i.e. your Director General.
In fact, that is always the rulethat the person addressed and the person who signs the letter should
always be about the same level.
You, as the author of the project, may be required to draft the cover letter, but the person who signs it
will probably want to edit it before she or he signs.
Tips for writing a good cover letter: As with all letters, you should write with the reader in mind. (There
is much more on this topic in the sister module How to write for non-technical readers, which you
may wish to consult before drafting a cover letter.) If the person signing the letter knows the person to
whom you are writing, make that clear in how you write. For instance, refer to any previous interaction
between the two.
By all means, refer to your donors interests and related projects. If possible, show how the proposed
project builds on work that has been funded by the donor. Highlight the importance and urgency of the
problem the project is addressing. Explain that the scientists, their partners, and the beneficiaries are
almost eager to have the project start soon.
Conclude with a hook, i.e. a follow-up comment that opens the door for you to find out what the
donor thinks of what you sent. For example: If we have not heard from you by next month, we propose
to call you by phone to get your impressions and suggestions for how the proposal could be improved.
Of course you must not be too pushy or rude, so depending on the nationality or cultural background
of the donor, you may want to be more gentle on this point. However, you do want to be able to followup on your submission, and not just sit there, wondering if the proposal arrived, and if anyone at all is
reading it!
Here is an example of a really good cover letter. It benefits from the fact that the two people involved
know each other quite well. As you read this letter, try to see why it works so well.

11.7.1 Example of a good cover letter

Dear Martin:
It was a pleasure to meet you again to my visit to the EU offices in July, and I look forward to meeting
you again in Washington this October.
I am pleased to enclose a proposal modelled closely on the guidelines we received from your office.
It is a three-country proposal on arresting ever-increasing and livelihood-threatening water loss and
soil degradation. The project is designed to have a positive impact on the agricultural productivity
of India, Myanmar and Vietnam. We estimate that this impact will be felt by up to 130 million poor
farmers, nearly half of them women. In fact, the research will have direct benefits on the conservation
and sound management of soil resources throughout the semi-arid areas of Asia, and builds directly
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on a number of EU-supported activities involving farmer participation in watershed management now

underway in India.
Attached to our proposal are letters of support from our partners, expressing their eagerness to begin
work on the projects soon, as well as requests for the project that we have received from water user
association leaders throughout the targeted countries, and from politicians representing those areas. In
line with your funding limits, you will notice that the proposal calls for support of just under Euros 3
million over the five year life of the project.
Martin, I will look forward to hearing your reaction to our proposal when we are both in Washington
next month, and in the meantime, I wish to thank you for your continued support for our institute and
its important work.
With warm wishes,

Jim Johnston,
Director General
Institute for Agricultural Research

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158

Trainers guide
Session 12:

When and why should a scientist report research?

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Apply the ABC of reporting and communicating research results
Know when to communicate research results

Training materials

Assorted markers
Felt pens
Flip charts

Time needed

1:30 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Brainstorm with participants on why scientists should report their

research results

20 min

Plenary presentation

When and why should a scientists report research

5 min

Group exercise

Participants share in subgroups what best practice and challenges

they have experienced. Write on cardsgreen for best practices,
red for challenges.

10 min

Summary

Trainer summarizes the session

5 min

Break

Health break

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: when and why should a scientist report research

Reading notes on when and why should a scientist report research

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Session 12: Summary of presentation slides: When and why

should a scientist report research?
12.1

When and why should a

scientist report research

12.2

Communicating science
Research in agricultural development is only of
value if the results are understood and applied

Collation and transmission of the results of

research in a manner that it can be accessed

and used by others

Communicating science usually means

communicating new knowledge or summarizing

the present state of knowledge

12.3

When a scientist reports research

Demands and responsibilities of communicating
research depends on the scope and intended
audience

When and To Whom research results needs

to be communicated are fundamental

ABC
Accurate and audience-adapted
Brief
Clear

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12.4

Key questions to be addressed..

Who are you addressing - scientists who are

specialists in your field of research, a wider group

of scientists, fellow students, or public audiences?

Why is your message important? Why are you

communicating it?

What are your main findings or take-home

messages?

How can you best deliver your message and

satisfy the audiences needs?

12.5

Scientific vs. popular science writing

Popular Science
Article

Scientific Paper
Different Target Group
Different Organizations
Language and lay out
New knowledge
Enable others to repeat
experiment and check info
references
Logical and clear IMRAD
format
Technical terms
Tables and figures

12.6

Knowledge Review
Arouse interest
Teach/influence
the reader
Illustrations and
headings as a tool
to facilitate reading
and understanding
Examples

Audiences for research results

Peers or peer group colleagues or competitors
Decision makers administrators, donors, or

policymakers
Other stakeholders
Farmers
Extension workers
Farmer organizations
Private sector
The general public educated, general, student

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12.7

Platforms for communicating research

Written presentations

Books and book chapters

Review papers

Journal articles

Science magazines

Newspaper articles

12.8

Platforms for communicating

research (contd.)
Written presentations
Extension leaflets and posters
Conference posters
Annual reports, quarterly reports, and
project reports
Conference abstracts
Conference/Workshop proceedings
Letter to journals and book reviews

12.9

Oral presentations

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Conferences
Seminars and workshops
Project planning and donor meetings
Outside talks and media interviews

12.10

Why do research scientists report

The reasons may be personal and/or institutional and
range from the noble to the less-than-noble
Communicating for the good of others
Publish or perish
Establishing a reputation
Getting connected to the conference world
Financial rewards
Contributing to science
Communicating public goods
Describing and publicizing new animal breeds/
varieties

12.11

Timing when there is no deadline

Researchers can sometimes choose the timing of
their communication

Refereed journals, for instance, will accept

papers at any time

Popular outlets (radio, television, newspapers,

and magazines) are interested in any good story

whenever it occurs
A newsletter can be published at regular intervals
Special editions can be prepared whenever
research results suggest.
Unsolicited (sole source) proposals can be
prepared and submitted whenever the researcher
is ready

12.12

Timing when there is no deadline

Researchers can sometimes choose the timing of

their communication
Refereed journals, for instance, will accept
papers at any time
Popular outlets (radio, television, newspapers,
and magazines) are interested in any good story
whenever it occurs
A newsletter can be published at regular intervals
Special editions can be prepared whenever
research results suggest.
Unsolicited (sole source) proposals can be
prepared and submitted whenever the researcher
is ready

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12.13

Timing, when a deadline is critical.

Researchers may be involved in consultancy
work

The researchers reputation as a consultant rests

on the delivery of well-written and timely
consultancy reports

In cases with a strict deadline, timeliness must

always take precedence over other motives for

communication.

12.14

Thank you!

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Session 12: Notes to participants: When and why should

a scientist report research?
12.1 Introduction to scientific writing
Research in agricultural development is of value only if the results are understood and applied.
Although how this is done is a matter of great debate, clearly of major importance is the collation and
transmission of the results of research in a manner that it can be accessed and used by others. However,
much research in agricultural development often remains in files, notebooks, document folders, on
computers or in little seen or distributed internal reports and is never exposed to the judgment or
scrutiny of the broader research community. One of the reasons for this is a lack of training, experience
and confidence in the skills and processes of bringing results to other potential users in an acceptable
form.

12.2 Scientific communication occurs in many forms

Science can be communicated in different forms. The notable ones are: Papers in scientific journals,
reports, conference papers and abstracts, graduate and postgraduate theses, review papers, proposals,
popular science articles, newspaper articles, oral presentation and posters. They do have some
commonalities but also differ in certain aspects. The audiences may be different, and the objectives may
also change. Communicating science usually means communicating new knowledge or summarizing
the present state of knowledge.

12.3 The ABC of science communication

Any scientific communication should be:
Accurate and audience-adapted
Brief
Clear
Communication is a two way process. Information cannot merely be delivered; it must be received and
understood as well.
Some components of effective communication

Message

Writer/speaker

Frame of
Who?

Why?

Question

What?

How?

reference

Audience

Figure 1. Components of effective communication.

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12.4 Key questions to be addressed

Who are you addressing scientists who are specialists in your field of research, a wider group of
scientists, fellow students, or public audiences?
Why is your message important? Why are you communicating it?
What are your main findings or take-home messages?
How can you best deliver your message and satisfy the audiences needs?

12.5 Scientific vs. popular science writing

Scientists usually communicate the same topic in various ways and to different audiences
Conference papers and posters presented at a conference are not peer reviewed
The core communication of new research results is a paper published in scientific journals.
Popular science
article

Scientific paper

Different target group

Different organizations

Language and layout

New knowledge

Knowledge review

Enable others to repeat

experiment and check
info references
Logical and clear IMRAD
format
Technical terms
Tables and figures

Arouse interest

Teach/influence the reader

Illustrations and headings

as a tool to facilitate
reading and understanding
Examples

Figure 2. Scientific vs. popular science writing.

However, a scientific paper should be original documentation of research results and requires precision.
It should be logical and clear (others can repeat and check) and always give reference to original
source. The common features to both are that they awaken the interest of the reader and present
reliable information.

12.6 When a scientist reports research

12.6.1 Introduction
During the career of a researcher, including that of a natural (or social) scientist working in agricultural
development, the demands and responsibilities of communicating research will clearly vary both in
their scope and their intended audience. Junior scientists will communicate research for which they are
responsible differently from the manner in which Program Leader, Head of Station, or even the Director
General of an International Centre communicate work for which they are (ultimately if indirectly)
responsible.

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At the individual level, be it junior researcher or Director General, questions of When and To Whom
research needs to be communicated are fundamental to later How decisionsthe main focus of this
module. While the most common and obvious audience for research findings are others working in the
same field, researchers will at times communicate to a hole range of other audiences, with more or less
interest and involvement in the research and its potential contribution to science and development.

12.6.2 Audiences for research

Peers
A peer group is an undefined, but broad group of researchers, trained and specializing in the same
general area, to an equivalent or higher level, and with equivalent or higher levels of experience
and seniority. These qualities remain the foundation of judgments as to the quality and relevance of
research, most obviously through the practice of independent peer review by which research journals
decide whether to accept articles and papers for publication.
A peer group may be divided into specialists, who understand precisely and closely the area of research
and are up-to-date with recent developments, and scientists in closely related areas with a greater or
lesser interest and involvement in the work. Your peers are your colleagues. But in some instances,
they are also your competitors, for both ideas and for research funding (and of course promotion). In an
era of intense competition for all of these, the concept of a community of researchers collaborating in
joint pursuit of a common higher goal (to which the open communication of research may contribute)
may well seem outdated and nave.

Decision-makers
In public research (whether national or international), researchers generally work within institutes. These
institutes are themselves generally part of larger organizations and research systems. For example, a
Dairy Research Station may be part of an Institute for Animal Research, which is in turn a component
of a nations Agricultural Research Council. Such public systems rely on donor funding from various
sources, whether private, national, or international. A researcher may be working at an institute, with
laboratories, field trial facilities, etc. However, decisions concerning areas and priorities for research
for funding may often be taken at places and levels far removed from where such work will be carried
out.
Researchers may therefore have a direct interest in attempting to communicate both the success
and significance of their activities to decision-makersadministrators, donors, or policymakers
at institutional, national, and international levels. If you truly believe your work is valuable, these
people are an audience you will want to influence. Although in some cases, members of this audience
may be former researchers, most administrators, donors, and policymakers have different educational
backgrounds, perspectives, and priorities, as well as different budgets and time horizons. They are not
researchers, and they do not think like scientists.
Administrators will answer to senior directors and political masters (for example Government ministers).
Donor representatives will have to justify their grant decisions both to their host and home governments,
and ultimately, if indirectly, their home country taxpayers. Policymakers at all levels must answer to
supervisors far removed from the individual researcher trying to explain the importance of his or her
work.

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Other stakeholders
This module does not seek to identify the precise place of researchers in agricultural development.
However, scientists today are expected to do more than simply conduct and publish research. Many
national agricultural research systems (NARS) have made great efforts to integrate research with
extension activities. The whole concept of what constitutes the NARS of a country is increasingly
flexible and open. The Farmer First paradigm, and the current emphasis on participatory research,
requires researchers to be aware of, learn from, be involved with and address a much wider group of
those involved in agriculture than simply the researchers own peer group.
Clearly, addressing extension agents or farmers requires totally different styles and methods of
presentation than that of the peer-reviewed journal article. Understanding these differences, and being
able to communicate plainly and appropriately to a broad and diverse constituency, is a necessity for
researchers today. Unfortunately, many researchers, despite their years of specialist training, often lack
the skills needed to address lay audiences or untrained farmers to whom their results ultimately are
most directly relevant.

The general public

Although farmers are part of the public, the general public in this case is defined as those not directly
involved or influenced by agricultural research. There are special skills in communicating with the
public. Media stars (for example, the botanist David Bellamy in the UK and the evolutionist, the late
Stephen Jay Gould in the US) exist, and can make the world of science come alive for audiences with
no training whatever in their fields. But most researchers often have little training and experience in
directly communicating with the public.
For convenience, the public may be divided into educated, general and students. Whilst the
educated public may be prepared to read the results of research in serious newspapers, magazines,
or radio or programs, the general public may only become aware of results through more popular
channels. In both cases, control of what is presented resides with the journalist and his/her editor, along
with the simplification and inaccuracy their own lack of training may imply.
A researcher may communicate with students by direct teaching, for example in project work for
university degrees. At institute open days, researchers may address visiting schoolchildren or other
members of the public with little training or specialist knowledge. Communicating with the general
public will likely often play only a minor role in a researchers life, and be perhaps viewed as an
annoyance and distraction from more important things. However, such advocacy may play an
important role in both creating awareness of research findings and generating and maintaining support
for research. Ultimately, it is the general public that pays for most agricultural research.

12.7 Why do research scientists report?

Researchers have occasion to communicate with many different audiences as a normal part of their
professional lives.
Some of these audiences include:

Other researchers (in their discipline, or in related fields)

The intermediate and end users of their research (e.g. extension agents and farm families)
Those that fund their research (national treasuries, international donors, the private sector)
The general public (interested in their field, or otherwise).

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As also discussed in the previous session, there are many different ways in which researchers can
communicate their work. These include:

Research journals, reviews, conference papers, theses, etc.

Extension manuals, posters
Newspaper and magazine articles, radio broadcasts
Newsletters, brochures, leaflets
Concept notes and proposals

This session looks at the various reasons why researchers communicate. The reasons may be personal
and/or institutional and range from the noble to the less-than-noble. All motives exist, and all need to
be recognized as operating in the context of agricultural research.

12.8 Communicating for the good of others

Many researchers are motivated by the desire to make the end users of their research better off. They
want farm families to be better nourished by the improved crop varieties they are breeding. They want
farm incomes to increase as a result of the better water management techniques they have identified.
They want widows in war-torn regions to have a source of income from the poultry practices they have
identified as being the most suitable for a given region.
This is the sort of motivation that attracts development donors. It also appeals to the general public,
who can now understand why their governments support agricultural research. This form of motivation
involves communicating research results to intermediate and end users. In agriculture, this usually
means extension workers and the staff of NGOs and farmers.
To communicate successfully to audiences like this, a researcher needs to know the strengths and
limitations of his audience. Researchers need to know about the literacy levels of their readers, and their
level of scientific sophistication. It is important not to talk down to an audience; it is equally important
not to talk above the heads of a readership. The more researchers know about the people who will use
their research, the better they can communicate, and be sure their research is being used to best effect.
Time spent in understanding the self-interest of extension agents, field workers, NGO staff, female
farmers, rural youth, and similar groups will pay off in more targeted and relevant publications. It will
reflect well in project proposals and attract the interest of development donors.

12.8.1 Publish or perish

It is a fact of life that research publications are critical to the professional development of all researchers,
including those in agriculture. Some employers (e.g. at least one CGIAR Centre) expect all staff to
publish at least two papers a year in a refereed journal, or risk not having their contract renewed. More
commonly, promotion is dependent on a growing list of publications. At universities, tenure almost
always requires a respectable publishing pattern.
In all cases, research organizations love to have their staff publishing regularly, in both academic and
popular journalsinstitutional prestige comes in large measure from the publishing performance of
staff. And the fame of an institution sets up a virtuous circle in which the best researchers, who publish
the most, are attracted to the institutions whose personnel have the best publishing records. For all
these reasons, the ambitious researcher seeks to establish and maintain a regular habit of publishing
research results in journals with as strong a reputation for selectivity as possible.
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12.8.2 Establishing a reputation

Fame and prestige are good motivators for some individual researchers too. In all countries, a few
researchers appear on radio and television frequently to comment on issues in their fields that are
of current public interest. Nowadays, such topics include the safety of genetically modified crops,
the effects of HIV/AIDS on rural livelihoods and agricultural labour, and ruralurban migration and
its effect on national food security. If a researcher is called upon for comments in writing or on oral
broadcasts on such issues of the day, he or she may achieve a level of fame that can make a significant
difference to future employment prospects.

12.8.3 Getting connected to the conference world

Recognition comes from achieving respect from peers. One way to do this is through the written word
in journal articles. Another is face to face at scientific conferences. The way into the world of national,
regional, and international conferences is to have abstracts, papers, and posters for such meetings
accepted by the organizers. If the paper is of sufficient interest, the author may have his or her way paid
to the conference, and may be called upon to chair or moderate workshops within the conference.
Attendance at conferences allows researchers to network with peers, meet potential collaborators,
make their research known, and become exposed to the conventions and opportunities within the
field. To take advantage of these benefits, and to enjoy the travel opportunities of the conference world,
researchers need to learn how to prepare papers that will be attractive to conference managers.

12.8.4 Financial rewards

Few people get rich from writing journal articles. Textbook authors may receive advances and royalties
from book sales, but this is rareacademic publishing in the age of the Internet is a precarious business.
On the other hand, serious financing for research can be obtained by researchers who learn to write
convincing concept notes and proposals to attract donor support. This type of writing is both an art and
a science. It involves writing to persuade as well as writing to inform.

12.8.5 Contributing to science

Some of the most important motives for communicating research are the centuries-old motives for
contributing to science. The scientific method, to which serious researchers adhere, requires the
sharing of research outcomes as the bricks on which scientific advances are made, person by person,
experiment by experiment, thought by thought. This steady building of reliable testable knowledge is
the cornerstone of international research in agriculture, as in all other fields.
Sharing knowledge with peers one may never meet through journals is the tried and tested method
of building knowledge. Among the benefits are reductions in duplicated efforts. More importantly,
reading about the work of colleagues can inspire readers to new and exciting avenues of research.

12.8.6 Communicating public goods

Researchers whose work is funded by public sourcese.g. the staff of NARS, most universities,
and international research organizationsare generating public goods. Public funds come from
governments, and governments raise funds from taxes. So it is the people who fund this research, and

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they are entitled to reap the rewards. So the goods produced by publicly funded researchers are by
definition free. In that context, researchers publish their research results to show how they have spent
the public funds, and to make the results widely available.
Researchers whose work is privately funded, will be generating outcomes which are proprietary and
belong to the funders. Their research results are protected by patents and other intellectual property
restrictions. However, they, too, seek to publish in refereed journals. For one thing, they want to share
ideas with others working on similar topics. For another, they wish to gain recognition for their work.
No matter how they are funded, researchers are colleagues. The history of the development of the
Human Genome Project, which rests equally on the work of public and private scientific work, is a
model of how progress can be made in a complex world.

12.8.7 Describing and publicizing new crop varieties

In some countries, publication in journals is used as a method of establishing and promoting the
existence of a new crop variety. For example, in the United Sates, certain journals accept crop
registration notes or articles. These will generally contain at a minimum, the genetic background
of any new varieties and details of field performance characteristics, although the amount of detail
varies with the journal. In much publicly funded research (such as that carried out by CG Centres),
publication and disclosure of such information in journals is an important part of the international
public good aspect of such work.

12.9 Timingwhen there is no deadline

Researchers can sometimes choose the timing of their communication. Refereed journals, for instance,
will accept papers at any time. Popular outlets (radio, television, newspapers, and magazines) are
interested in any good story whenever it occurs. A newsletter can be published at regular intervals.
However, special editions can be prepared whenever research results suggest.
Although many donors have regular funding cycles, unsolicited (sole source) proposals can be prepared
and submitted whenever the researcher is ready. So, in the absence of deadlines, researchers can
indulge other motives when choosing the timing of research communication.

12.10 Timingwhen a deadline is critical

Papers, abstracts, and posters to be shared at national, regional, or international conferences have to
be prepared to strict deadlines. Similarly, when reporting to donors, the timing is specified in the grant
agreement. Depending on the donor and the type of project, reporting may be required quarterly,
half-yearly or annually. Punctual, full and well-written reports are essential elements of good donor
relations.
Researchers will be required by their Management personnel to make regular and timely contributions
to various documents and meetings. Each year, an annual report will be needed to share with all the
stakeholders of the institute, and each researcher will likely have to make their written contribution.
Similarly, some sort of reporting, perhaps through a Program Leader or Research Director, will be
needed for internal staff meetings and regular Board meetings.

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Finally, researchers may be involved in consultancy work. There is a growing trend for government
researchers to augment their scope of work through such activities. The final report is often the key
product that the client is buying, and it therefore needs to be carefully prepared and delivered on time.
The researchers reputation as a consultant rests on the delivery of well-written and timely consultancy
reports. This is the key to repeat business, and the meaningful financial and recognition rewards this
implies. In cases with a strict deadline, timeliness must always take precedence over other motives for
communication.

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Trainers guide
Session 13:

Structure and preparation of a scientific paper

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Understand the different outputs of research

Structure a scientific paper in an acceptable manner

Know when to communicate research results
Acquire the knowledge necessary for preparing a scientific paper
Training materials

Assorted markers
Felt pens

Flip charts
Time needed

2:15 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Ask at least 2 participants give a simple structure of a scientific

paper

5 min

Plenary presentation

Structure and preparation of a scientific paper

1:40 hrs

Participant interaction

The trainer gives an opportunity to participate to ask questions,

contribute or raise their opinions. If there are any light bulbs,
participants are encouraged to share them with others.

20 min

Summary

The trainer summarizes the salient features of the session

10 min

Break

Lunch break

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: structure and preparation of a scientific paper

Reading notes on structure and preparation of a scientific paper

173

Session 13: Summary of presentation slides: Structure

and preparation of a scientific paper
13.1

Structure and preparation

of a scientific paper

13.2

The when, where, and what you might

want to publish

13.3

Most research journals state that papers submitted for

consideration must make a significant and original
contribution to knowledge
you may have professional imperatives that are
pushing you to publish before your contribution to
science is truly significant
Ideally a research article should contain a coherent
single body of work answering one or two major
questions on a major theme and generating one or
two further avenues of research
Research diverging from this major theme or subject
area should be considered for separate publication(s)

The when, where, and what you might

want to publish (contd)
Consideration of where determines the required
format for the article and also its distribution and
the expected recognition that should come from
acceptance of the paper by the editors
International journals are generally considered the
most thorough and scrupulous of all publication
channels
Their content may not be directly relevant to those
researchers, whose papers addresses issues of
regional or national importance
Some researchers perceive that international
journals are biased against authors from developing
countries, perhaps because they had one or more
papers rejected for publication Not enough proof

174

13.4

The when, where, and what you might

want to publish (contd)

13.5

All researchers should look carefully at the contents

of some recent issues of the journal of their choice
to see whether the published articles address similar
topics as their own article is going to discuss
On reflection, a better journal for the paper to be
written could then be a regional or national journal
of science rather than the international one
While both important and scientifically valid,
research may not have the broad general
applicability demanded by some well-known
international journals
A regional or national agricultural science journal
could be a sensible choice, even though regrettably
publishing in such journals may not carry as much
scientific prestige as comes with publishing in a
recognized international journal

The when, where, and what you might

want to publish (contd)

Research articles and papers (in particular in the

natural sciences) convey certain information in
addition to new results, and generally do so in a
standard manner and sequence.
In broad terms a research paper:
Typically presents experimental workusually a
minimum of two experiments, or field work
conducted over two or more three seasons
Explains the motivation for conducting the work
Explains the design and conduct of the work
Presents the results of the work
Proposes an interpretation and meaning of the
results
Considers the significance of the results and of the
interpretation proposed

13.6

The structure of a research paper

The major sections required in a paper are often
abbreviated in the acronym IMRaD meaning;
Introduction, Methodology (Materials and Methods),
Results, and Discussion meat of the paper.
Other sections are clearly necessary (a title, abstract,
references, etc.) but the main substance of a paper is
contained within the four sections of the IMRaD
acronym
These four components can be thought of as
covering and describing different stages of the
research process, those stages of past research,
present research, and future research

175

13.7

IMRaD
Introduction Why.
The nature and scope of the problem being
considered
Methodology (Materials and methods) - Where,
When, and How
Describing the design (plus duration, location,
and climate) and conduct of the experiment in
sufficient detail that another researcher could
repeat the work if necessaryincluding the
statistical design used and the analysis
performed.
Model sampling procedure, method of data
collection, type of analysis etc

13.8

IMRaD (contd.)
Results - What was found?
Describes what was found, giving summaries
of data obtained, as text, tables, figures, or
graphs
Discussion - So What? What does this mean?
Contains an interpretation of the results. The
discussion talks about the relationship of the
results to the questions posed in the
introduction, and explains how these results
contribute to answering the Why of the
research

13.9

176

In addition to IMRaD, you will also

need

A title: In preparing the title, you should use the

fewest possible words to accurately describe the
content of the paper

The authors: You will need to include the names

and addresses of those who conducted the
research and contributed to the writing of the
paper, generally with the major contributor
mentioned first, as senior author.

How do you determine the listing of the authors?

13.10

In addition to IMRaD, you will also

need (contd)
An abstract: This is a short (generally 200-250
words in one paragraph) summary of the objectives
of the work, the methodology used, the main
results, and the major conclusions.
Acknowledgments: Here you will mention any
institutes or individuals who helped in the work,
provided funding, etc.
References: You will need to prepare references for
all the works cited in the text. (As you probably
already know, this is one of the most timeconsuming and frustrating parts of the paper to
prepare!)

13.11

Materials and methods

13.12

Should describe (and if necessary defend) the

design and conduct of work that has been done
and is now being reported

You should use the past tense and present the

section as a narrative of steps taken by the
author(s)

You can assume that the reader has the technical

vocabulary to read and understand the paper

If the subject is unusual or highly current, it would

be wise to define in lay terms any unusual
technical term included in the paper

Materials and methods (contd)

The underlying principle behind the Materials and
methods section is that its contents must be presented
in sufficient detail that a competent reader could
repeat the work
In agricultural research, the Materials and methods
section will often include details of:
study site
soil type
rainfall and other climatic information
any animals and plants (scientific name,
subspecies, strain/variety)
Design, replication
Sampling procedures, sampling size, data collected

177

13.13

Materials and methods (contd)

If you are reporting standard, recognized
techniques they need not describe the procedures
in detail. The name of the technique, plus a
reference, if the technique or procedure has been
described in a recognized journal is sufficient
Do include details if the technique has been
modified. You also do not need to provide detailed
descriptions of simple processes such as measuring
/mixing/applying fertilizer
All names and abbreviations used should be clear
and understandable and all measurements should
be presented in internationally recognized SI Units
and notation

13.14

Statistics are methods!!

You should include all details of experimental design and
statistical analysis in the Materials and methods section
(e.g. ANOVA, 2).
With equipment and chemicals, ordinary procedures
can be used without comment chemical names,
trade names??
Consider using subheadings, setting out activities in
chronological or narrative sequence, to make the
section easier to read
In summary, the Materials and methods section
includes all necessary details
excludes all unnecessary details
and therefore contains only what you need to present
Should include all details so that someone else can
repeat

13.15

Results
You present the output of the work
These results are directly related to the objectives
outlined in the Introduction
It is helpful to summarize results in text and
illustrate these words with tables and/or figures
Tables: if you want the reader to focus on
numerical values
Figures: focus on relationship between variables
The Results section is often the shortest section of
a research publication, but also the most important
Do not present raw, unanalyzed data
Be selective, presenting only that which is relevant
to making the conclusions that you will present in
the following Discussion section
Outliers can be left out but this requires explanation

178

13.16

Results (contd)
Unanalyzed results are sometimes presented as
appendices in PhD dissertations, and in some
annual reports such as those from individual
research stations
It is often difficult (even painful!) to leave out
results obtained through hard, long work
The results should clearly describe what was
found, including statistical tests, differences, and
probabilities
Statistical significance is reported in the Results
section
Sometimes combine with discussion

13.17

Tables and figures

Are good tools to make your results easy to read
and understand
A table or a figure enables readers to see the
(summarized data) for themselves, but the results
remain the subject of the text (and not the tables or
figures)
You can state: There was an inverse relationship
between A and B (Figure 4). but it should NOT
say, Figure 4 shows the relationship between A
and B

13.18

Tables
Useful for presenting analyzed summary data (e.g.
means standard errors), level of significance
Use them to show precise figures, as well as other
(non-numeric) details, including words or symbols,
to indicate location, treatments, variety, etc.

179

13.19

Presenting tables

Number and present your tables sequentially, in the

order in which they are referred to in the text

If you have many tables presenting related data, use

the form Table 1.1, Table 1.2 (chapter 1 table 1,
chapter 1 table 2, chapter 2 table 1 etc) rather than
Table No.1a, Table 1b, etc

A table should have a clear and concise title which

tells what the table shows, not what the table is
about

Place your table numbers and titles above each

table

13.20

Here are the key elements of a

good table

A table has column headings, which should be

short and easily understood

A table has row headings (or stub headings)

A table has a field, the boxes of information in

the body of the table

A table often has footnotes, either to explain any

abbreviations or symbols being used or to provide
a reference if the table (or field items within it) are
taken from a source other than the Results being
presented

Footnote makes tables concise and clear

13.21

Constructing tables

180

Avoid using long numbers, particularly in column

headings. These should be presented with
abbreviations e.g. 4.38 x 107 not 43,800,000

107 included in a column heading and then 4.38

If a number is less than zero, a 0 should be

included, e.g. 0.25

Do not put too many items in a table, because it

will become crammed and hard to interpret. If you
have too few items, the table may be unnecessary

If you have less than eight field items, you

probably do not need a table and can present the
results as text

13.22

Constructing tables (contd)

Arrange comparisons in columns (vertically) rather

than rows (horizontally)

Should never use more significance digits than

your method justifies

Never use a dash (-) or zero (0) to indicate

absence of results can be confused with ve
sign. Use ND to indicate no data

13.23

Constructing tables (contd)

A table should include the same group of

elements down columns, and NOT across rows

Columns with the same value throughout should

not be included

If a column has the same value all down its

length (and if the value is needed) it could
perhaps be better included as a footnote

In summary, tables should be able to

standalone, be self-explanatory (with their title
and footnotes), and help to convey the results of
the experiment or study

13.24

Constructing tables (contd)

A text may refer to a table but a table should not
to a text, or figure or another table
Where possible, a table should be organized in a
portrait format
Double space every five lines for easy reading
Avoid the use of vertical lines between columns
and use few horizontal lines except as needed
Where should a table appear in a text?
Near the comment that refers to it
In a manuscript to a journal, tables are put in a
separate section at the end. But please indicate
in the text (Table x name here)

181

13.25

Figures

13.26

Figures are visual presentations of results that can

save you hundreds, if not thousands of words
Figures should be numbered separately from
tables (i.e., a paper can have both a Table 1 and
a Figure 1) and referred to by number in the text
Present and number your figures sequentially, in
the order in which they are referred to in the text
Figures need a clear and concise title, which tells
what the figure illustrates and allows the reader to
interpret the figure without referring to the text
Unlike with tables, the numbers and titles of
figures are placed BELOW the figure
Should focus on relationships among numbers

Major types of figures for presenting

results

Several different and commonly used types of

figures available to illustrate your research paper
Each has advantages and limitations and is best
suited for the presentation of particular types of
information
The type and quantity of data help decide if an
illustration is necessary
Pie charts show proportions of a single variable.
Histograms compare quantities, such as yields,
for different classes of variable.
Line graphs show trends and relationships or
other dynamic comparisons of continuous
variables
Scatter diagram

13.27

Constructing a figure

182

A figure should be simple enough to get the

message across instantly
Figures should be in black and white if possible Color and grey shading can look good, but add to
costs
Changes from the original colors may occur during
printing and cause further confusion
If axes are used they should have brief informative
titles (legends) and include any units of
measurement
Axes should not extend much beyond the range of
the data
Remember, results may be presented as either
tables or figures, NEVER as both

13.28

Discussion

Discussion section of a scientific paper contains

an interpretation of the results

The results are related to the original objectives

(as set out in the Introduction section)

The discussion answers the readers question So

what? by explaining what the results mean

Can also include limitations

Indicate future research if evident

You should not include in this section material

on the research background and scientific
context

13.29

Discussion (contd)

Discussion draws on the information in the

Results section, explaining and interpreting the
results, and showing how they have answered the
questions set out in the Introduction

Sometimes you will include in the Discussion

section shortcomings, errors, inadequacies, or
difficulties encountered during the research

This is also the section for pointing out how your

results compare with the findings of others, and
explaining any differences from previously
published research

13.30

Discussion (contd)

Discussion interprets and draws theoretical

principles and generalizations from the results
You should avoid proposing principles and
generalizations beyond what is DIRECTLY
supported by the results
You may wish to conclude the Discussion
section with some broad generalizations and
speculations, based on the results and other
(published) work (with references)
You may also end this section by identifying
further problems and the next steps and
additional research neededlimitations and
areas for further research

183

13.31

Conclusion

If you are reporting on a long and complex piece

of research, and if you have complicated results,
you may well want to include a separate
Conclusion section.
If so, you may begin this section with a very brief
summary restatement of the major results and
highlights of the Discussion section as they
relate to future needs and activities.
Before preparing a separate Conclusion section,
check on the style and format instructions to
authors of the journal to which you are planning
to submit your paper

13.32

Introduction

The Introduction section of a research paper

presents the nature and range of the problem
investigated

where, when, and how does the problem

appear?magnitude

how wide are its impacts? - scope

in what way is present knowledge and

understanding inadequate?

what is the purpose of the work, what

benefits will an answer bring?

13.33

Introduction (contd)
In the Introduction you will include:

a review of relevant and pertinent literature

results and conclusions of previous work

an explanation (rationale) of why the work

being described was needed

Include only information that is directly relevant

to your research
Resist any temptation to dress up your work with
unnecessary and irrelevant referencesnot
impress the journal editor, only irritate

184

13.34

Introduction (contd)
Do include widely available review papers or
book chapters as background references, and try
to avoid hard-to-obtain journals, MSc/PhD theses,
and internal reports
The Introduction sets the problem in the context
of current knowledge and should move from
describing the general setting to describing the
specific situation
If you think it important, you may include broad
details of the study area and the region in which
the problem or crop/animal being investigated
occurs (with both common and scientific names)

13.35

Introduction (contd)

A key section of the introduction is the listing of

your objective(s). These will often lead logically to
a suggested hypothesis

The Introduction is also the place for a broad

description and justification of the method(s) you
have chosen

If you have more than one objective, present these

in a logical order. This order will then be repeated
elsewhere in the paper, making it easier for the
reader to follow and understand

13.36

Introduction (contd)

In a well-constructed paper this sequence :

will probably be repeated in the Materials and

methods section to show how the stated
objectives were investigated

should be the sequence for reporting outcomes

in the Results section

should be the sequence in which results and

objectives are interpreted and discussed in the
Discussion

185

13.37

Introduction (contd)
The Introduction sets out Questions A B C
The Materials and methods describes how to
Answer A B C
The Results reports answers to A B C
The Discussion interprets the answers to A B C

13.38

Title

A title is a label and not a grammatical sentence

The title of a research paper should accurately

and adequately describe the subject and contents
of the paper in as few words as possible

It should be easy to understand. Journals often

limit the number of words that can be used to,
e.g., 25 words or less

Only the first word in the title (except for proper

nouns) has a capital letter

A title has no verb and does not end with a full

stop (period).

13.39

Title (contd)
Describe the subject of the work, not its results
Titles are used in cataloguing and abstracting, in
electronic/internet databases, and will be in the
reference list of other research publications
Should contain as many key words as
possiblemost important one comes first, or
early in the title
Include the name of any plants or animals, either
as common names (if these exist) or scientific
names, but not both
avoid abbreviations, formulas, brand names, and
unusual terms
Generally should not have dates
Avoid unnecessary words and phrases, such as
Observations on, An investigation into, etc

186

13.40

Types of titles

a) Indicative: Effects of deficit irrigation on maize

growth and yield on a clay soil

b) Informative: Deficit irrigation decreases maize

growth and yield on a clay soil

c) Question: Does deficit irrigation affect maize

growth and yield on a clay soil?

d) Main title/Subtitle (Hanging): Deficit irrigation:

effects on maize growth and yield on a clay soil

13.41

Titles for non-technical audiences

When writing for lay people, such as donors, you

will need to provide a simpler and catchier title
for your work

A good strategy is to use a two-part title perhaps

using the main sub-title or the Question title
categories

The main title could be the catchy, attentiongrabbing part of the title in lay-persons language,
with a more scientific subtitle

13.42

Titles for non-technical audiences:

Examples.

Fishes for the future: identification and

characterization of endangered aquatic species in
selected tropical sites

More beans for Africa: sustainable bean

productive through germplasm enhancement and
input use efficiency

Why do the chickens die? Developing low-cost

and simple techniques for aflatoxin estimation in
foods and feeds

Did we make a difference? Assessment of past

and expected impact of livestock research in the
1990s

187

13.43

Authors
In principle the authors of a research paper or article are
those who have contributed substantially to the conduct
of the research AND the preparation of the research
article
This may include an intellectual contribution, for
example supervisors of research papers arising from
Ph.D. theses
Names of authors should be complete enough to ensure
proper identification
For authors with the same surname or family name, it
may be necessary to add full names instead of initials
The major contributor to the research work and the
writing of the research paper is named as first (Senior)
author, with other authors following in decreasing order
of their level of contribution to the work
If there are many authors, with broadly equal levels of
contribution, alphabetical listing may be used
Include addresses of all the authors, following the
journal style

13.44

Abstract
The abstract (or summary or resum) is a concise
summary of the paper and generally should not
exceed 250 words
An abstract is definitive (NOT descriptive), i.e., it
gives the hard facts in the form of statements
concerning what is contained in the research paper
The abstract should not repeat any information
contained in the title; together with the title, the
abstract is a self-contained account of the research
being presented
Abstracts are included in catalogues and
electronic/ Internet databases and are of major use
in enabling others to quickly and easily decide if
they wish to read the full paper
Your abstract should follow the IMRaD structure
Consider writing the abstract after you have written
all the other parts of the research paper

13.45

The abstract includes..

188

The objectives and purpose of the work

An outline of the Materials and methods (with

details of new techniques or equipment)

Scientific and common names of organisms complex names (e.g. of chemicals, or

terminology) may be set out at first mention with
an abbreviation that is used subsequently

13.46

The abstract does not include or refer

to...

Details of materials and methods, and only

mentions the most important results and
conclusions

Any figures or tables presented in the main paper

References or literature cited in the main paper

The above can be included in a summary

(difference between abstract and summary)

13.47

Keywords

Keywords are a list of important words (or short

phrases) used in the main text and or abstract but
NOT already present in the title.

Keywords are included with the title and the

abstract in the indexing of the published article in
electronic databases.

Choose your key words carefully to complement

those in the title to attract the largest number and
broadest range of potential readers.

13.48

Acknowledgements
The acknowledgements consist of a short paragraph
(one or two sentences) thanking individuals or
institutions who have contributed to the work.
These might include:
Technicians - if closely and significantly involved
Supervisors - if they have contributed to the work
Outside institutions or companies that supplied
equipment or facilities (e.g., land for experiments)
Colleagues who gave advice or with whom you
discussed ideas
Statisticians who helped with the analysis and
interpretation of results
Remember to include donors in your
acknowledgments. Give the name of the agency, the
name of any large program of which the work forms a
part, and perhaps a grant code or number. If the work
derives from a thesis not referred to in the text, this can
be mentioned in the acknowledgments

189

13.49

Citations and references

The reference list contains full details of all articles
specifically referred to in the text. These are called the text
citations.
Text citations generally give the name(s) (generally the
surname or main name) of the author(s) of the article and
its year of publication. This system of text citation is often
referred to as the Harvard or Name-Year system.
Other systems also exist; some medical and biochemical
science journals, for instance, use numbering systems.
References may be used either in explaining and justifying
the need for the work, the conduct of the work, or the
implications of the work.
The purpose of the reference list is to enable other
researchers to trace and obtain any previously published
research used to describe and support the new work being
presented.
Equally importantly, references allow readers, should they
wish, to arrive at their own opinions as to whether this
previously published work has been interpreted and used
correctly, and from this judge the value of the new work
being presented

13.50

Text citations 1. The Harvard (author-year) system

Harvard system varies between journals, for

example in the use of upper case or the placement
or absence of commas

When a reference written by two authors (a jointauthored citation) is cited in the text, the names
are linked by and

Citing a reference written by three or more authors

(a multi-authored citation) the name of the first
author is followed by et al.

A close study of the particular journals Notes for

Authors and of a recently published paper is
necessary

13.51

Some examples of text citation styles

those of Stutzel (1995) and Manschadi et al.
(1998)
up to 80 cm (Anderson 1985; El-Shatnawi and
Goshesh 1988; El-Shatnawi et al. 1999)
(Australian Journal of Agricultural Research)
in cinnamon (Bullerman et al. 1977, Jay 1986,
Chang 1995, Holt and Gomez-Almonte 1995)
(Food Microbiology)
milk composition (Jelinek et al. 1996; Burriel,
1997) and similarly, Culioli & Sherman
(1978), Schmutz & Puhan (1978) and Garnot et al.
(1982) found (Journal of Dairy Research)

190

13.52

2. Numbered citation systems

Numbering with alphabetical reference listing.
The complete reference list is numbered in alphabetical
order and these numbers assigned to the citations in the
text. eg.: ...as Franzel et al.(2) and Ajayi (1) have
shown
1. Ajayi, O. (1987) The effect of different types of
farmer participation on the management of on-farm
trials. Agricultural Administration and Extension 25:
235252
2. Franzel, S.; Lagesse, D.; Colburn, F. & D. Getahun
(1989) Grain marketing and peasant production in
Ethiopia. Research Report No.5. Addis Ababa: Institute
of Agricultural Research. 48p
In some review papers, which may include well over
100 citations, to save space this may be reduced further
by omitting the authors names. eg.: ...as has been
shown (1, 2)...

13.53

3. The Vancouver system

Numbering with sequential reference listing
References are numbered in the text as they are
first cited, and are listed in the reference list in this
sequence. e.g.: ...as Franzel et al.1 and Ajayi 2
have shown
1. Franzel, S.; Lagesse, D.; Colburn, F. & D.
Getahun (1989) Grain marketing and peasant
production in Ethiopia. Research Report No.5.
Addis Ababa: Institute of Agricultural Research
48p.
2. Ajayi, O. (1987). The effect of different types of
farmer participation on the management of onfarm trials. Agricultural Administration and
Extension 25: 235252.

13.54

The reference list

The reference list should contain all the details of a text
citation necessary to find and photocopy the work being
cited, either in an institute or university library or from
any other source
In general the list is prepared in alphabetical order of
the surname (or main name) of the first author, then by
initials if there are two authors with the same
surname/main name, then by date (year)
There are some general rules in alphabetical listing:
All works by an author alone precede any coauthored or multi-authored work where s/he is first
author
Works written by an author precede works edited by
the same author
Works by the same author (or authors in the same
sequence) in the same year are arranged by
alphabetical order of the titles and then marked by
letters, e.g. (Smith 1999a), (Smith 1999b)

191

13.55

Citing a journal article comprise

Author(s)

Date (generally year)

Title of work being cited (with only the first word

and proper nouns having a capital letter)

Name of the Journal. Volume (and sometimes

issue number of the volume, e.g. 4(2) means
Volume 4 (Issue 2).

13.56

Citing a complete book comprise

Author(s) or editor(s)
Date of publication (year)
Title of book (often in italics)
Edition of book if not the first edition
City of publication + publisher
Total number of pages or start page number last
page number of section being cited
(Titles of grey literature, internal or selfpublished reports, working papers, etc., are not
italicized)
The country, state, or province of the city should
be added if the city is not well known or there is
the possibility of confusion

13.57

192

Citing a chapter in a multi-authored

volume comprise

Author(s) of chapter being cited

Title of chapter being cited

Start (first) page number of the chapter cited last

page number of chapter cited

Editor(s) of volume in which chapter appears

Title of volume in which chapter appears (often

in italics)

City of publication + publisher

13.58

Some final examples

Keisler DH, Andrews ML & Moffatt RJ 1992. Subclinical
mastitis in ewes and its effects on lamb performance. Journal
of Animal Science 70 16771681 (Journal of Dairy Research)
Glass, K. A. and Doyle, M. P. (1989). Fate of Listeria
monocytogenes in processed meat products during
refrigerated storage. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 55, 15651569.
(Food Microbiology)
Crosby, D.G. 1981. Environmental chemistry of
pentachlorophenol. Pure Appl. Chem. 53:10521080. (Journal
of Bacteriology)
Nyczepir, A. P., and Lewis, S. A. 1979. Relative tolerance of
selected soybean cultivars to Hoplolaimus columbus and
possible effects of soil temperature. J. Nematol. 11:2731.
(Plant Disease)
Anghinoni I, Barber SA (1980). Predicting the most efficient
phosphoros placement for corn. Soil Science Society of
America Journal 44, 10161020. (Australian Journal of
Agricultural Research)

13.59

Scientific publications 1. Review articles

Reporting from several sources a common form
in university training, journals and conferences
Review of literature longer form
Should be comprehensive and critical
Collect both +ve and ve information
Compare and contrast
Give a balanced perspective
Can draw definite conclusion, identify gaps in
research and new areas of research

13.60

Structure of the review paper

Introduction problem, why the review
Preamble
Various sub-sections
general to specific
Themes and sub-themes etc
A tentative summary for each section
A general discussion convince the reader with
sound argument supported by evidence
Conclusion at least 2 references to support an idea
References
Note:
The major difference is the body is the literature
review,
Make sure that the introduction and conclusion
use similar words

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13.61

Scientific publications 2. Thesis

Can be a monograph collection of papers
Main difference is the style and layout
Monograph
Use university guidelines
Extended literature review
Main body split into sections/chapters
A chapter on methodology
If number of experiments, then each can form
a chapter
No right or wrong way of dividing/ sections or
chapters
General discussion: compares with previous
findings, discuss implications. Consider the
whole picture as well as the individual pieces

13.62

Scientific publications 2. Thesis

Thesis a collection of published papers
Each paper follows the journal article format
An introduction and discussion to link together
Discussion
Compare results with previous publications
Discuss implications
Relationship between the different papers
Consider the whole picture as well as
individual pieces

13.63

Scientific publications 3. Popular

science article
Audience is public
Structure
Title short exciting and informative
Preamble
importance of the topic
Content of the article
Should make the reader curious
Body
Do not follow any standard structure
Divided into sections
Headings and sub-headings short, informative
and eye-catching
Visual can be very effective
Logical transition

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13.64

Scientific publications 3. Popular

science article

Layout
Determined by the style of the magazine
Do not make it too long
Look at articles previously published

Language
Simple, layman language
If using scientific/technical terms, please explain

13.65

Keep your audience in mind at all times

Main sections of a scientific paper

Section
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and methods
Results
Conclusions
Acknowledgement
Reference
Appendix

Intends to tell the reader

What the paper is about
A stand-alone short summary
The problem, background and
what is known already, and the
focus of research
What you did? How you did it?
What you found
Possible implications, limitations,
future direction
Who contributed to work and
how
How to find the paper referred to
Supplementary materials

13.66

Thank you!

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Session 13: Notes to participants: Structure and preparation

of a scientific paper
13.1 When, where and what to publish
We have looked at when and to whom you, as a researcher, need to communicate. We have also
discussed the many different reasons why you need to communicate, and analysed some of the
obstacles you need to overcome to successfully communicate your research.
In this session, we are going to examine the structure of a scientific paper and how you should go about
preparing it.

13.1.1 When to publish

The decision as to when to publish may be made for a number of reasons, and is closely linked to why
do researchers report. Most research journals state that papers submitted for consideration must make
a significant and original contribution to knowledge.
In an ideal world, researchers would follow this by only publishing when they felt they had something
worth saying. However these are subjective judgments, and you may have professional imperatives
(need for promotion or tenure, for instance) that are pushing you to publish before your contribution to
science is truly significant. Ideally, a research article should contain a coherent single body of work
answering one or two major questions on a major theme and generating one or two further avenues
of research.
Research diverging from this major theme or subject area should be considered for separate publication(s).
If several major themes of a substantial body of work are logically linked, a series of publications with
a common major title and various more-specific sub-titles may be considered. However, preparing
such research for publication will be a major undertaking. All papers should appear within the same
journal, ideally within a short period of time. Will all be accepted by the journal? Will you have time
to write them all?

13.1.2 Where to publish

The question for a researcher of where to submit the paper he or she is about to write is an important
one. It not only determines the required format for the article but also its distribution and the expected
recognition that should come from acceptance of the paper by the editors. International journals are
generally considered the most thorough and scrupulous of all publication channels. But their content
may not be directly relevant to those researchers, whose papers addresses issues of regional or national
importance. Some researchers perceive that international journals are biased against authors from
developing countries, perhaps because they had one or more papers rejected for publication. Rejection
is no proof of such bias.
Well-known international journals reject a large number of the papers that they receive. All researchers
should look carefully at the contents of some recent issues of the journal of their choice to see whether
the published articles address similar topics as their own article is going to discuss. On reflection, a
better journal for the paper to be written could then be a regional or national journal of science rather

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than the international one. This is especially so when writing about agricultural development that is
site-specific, and whose results are directly practical.
This sort of research, while both important and scientifically valid, may not have the broad general
applicability demanded by some well-known international journals. Also, the people who will benefit
most from access to site-specific and practical results are unlikely to have access to these (often expensive)
international journals. So there may be both a need and an obligation to present this sort of research in
more easily accessible regional or national journals. Hence, a regional or national agricultural science
journal could be a sensible choice, even though regrettably, publishing in such journals may not carry
as much scientific prestige as comes with publishing in a recognized international journal.

13.1.3 What to publish

Research articles and papers (in particular in the natural sciences) convey certain information in
addition to new results, and generally do so in a standard manner and sequence. In broad terms a
research paper:
Typically presents experimental workusually a minimum of two experiments, or field work
conducted over two or more growing seasons.
Explains the motivation for conducting the work.
Explains the design and conduct of the work.
Presents the results of the work.
Proposes an interpretation and meaning of the results.
Considers the significance of the results and of the interpretation proposed.
A good research paper will present all this in clear, concise, and unambiguous language.

13.2 Major sections of a scientific paper

The major sections required in a paper are often abbreviated in the acronym IMRaD meaning;
Introduction, Methodology (Materials and Methods), Results, and Discussion.
Other sections are clearly necessary (a title, abstract, references, etc.) but the main substance of a paper
is contained within the four sections of the IMRaD acronym.
These four components can be thought of as covering and describing different stages of the research
process, those stages of Past Research, Present Research, and Future Research.
IntroductionWhy.
The introduction presents the nature and scope of the problem being considered. It addresses
why is the topic important, how does it relate to previous knowledge and what was your
hypothesis or objectives?
Methodology (Materials and Methods)Where, When, and How
This section is a narrative describing the design (plus duration, location, and climate) and
conduct of the experiment in sufficient detail that another researcher could repeat the work
if necessaryincluding the statistical design used and the analysis performed. The section
describes how the study was conducted specifically focusing on project plan, experimental
design, materials used, methods for making observation, data to be collected and how analysis
of the data will be done.

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Box 1: Components of a scientific paper

Title
Author
Abstract
Acknowledgement
Introduction
Methodology (Materials and Methods)
Results
Discussion
References

ResultsWhat
This section describes what was found, giving summaries of data obtained, as text, tables, figures, or
graphs.
DiscussionSo What?
This section contains an interpretation of the results. The discussion section talks about the relationship
of the results to the questions posed in the introduction, and explains how these results contribute to
answering the Why of the research. In other words, results are discussed and interpreted in relation to
the previous knowledge, formulated problems, your hypothesis/objectives.
In addition to IMRaD, you will also need:

Title
In preparing the title, you should use the fewest possible words to accurately describe the content of
the paper.

Authors
You will need to include the names and addresses of those who conducted the research and
contributed to the writing of the paper, generally with the major contributor mentioned first, as
senior author.

Abstract
This is a short (generally 200250 words in one paragraph) summary of the objectives of the work, the
methodology used, the main results, and the major conclusions.

Acknowledgements
Here you will mention any institutes or individuals who helped in the work, provided funding,
etc.

References
You will need to prepare references for all the works cited in the text. (As you probably already know,
this is one of the most time-consuming and frustrating parts of the paper to prepare!)

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13.3 Preparing the paperwhich sections to write first

Whilst the preceding paragraphs outline the structure and presentation of a typical research paper when
published, many researchers approach the planning and writing of a paper in a very different order.
Each person has their own preferred method, but the most important thing is to just get startedto
begin putting facts and ideas on paper (or on computer)in other words, overcoming writers block.
A well-recognized and very successful approach is to actually write the sections of a paper and to
follow the following order of preparing sections MRaDI. Others prefer to start with writing a review
of recent relevant literature. This helps in identifying which parts of the methodology are new and need
to be discussed in more detail than the familiar or standard methods and techniques that were used.
Having a good review of the literature also assists in answering the why question of the Introduction
and the So what and What next aspects of the Discussion
The Materials and Methods should be the most straightforward section to write, requiring least thought
and interpretation on the part of the researcher. So you would do well to start with this section.
Following this with the Results section (including any tables or figures that might be needed) makes
sense. It is a relatively easy section to write that also involves presenting facts in a largely straightforward
and objective manner. This section will also require the presentation of any data transformations or
statistical analysis used in preparing the results. This may therefore also help in thinking through ideas
and interpretations for the later Discussion section.
By the time these sections have been completed, ideas and thoughts should be flowing thus leading
smoothly to the writing of the Discussion and Conclusion sections. At this stage, the researcher should
be able to place the whole report in the context of other work (including research that may have been
published since the work being reported was first started) and enable the writing of a comprehensive
and up-to-date Introduction.
In all cases, getting started is often one of the hardest parts, and one of the easiest ways of beginning a
paper, even in this age of computers, is by simply writing subheadings, key words, ideas, and references
down on a blank piece of paper with a pencil. If you often find yourself staring at a blank screen, try it!
The actual writing of the sections should follow closely the guidelines set out in the introductions to
authors, which are specific to each journal.

13.4 Methodology (Materials and Methods), Results, Tables, and Figures

13.4.1 Materials and Methods
This section of the research paper should describe (and if necessary defend) the design and conduct
of work that has been done and is now being reported. You should use the past tense and present the
section as a narrative of steps taken by the author(s).
You can assume that the reader has the technical vocabulary to read and understand the paper. However,
if the subject is unusual or highly current, it would be wise to define in lay terms any unusual technical
term included in the paper.
The underlying principle behind the Materials and Methods section is that its contents must be presented
in sufficient detail that a competent reader could repeat the work. Check carefully to see that you have
done this. In agricultural research, the Materials and Methods section will often include details of:
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Study site
Soil type
Rainfall and other climatic information
Any animals and plants (scientific name, subspecies, strain/variety)

If you are reporting standard, recognized techniques they need not describe the procedures in detail.
The name of the technique, plus a reference if the technique or procedure has been described in a
recognized journal is sufficient. This is true, for instance, of techniques for preparing reagents or media
(e.g., how to make nutrient agar is generally written on the jar!). However, do include details if the
technique has been modified. You also do not need to provide detailed descriptions of simple processes
such as measuring/mixing/applying fertilizer. Simple details of the quantities applied and method(s) of
application are sufficient.
Use the generic names of equipment and chemicals (a rotivator, 75% hydrochloric acid). Only use
proprietary or brand names if any differences between makers or suppliers would be significant and
relevant to your work. Be sure to describe any modifications to equipment. All names and abbreviations
used should be clear and understandable and all measurements should be presented in internationally
recognized SI Units and notation.
Statistics are methods!! You should include all details of experimental design and statistical analysis
in the Materials and Methods section. As with equipment and chemicals, ordinary procedures (e.g.
ANOVA, 2) can be used without comment. However, if you are using any advanced or unusual methods
or procedures, provide a reference and details of any software used. The Material and Methods section
may contain a wide range of diverse information. So consider using subheadings, setting out activities
in chronological or narrative sequence, to make the section easier to read. For example:
Materials and Methods
Site selection and land preparation
Experimental design, planting, and maintenance
Data recording and statistical analysis.
In summary, the Materials and Methods section
Includes all necessary details
Excludes all unnecessary details and therefore
Contains only what you need to present the results section that follows.

13.4.2 Results
In the Results section you present the outcomes of the work. These results are directly related to the
objectives outlined in the Introduction. It is helpful to summarize results in text and illustrate these
words with tables and /or figures.
Remember: the Results section is often the shortest section of a research publication, but also the
most important. Do not present raw, un-analysed data. Do not feel that all data and results should be
included. Be selective, presenting only that which is relevant to making the conclusions that you will
present in the following Discussion section. Being selective does not mean that you can disregard and
delete data that differ from what you expected, e.g. the so-called outliers which are either much higher
or lower than all the other data. You can only do so, if you are certain that those data are the result of
faulty equipment or errors in data recording. If you cannot explain why they are so different and yet
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wish to exclude them from the data set you used in the analysis, you need to mention this explicitly
either in a footnote to the table or, better still, in the text of the Results section.
(Note that un-analysed results are sometimes presented as appendices in PhD dissertations, and in
some annual reports such as those from individual research stations). It is often difficult (even painful!)
to leave out results obtained through hard, long work. The skill is to judge what results to include, and
what results (however interesting or important) should be left out. The results you do include should
clearly describe what was found, including statistical tests, differences, and probabilities. Statistical
significance is reported in the Results section.
However, the interpretation of agricultural, biological, or scientific importance (or significance) is not;
this is done in the Discussion and /or Conclusion section(s).
Tables and figures (see below) are good tools to make your results easy to read and understand. But
you also need to state your results clearly in words. A table or a figure enables readers to see the
(summarized data) for themselves, but the results remain the subject of the text (and not the tables or
figures). This can be illustrated by an example: a Results section might state: There was an inverse
relationship between A and B (Figure 4), but it should NOT say, Figure 4 shows the relationship
between A and B.

13.4.3 Tables and figures

Tables
Tables are useful for presenting analysed summary data (e.g. means standard errors). You can use
them to show precise figures, as well as other (non-numeric) details, including words or symbols, to
indicate location, treatments, variety, etc.

Presenting tables
Each table generally has a separate table number. Number and present your tables sequentially, in the
order in which they are referred to in the text. (If you have many tables presenting related data, use the
form Table 1.1, Table 1.2 rather than Table No. 1a, Table 1b, etc.). A table should have a clear and
concise title which tells what the table shows, not what the table is about. Place your table numbers
and titles above each table.
Here are the key elements of a good table:

A table has column headings, which should be short and easily understood.
A table has row headings (or stub headings).
A table has a field, the boxes of information in the body of the table.
A table often has footnotes, either to explain any abbreviations or symbols being used or to
provide a Reference if the table (or field items within it) are taken from a source other than the
Results being presented.

Constructing tables
If possible, avoid using long numbers, particularly in column headings. These should be presented with
abbreviations e.g. 3.92x107 not 39,200,000; or 107 included in a column heading and then 3.92. If a
number is less than zero, a 0 should be included, e.g. 0.25.

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Do not put too many items in a table, because it will become crammed and hard to interpret. If you
have too few items, the table may be unnecessary. If you have less than eight field items, you probably
do not need a table and can present the results as text. A table should include the same group of
elements down columns, and NOT across rows.
However, columns with the same value throughout should not be included. If a column has the same
value all down its length (and if the value is needed) it could perhaps be better included as a footnote.
To make your tables easy to read, do not separate the columns with vertical lines.
In summary, tables should be able to standalone, be self-explanatory (with their title and footnotes),
and help to convey the results of the experiment.

Figures
A picture tells a thousand words. Figures are visual presentations of results that can save you hundreds,
if not thousands of words. Figures should be numbered separately from tables (i.e., a paper can have
both a Table 1 and a Figure 1) and referred to by number in the text. As with tables, present and number
your figures sequentially, in the order in which they are referred to in the text. (Also, as with tables
avoid Figure 1a, Figure 1b, etc. and use Figure 1.1, Figure 1.2). Like tables, figures need a clear
and concise title, which tells what the figure illustrates and allows the reader to interpret the figure
without referring to the text.
Notice that unlike with tables, the numbers and titles of figures are placed BELOW the figure.
For inclusion in a research paper a figure should be:
Simple, clear, and visually attractivenot crowded
Stand-alone (with its titles and any footnotes)
Easy to understand without need to refer to any other part of the paper

Major types of figures for presenting results

You have several different and commonly used types of figures available to illustrate your research
paper. Each has advantages and limitations and is best suited for the presentation of particular types
of information. The type and quantity of data help decide if an illustration is necessary, the type of
information to be conveyed helps decide what type of figure is most suitable.
Pie charts show proportions of a single variable.
Histograms compare quantities, such as yields, for different classes of variable.
Line graphs show trends and relationships or other dynamic comparisons of continuous variables.

Constructing a figure
A figure should be simple enough to get the message across instantly. The inclusion of too much detail
may just create confusion. Figures should be in black and white if possible. Colour and grey shading
can look good, but add to costs. Changes from the original colours may occur during printing and
cause further confusion. If axes are used they should have brief informative titles (legends) and include
any units of measurement. Axes should not extend much beyond the range of the data. If needed, the
items in a figure should contain simple and relevant legends.
Remember, results may be presented as either tables or figures, never as both.

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13.5 Discussion, Conclusion, Introduction

13.5.1 Discussion
The Discussion section should interpret results clearly, concisely and logically. Cite evidence from the
literature that supports or contradicts your results and explain contradictions. Describe the limitations
of your research. Results or references to tables or figures already described in the results section
should not be repeated in the discussion. The Discussion section of a scientific paper contains an
interpretation of the results. The results are related to the original objectives (as set out in the Introduction
section). The discussion answers the readers question So what? by explaining what the results mean.
You should not include in this section material on the research background and scientific context.
This information is set out in the Introduction and should not be repeated. Nor should you repeat the
questions your work is attempting to answerthese too should be shown in the Introduction.
The discussion draws on the information in the Results section, explaining and interpreting the results,
and showing how they have answered the questions set out in the Introduction. Sometimes you will
include in the Discussion section shortcomings, errors, inadequacies, or difficulties encountered
during the research. This is also the section for pointing out how your results compare with the findings
of others, and explaining any differences from previously published research.
The discussion interprets and draws theoretical principles and generalizations from the results. But you
should avoid proposing principles and generalizations beyond what is directly supported by the results.
You may wish to conclude the discussion section with some broad generalizations and speculations,
based on the results and other (published) work (with references). You may also end this section by
identifying further problems and the next steps and additional research needed.

13.5.2 Results and Discussions in the same section

Combining Results and Discussions in the same section may be a good way to avoid repetition.
It is recommended that you use past tense to refer to results of your own research, but you may use the
present tense to refer to results that are generally accepted.
Results

Discussion

We found that A>B

Because A>B the

implication
Result and Discussion
We found that A>B which means

Figure 1. Combining results and discussions.

13.5.3 Conclusion
If you are reporting on a long and complex piece of research, and if you have complicated results, you
may well want to include a separate Conclusion section. If so, you may begin this section with a very
brief summary restatement of the major results and highlights of the Discussion section as they relate
to future needs and activities. Before preparing a separate Conclusion section, check on the style and
format instructions to authors of the journal to which you are planning to submit your paper.
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Introduction
The Introduction section of a research paper presents the nature and range of the problem
investigated (Why is the topic important, how does it relate to previous knowledge, what was your
hypothesis or objectives)
Where, when, and how does the problem appear?
How wide are its impacts?
In what way is present knowledge and understanding inadequate?
What is the purpose of the work, what benefits will an answer bring?
In the Introduction you will include:

A review of relevant and pertinent literature

Results and conclusions of previous work
An explanation (rationale) of why the work being described was needed
Keep focused. Include only information that is directly relevant to your research. Resist any
temptation to dress up your work with unnecessary and irrelevant references. These will not
impress the journal editor, only irritate. Do include widely available review papers or book
chapters as background references, and try to avoid hard-to-obtain journals, MSc/PhD theses,
and internal reports. The Introduction sets the problem in the context of current knowledge
and should move from describing the general setting to describing the specific situation. If you
think it important, you may include broad details of the study area and the region in which
the problem or crop/animal being investigated occurs (with both common and scientific
names). However, reserve more details on, for instance, soil type and plant variety for the later
Materials and Methods section. Any specialized terms or abbreviations should be explained
in the Introduction. A key section of the introduction is the listing of your objective(s). These
will often lead logically to a suggested hypothesis. The Introduction is also the place for a
broad description and justification of the method(s) you have chosen. If you have more than
one objective, present these in a logical order. This order will then be repeated elsewhere in the
paper, making it easier for the reader to follow and understand. In a well-constructed paper this
sequence :
Will probably be repeated in the Materials and Methods section to show how the stated
objectives were investigated
Should be the sequence for reporting outcomes in the Results section
Should be the sequence in which results and objectives are interpreted and discussed in the
Discussion
Readers can then follow the logic of your research throughout the paper. In turn, therefore:
The Introduction sets out Questions A B C
The Materials and Methods describes how to Answer A B C
The Results reports answers to A B C
The Discussion interprets the answers to A B C

Titles
The title of a research paper should accurately and adequately describe the subject and contents of
the paper in as few words as possible. It should be easy to understand. Journals often limit the number
of words that can be used to, e.g. 25 words or less. A title is a label and not a grammatical sentence.
Only the first word in the title (except for proper nouns) has a capital letter. A title has no verb and does
not end with a full stop (period).

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A title should generally describe the subject of the work, not its results. The title will almost certainly be
the most widely seen and read part of the research paper. Titles are used in cataloguing and abstracting,
in electronic/internet databases, and will be in the reference list of other research publications. A
good title will help future researchers identify your paper, so it should contain as many key words as
possible. The most important of these should come first, or early in the title. In most conferences and
symposia, papers are presented under different themes and sub themes. Vague and uninformative title
increase the risk that the abstract might be allocated to an inappropriate session or even be rejected.
The title should include the name of any plants or animals, either as common names (if these exist) or
scientific names, but not both. If the work and its conclusions are restricted or relevant to a particular
region this should be named (e.g. sub-Saharan Africa; the Indus Valley). The title should avoid
abbreviations, formulas, brand names, and unusual terms.
A title should not have dates. A title should avoid unnecessary words and phrases, such as Observations
on, An investigation into, etc. A title is often best written after completing the paper. It may even be
the very last thing to be written!

Types of titles
In general, title can be categorized into one of four types:
a Indicative:
Effects of deficit irrigation on maize growth and yield on a clay soil
b Informative:
Deficit irrigation decreases maize growth and yield on a clay soil
c Question:
Does deficit irrigation affect maize growth and yield on a clay soil?
d Main title/subtitle:
Deficit irrigation: Effects on maize growth and yield on a clay soil

Box 2: Tips for developing a good title

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Should attract people to your paper

Should tell what the paper is about
Should be informative, specific and concise
Should describe the subject of research and not the results
Put the most important words first
Describe the novel material usedto differentiate your research from
others on the subject
Limit the title to not more than 710 words
Make sure that the final title is relevant to the content of the paper
For review papers, consider using a hanging title, e.g XXXXXXX:
A Review

Titles for non-technical audiences

When writing for lay people, such as donors, you will need to provide a simpler and catchier title for
your work. A good strategy is to use a two-part titleperhaps using the main-sub-title or the question
title categories suggested above. The main title could be the catchy, attention-grabbing part of the
title in lay-persons language, with a more scientific subtitle. Here are some examples, taken from
successful project proposals. The lay-persons language part of the title might also be useful for articles
in newspapers and other non-technical media.

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 Fish for the future: identification and characterization of endangered aquatic species in selected
tropical sites
More beans for Africa: sustainable bean productive through germplasm enhancement and input
use efficiency
Why do the chickens die? Developing low-cost and simple techniques for aflatoxin estimation in
foods and feeds
Did we make a difference? Assessment of past and expected impact of XXXs work in the 1990s

Authors
In principle, the authors of a research paper or article are those who have contributed substantially to
the conduct of the research and the preparation of the research article. This may include an intellectual
contribution; for example supervisors of research papers arising from PhD theses. The choosing (or
granting) of authorship can be a difficult issue.
Names of authors should be complete enough to ensure proper identification. If there are authors with
the same surname or family name, it may be necessary to add full names instead of initials. Names
of authors should be listed in a logical sequence. This usually means that the major contributor to the
research work and the writing of the research paper is named as first (senior) author, with other authors
following in decreasing order of their level of contribution to the work. If there are many authors, with
broadly equal levels of contribution, alphabetical listing may be used.
If alphabetical listing is used this should be mentioned. Include addresses of all the authors, following
the journal style (this will be discussed later). Questions and queries (correspondence) concerning the
research paper by future readers would normally be sent to the senior author. If for some reason this is
not the case and correspondence should be sent to someone other than the senior author, this should
be indicated. This is usually by means of a symbol alongside the name of the chosen (corresponding)
author with an explanatory footnote.

Abstract
The abstract (or summary or resum) is a concise summary of the paper and generally should not
exceed 250 words. In general, the shorter the abstract the better. The abstract should not repeat any
information contained in the title; together with the title, the abstract is a self-contained account of the
research being presented.
Abstracts are included in catalogues and electronic/internet databases and are of major use in enabling
others to quickly and easily decide if they wish to read the full paper. For this reason, try to convey
as much information as possible to have the greatest impact. Your abstract should follow the IMRaD
structure, but you should write it as a single paragraph, with no tables of figures.

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Box 3: Issues to note about abstract

Abstracts are read on their own
Read by most people and often it will determine whether they read
the entire paper
Should describe the problem and summarize the major points of the
research in a brief and understandable forms
Start with
Clear statement of the objectives
Approach
Main results
Should end with one or two sentences that emphasize
important conclusions
Depending on the journal, the length of the abstract is restricted to
maximum number of words
Should stand alone
Do not cite references to literature, tables and figures
Avoid using abbreviations
Use the same tense throughout the section or at least throughout a
paragraph. Normally written in past tense.

The abstract includes:

the objectives and purpose of the work
an outline of the Materials and Methods (with details of new techniques or equipment) and
scientific and common names of organisms. Complex names (e.g. of chemicals, or terminology)
may be set out at first mention with an abbreviation that is used subsequently
The abstract does not include or refer to:
details of materials and methods, and only mentions the most important results and conclusions
any figures or tables presented in the main paper
references or literature cited in the main paper
An abstract is definitive, i.e. it gives the hard facts in the form of statements concerning what is contained
in the research paper. It is not descriptivei.e. it does not make general statements saying what the
paper is about. Along with the title you should consider writing the abstract after you have written all
the other parts of the research paper.

Keywords
Keywords are used for indexing services and form the subject index of the journal. They are a list of
important words (or short phrases) used in the main text and or abstract but not already present in the
title. Keywords are included with the title and the abstract in the indexing of the published article in
electronic databases. So you will want to choose your key words carefully to complement those in the
title to attract the largest number and broadest range of potential readers.

Acknowledgements
The acknowledgments consist of a short paragraph (one or two sentences) thanking individuals or
institutions who have contributed to the work.

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These might include:

Techniciansif closely and significantly involved

Supervisorsif they have contributed to the work
Outside institutions or companies that supplied equipment or facilities (e.g., land for experiments)
Colleagues who gave advice or with whom you discussed ideas
Statisticians who helped with the analysis and interpretation of results

Remember to include donors in your acknowledgments. Give the name of the agency, the name of any
large program of which the work forms a part, and perhaps a grant code or number. If the work derives
from a thesis not referred to in the text, this can be mentioned in the acknowledgments.

Citations and references

The reference list contains full details of all articles specifically referred to in the text. These are called
the text citations. Text citations generally give the name(s) (generally the surname or main name)
of the author(s) of the article and its year of publication. This system of text citation is often referred
to as the Harvard or Name-Year system. Other systems also exist; some medical and biochemical
science journals, for instance, use numbering systems. References may be used either in explaining
and justifying the need for the work (those text citations generally in the Introduction), the conduct of
the work (those text citations generally found in the Results section), or the implications of the work
(those text citations generally in the Discussion section).
The purpose of the reference list is to enable other researchers to trace and obtain any previously
published research used to describe and support the new work being presented. Equally importantly,
references allow readers, should they wish, to arrive at their own opinions as to whether this previously
published work has been interpreted and used correctly, and from this judge the value of the new work
being presented.
Compiling your reference list can be one of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of writing a
research paper. Each journal seems to have its own minor variations in the way references are presented,
both in the text of the article and in the reference list. Getting these small details of style correct can
be horribly time consuming. This is especially true if you are writing more than one manuscript at the
same time, to be sent to different journals.
Consulting the Notes to Authors prepared by the journal will help, but the best way is refer to a
reprint or photocopy of a recently published paper by the journal. If your paper is likely to have many
references (for example, over 25) it is recommended that you prepare a separate document file for the
reference list. You can then add to your list as new sections are written. Going back through a long
manuscript to look for references that have already been included in the text, and then assembling a
reference list is not the ideal way. It may sometimes even be difficult to remember exactly which of
several similar references is, or are, actually being referred to.

Text citations
The Harvard (author-year) system
The style used in the Harvard system varies between journals, for example in the use of upper case or
the placement or absence of commas. Generally (although not always), when a reference written by
two authors (a joint-authored citation) is cited in the text, the names are linked by and. When citing
a reference written by three or more authors (a multi-authored citation), the name of the first author is

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followed by et al. (an abbreviation of et alii, the Latin for and others). However, some journals may
require all the authors of a multi-authored reference to be named at the first text citation in the text, to
be followed by first author + et al. at subsequent citations. Depending on individual journal style, et al.
may be in italics. Again, a close study of the particular journals Notes for Authors and of a recently
published paper is necessary.
Some examples of text citation styles:
those of Stutzel (1995) and Manschadi et al. (1998)
up to 80 cm (Anderson 1985; El-Shatnawi and Goshesh 1988; El-Shatnawi et al. 1999)
(Australian Journal of Agricultural Research)
in cinnamon (Bullerman et al. 1977, Jay 1986, Chang 1995, Holt and Gomez-Almonte
1995) (Food Microbiology)
milk composition (Jelinek et al. 1996; Burriel, 1997) and similarly, Culioli and Sherman
(1978), Schmutz and Puhan (1978) and Garnot et al. (1982) found (Journal of Dairy Research).

Numbered citation systems

Numbering with alphabetical reference listing
The complete reference list is numbered in alphabetical order and these numbers assigned to the
citations in the text. E.g.: ...as Franzel et al. (2) and Ajayi (1) have shown
Ajayi O. (1987) The effect of different types of farmer participation on the management of on-farm
trials. Agricultural Administration and Extension 25: 235252.
Franzel S.; Legesse D.; Colburn F. & D. Getahun (1989) Grain marketing and peasant production
in Ethiopia. Research Report No. 5. Addis Ababa: Institute of Agricultural Research. 48p.
In some review papers, which may include well over 100 citations, to save space this may be reduced
further by omitting the authors names. E.g.: ...as has been shown (1, 2)...

The Vancouver System (Numbering with sequential reference listing)

References are numbered in the text as they are first cited, and are listed in the reference list in this
sequence. E.g.: ...as Franzel et al. 1 and Ajayi 2 have shown
Franzel, S.; Legesse, D.; Colburn, F. & D. Getahun (1989) Grain marketing and peasant production
in Ethiopia. Research Report No. 5. Addis Ababa: Institute of Agricultural Research. 48p.
Ajayi O. (1987) The effect of different types of farmer participation on the management of on-farm
trials. Agricultural Administration and Extension 25: 235252.

The reference list

The reference list should contain all the details of a text citation necessary to find and photocopy the
work being cited, either in an institute or university library or from any other source. In general, the list
is prepared in alphabetical order of the surname (or main name) of the first author, then by initials if
there are two authors with the same surname/main name, then by date (year).
There are some general rules in alphabetical listing:
All works by an author alone precede any co-authored or multi-authored work where s/he is first
author.
Works written by an author precede works edited by the same author.

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 Works by the same author (or authors in the same sequence) in the same year are arranged by
alphabetical order of the titles and then marked by letters, e.g. Smith (1999a) (Smith 1999b).
Major components of a reference required in citing a journal article comprise:

Author(s)
Date (generally year)
Title of work being cited (with only the first word and proper nouns having a capital letter)
Name of the journal. Volume (and sometimes issue number of the volume, e.g. 4(2) means
Volume 4 (Issue 2).

Start (first) page number of the article citedlast page number of article cited. The name of the journal
may be set out in full or abbreviated depending on the style of the journal to which the article is being
submitted. The form of the abbreviation will be shown in the Notes for Authors of the cited journal (or
in copies and reprints of articles in which the cited journal is referred to).
Major components of a reference required in citing a complete book comprise:

Author(s) or editor(s)
Date of publication (year)
Title of book (often in italics)
Edition of book if not the first edition
City of publication + publisher OR publisher + city of publication
Total number of pages or start page numberlast page number of section being cited.
(Titles of grey literature, internal or self-published reports, working papers, etc., are not
italicized).
The country, state, or province of the city should be added if the city is not well known or there is
the possibility of confusion.
The major components of a reference required in citing a chapter in a multi-authored volume
comprise:

Author(s) of chapter being cited.

Title of chapter being cited.
Start (first) page number of the chapter citedlast page number of chapter cited.
Editor(s) of volume in which chapter appears
Title of volume in which chapter appears (often in italics).
City of publication + publisher OR publisher + city of publication.

Personal communications are only mentioned in the text and are not included in the reference list (and
only if the journal permits their inclusion). Some journals permit unpublished work to be included in
text citations, and the reference list (Smith J. 1999. unpublished). Other journals do not.
Some journals permit work in press to be included in the reference list. In this case the work must
have been approved for publication and the name of the journal included (e.g. Smith J. 1999. in press.
Journal of Agriculture). Within these broad guideline and rules many variations exist. These include
abbreviations, the uses of commas (,) semi-colons (;) full-colons (:) and the use of bold and italics.
Here are some examples taken at random from recent issues of journals in an agricultural college
library in England: Crosby, D.G. 1981. Environmental chemistry of pentachlorophenol. Pure Appl.
Chem. 53:10521080. (Journal of Bacteriology)

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Nyczepir, A. P., and Lewis, S. A. 1979. Relative tolerance of selected soybean cultivars to Hoplolaimus
columbus and possible effects of soil temperature. J. Nematol. 11:2731.
(Plant Disease) Anghinoni I, Barber SA (1980) Predicting the most efficient phosphoros placement
for corn. Soil Science Society of America Journal 44, 10161020. (Australian Journal of Agricultural
Research)
Keisler DH, Andrews ML and Moffatt RJ 1992 Subclinical mastitis in ewes and its effects on lamb
performance. Journal of Animal Science 70 16771681 (Journal of Dairy Research)
Glass, K. A. and Doyle, M. P. (1989) Fate of Listeria monocytogenes in processed meat products during
refrigerated storage. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 55, 15651569. (Food Microbiology)

Notes to Authors
Notes to Authors contain a journals rules for preparing manuscripts. The notes are generally printed
inside the cover of an issue of the journal at least once a year. As well as details on use of italics, commas,
parentheses etc., the notes will also describe preferred layout (size of paper, margins, fonts etc.) and
suggestions for the names of the various sections of the research paper. If electronic submissions are
accepted, the software and form these may be sent in will be stated.
When choosing a journal to which to submit your paper, the first consideration has to be the suitability
of your subject to the editorial policy of the journal. The next thing to do is consult the notes for authors.
Always do this before you start to write. This will enable you to adjust your own manuscript style, and
include as many as possible of the conventions and style characteristics demanded by the particular
journal, from the very beginning. Returning through a completed manuscript (especially a completed
reference list) to make lots of small but necessary adjustments to make your style conform to that of
a journal is a time-consuming and tedious task. This can be avoided with planning and foresight. It
is, however, likely that the notes for authors will not contain all details of every minor question of
style, and most Notes for Authors themselves recommend referring to a recent issue of the particular
journal.
Getting as many (or all) details of presentation correct at submission is a major step in easing the
refereeing process. Referees do not enjoy having to make corrections to errors of style that should
be the responsibility of the author. Equally, it is frustrating for you as an author to have a manuscript
returned with demands for corrections that could have been avoided.
A comprehensive set of notes for authors will help equally if you are a journal editor. For example, if
you are leading a research program and having to collate contributions from different scientists into a
program report, you will also benefit from having your own notes to authors. Having the individual
researchers follow a single style when they submit their individual reports will save you, as an editor/
compiler, a lot of time and effort as you prepare the program report.

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212

Trainers guide
Session 14:

Different types of scientific publications

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Appreciate the different ways in which research results can be published

Understand the different outputs of research
Decide when to write what publication
Training materials

Assorted markers
Felt pens

Flip charts
Time needed

30 min

Method of facilitation
Activity

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Ask participants highlight the different types of scientific

publications that they know

5 min

Plenary presentation

Different types of scientific publications

20 min

Participant interaction

Trainer gives an opportunity to participate to ask questions,

contribute or raise their opinions. If there are any light bulbs
participants are encouraged to share them with others.

5 min

Summary

Trainer summarizes the salient features of the session and switch to

session 15

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Different types of scientific publications

Reading notes on the different types of scientific publications

213

Session 14: Summary of presentations: Different types

of scientific publications
14.1

Different types of
scientific publications

14.2

Written presentations
Written reporting is clearly the main, and most

permanent method for communicating research

Methods and forms vary depending on the nature

of both the material being disseminated and the

audience

14.3

1. Books and book chapters

On reaching a level of seniority and authority in a

specialist area a researcher may be asked to

contribute to books

A contributor to a book will be expected to draw

on his or her own work, as well as to refer widely

to the work of others (past and current) in the
general area

Books are largely built around findings that have

become accepted (over time) by the scientific

community

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14.4

2. Review papers

Similar to book chapters (and often of equal or

greater length), reviews draw on a recognized
authority's knowledge and experience to provide an
overview of a special area
Reviews are generally provided for a more specialist
readership than book chapters, and provide a
detailed survey of the available research literature
Reviews also serve as up-to-date and comprehensive
reference list
Good review papers are of great value to younger
scientists by indicating what information is available,
and where details may be found, as they provide a
single reference for a wide range of generally
accepted procedures and concepts

14.5

3. Journal articles

The writing most researchers do is writing journal

articles
Most likely these articles are submitted for publications
in printed journals but it could also be for electronic
journals which are now being published on line.
Most scientific journals operate an anonymous
independent peer review process in their fields of
specialization
Peer reviews are not meant to unearth and investigate
misconduct, but they form an essential and integral part
of the process of consensus building and they are
inherent in the growth of scientific knowledge
The time between writing a paper and the publication of
the work is long. Often it takes nearly a year even after
the paper has been approved for publication before it

appears in print

14.6

4. Science magazines

Science magazines may occasionally enable

researchers to present their work in a less
specialized manner, and to a broader audience

Science magazines will likely focus on accessible

topics with wide public appeal

More specialized and esoteric topics will be less

attractive, despite their international or national
significance

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14.7

5. Newspaper articles
The researcher will have little control over
deciding what is considered interesting for a
newspapers readership
An interview or a contribution to a farming
column, published in a widely read newspaper,
may be an effective way of bringing a national
message to wide audience

14.8

6. Extension leaflets and posters

Producing printed materials for a non-scientifically

trained and educated, perhaps illiterate audience, is

a special skill
Some research will not be suitable for direct
communication
Extension workers and farmers are the intermediate
and ultimate users of agricultural knowledge, and
their need to understand and use research results is
paramount
Communication is essential, and needs to be
appropriately presented
Researchers will likely need to partner with
specialist communicators to ensure the right choice
of medium, language and illustration to get the
messages across

14.9

7. Conference posters

216

A poster may well be the form in which a

researcher first presents finding to peers

Posters are often used to present preliminary

findings

Some major conferences are now so large that

posters, rather than oral papers, are the main
medium for researchers to present their work

As posters become more important, researchers

are devoting more time to their preparation

14.10

8. Annual reports, quarterly reports and

project reports

14.11

Annual reports frequently represent the first

presentation of research results often in a manner
similar to a research paper, but rarely in similar
detail as one would find in a journal article
Some annual reports present research as ongoing,
rather than completed work, along with more
comprehensive reporting of results
Quarterly reports provide an ongoing commentary
of the progress of research activities, principally as a
management tool for project monitoring
Quarterly reports are often standardized with little
analysis or interpretation
Project reports are needed to report to external
donors, who have required formats for appropriate
reporting

9. Conference abstracts
Most conference organizers demand an abstract of
an intended presentation prior to its acceptance by
the conference
This allows them to judge the suitability and quality
of the intended presentation and choose a time for
the presentation within the conference schedule
The abstract themselves may appear in (supplements
to) journals, and on occasions be referred to by other
researchers

14.12

10. Conference/Workshop proceedings

Research papers may appear in workshop or

conference proceedings

Conference proceeding can be very useful, by

bringing together much up to date and relevant
information in a particular field

There are many reservations about the

independence of the peer review process

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14.13

11. Letter to journals and book reviews

Researchers can demonstrate their expertise by

writing letters to journals, perhaps in reply to
articles published by others, or by raising new
points of view

Book reviews are also a way of highlighting

experience in the literature

Although an invitation to review a book represents

wider recognition of expertise, this is not an
important way for a researcher to disseminate the
findings of his or her work , given the limited nature
of the assignment and likely audience

14.14

Oral presentations

Conference: 105 minutes presentation

Seminar and workshop

Project planning and donor meetings

Outside talks and media interviews

14.15

Thank you!!

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Session 14: Notes to participants: Different types of scientific

publications
14.1 Written presentations
Written reporting is clearly the main, and most permanent method for communicating research, and is
the main focus of this module. While the journal article, to be discussed later, may be considered the
primary form of such communication, methods and forms vary depending on the nature of both the
material being disseminated and the relationship of the researcher to this material.

14.1.1 Books and book chapters

On reaching a level of seniority and authority in a specialist area, a researcher may be asked to
contribute to books, whether produced by an independent commercial scientific publisher or by an
international research centre. (The degree of research specialization nowadays means it is unlikely that
any single researcher will be able to write an authoritative book alone).
A contributor to a book will be expected to draw on his or her own work, as well as to refer widely to
the work of others (past and current) in the general area. Because of the time involved in publishing
books, this is not seen as the right medium for new, cutting edge and largely untested results. Books
therefore are largely built around findings that have become accepted (over time) by the scientific
community. The authority of the author, however and the nature of the publishing process may allow
the author of a book freedom to speculate and put forward ideas that would not necessarily be possible
within the limits of, say, a journal article. An established authority in a given field can also exercise
considerable research communication influence in other ways, such as in the role of journal editor.

A book can be a thesis or dissertation

Usually a monographa complete book about your research program, a collection of draft or
published papers. In this case an introduction and a discussion to link together. The main differences
between the two are style and layout. Follow the university guidelines.
Introductionset the schemes and outlines the approach adopted. Sometimes an extended introduction
is required, which includes a review of literature, in some other cases literature review forms a separate
section. This literature review section should conclude that there is a gap in the knowledge, then a
reader can then turn the page and see that your research has filled that gap.
Main body is split into sections/chapters individual experiments or different aspects of the program.
Each chapter describes one experiment, materials, methods result and discussion may be included in
each chapter. Or a general chapter may be written for methods and discussions that are common to
several experiments. There is no right or wrong way of dividing thesis into sections/chapters.
General discussion (irrespective of monograph or collection of paper) requires a slightly different
approach from that in a scientific paper or review of literature. Compare your results with previously
published information, and discuss the implications, but you also need to discuss the relationships
among your individual experiments and state how the overall program fits your hypothesisconsider
the whole picture as well the individual pieces.

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14.1.2 Review papers

Similar to book chapters (and often of equal or greater length), reviews draw on a recognized authoritys
knowledge and experience to provide an overview of a specialist area. Reviews are generally
provided for a more specialist readership than book chapters, and provide a detailed survey of the
available research literature. Reviews also serve as an up-to-date and comprehensive reference list.
Commercial publishers of scientific literature publishsometimes annuallybooks with reviews in a
branch of science or technology, with names such as Advances in (published by Academic Press)
and Progress in (Pergamon Press), and others. However, there are considerable risks involved in
publishing these books because of the rapid advances in science and technology. For that reason
some publishers discontinued their series of reviews while others were taken over by not-for-profit
professional associations.
In a review paper we report work from several sources; rather than one study/one experiment/research
program. Review papers are found in journals and conference proceedings; a common form of writing
in university training. Reviews of literature are also found, in a shortened form, in the introduction
section of a standard scientific paper, and in a longer form, in the literature review section of a thesis
or dissertation.

Main requirement of a review article

It should be comprehensive and critical. This does not mean that you criticize other authors, but
collect all available information both +ve and ve, compare and contrast them and give a balanced
perspective.
A review is just as much a part of the research process as conducting experiments
Good reviews contribute to scientific knowledge by bringing data together so that new or more
definite conclusions can be drawn.
Reviews also can identify the gap in knowledge and new areas of research.
Structure of a review paper generally consists of: Introduction, various subsections, a general discussion,
conclusions and reference list
Introduction: Similar to the old paper, state the problem and indicate why you want to review why you
want to review the literaturebut dont include the review
Conclusion and reference listfollow exactly the same principles; major difference is in the body of
the review

Body
Split the body of the review clearly into themes or topics each of which can have its own section. Keep
each topic separate and arrange them logically start from general to specific. You might be able to relate
specifics back to general in your discussions.

Content
In a scientific paper, you normally have a hypothesis, which you accept or reject on the basis of your
experimental results. In the case of a review, you have a theory or a message, which you support or
reject on the basis of published results. You may have formed a theory based on your knowledge or
review or you may be invited to review a subject for a conference or journal or you may be writing
a review for a thesis or student assignment. You need to convince the reader with sound arguments,
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supported by good evidence. Try to have at least two references that support the idea, make sure that
you report reference that contradict your theory/opinion and say why it does not fit your theory.
You should never omit relevant references just because it conflicts with your ideas. You should also be
cautious when using references that agree with you but not relevant. Never extract parts of a paper that
disagrees with the original authors conclusions; unless you are looking at the data/information from a
new angle. Do not report results that the author found were not significant as though they were. Always
try to give some experimental details from the paper that shows how strongly the evidence supports
your theory/view.
Quantitative data are useful for supporting theories and formulating new ideas. You can combine data
from several studies in a table or figure (give examples), but be careful when trying to do statistical
analysis on means from different studies; (meta analysis). It is good to consult a statistician first.
Do not produce a long list of references to support the print. Try to avoid referring to text books; they
usually do not describe experimental results, they just state authors opinions.
When you get ideas or evidence from a paper that itself review, always check the original source of
information; the reviewer might have misinterpreted the data.

14.1.3 Writing your review

It requires planning or careful thought. Lots of index cards, a folder with a number of sub folders or files
with key words on them. Sort the files and cards into the order of your review sub-headings. Within
each topic decide how you want to cover the materials and sort the cards into the same order.
Check there are any gaps (ideas without reference) and fill them by doing a further literature search. Then
gather the papers or into the correct order. Write the review one section at a time, but do not duplicate
the same information into sections. Check each section to make sure that you have enough evidence to
support your position/argument, and make sure that you have quoted each author accurately.
When all sections are completed, read through the review and make sure that the flow between
sections is satisfactory. You may need to add a sentence or two that link sections. It is also good to have
a tentative summary at the end of each section. Make sure that your introduction and conclusions use
similar words and that the conclusions use similar words and that the conclusions refer back to the
introductions.
Good review papers are of great value to younger scientists by indicating what information is available,
and where details may be found, as they provide a single reference for a wide range of generally accepted
procedures and concepts. A phenomenon called twigging describes the process in which each branch
of science or technology produces new branches which focus on only part of the parent science or
technology. Hence, the art of writing reviews has become more and more elitist with consequently a
smaller group of interested readers, and less (commercial) benefit from the considerable efforts that go
into the writing of good review articles.

14.1.4 Journal articles

The writing most researchers do is writing journal articles and this is the focus of a large part of the
module. Most likely these articles are submitted for publication in printed journals but it could also be

221

for electronic journals which are now being published on-line. Preparing articles for publication in
journals is a complex task, requiring many different skills (in addition to those skills originally needed
to carry out the work being reported). As a researcher you know that the number of articles you publish
and the nature of the journals where your articles appear will likely be used to judge the quantity and
quality of your work.
Journals publish different types of scientific paper. These can be: full length research papers, review
papers, symposium papers, invited papers, and technical research notes. They give results of completed
but limited experimental and methodological details, book review, and letter to the editor. Their
purpose is to discuss, critique, or expand on specific points made in recently published papers and
rapid communications. They deal with hot topics.
The format of a journal paper varies from one journal to another. Generally, the standard format has
the following components;

Title
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussions
Conclusions
References
Acknowledgments, Annexes (Acknowledgement and appendices are optional, as are tables and
figures)

Most scientific journals operate an anonymous independent peer-review process in their field of
specialization. Occasionally, the authors or their supervisors may be able to guess who the referees
for a particular article are likely to be. Hence, to foster objectivity, the names of the authors may not
be revealed to the referees. Alternatively, some argue that the names of both authors and referees
should be revealed. The peer review system has been blamed for bias and the rejection of papers that
were worthy of publication as became apparent when they later appeared in other journals of equal
reputation. The earlier rejection then only contributed to the overall delay in the publishing process.
Yet, the peer review system contributes to the integrity of the scientific record of a journal, which is
the primary concern of science editors. Fortunately, legal misconduct in science and technology, such
as plagiarism and fabrication of results, is rare but is not non-existent. Peer reviews are not meant
to unearth and investigate misconduct, but they form an essential and integral part of the process of
consensus building and they are inherent in the growth of scientific knowledge.
The metaphor of twigging mentioned in the context of review papers is also apparent in the proliferation
of scientific journals. Sometimes the need for new journals came about when new ideas were first
perceived as too radical and shut out by the mainstream of science publishing. This happened for
example with transmission of radio waves which was seen as unimportant by electrical engineers and
scientists. More often, new journals are started when the existing ones have so many sections that none
of the readers is interested in or capable of understanding all of them anymore. An example is the
American Soil Science Society of Science Journal which covers the entire range of soil science from
pedology to soilwater relations. Recently, a new journal was brought out by the American Soil Science

222

Society called Vadose Zone Journal, which focuses on transport mechanisms in the unsaturated part of
the soil profile.
Another reason for starting a new journal may be found in the growth of scientific research in a
particular country or region. This could be particularly true for agricultural journals in developing
countries. For example, much of the research on soil and water quality in the western world deals with
organic residues and heavy metals, whereas in many semi-arid countries soil and water degradation
results from salinization processes. The result is that international environmental literature deals with a
different set of issues than what is significant in scientific research in some developing countries.
The time between writing of a paper and the publication of that work is long. Often it takes nearly
a year even after the paper has been approved for publication before it appears in print. The reason
for this is that journal editors have to maintain a stock of papers ready to be published to fill every
scheduled issue in turn. Pressure to reduce the time gap has been strong, but has had little effect on the
printed journals. The inevitable time gap may have contributed to the demise of the monographs and
substantial review papers in rapidly advancing fields of science and technology, as authors found they
could never include reports on the most recent developments.
Electronic publishing of journals seemed a logical solution, but it was unclear whether there should be a
fee for access to on-line journals. The British Medical Journal chose to make access to its entire website
free to all, while some publishers charge a subscription fee for access. Examples of the latter include
the virtual journals Environmental Sustainability and Industrial Effluents, published by Elsevier.

14.1.5 Science magazines

Where such magazines exist, science magazines may occasionally enable researchers to present their
work in a less specialized manner, and to a broader audience. However, there are limitations. Science
magazines will likely focus on accessible topics with wide public appeal (e.g. wildlife conservation),
while more specialized and esoteric topics (e.g. phytopathology, or mine water and the environment)
will be less attractive, despite their international or national significance. As with other forms of mass
media communication, when publishing in science magazines, the researchers control of choice of
content and the manner of presentation becomes more limited.

14.1.6 Newspaper articles

The researcher will have little control over deciding what is considered interesting for a newspapers
readership. However, an interview or a contribution to a farming column, published in a widely read
newspaper, may be an effective way of bringing a national message to a wide audience (and enhancing
national recognition).

14.1.7 Extension leaflets and posters

Producing printed materials for a non-scientifically trained and often poorly educated, perhaps illiterate
audience is a special skill. Some research will not be suitable for direct communication. Extension
workers and farmers are the intermediate and ultimate users of agricultural research, however, and their
need to understand and use research results is paramount. Communication is essential, and needs to
be appropriately presented. Researchers will likely need to partner with specialist communicators to
ensure the right choice of medium, language, and illustrations to get the messages across.

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14.1.8 Conference posters

A poster may well be the form in which a researcher first presents findings to peers. Posters are often
used to present preliminary findings. With improvements in computer printing (software and hardware),
more attention is being given to the production of posters. Also, some major conferences are now so
large that posters, rather than spoken papers, are the main medium for researchers to present their
work. As posters become more important, researchers are devoting more time to their preparation.
Research results can be presented very effectively in a poster. Main message can be highlighted.
Viewers can study the message/information at this own pace. It provides an opportunity for questions
and meaningful dialogue between poster presenter and viewed. The poster might be reused e.g. at the
presenters home institution.
In a poster, there is intense competition for audience attention. Phrasing of the title and the overall
appearance of the poster are of utmost importance. You should have a brief and clear message and you
can adapt to the audience. Think about probable questions when preparing a poster.
A poster is often structured like a scientific paper. It has headings such as introduction, objectives,
methods, results and conclusions. Use more informal headings like short statements and/or questions.
Irrespective of the form used provide:
Title of the poster, and its number in the meeting program must be given at the top of the poster
and followed by the authors name and address.
In addition the poster should show:
Why the topic is important
The objectives of the study
The most important results
The main conclusions and
Possible implications
Methods used mentioned only very briefly

Designing the poster

Check the requirementsheight and width specified by the organizers

Landscape orientation or portrait
May also have/set rules for how to structure the poster content
Make an attractive and informative poster

Tips on how to choose layout and content

Set up a one page model in proportional scale, either on paper or on the computer. The contents can
be arranged in columns running down the poster or in rows running across. If the poster is wide, then
best to arrange the content in column left to right. Especially if many people can be expected to read
from the poster at the same time.
Arrange contents in a logical order, start with the importance of the topic at the topleft and
ending with the conclusions at the bottom right of the poster. Dont hide the conclusion at the
very bottom of your poster.
Place the conclusions centrally on the poster at eye-height for the audience.

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 The poster should be self-explanatory and sub-sections could be numbered to guide the audience/
viewer.
Visual displays such as tables, graphs, photos and other illustrations (e.g. Drawings, paintings and
clip-art) can make the poster attractive and easy to understand assuming that they are relevant to
the poster topic.
Try to balance poster text and visual displays.
Backgrounduniform, light e.g. Light beige or grey, but not pure white.
Single sheet poster is often recommended
Occasionally you see posters that consist of a number of individual sheets mounted directly on
the poster board, often with a dark frame around each and some employ space between the
sheets. This usually gives a spotted impression and it is not generally recommended.
Each section of the poster should contain just a few messages. You do not need to write complete
sentences.
Dont overlook the poster.

Making a poster
Multipart poster. Where individual elements are produced separately and then mounted manually
on a joint background paper or card. Single-sheet poster can be printed on soft paper (and might
be also covered with plastic laminated or it can be printed on cloth which makes the poster easy to
transport. For transportation, you may need a poster cylinder. Single sheet poster is simple to mount
at the meeting site, but the equipment needed to produce it may not always be available or may be
expensive to use.
If well done, a multi-part poster might be more alive than a single sheet poster, but be prepared to
spend time at the meeting site on the final mounting.
The ULTIMATE PREFERENCE IS A MATTER OF TASTE. Do not just enlarge your written paper to form a
posterunprofessional, may not catch the eyes of the viewer.
When making posters, think about the following:
Colours will enhance the poster, but too many colours will distract or give a disjointed effect. Title
can be in colour, but the text is usually easier to read in black or dark blue.
Think of the background in choosing colours. Colours on a digitally produced poster may not look
the same in print as on the computer screen.
Bullet points are easier to grasp than the test paragraphs. Fonts used should be easy to read. Bold

letters in the title and headings may facilitate reading from a distance. Words in lower case letters (or
with initial capital) are easier to read than words in all upper case letters. Text sign must be large.
Title should be easily read from a distance of 35 m and text from 1.52 m.
110120 for title
6070 for headings Generally recommended
3040 for body text

Tables and graphs must be easy to read and understand. Use appropriate font size, limit the amount of
information. A written conclusion/take home message directly over or under a table or graph might also
keep the viewer. Clip-art can be useful to illustrate the poster. Attention getsa striking photograph. A
matt poster surface is usually preferred to a glossy one; because light reflecting from a glossy surface
can make your poster impossible to read.

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Presentation of poster
Bring what might be needed for the final mounting: push pins, glue, spray adhesive, tape etc. Photo
of the presented can be fastened near the poster title. A small boss with your business card people
can contact you later if needed. On page print out of the postertitle, authors, addresses, (e-mail),
summary of research, important tables and figures (reduced) and relevant literature or a reduced copy
of a poster. Be there on time; stay there during the whole session. Prepare a 35 minute presentation.
Remember the poster must be self explanatory. Role prepared to discuss topic, respond to questions
and provide additional information. A folder with additional, easily viewed, information can be useful
for this purpose. The poster discussion is more detailed and on a one-to-one basis. It is a dialogue that
also gives you a splendid opportunity to establish valuable contacts.

14.1.9 Annual reports, quarterly reports, and project reports

Annual reports frequently represent the first presentation of research results, often in a manner similar
to a research paper, but rarely in similar detail as one would find in a journal article. Some annual
reports present research as ongoing, rather than completed work, along with more comprehensive
reporting of results.
Although produced mainly for reasons of research management, annual reports may provide the
most salient data and information to other researchers, especially if widely distributed. They may
also provide an indication of the productivity and quality of the institute, the wider NARS, and the
individual researcher. Quarterly reports provide an ongoing commentary of the progress of research
activities, principally as a management tool for project monitoring. They are often standardized with
little analysis or interpretation.
In addition, some institutions publish working papers or research reports on interim or final results for
internal review and evaluation prior to attempts to publish in wider, in particular international, journals.
Regrettably, sometimes the attempts to publish the results and analyses in a journal article for regional
or international dissemination are then never made. Project reports are needed to report to external
donors, who have required formats for appropriate reporting. The audience for these reports will most
often be non-scientists, so their preparation may put extra and different demands on the researchers
involved. However, timely project reports, written in the desired format as specified by the donor, are a
key element of good donor relations, so it pays for researchers to obtain the necessary skills.

14.1.10

Conference abstracts

A conference paper may be in the form of a full scientific paper or a review; but often you are expected
or asked to write a summary or abstract. Summaries are longer, so they can contain more details,
including tables and figures.
Abstracts normally stand alone (you dont need to read any of the full paper) and often published as
conference proceeding. Abstracts are submitted earlier so that the organizers can decide to which session
the abstract/paper should go into. The purpose of the summary is to support your oral presentation/
poster presentation so that you can concentrate on getting the main message across the audience.
Often you are provided guidelines about the length and layout of your summary or abstract you need
to follow these guidelines. Conference abstracts follow the same rules as it would be in a scientific
paperconcise, standalone, no reference and no visuals. A conference summary is usually written
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with the same sections as scientific paperbut you do not need to include so much detail in the
introduction and discussion section.
There is no need for comprehensive references, give only a few key references if they are directly
related to your work. Materials and methods section should be similar to what is in the scientific paper.
Most important section is the results section, which should contain full details of the results that you
are going to present.
Most conference organizers demand an abstract of an intended presentation prior to its acceptance
by the conference. This allows them to judge the suitability and quality of the intended presentation
and choose a time for the presentation within the conference schedule. The abstracts themselves
may appear in (supplements to) journals, and on occasion be referred to by other researchers. This is
generally considered only a temporary measure as most such work is later expected to appear in full
in the form of journal publications.

14.1.11

Conference/Workshop proceedings

Many meetings bring out reports and compilations of papers. The presentation of a research paper for
appearance in such proceedings may often be an expected condition of the invitation (and funding) to
attend. Conference proceedings can be very useful, by bringing together much up to date and relevant
information in a particular field. However, many of the reservations about the independence of the
peer review process, mentioned in earlier connection with regional and national journals also apply to
the publishing of conference proceedings.

14.1.12

Letter to journals and book reviews

Researchers can demonstrate their expertise by writing letters to journals, perhaps in reply to articles
published by others, or by raising new points of view. Book reviews are also a way of highlighting
experience in the literature. Although an invitation to review a book represents wider recognition of
expertise, this is not an important way for a researcher to disseminate the findings of his or her work,
given the limited nature of the assignment and its likely audience.

14.2 Oral presentations

14.2.1 Conferences
Conference presentations, frequently as short as 10 minutes, may be a major avenue for the dissemination
of research results. As a result, much effort goes into their preparation, along with the associated slides,
overheads, or PowerPoint presentations. Many researchers are poor presenters, lacking both skills and
experience in public speaking. Most could probably benefit from at least some coaching and training.

14.2.2 Seminars and workshops

Seminars, with their often more relaxed and intimate atmosphere, in the company of fellow specialists,
provide a more comfortable environment for oral presentations. However, because they are more
relaxed affairs, researchers often treat them less seriously and pay less attention to the proper preparation
of thorough presentations.
Workshops generally provide a very informal avenue for the dissemination of research results, and this
informality may be very effective in conveying the major points of ongoing or completed activities.
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As with written presentations, however, it will be important to understand the training and skills of
the participating audience, and to tailor the content and language of workshop presentations to their
understanding and needs.

14.2.3 Project planning and donor meetings

While sometimes demanding the presentation of results, project planning and related meetings are
often equally focused on future activities. In such meetings the researcher must be able to present
findings (and intended activities) to an audience that may be both nonscientific and with a wide range
of demands and priorities to satisfy. This provides a contrast to that of the generally supportive and
sympathetic audience of a researchers peer group that may be found at a conference, seminar, or
workshop.

14.2.4 Outside talks and media interviews

Whilst often less demanding (in terms of detailed content) than oral presentations to fellow specialists,
presentations to non-scientific audiences make special demands precisely because of the audiences
lack of specialized training or knowledge. Effort and preparation will be needed to be successful.
Researchers may wish to consult or partner with media specialists to do a good job.

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Trainers guide
Session 15:

writing style and readability

Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Decide when to write to convince or inform
Write easily and simply
Apply the issue that have to be considered before and during writing

Training materials

Assorted markers
Felt pens
Flip charts

Time needed

1:30 hrs

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Trainer gives an ice breaker by reminding participants the

different letters that they have written including love letters

10 min

Plenary presentation

Writing style and readability

40 min

Participants interaction

Trainer gives an opportunity to participants to ask questions,

contribute or raise their opinions. If there are any light bulbs,
participants are encouraged to share them with others

5 min

Summary

Trainer summarizes the salient features of the session and

switch to session 16

5 min

Break

Health break

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Writing style and readability

Reading notes on writing style and readability

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Session 15: Summary of presentations: Writing style

and readability
15.1

Writing style and readability

15.2

Writing to inform

You have been trained to write to inform

During your education, you wrote that way in

exam papers, essays, and dissertations

Today you still write that way, in reports, memos,

and professional e-mails, and most especially in
research papers

Writing to inform means writing with your head,

writing concisely and clearly, with the object of
conveying information to your reader

Most of the time you can take for granted that your
reader will be interested in what you write

15.3

Writing to persuade
While your objective in writing to inform is to
convey information, it may not be your goal
Research proposals for funding are to persuade
development partner to fund your proposal
Write to persuade on at least three occasions:

230

When preparing concept notes and proposals

When contributing to brochures, annual

reports, and other public awareness materials

When drafting speeches for VIPs in your

country or institute

15.4

Tips for successful writing to persuade

15.5

You need to appeal to the self-interest of your

readers

Write with passion

Tips for your subject, your passion,

shines through..
Use strong, emotional words like urgent, vital,
essential, new and related ones
Avoid vague words like possibly, under certain
circumstances
Short sentences convey urgency. Long sentences,
with lots of subordinate clauses that go on and on
and on and on, like this one, tend to put the reader
to sleep!

15.6

Tips for your subject, your passion, to

shine through..(contd)
An arresting word or phrase can waken a reader to
the importance of what you are saying. Making a
timely reference can help too.
For instance: The new devil weevil attacking
millet in West Africa has the power to kill as
many children as have died in Bosnia, Kosovo
and Iraq only, the weevil will kill more slowly;
first through increased malnutrition, then
through famine.
Get your message across as quickly as possible,
and in as few words as possible.
Use the active rather than the passive voice

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15.7

Active and passive writing

Passive
Sixty saplings were planted by the researcher
The road was crossed by five chickens
A weight gain of half a kilogram was recorded in
the cows each month
Active
The researcher planted 60 saplings
Five chickens crossed the road
The cows gained half a kilogram each month

15.8

General writing tips

Think about your readers before and while you
are writing
Know as much as possible about your readers
before you start to write
Spoon-feed your reader: make your writing as
easy to read as possible

15.9

General writing tips

Use simple words

The scientific members of the establishment seek to

ascertain whether the electricity supply has been
merely temporarily discontinued or if they are
suffering a permanent disconnection.
The scientists want to know if this is just a short
power cut, or if the electricity has been cut off.

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15.10

General writing tips

Use simple and direct sentences
The policy environment within which research
organizations operate sends signals about which types
of research should be conducted and defines the
structure and organization of the research bodies. It also
establishes the level and nature of the resources
provided to carry out the research mission. Financial
policies for agricultural research strongly influence both
the level of the research effort and the degree to which
that effort is linked to particular sectoral or scientific
goals and objectives.
Government financial policies have strong, direct effects
on agricultural research. Policies influence how much
research is done, where it is done, and for whom it is
done
Use short paragraphs, plenty of white space and plenty
of subheads

15.11

General writing tips

Plan before you write
a. What are you writing? (report, journal
article, proposal, term paper, letter of
complaint)
b. Who will read it? (individual and
organization)
c. What is its purpose? (to explain, convince,
get money, request action, analyze, etc.)
d. What is the topic, and how many sections
do you need

15.12

Thank you!

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Session 15: Notes to participants: Writing style and readability

15.1 Writing to inform and writing to persuade
15.1.1 Writing to inform
You have been trained to write to inform. During your education, you wrote that way in exam papers,
essays and dissertations. Today you still write that way, in reports, memos, and professional e-mails, and
most especially in research papers. Writing to inform means writing with your head, writing concisely
and clearly, with the object of conveying information to your reader. Most of the time you can take for
granted that your reader will be interested in what you writeperhaps because your reader is a teacher
or professor or fellow-scientist, then he or she is being paid to read your workit is part of the readers
job description.
Notice, however, that while your objective in writing to inform is to convey information, it may not be
your goal. All forms of writing have both an objective and a goal. As we have already noticed, there
are many reasons why researchers communicate, from vanity to concern for the welfare of end-users.
On any given occasion, your goal for writing to inform may be to attract comments and support, to
become famous, to get tenure in your position, or to add to your publications list in hopes of future
promotion.

15.1.2

Writing to persuade

You probably have less experience in writing to persuade. Think about love letters, which many of you
may have written, at least in your head. Your objective in writing them may also be to informto let
your loved one know how you feel. But you have a goal, too, one that likely involves persuasion. Your
goal may be to win the love of your loved one, or you may be trying to relieve the stress of your strong
emotions by expressing your feelings in words.
Advertising people are always writing to persuade. Their goal is to make you buy a certain product.
Politicians, whose goal is to make you vote for them, also write and speak to persuade. Advertisers and
others seeking to persuade you to do something use images as well as words. Thus famous athletes sell
sports shoes, and the Marlboro man, macho, strong, outdoorsy, persuades some young men to buy and
smoke Marlboro cigarettes. You are not in the advertising business, but even in the research business,
there are times when you have to write to persuade.

When researchers have to write to persuade

As a researcher, you will have to write to persuade on at least three occasions:
When preparing concept notes and proposals
When contributing to brochures, annual reports, and other public awareness materials
When drafting speeches for VIPs in your country or institute
In concept notes and proposals you need to write to persuade the reader to give you money. You need
to persuade your reader that your proposed research is:
Important (to the reader and the end users)
Urgent (if the work is not done, something bad will happen, if it is done, something good will
happen), and
Cost-effective (you have put together a good project, and the right implementing teamyou have
thought through your project, and all you need is the money).
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You can do this by using the right combination of writing to inform and writing to persuade in different
parts of the project concept note or proposal. The places where you can use writing to persuade to
entice a donor to give you support are:
the background section
the description of the beneficiaries
the discussion of the project goal and impact
In public awareness materials, you are trying to persuade your reader of the importance and value of
the work of your institute. You need to inform readers of what you are doing, but you need to present
the information in an informal and reader-friendly style. You cannot assume that your readers are going
to be interested in what you do; so you need to employ the tricks of the persuasive writing trade to make
your material enticing. Similarly, in speeches you are trying to convey to a non-scientific audience the
excitement of the work of the institute, and its contribution to the well-being of citizens of your country.
If a speech is written only in the writing-to-inform style, it will not be very lively; but by using some of
the tips in the next section, you can ensure that the speech will not send the audience to sleep!

Tips for successful writing to persuade

The single most important thing about writing to persuade is that you need to appeal to the self-interest
of your readers. To do this, you first need to identify that self-interest, which in turn means that the more
you know about your readers, the more you can tailor your writing to what you know. Here is what
George Allen, a well-known American journalist, had to say on the subject a few years ago:
The simple presentation of facts will rarely persuade an audience. They may find the facts interesting,
but they will rarely be moved to change their attitudes or act in ways the communicator would like
them to Unless the message is addressed to a specific audience, and is tailored to engage the selfinterest of that audience, it is merely a shot fired in the air with no particular destination. Most of the
messages (prepared by researchers) are sent out c/o General Delivery.
The second most important thing about writing to persuade is to write with passion. When you write to
inform, it is very important to get your facts right, to calmly and logically lay out the issues, to be sure
your meaning is crystal clear. This is not so important when writing to persuade. In writing to persuade
you may wish to highlight some facts and downplay others.
You may even want to exaggeratejust a little. Persil probably doesnt wash any whiter than other
detergents. You are allowed to take some liberties like this in persuasive writing, because your goal is
to move people, to get them to take a new position, to do something new, or, in the case of a proposal,
to give you money. How can you write so that your love of your subject, your passion, shines through?
Here are some tips:
Use strong, emotional words like urgent, vital, essential, new and related ones. At the same time,
avoid vague weasel words like possibly, under certain circumstances.
Short sentences convey urgency. Long sentences, with lots of subordinate clauses that go on and
on and on and on, like this one, tend to put the reader to sleep!
An arresting word or phrase can awaken a reader to the importance of what you are saying.
Making a timely reference can help too. For instance: The new devil weevil attacking millet in
West Africa has the power to kill as many children as have died in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraqonly,
the weevil will kill more slowly; first through increased malnutrition, then through famine.

235

 Get your message across as quickly as possible, and in as few words as possible. A short, punchy
paragraph will have more power to move your audience than a longer piece, no matter how well
written or strongly felt.
Use the active rather than the passive voice. An active sentence is one in which a subject takes
direct action. Here are three examples:
The researcher planted 60 saplings.
Five chickens crossed the road.
The cows gained half a kilogram each month.
A passive sentence is one in which the subject is acted upon. The three passive sentences below are
much less punchy and urgent than the active sentences:
Sixty saplings were planted by the researcher.
The road was crossed by five chickens.
A weight gain of half a kilogram was recorded in the cows each month.
You can create different feelings in your readers by your choice of words. In the recent US election
campaign, one candidate always used the phrase climate change, while the other used global
warming. Which one makes the future look more frightening? Climate change is a much gentler
phrase, and was used by the candidate who does not want to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Global warming
is a stronger phrase, and was used by the candidate who wanted to scare readers or listeners into taking
the problem seriously.
Another example from the campaign was the phrase inheritance tax. This is a phrase most people have
used and understood for many years to cover the tax that the government levies on people who die
leaving a large amount of money to their heirs. One candidate wanted to cut this tax, which, of course,
would be popular with the heirs of rich people! To make his point more forcefully, this candidate used
a new phrase that was much stronger. He called it a death tax. You can have similar effects on your
readers by carefully selecting the words and phrases you use in your proposals.

15.2 Style, readability, editing

15.2.1 General writing tips
The suggestions in this topic are not only relevant for writing up proposals, but will help you with all
your writing activities. However, written proposals are still by far the most common way of approaching
a donor for money, so it will be essential for you to sharpen your writing skills if you want to be an ace
in this field. Here are some simple rules about writing:

1.

Think about your readers before and while you are writing

When you write a love letter, you have your beloved in mind. You would not say wonderful things
about her long hair if it is short; you would not praise his muscles if he is rather thin. This approach is
equally valid for all the writing you do. When you write a letter of complaint to a company, think about
the company and its interests. Why should they care about you? Then think about the person who is
going to open and read your letter first. What sort of person is this likely to be? What sort of feelings do
you want that person to have when reading your complaint? What sort of action are you hoping that
person will take? Notice that you are thinking not about your own feelings of anger or irritation, but
about the feelings of the receiver. This will calm you and help you to write more clearly. You will also
be more likely to get the action you want if you try to put yourself in the other persons place.

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The same thing is true for writing to donors. Think about their needs, not your own needs for money,
and you will be more likely to secure your grant. You cannot think about your audience if you know
nothing about them. So part of the most important thing about writing is:
a)

b)

2.
2a.

Know as much as possible about your readers before you start to write. Several sessions have tried
to tell you a little about who will read your research proposals. This is the basis on which you
can build your own donor intelligence, learning more and more about the people who have the
money you need.
Spoon-feed your reader: make your writing as easy to read as possible. This is really part of
thinking about your readers. You should assume that your readers are busy people, with many
things to do other than read your work. To get their attention, and get the actions you want, you
need to make your message as easy to read as possible. Here are some tips on how to make your
writing readable.

Write simply
Use simple word

Get into the habit of using the shortest and simplest word you can. You should have no difficulty in
deciding which of the following two sentences is easier to read and understand.
(i) The scientific members of the establishment seek to ascertain whether the electricity supply has
been merely temporarily discontinued or if they are suffering a permanent disconnection. (ii) The
scientists want to know if this is just a short power cut, or if the electricity has been cut off. The
attachment has some examples of long words and their shorter, and better, equivalents. You may also
want to start a list of your own, and keep it on a notice-board in your office to remind you to use the
short words whenever you can.

2b.

Use simple, direct sentences

Do not be afraid to use simple language and short sentences. Readers will not think you are stupid but
will thank you for making your meaning clear. In addition to using simple words, try to get into the
habit of writing simple sentences. Read the following sentences:
The policy environment within which research organizations operate sends signals about which types
of research should be conducted and defines the structure and organization of the research bodies.
It also establishes the level and nature of the resources provided to carry out the research mission.
Financial policies for agricultural research strongly influence both the level of the research effort and
the degree to which that effort is linked to particular sectoral or scientific goals and objectives.
This is the opening paragraph of an article. It makes sense, but it is not easy to read, and certainly not
easy to read quicklyit does not entice you to read more, if you are only partially interested. Below is a
paraphrase of this paragraph that conveys almost the same meaning. It uses simple words, and simpler,
more direct sentences. This version will certainly save the reader time and effort in absorbing the
meaning. Government financial policies have strong, direct effects on agricultural research. Policies
influence how much research is done, where it is done, and for whom it is done

2c.

Use short paragraphs, plenty of white space and plenty of subheads

Popular (or tabloid) newspapers are designed for lazy readers. Their material is very easy to read. They never
have more than one idea per paragraph. Sometimes they have a new paragraph for every sentence.

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They use pictures and headlines to break up the text into small, easy-to-read chunks. You can follow
some of these rules. If you find your paragraphs going on and on, just break them into two. Set your
word-processing program to use large margins. Never have a whole page of text without a subheading.
Use bold text and italics to highlight the most important parts of your message. See how we have tried
to make this course material as easy for you to read as possible. One tip that is particularly useful for
scientific writing is to use bullets whenever you write a long list sentence. See which of the following
you find easier to read:
i) There are several reasons why participation in regional cooperation is not always fully costed out.
They include a lack of awareness; a general attitude among institutions, countries, and individuals that
it is always better to be in than out; a tendency to focus more on the expected gains than on the costs
when making such decisions; managers fear of being seen as uncooperative; and, failure of members
to seek inputs from financial specialists, especially at the design phase.
There are five reasons why participation in regional cooperation is not always fully costed:

lack of awareness
a general attitude that it is always better to be in than out
a tendency to focus more on gains than costs
managers fear of being thought uncooperative
a failure to seek inputs from financial specialists, especially during design

Notice that in addition to using bullets, we have also simplified the sentences without losing too much
of the meaning. By making the bullets shorter, they are now easier to read.
There are other tricks to making your writing a pleasure to read. These include:

using the active voice

choosing lively verbs
putting your points positively
re-reading your work
using graphs, tables, and pictures to illustrate your words

3.

Plan before you write

Very few writers can write anything except a short note or e-mail without having to first think about the
structure of what they want to say. Most writers will find that they write more clearly and more quickly,
if they first prepare an outline of the whole document. Some people prepare their outlines in their head,
but most people write it down, so that they can refer to it as they write. This is what we recommend
you do, too.
We suggest that before you write anything you spend some time thinking about these four questions:

What are you writing? (report, journal article, proposal, term paper, letter of complaint)
Who will read it? (individual and organization)
What is its purpose? (to explain, convince, get money, request action, analyse etc.)
What is the topic, and how many sections do you need?

After thinking a while, you might find it useful to write out your answers along the lines of the
following example. This is a report to the African Development Bank describing progress on the maize
improvement project after the first year. The report will go to the AfDB Program Officer for Uganda.
He needs to understand that the project is delayed because we have had poor cooperation from local
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officials, and farmers were discouraged by the late arrival of the improved seed. But there is some
good news too, so the report will have two sectionsbad news and good newsand a final paragraph
suggesting a revised project work plan. You would probably then go on to sketch an outline of the
report. We will be discussing outlines and formats for concept notes, proposals, and progress reports
to donors later.

15.3 Writing and presentation for non-technical audiences

The obligation that researchers have to communicate with a wide range of audiences, other than their
researcher peer-group, has been discussed. In topic 21, we have discussed the different writing styles
that are appropriate for different audiences and occasions.

15.3.1 Who controls the content?

Some non-technical writing about research issues includes open-day posters, technical bulletins,
or extension leaflets. These forms of communication target specific audiences. The publications are
usually not written by researchers but by colleagues or collaborators with training in adult education
and/or agricultural extension to ensure that the material meets the needs of development workers,
farmers, and extension agents.
When writing for the popular media, the researcher may not have control over what is finally printed in
the magazine or daily paper. Often the magazine initiated the demand for an article and the journalists
and editors control the content. Obviously, when writing for a farming magazine, new techniques
would be of interest; but when writing for a business section of a newspaper it would be better to stress
the economic benefits and increased profits your research might lead to.

15.3.2 Capture your audience

In most writing for non-technical audiences, you do not have a captive audience. Any article must
therefore compete for attention with many other articles. Headlines and attractive, attention-grabbing
illustrations are consequently of much more importance in writing for non-technical audiences than for
specialists reading research journals.

Two types of reader

Readers of information, including technical information, can be categorized as consummatory and
instrumental.
Instrumental readers use the material they are reading as an instrument to solve a problem or fill a gap
in knowledge. Because of this they are prepared to search for the information.
Consummatory readers view information and increased knowledge merely as interesting aspects of
life. They do not perceive information as fulfilling a need.
Most researchers spend most of their time writing for instrumental readers. These may be technical
(such as fellow researchers, perhaps administrators) or non-technical (such as donor representatives or
politicians) who are seeking the information contained in articles or program reports produced by the
researcher. However, most people are also consummatory readers and writing for this audience may
be an important component of the dissemination of research results.

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All members of society have a right to be informed of the results of publicly funded research and
for this reason writing for a wider audience should not be considered less important than preparing
papers for specialist journals. Consummatory readers may also include extension agents and farmers.
These groups could benefit from knowing about your research, but they have many other priorities and
demands on their time. Their attention needs to be drawn to what you have found. Their need to know
must be created, to make them into instrumental readers

15.3.3 Deciding what to write

When writing a popular article for non-technical, consummatory readers it is important to establish
what is important, interesting, and relevant.
Is the information new, or are the events recent enough to be interesting?
Is the information close enough (geographically or to peoples lives and experience) to be
interesting?
Will the information affect peoples lives, and therefore appeal to their self-interest?
Agricultural researchers work in a field that is of wide interest since everyone has to eat, and everyone
is affected by their physical environment. It is for the researcher to use ones imagination to identify
what will bring about changes in peoples lives and is likely to be of interest to journalists and the wider
public.

15.3.4 Writing techniques

The same basic rules apply to popular non-technical writing as to writing research articles. These
include:
Avoid technical terms, which is often difficult for researchers who are not used to interacting with
non-technical people.
Use short words.
Write short sentences; short active sentences are easy to understand.
Readability can be quantified. A popular English-language magazine may have 1215 words per
sentence and an average of 1.6 syllables per word. But, on the other hand, a research paper may have
as many as 25 words per sentence and 1.9 syllables per word. So, when writing for a non-technical
audience, change your writing style.

15.3.5 Order of presentation

In popular writing, the most important information usually comes first. After reading the first few
sentences, the reader decides whether the rest of the article is worth reading. The end of the article
could easily be cut by the editor without losing much of the information. The presentation of a
technical paper, however, is completely different with an introduction at the beginning that often gives
information that is already familiar to some of the readers, and the most important conclusions at the
end of the paper. So, when writing for a general audience you dont only change your style but also
the order of presentation.

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15.4 Ethical issues in scientific writing

15.4.1 Double publishing and multiple submissions
Double publishing is when the same data is used to produce two papers that are published in two
different journals. This is strictly prohibited in scientific publishing circles. In addition, you should
never submit the same article to several journals at the same time. If and when you are found out it will
like be very embarrassing for you, and might even cost you your scientific reputation for many years.
Many international journals are becoming ruthless in their treatment of what they consider to be dishonest
authors. Double publishing and multiple submissions are regarded as cheating. Most journals make it
a condition when they accept a paper for consideration that it is not being considered for publication
anywhere else. The rules call for you to submit one paper to one journal at a time, and never try to make
two different papers out of the same data set. The exception to this rule is writing for a general audience
in a popular publication. After your research paper has been published in a scientific journal, you may
rewrite the material for a lay audience and publish it in the popular media. Not only is the quite ethical,
but it is also encouraged, as opening an avenue for the population to know what its scientists are doing.

15.4.2 Publishing in different languages

If an article has already been published in your own language, you should not expect to translate it and
then send it off to a journal that publishes in another language, and publish it there also. The only way
this can be ethical is if you explain in advance to the editor of the second publication what you have
donei.e., published the paper in another language already. If the second editor is agreeable to this
arrangement, you will still need to get permission from the journal in which you first published.

15.4.3 Publishing conference papers

If you give a paper at a conference you need to choose whether you want to publish the paper in a
refereed journal or you will give the paper for publishing in the conference proceedings. If you wish to
publish a reworked version of a conference proceedings paper, perhaps with additional information,
some time later, remember to obtain permission from the conference organizers first.

15.4.4 Authorship
There are many ethical issues associated with authorship. When considering the submission of a paper
for publication, you need to consider, and answer the following questions:

Who holds the rights to the data?

Who did the research?
Are you entitled to write up and publish under your name?
Whose names should be on the paper?

If you intend to name other people as co-authors you must check with them to ensure that they have no
objections. The names at the top of the paper should be those of the researchers who did the research
and nobody else. Journals do not want directors names first or anywhere at all if they did nothing in
the experiment or did not help with writing the paper. You should avoid loading your paper with a long
string of names Authorship is a dangerous area. Journal managers are just as sensitive about disputed
authorship and allegations of stolen results as they are about double publishing. So be very careful that

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every author you mention fully agrees with the publication of the paper in the form that you present
it.
The following guidelines for authorship are recommended:
The first author should be the one who did most of the work and wrote most of the paper.
Second should come the person who either supervised the activity of the first, as well as planned
the study and helped write the paper, or, alternatively, the person who did the second-most
amount of work.
Next should come any researchers who contributed, in decreasing order of their inputs.

15.4.5 Copyright
People who write anything in most countries automatically possess certain rights to their work. You
wrote it, so you should be able to choose and control where and how it is published. This is known as
copyright. You hold the copyright for your own work. If a written work is to be published, the authors
will transfer some or all of their rights, by formal agreement, to the publisher. These rights include the
right to make copies of the work and the right to distribute these copies. In international practice, most
journals will publish a copyright notice when they claim the copyright. This may involve the copyright
symbol , or sometimes the phrase all rights reserved.

15.4.6 Permission to reproduce material

If you want to include in your publication a figure or table or other material that is from a published
work under copyright, you must get permission from the copyright holder. It is your responsibility as
an author to do this. It is not difficult, but can take time. You write to the publisher giving exact details
of what you want to reproduce and where you want to print it. Most presses will grant all reasonable
requests at no charge, subject to the agreement of the author. So at the same time, you should write
to the author to seek permission. When you receive both permissions, send copies of both with your
article to the publisher or journal editor you selected. When you reproduce such material, remember
to credit it in the text. Here is an example of what you might say: Reproduced with permission from
CSIRO Australia, Jones AB, Aust J Bot 1985, 53: 121-5.

15.4.7 Guarantee of material

In signing a publication contract or submitting a paper to a journal, authors guarantee that:

The work is original

The author(s) owns it
No part has previously been published
No other agreement to publish all or part of it is outstanding.

As noted, if you have published a significant part of the material elsewhere, you must obtain written
permission to reprint the material from the copyright holder and send a copy of the permission to
the publisher. You must also mention this matter of copyright in your paper. The issue of copyright
and intellectual property is complicated. Publishers are strict and getting stricter. Be careful, and take
advice from senior, experienced, and trusted colleagues, who have published widely. If in doubt,
always check with the editor of the journal in which you hope to publish. It is always better to check
than to make assumptions that can later give you grief.

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Trainers guide
Session 16: Overcoming hurdles to publication and information
dissemination
Session objectives

By the end of this session participants will:

Appreciate the factors that make it hard for people to publish or disseminate
their research findings
Write easily and simply
Identify appropriate ways of overcoming the factors that constrain researchers to
publish their findings
Apply the different considerations for effective communication

Training materials

Assorted markers
Felt pens
Flip charts

Time needed

50 min

Method of facilitation
Activities

Contents

Time

Plenary discussion

Ask participants for some of the reasons why publishing and

disseminating research results are limited in Africa

5 min

Plenary presentation

Overcoming hurdles to publications and information dissemination

35 min

Participants interaction

Participants are organized into a group to discuss the questions and

answers to the exercise on project management, monitoring and
evaluation.

5 min

Plenary presentation

Participants share in subgroups what best practice and challenges

they have experienced. Write on cardsgreen for best practices,
red for challenges.

5 min

Summary

Trainer summarizes the salient features of the session

Individual exercise

Workshop evaluation

Handouts and reference

materials

PPT: Overcoming hurdles to publication and information dissemination

Reading notes on overcoming hurdles to publication and information
dissemination

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Session 16: Summary of presentations: Overcoming hurdles

to publication and information dissemination
16.1

Overcoming hurdles to
publication and information
dissemination

16.2

Major aim of scientific writing

16.3

A major purpose of this training workshop is to

enable participants and host organization to
publish and disseminate the findings of their
research activities to the appropriate audiences
in a smoother, more timely, and efficient
manner

Identifying difficulties, constraints, and

bottlenecks to this process is clearly an
important first stage in improving the process

Hurdles to overcome
1. Time - Nobody has enough time
When deadlines exist, the preparation of articles,
posters, or talks can often be a last-minute activity
conducted against the clock, with a
corresponding lack of thoroughness and
completeness
Ultimately results and findings are perishable,
the findings may become irrelevant, similar
findings may be produced by other researchers or
the researcher(s) involved may be transferred,
promoted, or simply lose interest

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Slide 4

Hurdles to overcome (contd)

2. Communication and coordination between
researchers
Problems of time are amplified when more than
one author or contributor is involved
Each partner may have difficulty preparing or
reviewing their own contribution or that of their
colleague
If the main contributor is junior to more senior
collaborators it may be difficult and frustrating to
maintain momentum during the preparation
process
Existing differences between potential
collaborators as to the nature and meaning of the
material
Collaborators in different institutes or countries

Slide 5

Hurdles to overcome (contd)

3. Access to information
Most researchers outside of a few well-funded
universities or institutes do not have access to the full
range of journals and specialist background literature in
their subject
Researchers without access to abstracting services or the
Internet may even find it difficult to maintain awareness
of what work other researchers in their subject are doing
Obtaining copies of other researchers work can be a
lengthy and expensive process and the institute or
project budget may not be able to afford them
This isolation from the broader community of
researchers may hinder and delay the process of writing,
either by reducing confidence in the validity and
originality of what has been done or simply through the
delays in waiting for thorough background information

Slide 6

Hurdles to overcome (contd)

4. Choice of journal
Ensuring that a completed research article is in fact
submitted to an appropriate journal, one that
publishes articles on the particular subject, is an
obvious step
Some journals are published by societies and only
members of the society may publish in it
Some journals have page charges, where authors
contribute to the cost of publication - Who will
pay these, is there a budget in the project or the
institute to cover any such charges?

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16.7

Hurdles to overcome (contd)

5.

16.8

Publishing process
Journals themselves may only publish 2 or 3 or 4
times a year
Referees and editors are themselves short of time,
called to other tasks and delayed by poor or late
communication
Unnecessary difficulties and delays often result
from the fact that the authors did not follow the
instructions to authors as specified for the journal
to which they submitted their paper
preparation of tables and graphs
the length of the abstract
lack of a clear distinction between the results
and discussion sections of the paper
or an incomplete list of references

Hurdles to overcome (contd)

5. Publishing process
Language is another issue that can lead to considerable
difficulties
many poorly-written papers are submitted
most reviewers become irritated by impenetrable and
wrong use of the language and will quickly conclude
that the paper is not suitable for publication
The refereeing process is time consuming
Referees are also dealing with many tasks and
responsibilities
They may be in different countries
Manuscripts are still often distributed, and comments
added, on paper copies distributed by post
changing the number of issues per year, may delay
the whole publishing process

16.9

In conclusion
Many factors may delay dissemination of a
researchers work
Many of these may appear beyond the control of
the researcher and be a cause of intense
frustration
With thought and planning, and the skills, these
can be minimized and the whole process of
bringing important and necessary information to
those who will benefit from it, be made easier

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Session 16: Notes to participants: Overcoming hurdles

to publication and information dissemination
16.1 Introduction
A major purpose of this training workshop is to enable participants and their host organizations to
publish and disseminate the findings of their activities to the appropriate audiences in a smoother,
more timely, and efficient manner. Identifying difficulties, constraints, and bottlenecks to this process is
clearly an important first stage in improving the process.

16.2 Time
Nobody has enough time. Preparing an article is not (in the short or medium term) perishable and
(again in the short or medium term) results do not decay. Frequently and inevitably, other activities with
time constraints, e.g. completing a survey before the rainy season, overseeing the harvesting of field
trials, giving lectures at the local university for which the dates have been set, can all take priority. For
most researchers writing becomes something done in the evenings, or at weekends.
Often the only mechanism to ensure that preparation of articles and talks becomes a priority is the
establishing of a deadline by an outside authority. When deadlines exist, the preparation of articles,
posters, or talks can often be a last-minute activity conducted against the clock, with a corresponding
lack of thoroughness and completeness. With deadlines missed, the urgency to complete may again
be lost and once more the preparation of an article or report can take second place to more urgent
activities. Ultimately results and findings are perishable, the findings may become irrelevant, similar
findings may be produced by other researchers or the researcher(s) involved may be transferred,
promoted, or simply lose interest.

16.3 Communication and coordination between researchers

The problems of time are amplified when more than one author or contributor is involved. Each partner
may have difficulty preparing or reviewing their own contribution or that of their colleagues. If the main
contributor is junior to more senior collaborators (for example, the need to await the corrections and
approval of the Institute Director), it may be difficult and frustrating to maintain momentum during the
preparation process. It may even be the case that differences exist between potential collaborators as to
the nature and meaning of the material to be presented, which may necessitate protracted negotiation
before agreement is reached. If the collaborators are in different institutes, or in different countries, the
problems are correspondingly greater.

16.4 Access to information

Most researchers outside of a few well-funded universities or institutes do not have access to the full
range of journals and specialist background literature in their subject. This of course includes most
researchers involved in agricultural development. Researchers without access to abstracting services
or the internet may even find it difficult to maintain awareness of what work other researchers in their
subject are doing. Even if researchers are aware of, and wish to read, what other workers are doing,
obtaining copies of other researchers work can be a lengthy and expensive process and the institute
or project budget may not be able to afford them. This isolation from the broader community of

247

researchers may hinder and delay the process of writing, either by reducing confidence in the validity
and originality of what has been done or simply through the delays in waiting for thorough background
information.

16.5 Choice of Journal

Ensuring that a completed research article is in fact submitted to an appropriate journal, one that
publishes articles on the particular subject, is an obvious step. Some journals are published by societies
and only members of the society may publish in it. Is at least one of the authors a member of the society
in question? Is the article the right length for the journalis it short enough or long enough for the
journal?
Some journals have page charges, where authors contribute to the cost of publication. (Some journals
offer free publication, but faster publication if page charges are paid). Who will pay these, or is there a
budget in the project or the institute to cover any such charges? Can the journal reproduce any figure or
plate that the article may contain? Will the cost of these be charged to the authors or their institutes?

16.6 The publishing process

Journals themselves may only publish 2 or 3 or 4 times a year. Referees and editors are themselves
short of time, called to other tasks and delayed by poor or late communication. For this reason,
minimizing difficulties that are within the researchers control (the subject of this workshop) are clearly
of importance. Unnecessary difficulties and delays often result from the fact that the authors did not
follow the instructions to authors as specified for the journal to which they submitted their paper.
Examples include the preparation of tables and graphs, the length of the abstract, lack of a clear
distinction between the results and discussion sections of the paper, or an incomplete list of references.
All of these are specified in the instructions to authors while good examples are readily available in
recent issues of the journal. Language is another issue that can lead to considerable difficulties. Many
authors who write English-language journal articles do not have English as their mother tongue.
Journal editors cannot be expected to edit the language of the submitted papers other than to spot
and correct the odd typing or grammatical error. Still, many poorly-written papers are submitted. Not
surprisingly, most reviewers become irritated by impenetrable and wrong use of the language and will
quickly conclude that the paper is not suitable for publication rather than spend time to search for
the gem that may make the paper worthwhile. Here the obvious solution lies in asking someone with
greater language skills to read the paper critically before submission, and to do the editing for you or
refer you to a professional editor if necessary.
The refereeing process is time consuming. Trying to ensure that referees deal promptly with manuscripts
they are sent to review is one of the major tasks of a journal editor. Referees themselves are also dealing
with many tasks and responsibilities (often including their own research). They may be in different
countries. Manuscripts are still often distributed, and comments added, on paper copies distributed
by post. Journals themselves are often part of commercial organizations and on occasion business
decisions, such as changing the number of issues per year, may delay the whole publishing process.

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16.7 Summary
As is clear from this brief overview many factors may delay dissemination of a researchers work.
Many of these may appear beyond the control of the researcher and be a cause of intense frustration.
However, with thought and planning, and the skills to be taught in this module, these can be minimized
and the whole process of bringing important and necessary information to those who will benefit from
it, be made easier.

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Annex 1: Answers: what sort of projects do donors like?

a. TrueFunding partners will look favourably on proposals that have the potential to increase the
incomes of low-income smallholders or that recommends to smallholders various types of trees whose
fruits can be harvested, and that can be planted on hillsides to prevent soil run-off in the rainy season.
In general, all funding partners like to support research that can contribute to poverty reduction and/or
preservation of the environment.
b. FalseDonors will never fund proposals unless more than one organization is involved in the
implementation of the project
If an organization has within itself all the personnel with all the skills needed to implement a project,
there will be no need to partner with another group to find complementary skills. However, most
agricultural research organizations are too small to include all the needed capacity to undertake all but
the simplest and smallest projects. Some competitive grants programs (such as the INCO-Dev program
of the European Union) require extensive partnershipsin this case at least two European partners
teamed with at least three groups from developing countries.
c. FalseDonors will only fund projects with low risks and high returns
Under certain circumstances, funders will be attracted to high risk, high return projects. In such cases
they are willing to accept that there is a chance that the project might not succeed within time and
budget, because of the very high potential of the results, if the project does succeed. One such example
might be a malaria or AIDS vaccine. The chances of a single project achieving an effective vaccine for
either disease are very low, but if the project were successful, the pay-off would be enormous. Thats
why many donors are now funding projects like that.
d. TrueInvestors are always on the look out for interesting, unusual and innovative projects
If you have an idea for something that has never been done before, and that might make a real difference
to a major development goal, you are on to a winner. Heres a small example. A researcher in Ethiopia
came up with a small hay box that could be used to raise chickens from baby chicks to full-grown
chickens, without electricity, which is unavailable for millions of small farmers in the country. Families
who tried the hay box found that they could add to their incomes by selling fully grown chickens for
a small investment. The inventor was given a prize by the Ethiopian Government! And donors will be
happy to fund projects for up-scaling this work.
e. FalseYou should never include a request for computers in a project, for fear of looking greedy and
turning off your target donor
Investors will be happy to fund computers if they are integral to the design of the project, and if they
are attracted to the potential project returns. One example would be a project to increase access to selflearning modules, by setting up internet cafes in rural colleges and universities in the poorer African
countries. The key is to carefully justify the need for all capital items in your list of project inputs.

250

f. TrueYou can help give your project an edge over others if you can show that the end-users of your
research are really eager to get its benefits.
If you have taken the trouble to talk directly to the people you feel will be the end users of your
research, you show that the results of your project will not only be of scientific interest, but will also
be put to productive use. Those are just the sort of research projects development donors are looking
for from scientists.

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Annex 2: Answers: when and when not to write a full proposal

a. Explanation:
You should write a proposal rather than a concept note only when asked to by a potential funder. The
funder will tell you if a full proposal is needed in a competitive grants program. The donor may also ask
for a proposal if she or he has already seen a concept note and wants more information.

b. Explanation:
The equivalent of the bullets in a concept note is a project summary, which is the first section of a
proposal, even though it is the section you should prepare last.

c. Explanation:
In a full proposal you have far more details in every section than in a concept note. Specifically, you
will have back-up financial information, to make more sense of the summary project budget that you
submit with a concept note. You are also likely to have annexes, containing, for instance, information
on the past performance of your organization, and CVs of the key personnel who will implement the
project.

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Annex 3: Answers: qualities of a convincing proposal

a. Where in the proposal would you show your interest in ensuring that end-users are benefiting from
the results of your research?
Explanation:
You will describe the effect of your research outputs on the beneficiaries in the Impact section of the
proposal.
b. Name two things that you want readers to think and feel when they read your background section.
Explanation:
In the background section you want to convey the message that (1) something important needs doing,
and (2) it needs immediately, because it is very urgent.
c. In a research proposal, is the author required to show the potential impact of his or her research
results (outputs)?
Explanation:
Yes, the author need not say that his or her project will be responsible for achieving the impact on the
end-users, but the author must trace that path that will need to be followed if the research results are
to turn into real benefits. The author needs to show who will disseminate the results, how they will
be disseminated, why the end-users will adopt the results, and when the benefits of that adoption will
become evident. Further, the author can make the proposal more convincing by saying how those
benefits will be measured.
d. Where in the proposal can you show that you have tried to anticipate everything that might happen
during the implementation of your project?
Explanation:
You can show that you have carefully thought through all the elements of your project throughout the
proposals, i.e. in all of its sections. The more details you put in, the more convincing your proposal
becomes. However, you do not want to make your proposal impossibly long. About 1020 pages is
about right for a full scale, detailed proposal for a significant project of about 34 years duration.
e. Can a proposal have as its goal both something to do with people and something to do with the
environment?
Explanation:
Yes, you can have more than one goal for a project. In fact most projects have multiple effectsi.e.
potential impact. For instance, the introduction of new fruit-bearing tree varieties can have an effect on
household incomes (new products to sell), and on the environment (the trees providing wind-breaks,
carbon sequestration, or perhaps planted to prevent soil erosion). However, the more goals you choose
for your project, the more you will have to write when you come to the Impact section. There will be
more on this later.

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f. Do you think you need to sell the quality of the people who will implement the project in your
proposal?
Explanation:
Yes, definitely, you will want to sell the quality of the people you are proposing to implement the study
or project. You are trying to convey the message that your team has a comparative advantage over any
other group of people to do this work. You can do this by giving their names and attaching their CVs,
and also by including in your proposal a brief description of the past successes of your institute. There
will be more on this later, too.

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Annex 4:
a

Answers: proposal format and order of preparation

FalseYou should always use the generic proposal outline when submitting a proposal to a
donor.

You should always submit your proposal in your target donors preferred outline, if there is one. If
not, you should use your own institutes regular format. Only if neither donor nor your institute has a
preferred format, should you use the once in this topic. However, if you like it or find it useful, you may
use the generic proposal format, and then repackage it for whichever donor you are targeting first.
b.

TrueThe Summary is always the first section in a project proposal. javascript: ;

The Summary section is always first. It is therefore very important, and since it may be the only section
that some people ever read, you will need to take care in its wording.
c.

TrueYou may have annexes in a full proposal.

In a concept note (that is usually seven pages or less), you would normally not include any annexes.
But in a longer document, like a proposal, of ten pages or more, you may wish to include annexes.
Annexes are used for material that illustrates (or gives more detail on) the main text. Typical annexes in
project proposals are details about:




d.

The qualifications of the proposed project team

The monitoring and evaluation practices in your institute
The past performance of your institute and your partners
A logical framework matrix for your project.
FalseThe Budget section of a proposal is always the last in the presentation, and so it should be
worked on last.

Although the Budget section always comes last in terms of presentations, we do not recommend that
you prepare that last. We suggest that you prepare your proposals budget soon after listing your inputs,
and more usually after specifying the project outputs. The section that should be written last, we think,
is the proposal summary.
e.

FalseThe Outputs section is one of the places where you are selling your project.

The Outputs section describes what will be in place at the end of the project. You are conveying factual
information here, and should not be trying to sell anything.
f.
TrueIf you are describing a research project, the methodology you are using should be
described in the Activities section.
Your research methods are, in effect, the equivalent to the activities of a development project. If your
research methodology is especially novel or important to the project, you may wish to describe it in the
Activities section, under a separate sub-heading.

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Annex 5: Answers: Inputs, activities, work plan

a. YesDo all full proposals need a narrative Activities section as well as a chart or diagram showing
the time line of activities?
All full proposals need both a narrative Activities section, as well as a summary chart or time line. Note
that some donors may use different terminology for these things. The European Union, for instance,
may call the activities work packages. In any case, do provide a narrative section.
b. NoShould researchers include a section of research methods in their proposals?
If they wish. A development donor will not necessarily be interested in your research methods, but
some donors, like Germany, may hire scientists to read your proposal. If in doubt, ask your target donor.
If you do want to describe your research methodology, perhaps because it is special in some way, you
can present this as a sub-section of the Activities section.
c. YesDo you need to include in your list of inputs those things for which the donor will not pay (as
perhaps the salaries of researchers at your NARS)?
You need to list all the inputs your project will need, even if the donor will not pay for these. There
are many reasons for this. First, your management will want to know the full, real cost of all activities
in your institute. Second, you will be able to claim in-kind or other contributions for all those project
inputs for which the donor does not pay. This may include the time of key people, or the use of your
facilities (offices, training rooms, etc) or your vehicles and equipment.
d. How can you improve this sentence from the Activities section of a proposal: Several varieties will
be tested for their drought tolerance in the first year of the project.?
This sentence is vague, because it uses the passive voice, thus omitting the person who does the work.
It also uses the vague word several. This sentence would convey more information and be more
convincing if it reads: The agronomist will test at least five varieties for their drought tolerance in the
first year of the project.
e. What is usually the most important input to projects in agricultural research or development?
The most important input in most research and development projects is peopletheir experience and
expertise. This is why personnel is nearly always the first item in an inputs list. You will need to specify
the person months (in some cases perhaps person days or person weeks or person years) of all the
people you expect to play an important role in the project implementation.
f. When should you include a workshop plan in your proposal?
Only include a workshop plan (or any other special plan, like a training plan), if your project is
sufficiently complex to warrant it. For instance, if your project calls for, say, six or more different
training courses to be given over the life of the project, you may wish to show these details in the form
of a small chart or table.

256

Annex 6: Answers: project management, monitoring, evaluation

a. FalseYou should include some boilerplate sections on monitoring and evaluation, even if your
institute does not have a regular system for doing these things.
You can only write a boilerplate section describing how your institute does its monitoring or evaluation
or both, if indeed your institute really does this regularly. If not, you will have to describe the specific
monitoring and evaluation you plan for your project. Because this is project-specific, you cannot write
it up as boilerplate. However, you can try to influence your senior management to consider making
regular project monitoring and evaluation part of your institutes regular work.
b. TrueAn organogram shows how your project will be managed. An organogram is a diagrammatic
representation of how a project (or an organization) is managed. If you think it helpful, and you are
designing a complex project, with many sites, and partners, and personnel, you can include one in
your project proposal.
c. TrueFor a complex project, you should include the roles and responsibilities of all the project partners.
It is very useful to have a full list of the roles and responsibilities of all the project partners. You will probably
have this described in another way in the Activities section, but it is useful (and convincing) to show this
divided by partners in Project Management section. It shows that you and your partners have carefully
discussed how the project will work, and are agreed on what each party will take responsibility for.
d. False You cant monitor a project without milestones.You could monitor a project in terms of
its objectives and activities and work plan, without specific milestones. However, if your project
design includes specific deliverables at key moments during the life of the project, you will make your
monitoring that much easier, and can highlight problems well in time.
e. TrueEvaluation looks at the contribution your project has made to its goal. At least for those
evaluations that are involved in impact assessment. Some evaluations may be focused on other things,
such as the how the project funds were spent, or whether or not all the project partners worked well
together. However, more and more investors are now interested in finding out the extent to which the
projects they funded made a real difference to the target beneficiaries. These evaluations do measure
the contribution of a project to its goal.
f. False If your project is simple, you wont need to monitor it or to do an evaluation.
No matter how simple, a project will always need monitoring, to ensure that it is going to plan. And
an evaluation will be useful to see if not only the objectives were met, but also that a real contribution
was (or will be) made to the project goal.

257

Annex 7: An example of a work plan for a project: Generation

of knowledge and technologies that ensure sustainable utilization
of fish stocks (capture fisheries) on Lakes Kyoga, Kwania and Bisina
Analysis of Frame survey data
2005
collected by ILM in 2002 and Location/activity
J A
BMU in 2003 on Lakes Kyoga,
Preparation of training and
Kwania and Bisina and Frame
Frame survey materials
survey of Lake Albert
Training of DFOs and FOs
and delivery of Frame survey
For Lakes Kyoga, Kwania and materials and logistics
Bisina,
Training of enumerators
Implementation of Frame
survey
Frame survey returns
Data analysis and reporting
For Lake Albert
Preparation of training and
Frame survey materials
Training of DFOs and FOs
and delivery of Frame survey
materials and logistics
Training of enumerators
Implementation of Frame
survey
Frame survey returns
Data analysis and reporting
Age estimation of the major
commercial fish species
Lake Kyoga
x
Lake Kwania
Lake Bisina
Reporting

258

2006
J F

Annex 8: An example of a project logframe: Development

of propagation establishment techniques and harvesting methods
that ensure market quality of forest products
Narrative summary

Objectively verifiable indicators

Means of verification

Assumptions

At least 3 technologies for

improved productivity, use
and sustainability of Plantation
forests developed by 2005

Annual reports

Technologies
developed and
disseminated
are adopted by
stakeholders

Goal
To improve productivity,
use and sustainability of
Plantation forest resources
Purpose
To develop, validate and
disseminate technologies
for improved productivity,
use and sustainability of
Plantation forest resources

Number of Technologies
developed

Conducive policy
environment for
dissemination.
Peace and stability guaranteed

Output 1
Priority indigenous trees
spp propagated and evaluated

Germplasm of at least 10
indigenous trees spp collection
by 2005.

No of indigenous species
from which germplasm
has been collected

Propagation techniques of 10
indigenous trees spp developed
and demonstrated by 2005

Number of propagation
techniques of indigenous
tree spp developed and
demonstrated

At least 10 indigenous trees spp

evaluated for plantation development by 2008
Assessment of performance of at
least 10 indigenous trees carried
out by 2008

Output 2
Improved silvicultural
techniques for plantation
and woodlot development
generated

Stakeholders
willingness to
collaborate

Number of indigenous
tree spp evaluated for
plantation development
Number of indigenous
tree spp assessed in plantation set up

Establishment techniques for

at least five indigenous trees
determined by 2005

Number of establishment
techniques for indigenous
tree spp determined

Trials of five indigenous tree spp

established in at least two agroecological zones by 2005

Number of trials of indigenous tree spp established

Assessment of performance for

at least five indigenous trees spp
carried out by 2008

Number of indigenous
tree spp assessed

Guidelines for appropriate

establishment and growth
performance of five indigenous
tree spp in at least two agroecological prepared

Appropriate materials available

Appropriate materials available

Stakeholders
willingness to
collaborate
Conducive policy
environment

Technical reports

259

Narrative summary

Objectively verifiable indicators

Means of verification

Assumptions

Output 3

Methods of harvesting Pinus

radiata, Carapa grandiflora and
Cynometra alexandrii developed by 2005

Number of methods of
harvesting Pinus radiata,
Carapa grandiflora and
Cynometra alexandrii
developed

Appropriate materials available

Number of efficient
processing techniques to
improve wood recovery
developed

Conducive policy
environment

Technologies for reducing waste in harvesting,

processing of wood and
nonwood forest products
developed and wood
properties of indigenous
tree spp determined

Output 4
Improved forest management technologies disseminated

3 efficient processing techniques to improve wood recovery developed by 2005

Methods of improved harvesting, processing and utilization
(value addition) rattan and
bamboo developed by 2005
Wood properties of four indigenous species determined by
2005

Number of methods of
improved harvesting,
processing and utilization
(value addition) of rattan
and bamboo developed

Five additional potential spp

for plantation development
promoted by 2005

Number of additional potential spp for plantation

development promoted.

A brochure on each of the five

potential spp for plantation development produced by 2005

Number of Brochures
produced

Demonstrations of the 10
potential spp for plantation
development out in ARDCs by
2005

260

Stakeholders
willingness to
collaborate

Number off indigenous

species whose properties
are determined

Number of potential spp

for plantation development demonstrated out in
ARDCs

Appropriate materials available

Stakeholders
willingness to
collaborate
Conducive policy
environment

Annex 9: ILRI style guide for editors and writers

Introduction
This style guide contains the house style to be followed when preparing documents for the International
Livestock Research Institute. Consistent use of the house style will ensure that all material published
maintains the institutes corporate identity.
The Publishing Unit can assist with identifying professional editors/proofreaders for your manuscript. A
copy of this document should be made available to all external editors. The document is also available
on ilrinet, ILRIs intranet: http://ilrinet.ilri.cgiar.org/defaultframe.asp

Spelling and terminology

ILRI follows British English spellings and usage. Primary references for these are The Concise Oxford
Dictionary for spelling and hyphenation, Collins Gem Dictionary of Spelling and Word Division for
word division and Fowlers Modern English Usage for usage.
Use the first spelling listed in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, which includes using ize rather than ise
spellings in such words as hybridize, organize, realize, recognize and sympathize. Note, however, a
few exceptions in British ize usage: analyse, dialyse, catalyse etc. Also note that some ILRI terminology
differs from this standard (see Appendix 2)
Compile a custom dictionary on your computer for commonly used words. Ensure that the default
language for your document is set to English (UK) by selecting Language from the Tools menu.

Compound words
In general, follow the Oxford Concise, but regardless of particular compound lists, cut down on hyphens
and compounds words.
The tendency for English spelling is not to hyphenate where the sense is clear, e.g. subeditor,
subregion, overuse, database, germplasm, ongoing, proofreader, worldwide etc.
Do not hyphenate adverbial clauses, e.g. environmentally sound development.
Hyphenate compound adjectives when they preceded the noun they modify, e.g. short-term
objective (but an objective that is short term).
Do not hyphenate compound adjectives denoting regions, e.g. southeast, southwest, northeast,
northwest.

Emphasis
Because there are so many scientific names in ILRI publications in italics, use single quotation marks
for words that need emphasis. Put local names of plants and similar terms in single quotes (regular
typeface) the first time they are used.

Jargon
Avoid jargon and buzz words of the moment: e.g. not backstop but back up, support, reinforce.

261

Non-biased language
As far as possible, avoid biases in the language: e.g. not the farmer tilling his fields but the
farmers tilling their fields.
Avoid sexist language. Correct: people, chairperson, humanity, spokesperson, handmade, trader,
worker etc. Incorrect: man, chairman, mankind, spokesman, man-made, middleman, workman.

Scientific and technical names

Use italics for Latin genus and species names. Note: abbreviations such as ssp, var, cv in a
scientific name are not italicized.
Latin names for family, order, class etc. start with a capital letter but are neither underlined nor put
in italics.
Use full stops when abbreviating genus and species names (T. b. brucei, not T b brucei).
Insert a space between abbreviations of genus and species names (T. b. brucei, not T.b. brucei),
When names of species occur in titles or heads, the style of which is to capitalize the first letter
of every main word, do not capitalize the species names for the sake of stylistic consistency
(The Importance of Trypanosoma brucei in Africa, not The Importance of Trypanosoma Brucei in
Africa),
English names are not capitalized unless they contain a proper noun, such as someones name or
other proper name (ascochyta blight, but East Coast fever).
Sometimes the Latin name and the English name are the same; make clear whether the scientific
name or the common equivalent is intended (Leucaena, leucaena; Acacia, acacia).
Refer to crops by their English names; weeds, insects, and pathogens by Latin names (without
authorities unless especially required, such as in a taxonomic paper), except for the most common
pests and for diseases for which English names are widely accepted and unambiguous.
Common (generic) names start with a lowercase letter, trade names with a capital.
Variety names of crops start with a capital letter, e.g. Katumani, Sissay, Enkoy.
Soil types start with a capital letter, e.g. Vertisol.

Acronyms and abbreviations

Do not abbreviate figure, table or litre.
Do not use an acronym or abbreviation if the term it stands for appears only once in a document.
If a term appears more than once, spell it out on its first use and put the abbreviation or acronym
in parentheses immediately after. Thereafter use the acronym only without full stops or spaces.

dry matter (DM)

tonnes (t)
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
In tables, use footnotes to define all abbreviations, acronyms and symbols used.
In figures, define abbreviations and acronyms in the caption; symbols will generally be defined in
the key/legend.
Do not spell out SI or statistical symbols.
Keep a separate list of all acronyms you use and their full names. A list of acronyms is useful if
several are used in the paper.

262

Capitalization
In book titles, headings, subheadings and captions, use capitals only for the initial letter.
In text, capitalize table, figure, annex, appendix, section etc. when referring to a specific table etc.
in the document.
Capitalize regions used as proper nouns.
South Africa, Southeast Asia
If a name consists of more than one word, capitalize the first letter of each word except articles,
conjunctions and prepositions such as of.
Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa
Kenya Ministry of Agriculture
Where a multipleword name is subsequently shortened to part of the name, do not capitalize the
short name.
Coast Province . . . the province
International Livestock Research Institute . . . the institute
Addis Ababa University . . . the university
The Ethiopian Government . . . the government
Such terms should also not be capitalized if used in a general sense.
A university, a province, a centre, government policies
Do not capitalize the common names of plant and animal species and various groupings of
species, but capitalize names of breeds.
NDama, West African Dwarf goats, East African Zebu cattle, zebu cattle, hair sheep, taurine
cattle

Lists
For very short lists, initial word is lower case and there is no end punctuation.
For longer lists, initial word lower case and end list with full stop.
For complete sentences, initial word of each capital and end each with full stop.

Punctuation
Full stops
Leave only one letter space after a full stop at the end of a sentence.
Use full stops in i.e., e.g., etc., et al., p. and pp.
Otherwise, do not use a full stop in abbreviations unless the abbreviation might be confused
with a word.
no. for number (not no)
temp
Do not punctuate degrees, titles etc.
BSc MSc PhD FRCVS The Right Hon Mr Mrs Ms
Dr
Prof
Do not use full stops after sp, spp var and cv.

Commas
Minimize the use of commas. Use commas to separate clauses within complex sentences to prevent
possible misreading.
Do not use commas after i.e. and e.g.
Do not use commas before and or or in a list and before etc..
263

Colons and semicolons

Use a colon when the second part of the sentence directly results from the first part, e.g. The
farmer had five children: one is working at the farm, three are working in the city but the youngest
is still looking for a job.
Use a semicolon to join two parts of a sentence that belong together but contain different
statements. In most cases the semicolon can be replaced by and, but or because. Both parts
must be a complete sentence, with a subject and verb. For example: It is a pity that the farmers in
our trial are illiterate; this is hampering the experiment.

Brackets
(When a complete sentence is enclosed in brackets, its punctuation is enclosed.)
When only part of a sentence is enclosed in brackets, punctuation is placed outside (as in this
example).

Quotation marks
Use single quotation marks ( ) to enclose quoted material that is run into text.
Use double quotation marks ( ) to enclose a quotation within a quotation.
If the quotation is not a full sentence, place punctuation marks such as commas, colons and
full stops outside the quotation marks. If the quotation is one or more full sentences, place the
quotation marks outside the associated punctuation.
Where the quoted text is set off from the text, no quotation marks are needed.

Numbers, units and dates

Numbers
Write out numbers below 10 except:
When they are part of a series with some numbers below 10 and some of 10 or more.
The average farm livestock holding consists of 2 cows, 7 sheep and 11 goats.
When used in conjunction with a standard (abbreviated) unit of measure.
3 kg, 5 TLU, 2 t/ha, 5%
A number implying an arithmetical manipulation.
a factor of 2
When a number begins a sentence it is always written out.
Fifteen sheep were infected.
In numbers consisting of two to four digits, run the numerals together.
1500, 2570, 9999.
In numbers consisting of more than four digits, separate groups of three with a comma.
10,000 100,000 1,273,000
Avoid writing numbers ending in several zeros; either substitute a word for part of the number or
add a prefix to a basic unit of measurement.
1.25 million, rather than 1,250,000
9 mg, rather than 0.009 g
Numbers smaller than 1.0 should be written with a zero in front of the decimal point.
0.05, not .05

264

Units
Use the metric system (tonnes, hectares etc.).
Use the symbols for per cent (%) and degree (o) with numerals; leave no space between the
numeral and the symbol.
15oC 25%
Insert a space before a figure and a unit of measurement.
33 cm (not 33cm)
In an expression of range, omit the symbol after the first number.
1525%
2027oC
Do not use full stops or spaces after measurements, e.g. cm, mm, g, ha.
Write out if the unit is used without numerals, e.g. the level of N applied in kilograms per hectare.

Expression of division, rate and concentration

Use a slant line as a sign for division and to show rates or concentrations. Do not use the negative
powers system.
One-quarter = 1/4
kg/ha
mol/litre
Do not use more than one slant line in an expression.
kg/ha/year should be written as kg/ha per year

Dates
Report dates in the sequence day, month, year, with no punctuation.
12 June 1993 (not 12/6/93, since this could mean either 12 June or 6 December 1993,
depending on the convention used)
Do not use apostrophes in decades: e.g. 1990s.
Do not abbreviate years, i.e. use 1990 not 90.
Indicate a range of dates as 199899 or from 1998 to 1999.

Time
Report times using the 24hour time system; the time is indicated by four digits, the first two for
the hour, the last two for minutes, with no punctuation between the two sets.
0830 hours 1200 hours 1905 hours

Currency
Prices etc. will normally be expressed in local currency, but the exchange rate to the US dollar
should be given at first mention.
The name of the local currency should be spelled out at the first mention, and an ISO-approved
abbreviation, using the alphabet rather than symbols, used thereafter (e.g. : United States dollar,
USD; British pound sterling, UKP; Euro, EUR; Ethiopian birr, ETB; Kenya shilling, KES; Tanzania
shilling, TZS; Uganda shilling, UGS; for a full list of such approved currency abbreviations, see:
http://www.xe.com/iso4217.htm)
When the unit of currency is written out in full, it comes after the number; when abbreviated, it
comes before the number.
. . . a price of 20 Ethiopian birr (ETB) per kilogram (ETB 8.8 = USD 1.00 at 18 March 2006).
then . . . EB 15/kg
265

Tables and figures

Tables are used for reporting extensive numerical data in an organized manner. They show classifications,
facilitate comparison, reveal relationships and save space. They should be self-explanatory. It is seldom
necessary to use a table for fewer than 8 items of data; instead, present the information in the text.
Figures present comparisons and contrasts quickly and visually. They catch the readers attention and
are vivid in the message they convey. But by their nature, they do not give the detail of data that can
be carried in a table.
You must decide whether a table or figure is better for conveying a particular message. Data presented
in tables should not be duplicated in figures. Neither tables nor figures should be discussed extensively
in the text, as if they were not there for the reader to see. However, important points can be brought out
and reinforced in the text. Every table and every figure should be cited in the text. Tables and figures
both should be numbered consecutively in the order they are referred to in the main text. Each should
have its own number: not Table 2a, Table 2b but Table 2, Table 3; not Figure 3a, Figure 3b, Figure 3c
but Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5.
Both tables and figures should be self-explanatory; that is, they should stand on their own, in that the
reader does not have to refer to the text to understand the material being presented. Abbreviations in
a table should be spelled out in the table footnotes. Axes in a figure should be clearly labelled and
symbols used explained in a key.
Note: A table should be an analysis, not merely a listing of all the raw data collected.
Show the units for all measurements. Use no more digits than the accuracy of the method justifies. Do
not include columns of data that can be calculated easily from other columns.
Table titles should be brief but sufficiently explanatory of the data included. They should not include
the units of measurement. Table titles go above the table. The title is not a complete sentence and
should not end with a full stop. It should be flush at the left, not centred.
Figure captions go below the figures. The caption is often a complete sentence; even if it is not, it
should end with a full stop. Submit your data figures with your figure, whether it is drawn by hand or
on the computer, so that if it needs to be redrawn, that can be done accurately and efficiently.

References
Every reference cited in the text of an article or as a source of a table or figure must be included in the
reference list with full bibliographic details. The details must be complete, so that an interested reader
can locate the reference. Also, any work listed in the reference list must be cited in the text.

Citations in the text

Use the name-year system, with no comma between the author and the year (OConnor 1992).
When an author has written more than one work in the same year, use a, b etc. to differentiate,
e.g. 1999a, 1999b.
Where there are more than two authors for a publication, use the first authors name and et al. in
the text; give all the names in the reference list (Smith et al. 2003).
266

 When there is more than one reference for a certain issue, separate the citations with a semicolon;
place the citations in chronological order with the earliest citation first (OConnor 1992; Smith et
al. 2003; FAO 2004).

Styling the reference list

All lists of literature cited should be in alphabetical order by surname (or main name) of the first
author, followed by initials; if there are listings of different authors with the same surnames and
initials, then alphabetize by date.
All works by a single author precede works by that author jointly with others.
Works written by an author precede those edited by the same author.
Works published in the same year are alphabetized by title.
Multi-authored works are alphabetized by surname of the first author, then of the second etc.
Italicize titles of books and journals; do not italicize titles of articles and chapters.

Components of a publication
Major components for a journal article
author.year.
title of article. Not italicized or enclosed in quotation marks. Capitalization is sentence style,
that is, capitalize only the first word and proper nouns, as you would in a sentence. Followed by a
full stop.
name of journal. In italics; do not abbreviate the journal title.
volume, inclusive pages.

Major components for a book

author.year.
title of book. Italicized followed by a full stop.
publisher: Give the name of the publisher followed by a comma.
city of publication: Give the city where the book was published, followed by a comma.
country of publication: Give the country where the book was published followed by a full stop.
Note: if the publisher has multiple offices around the world, omit the city and country.

Major components for a chapter in a book or a paper in a proceedings

author.year.
title of chapter or paper.
in: Give editors names and initials followed by (eds) and a comma.
title of book or proceedings. Italicized followed by a full stop.
publisher: Give the name of the publisher followed by a comma.
city of publication: Give the city where the book was published, followed by a comma.
country of publication: Give the country where the book was published followed by a full stop.
Note: if the publisher has multiple offices around the world, omit the city and country.
page numbers

ILRI and corporate authors

If the author is a corporate author, for example ILRI, which would be cited in the text as (ILRI
2005), list the acronym or abbreviation of the corporate entity as the author, followed by the name
spelled out in full in brackets.
267

 ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute). 2005. Annual report 2004. ILRI, Nairobi,
Kenya.

Examples of references
Journal article
Thorpe W, Cruickshank DKR and Thompson R. 1981. Genetic and environmental influences on
beef cattle production in Zambia. 4. Weaner production from purebred and reciprocally crossbred
dams. Animal Production 33:165177.
Note: If there is a journal number, insert it in brackets after the volume: 33(2):130135.

Paper in workshop proceedings

Bunderson WT and Cook RH. 1985. Feeding conserved forages to traditional cattle in the Nuba
Mountains, Sudan. In: Nordblom TL, Ahmed AKH and Potts GR (eds), Research methodology for
livestock onfarm trials. Proceedings of a workshop held at Aleppo, Syria, 2528 March 1985.
IDRC (International Development Research Centre), Ottawa, Canada. pp. 4163.

Chapter in book
McKay MN, Nelson OP and Peterson RS. 1988. Sheep and goat farming in Ethiopia. In: Adams
AB, Smith ST and Jones FG (eds), Improved production of livestock in Africa. 2nd edition. Oxford
University Press, London, UK. pp. 275301.

Whole book
Esslemont RJ, Bailie JH and Cooper MJ. 1985. Fertility management in dairy cattle. Collins,
London, UK. 143 pp.
If the book has named editors, rather than authors, the style is exactly the same, except that the
abbreviation ed or eds is added after the name(s). For example:
Hafez ESE. (ed). 1980. Reproduction in farm animals. Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia, USA. 627
pp.

Institutionally published documents, government reports etc.

If they have named authors or editors, documents published by institutions, government agencies
etc. should be treated in the same way as published articles, books etc. For example:
Goldson JR. 1977. Calf and dairy heifer rearing at Kitale with special reference to smallholder
practice. National Agricultural Research Station Technical Report 15. National Agricultural
Research Station, Ministry of Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya. 15 pp.
Okike, Iheanacho. 2004. Impact of livestock pricing policies on meat and milk output in
selected sub-Saharan African countries. ILRI Technical Report 20. ILRI (International Livestock
Research Institute), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 79 pp.
AlNajim MN. 1991. Changes in the species composition of pastoral herds in Bay Region,
Somalia. Pastoral Development Network Paper 31b. ODA (Overseas Development Institute),
London, UK. 14 pp.
If the documents do not have a named author, show the issuing institution or government as the
author.
AMLC (Australian Meat & Livestock Corporation). 1991. Statistical review, July 90June 91.
AMLC, Sydney, Australia. 52 pp.

268

 FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 1970. Improvement of
livestock and dairy industry, Malawi. Pasture and range conditions. FAO Technical Report 3.
FAO, Rome, Italy. 15 pp.
If the documents have multiple institutional authors and one is the major publisher, show the
main publisher as follows:
ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute) in collaboration with the Kenya Bureau of
Statistics. 2003. Kenya Poverty Mapping. ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya. 250 pp.

Unpublished reports
Huxley PA. 1986. Rationalising research on hedgerow intercropping: An overview. ICRAF
Working Paper 40. ICRAF (International Centre for Research in Agroforestry), Nairobi, Kenya.

Electronic publications (reference to Internet documents)

The basic rules of citing do not differ markedly between Internet and printed publications. There
is always an author or organization with responsibility for the publication, a date of publication, a
title, a place of publication and a publisher. It is true, however, that some elements are harder to
locate when citing Internet publications. When certain elements are missing, square brackets can
be used to indicate missing data or for clarification by the person doing the citing, e.g. [no date].
For publications available on the Internet, give the full reference and add the website address in
brackets and the date the website was accessed.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2005. Training HIV/AIDS
orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. FAO Newsroom. FAO, Rome, Italy. (Available from http://www.
fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/102183/index.html) (Accessed on 16 May 2005)

CD-ROM
The format for citing CD-ROM publications is similar to that for print media.
OUP (Oxford University Press). 1996.Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM [monograph on
CD-ROM ]. OUP, Oxford, England.

Appendix 1. SI units
In general, ILRI uses SI (Systeme Internationale) units. The SI base units are:
Physical quantity
length
mass
time
electric current
thermodynamic temperature
luminous intensity
amount of substance

Name of unit
metre
kilogram
second
ampere
kelvin
candela
mole

Unit symbol
m
kg
s
A
K
cd
mol

269

Acceptable SIderived units include:

Unit name
degree Celsius
joule

Symbol
oC
J

Newton
ohm
Pascal
volt

N
[omega]
Pa
V

watt

Physical quantity
Celsius temperature
energy, work or quantity of
heat
force
electric resistance
pressure
and electromotive force and
electromotive force
power

NonSI units accepted for general use:

Physical quantity
volume
mass
time
time
time
plane angle
plane angle
plane angle

270

Name of unit
litre
tonne
minute
hour
day
degree
minute
second

Unit symbol
litre
t
min
h
day
o

Annex 10: Preferred usage

For a full list of variants in British and American spellings, check web resources such as: http://www.
spelling.org/Freebies/british_vs_american_spelling.htm
acknowledgement
ageing
agro-ecology
aluminium
antigen-trapping ELISA
artefact
B cell (noun)
B-cell (adjective)
behaviour
Blue Sepharose
B lymphocyte (noun)
B-lymphocyte (adjective)
cancelled, cancelling
centimetre
centre
Chad
Chagas disease
channelled, channelling
cheque
co-localized
colour
Coomassie
Cte dIvoire
cross-react
cross-resistance
C-terminus (carboxyl end, carboxyl terminus)
Dar es Salaam
database
decision-maker
decision-making
defence
dialogue
disulphide
draught, draughtsman
Eagles medium
endeavour
endocytic
enquire
enrol, enrols, enrolled, enrolling immunosorbent assay
immunosorbent assay
equalling
favour
feeder layer
fibre
fluorescence-activated cell sorter
sorter
focuses
fold: twofold, ninefold etc. (but 70-fold)
Freunds adjuvant
fulfil, fulfilment

not acknowledgment
Sot aging
not agroecology
not aluminum
not antigen ELISA
not artifact
not B-cell
Not B cell
not behavior
not blue sepharose
not B-lymphocyte
not B lymphocyte
not canceled, canceling
not centimeter
not center
not Tchad
not Chagas disease
not channeled, channeling
not check
not colocalized
not color
not coomassie
not Ivory Coast
not cross react
not cross resistance
not C terminus
not Dar-es-Salaam
not data base
not decisionmaker or decision maker
not decisionmaking or decision making
not defense
not dialog
not disulfide
not draft, draftsman
not Eagles medium
not endeavor
not endocytotic
not inquire
not enroll, enrolls, enrolled, enrolling
not enzyme linked
not equaling
not favor
not feeder-layer (except as adj)
not fiber
not fluorescence activated cell
not focusses
not focusses
not two-fold, nine-fold etc.
not Freunds adjuvant
not fulfill, fulfillment

271

gastro-intestinal
goal
grey
high-performance liquid chromatography
chromatography
immunogold
infection and treatment
(except as adj)
infection-and-treatment immunization
immunization
infra-red
internet
judgement
kDA (for kilodalton)
kerb
kilometre
labelled
labour
leukaemia
levelled
licence (n.)
license (v.)
life cycle
as adj)
litre
liveable
live weight
adj)
MAb (monoclonal antibody)
metre (unit of measure)
modelling
Mozambique
neighbour
net
neurone
NDama
northeast, northeastern
northwest, northwestern
N-terminus (amino end, amino terminus)
oedema
palaeontology
pelleted
per cent
plough
policymaker
policymaking
postcode
practice (n.)
practise (v.)
program
quantification
radiolabelled
rigour
Sanga
savannah
sceptic
272

not gastrointestinal
not jail
not gray
not high performance liquid
not immuno-gold
not infection-and-treatment
not infection and treatment
not infrared
not Internet
not judgment
not kD
not curb
not kilometer
not labeled
not labor
not leukemia
not leveled
not license (n. & v.)

not lifecycle or life-cycle (except

not liter
not livable
not liveweight (except as
not mAb
not meter
not modeling
Not Moambique
not neighbor
not Net
not neuron
not ndama, Ddama, NDama
Not north-east, north-eastern
not north-west, northwestern
not N terminus
not edema
not paleontology
not pelletted
not percent
not policy-maker or policy maker
not policy-making or policymaking
not zip code

not practice (v.)

not programme
not quantitation
not radiolabeled
not rigor
not sanga
not savanna

semi-arid
sheikh
skilful, skilfully
socio-economics
southeast, southeastern
Southeast Asia
southwest, southwestern
Southern blot
speciality
spiralled
subhumid, subunit, subpopulation, subclinical etc.
sulpha
Superose
targeted
T cell (noun)
T-cell (adjective)
theatre
the Gambia
the Netherlands
the Philippines
T lymphocyte (noun)
T-lymphocyte (adjective)
totalling
towards
transferral
trans Golgi
travelling
trypano-resistant
trypano-sensitive
trypanotolerant
tumour
tyre
UK
under way
USA
web
web page
website
webmaster
Western blot
yoghurt
zebu

not semiarid
not skillful, skillfully
not socioeconomics
not south-east, south-eastern
not south-west, south-western
not southern blot
not specialty
not spiraled
not sub-humid, sub-unit etc.
not sulfa
not superose
not targetted
not T-cell
not T cell
not The Gambia
not The Netherlands
not T-lymphocyte
not T lymphocyte
not totaling
not toward
not transferal
not trans-Golgi or trans Golgi
not traveling
not trypanoresistant
not trypanosensitive
not trypano-tolerant
not tumor
not tire
not U.K.
not underway
not U.S.A.
not Web
not Webpage, Webpage or webpage
not Website, Website or web site
not Webmaster or web master
not western blot
Not yogurt
not Zebu (except in proper name such as East African Zebu

273

Annex 11:

CABI Peer Review Form

Manuscript title
Author(s):
Journal: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources
REFEREES REPORT (I)
The following questions indicate the points on which information is particularly required but you are
free to render a report in any way you wish.
1. Does the title describe adequately the subject of the manuscript?
2. Scientific content
i) Is the information presented useful to a wide readership?
ii) Is the manuscript a useful contribution to its field?
iii) If the manuscript is a bibliographic study, is it reasonably comprehensive
in its coverage of previous work on the subject?
3. Organization/Presentation
(i) Does the manuscript develop the subject logically and effectively?
(ii) Does the scientific content of the paper justify its length? If not, please
indicate where length is excessive.
iii) Does the manuscript repeat unnecessarily published work cited in the
reference list?
iv) Is relevant literature cited?
v) Is the information presented in a relatively simple, straightforward manner
that can be readily understood by a reasonably competent reader?
vi) Are the figures and/or tables relevant, clear and self-explanatory?
4. Recommendation
(i) Publish
(ii) Publish after minor revision
(iii) Publish after major revision
(iv) Do not publish

274

Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No

General

Please outline your general observations, comments, criticisms and suggestions, if any.
You do not need to check grammar, spelling or style, although comments are always welcome. All
comments are confidential, so your name will not be sent to authors or other referees.
Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources Instructions and
Guidelines for Authors
Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources is an international
review journal that aims to provide comprehensive and timely reviews on the latest developments
in the fields of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Nutrition and Food Science, Applied Plant
Sciences, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Environmental Science (please see the scope section
for details on the coverage of these areas).
Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources produces a mix of
review types, with articles that cover the latest developments in the field as well as articles that provide
a comprehensive overview of particular aspects of the subject areas.
Review Format
Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources reviews follow the
same format regardless of length:
Title
Author Name(s)
Address
Correspondence
Abstract
Keywords
Review Methodology
Review Textsubdivided by headings
Conclusion/Summary
References
Acknowledgements
We will provide authors with 3 months access to CAB Abstracts to help them with their resource
discovery needs.
Title: This should be succinct and informative, and in lower case except for proper names.
Author Name(s): Please use the following format;

FirstName Initial(s) Surname and FirstName Initial(s) Surname or

275

Firstname Initial(s) Surname, Firstname Initial(s) Surname and Firstname Initial(s) Surname etc. (Note:
Initials are optional)
Address: Please precede each author address with appropriate superscripted numbers and list the
author addresses in the same order as the author names, to indicate the association between the author
and their address, except where all authors are at the same address.
Correspondence: Please provide one email address for a corresponding author
Abstract: The abstract should be no more than 250 words in length and should aim to inform the
reader of the scope and content of the review, with an indication of the summary/conclusions where
appropriate.
Keywords: Please provide between 37 keywords preferably for a controlled vocabulary source (such
as CAB Thesaurus [available via your CAB Abstracts access] or MESH terms). Please list these in order
of importance.
Review Methodology: To enable readers to stay up-to-date with the area covered by the review, please
include a short statement that indicates the search and selection criteria used in selecting the literature
for the review, as well as any other steps or sources used to derive information. An example is shown
below;
We searched the following databases: CAB Abstracts, CAB Heritage, Agricola and Medline (Keyword
search terms used: X, Y, Z). In addition we used the references from the articles obtained by this method
to check for additional relevant material. We also spoke to colleagues and checked for any upcoming
studies not yet published.
Review Text: Reviews covering the latest developments should be 2,500 to 3,000 words in length.
Comprehensive reviews can be up to 5,000 words in length, not including the references and tables..
Whilst personal opinions and discussion of areas of content in the research on the subject area under
review are welcome, please do be careful not to be prejudicial or to write in a way that could be
interpreted as biased. The main body of the review can be subdivided by headings but please avoid
sub-headings unless it is absolutely necessary. Headings within the main body of the text should be
short and informative. There should be at least two sentences between any two headings. Please start
each section of text under new heading on a new line.
Conclusion/Summary: Please supply a short paragraph or two that sums up the review and provide
conclusions (if appropriate). Future directions for research can also be included in this section.
References: References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned
in the text. Use Arabic numerals in parentheses e.g. [1] to identify the reference. Multiple references
should be identified as follows [25] (meaning references 2, 3, 4, and 5). Any references cited ONLY
in figures or tables should be numbered according to the location of the first reference to the figure or
table in the text.
References to papers that have been accepted but not yet published are acceptable providing that;
permission has been obtained to cite the paper and verification of acceptance for publication has also
been obtained. It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that these two conditions have been met.
Unpublished papers should be cited as in press.

276

Authors can cite a personal communication so long as the information is important enough to justify
the use of an unpublished piece of research AND they can obtain permission from the source. The name
of the person and the date of the communication should be cited in brackets next to the information
e.g. (personal communication: Firstname Surname, 2005). Such citations should NOT form part of the
standard reference list at the end of the article.
Please use full journal titles in the reference and follow the Vancouver style for reference formatting. An
appendix containing details of the Vancouver style can be found at the end of this document.
Acknowledgements: Please list those professional colleagues who provided assistance in the production
of the article. Financial and other material support can be acknowledged as well.
Tables and figures: Tables and figures should not be incorporated into the body of the text. Please
supply them as separate items and clearly identify them. Please supply tables as individual word
processor documents NOT images. Figures should be supplied in a suitable image format (see below
for details).
Tables: Each table should be numbered consecutively in the order of first citation within the text. Each
table should have a succinct and informative title, in the style Table 1: A table summarizing the key
results Columns (and where appropriate, rows) should have a brief heading (abbreviated if necessary).
Please do NOT use internal horizontal and vertical rules. Table entries that need explanation should be
referenced by use of superscript Arabic numerals (e.g. 1 2 3). The referenced explanatory text should be
placed under the table, in numerical order (e.g. 1) This is an example of some explanatory text. Please
use this system to define any non-standard abbreviations used in the table.
Tables can be up to 16 cm wide by 25 cm deep (portrait layout) including the associated title, or 25 cm
wide by 16 cm deep (landscape layout), again to include the title. If a table is to be used from another
source then permission must be obtained and the proper acknowledgement given.
Figures: Each figure should be numbered consecutively in the order of first citation within the text (e.g.
Figure. 1). Each figure should have a succinct and informative title, starting with the figure number (e.g.
Figure 1: An example of a figure title).
As Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources is an exclusively
electronic product, we welcome colour figures, but please be aware that many readers may print out
the articles in black and white. If possible, please check that the figure retains the important detail
when viewed in black and white. If a figure is to be used from another source then permission must be
obtained and the proper acknowledgement given.
Submitted figures should be submitted in their final form to ensure that they can be incorporated into
the final version as easily as possible. Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and
Natural Resources places tables and figures at the end of the article to remove the restrictions on size
found in many other journals. This means that figure dimensions can be up to 16 cm wide by 25 cm
deep (portrait layout) including the associated figure caption, or 25 cm wide by 16 cm deep (landscape
layout), again to include the figure caption.
Technical Requirements:
Size: up to 16 cm by 25 cm (portrait or landscape orientation)

277

Resolution: At print size, the resolution should be 300 dots per inch (dpi)
Image Mode: Images can come in two basic modes; RGB and CMYK. Please try to supply your images
in RGB mode (usually this is the default mode for most image programs and formats).
Fonts: Please use Arial for any text that accompanies the figure (this includes the figure caption). The
font size should be between 6 points and 10 points.
File formats: we prefer the following formats; tif/tiff (tagged Image File Format), jpeg/jpg (Joint
Photographic Experts), png (Portable network graphics). We can accept additional formats, but please
do check with the editorial office first so that any potential problems can be identified and sorted
out. This biggest problem is usually that of figures with a screen resolution (typically 72 dpi) being
submitted for print, the resulting images are not of a high quality.

Articles in journals
1. Standard journal article
List the first six authors followed by et al.
Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for
pancreatobiliary disease. Annals of Internal Medicine 1996;124:9803.
More than six authors:
Parkin DM, Clayton D, Black RJ, Masuyer E, Friedl HP, Ivanov E, et al. Childhood leukaemia in
Europe after Chernobyl: 5 year follow-up. British Journal of Cancer 1996;73:100612.
2. Organization as author
The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Clinical exercise stress testing. Safety and
performance guidelines. Medical Journal of Australia 1996;164:2824.
3. No author given
Cancer in South Africa [editorial]. South African Medical Journal 1994;84:15.
4. Article not in English (but use translation or romanized version for non-roman script languages)
Ryder TE, Haukeland EA, Solhaug JH. Bilateral infrapatellar seneruptur hostidligere frisk kvinne.
Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 1996;116:412.
5. Volume with supplement
Shen HM, Zhang QF. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer.
Environmental Health Perspectives 1994;102 Suppl. 1:27582.
6. Issue with supplement
Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Womens psychological reactions to breast cancer. Seminars in
Oncology 1996;23(1 Suppl. 2):8997.
7. Volume with part
Ozben T, Nacitarhan S, Tuncer N. Plasma and urine sialic acid in non-insulin dependent diabetes
mellitus. Annals of Clinical Biochemistry 1995;32(Pt 3):3036.

278

8. Issue with part

Poole GH, Mills SM. One hundred consecutive cases of flap lacerations of the leg in ageing patients.
New Zealand Medical Journal 1994;107(986 Pt 1):3778.
9. Issue with no volume
Turan I, Wredmark T, Fellander-Tsai L. Arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis in rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical
Orthopaedics 1995;(320):1104.
10. No issue or volume
Browell DA, Lennard TW. Immunologic status of the cancer patient and the effects of blood
transfusion on antitumor responses. Current Opinions in General Surgery 1993:32533.
11. Pagination in Roman numerals
Fisher GA, Sikic BI. Drug resistance in clinical oncology and hematology. Introduction. Hematology
Oncology Clinics of North America 1995 April; 9(2):xixii.
12. Type of article indicated as needed
Enzensberger W, Fischer PA. Metronome in Parkinsons disease [letter]. Lancet 1996;347:1337.
Clement J, De Bock R. Hematological complications of hantavirus nephropathy (HVN) [abstract].
Kidney International 1992;42:1285.
13. Article containing retraction
Garey CE, Schwarzman AL, Rise ML, Seyfried TN. Ceruloplasm in gene defect associated with
epilepsy in EL mice [retraction of Garey CE, Schwarzman AL, Rise ML, Seyfried TN. In: Nature
Genetics 1994;6:42631]. Nature Genetics 1995;11:104.
14. Article retracted
Liou GI, Wang M, Matragoon S. Precocious IRBP gene expression during mouse development
[retracted in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 1994;35:3127]. Investigative
Ophthalmology and Visual Science 1994;35:10838.
15. Article with published erratum
Hamlin JA, Kahn AM. Herniography in symptomatic patients following inguinal hernia repair
[published erratum appears in Western Journal of Medicine 1995;162:278]. Western Journal of
Medicine 1995;162:2831.
Books and other monographs
16. Personal author(s)
Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY), USA:
Delmar Publishers; 1996.
17. Editor(s), compiler(s) as author
Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York, USA: Churchill
Livingstone; 1996.
18. Organization as author and publisher
Institute of Medicine (US). Looking at the future of the Medicaid program. Washington, USA: The
Institute; 1992.

279

19. Chapter in a book

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension:
pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York, USA: Raven Press; 1995. p.
46578.
20. Conference proceedings
Kimura J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advances in clinical neurophysiology. Proceedings of the 10th
International Congress of EMG and Clinical Neurophysiology; 1995 October 1519; Kyoto, Japan.
Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier; 1996.
21. Conference paper
Bengtsson S, Solheim BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy and security in medical
informatics. In: Lun KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, Rienhoff O, editors. MEDINFO 92. Proceedings
of the 7th World Congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 September 610; Geneva, Switzerland.
Amsterdam, Netherlands; 1992. p. 15615.
22. Scientific or technical report
Issued by funding/sponsoring agency:
Smith P, Golladay K. Payment for durable medical equipment billed during skilled nursing facility
stays. Final report. Dallas (TX): Dept. of Health and Human Services (US), Office of Evaluation and
Inspections; 1994 October Report No.: HHSIGOEI69200860.
Issued by performing agency:
Field MJ, Tranquada RE, Feasley JC, editors. Health services research: work force and educational
issues. Washington: National Academy Press; 1995. Contract No.: AHCPR282942008. Sponsored by
the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.
23. Dissertation
Kaplan SJ. Post-hospital home health care: the elderlys access and utilization [dissertation]. St Louis
(MO): Washington University.; 1995.
24. Patent
Larsen CE, Trip R, Johnson CR, inventors; Novoste Corporation, assignee. Methods for procedures
related to the electrophysiology of the heart. US patent 5,529,067. 1995 June 25.
Other published material
25. Newspaper article
Lee G. Hospitalizations tied to ozone pollution: study estimates 50,000 admissions annually. The
Washington Post 1996 June 21; Section A:3 (column 5).
26. Audiovisual material
HIV+/AIDS: the facts and the future [videocassette]. St. Louis (MO), USA: Mosby-Year Book; 1995.
27. Legal material
Public law:
Preventive Health Amendments of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103183, 107 Statute 2226 (December 14,
1993).
280

Unenacted bill:
Medical Records Confidentiality Act of 1995, S. 1360, 104th Congress, 1st Session (1995).
Code of Federal Regulations:
Informed Consent, 42 C.F.R. Section 441.257 (1995).
Hearing:
Increased Drug Abuse: the Impact on the Nations Emergency Rooms: Hearings Before the
Subcommittee. on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations of the House Committee. on
Government Operations, 103rd Congress, 1st Session (May 26, 1993).
28. Map
North Carolina. Tuberculosis rates per 100,000 population, 1990 [demographic map]. Raleigh: North
Carolina Department. of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Epidemiology;
1991.
29. Book of the Bible
The Holy Bible. King James version. Grand Rapids (MI), USA: Zondervan Publishing House; 1995.
Ruth 3:118.
30. Dictionary and similar references
Stedmans medical dictionary. 26th ed. Baltimore, USA: Williams & Wilkins; 1995. Apraxia; p.
11920.
31. Classical material
The Winters Tale: Act 5, Scene 1, lines 1316. The complete works of William Shakespeare. London:
Rex; 1973.
Unpublished material
32. In press
Leshner AI. Molecular mechanisms of cocaine addiction. New England Journal of Medicine. In press
1996.
Electronic material
33. Journal article in electronic format!!
Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerging Infectious Diseases [serial
online] 1995 JanuaryMarch [cited 1996 June 5];1(1):[24 screens]. Available from: URL: http://www.
cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/eid.htm
34. Monograph in electronic format
CDI, clinical dermatology illustrated [monograph on CD-ROM]. Reeves JRT, Maibach H. CMEA
Multimedia Group, producers. 2nd ed. Version 2.0. San Diego, USA: CMEA; 1995.

281

12.1: Manual for preparing a grant application for the ACP

Science and Technology Programme

Manual for preparing a grant

application for the

ACP Science and

Technology Programme

ACP-EU co-operation programme in science and technology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. ACP Science and Technology Programme in brief

3. Before starting to complete the Grant Application Form

4. Some criteria for a successful application

5. Forming an eligible partnership based on a sound project idea

13

6. Completing the Grant Application Form

15

6.1

Which application documents to submit?

15

6.2

Cover sheet and first page of the Grant Application Form

17

6.2.1
6.2.2

17
18

Cover sheet
First page

6.3

The Logical Framework

19

6.4

Part A - Concept Note

33

6.5

Part B - Full Application Form

34

34
34
39
43
44
44
45
50
53
55
56
56

II
III
IV
V
VI
VII

The Action:
1 Description
2 Budget for the Action
3 Expected sources of funding
4 Linkages to other programmes and policy initiatives
5 Experience of similar Actions
The Applicant
Partners of the Applicant participating in the Action
Associates of the Applicant participating in the Action
Checklist
Declaration by the Applicant
Assessment grid

7. Final stages

58

7.1

Validation of the proposal

58

7.2

The last steps of submitting the proposal

58

7.3

The evaluation process

61

7.4

Sources of further guidance

68

7.5

A final word

69

8. Glossary

70

1.

Introduction

This Manual should be read in conjunction with the Grant Application Form and the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants for the Call for Proposals which was published in
November 2008 on the Websites of the ACP Science and Technology Programme, the ACP
Secretariat and EuropeAid. Its purpose is to provide additional information on how to fill in
the Grant Application Form and related documents, and to guide applicants through the
proposal development, drafting, submission and evaluation process. It cannot and does not
attempt to answer all the questions applicants may have. We, therefore, encourage you to
address questions you do not find answered in this Manual to the Programme Management
Unit and also to regularly check the FAQ section (Frequently Asked Questions) on the
Website of the ACP Science and Technology Programme.

ACP Science and Technology Programme

Programme Management Unit
c/o GOPA-Cartermill
45 rue de Trves, B-1040 Brussels
Belgium
E-mail: info@acp-st.eu
Fax: +32-2-280.1406
Tel: +32-2-234.3727
Website: www.acp-st.eu

This Manual has been prepared by the Programme Management Unit (PMU) of the ACP
Science and Technology Programme, which has sole responsibility for its contents. It can in
no way be taken to reflect the views of the ACP Secretariat or the European Union. In case
of discrepancies between information given in this Manual and in the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants, the English version of the latter is the binding document.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

2.

THE ACP SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMME IN BRIEF

The ACP Science and Technology Programme is an ACP-EU co-operation programme

that started its operation in June 2008. Promoting intra-ACP co-operation, it
contributes to building capacity through networks of institutions in the ACP region by
funding partnership projects to be selected from a public Call for Proposals, which is
open to all 79 member states of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
(ACP), the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), the 3 EU candidate
countries, and the 3 member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
that belong to the European Economic Area (EEA). It is implemented by the ACP
Secretariat with funding from the European Union.

OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of the ACP Science
and Technology Programme is to support
ACP countries in formulating and
implementing science and technology
(S&T) policies that can lead to sustainable
development and to poverty reduction
through economic growth and progressive
integration in the world economy.
The purpose is to strengthen the internal
S&T capacity of ACP countries to support
research, development and innovation in
the ACP region at three levels:

Institutional, administrative and policy

making.
Academic research and technology.
Business and civil society.

The Programme promotes interdisciplinary

approaches to sustainable development
along three main axes:

Co-ordination and networking in applied

research.
Instruments for collaborative research.
Management of research activities and
reinforcement of research.

EXPECTED RESULTS
The expected results of the ACP Science
and Technology Programme are:

TYPES OF PROJECTS
The projects to be funded should primarily
focus on:

Quality health care: traditional and

biodiversity-dependent
community
medicines; biotechnology.
Environmental research activities:
climatic variability, loss of biodiversity,

deforestation, desertification and rising

sea levels; indigenous technology;
adaptation of foreign technology.
Energy: renewable sources of energy.
Transport: congestion, air pollution;
accidents.
Agriculture and agro-industry: food
productivity
and
security;
agroproducts; farmers participation in
production
and
post-harvest
management.
Sustainable trade: private sector;
trading capacity of ACP countries;
socio-economic impact of international
trade agreements and protocols on
sustainable development.

Networks established or consolidated at

intra ACP-level with linkages to
international networks.
Increased capacity to assess research
needs to facilitate the formulation and
implementation of research policies.
Increased capacity and incentives to
research network partners to prepare
and submit project proposals to
funding, including for example the ECs
Seventh Framework Programme for
research and technology development
(FP7).
Research results better capitalized and
disseminated.
Quality of research results improved.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Call for Proposals
For the period 2008-2013, there is one
Call for Proposals scheduled with a total
budget of 33 million.
The proposal submission deadline is 27
February 2009.
Allocation of funds by lot
The overall indicative amount for this Call
for Proposals is EUR 33.000.000, of which:
EUR 28,000,000 is made available from
the 9th EDF (European Development
Fund).
EUR 5,000,000 from the EC budget line
21.03.17 European Programme for
Reconstruction
and
Development
(EPRD), the development co-operation
programme between the EC and South
Africa.
This Call for Proposals is divided into 2
Lots, one for each funding source, with
different eligibility criteria for the applicants
and partners, but identical objectives,
results and activities:
Lot 1 EDF concerns the 28 million
EDF contribution. Members of the
partnership must belong to one of the 79
ACP States or one of the 27 EU
Member States (this obligation does not
apply to international organisations).
Lot 2 BUDGET concerns the 5
million EC budget line 21.03.17
contribution. Members of the partnership
must belong to one of the 79 ACP
States, one of the 27 EU Member
States, one of the 3 EEA / EFTA
Member States or one of the official EU
candidate countries (this obligation does
not apply to international organisations).
Institutions from Cuba and the Overseas
Countries and Territories (OCT) may
only
participate
in
projects
as
associates, and cannot be final
beneficiaries of the project.
Size of grants
Projects may request a grant between
350,000 and 1 million.
In exceptional cases, projects may
request a grant up to 3 million when
project activities concern at least four of
the six ACP regions and when these

contribute to regional, interregional or

intraregional S&T policies.
The Programme contribution will cover
up to a maximum of 85% of the total
eligible project costs.
Duration
The duration of a project should be
between 1 and 3 years.
Evaluation and selection
Proposals will be evaluated by an
Evaluation Committee with regard to
their quality and relevance.
The final decision on the selection of
projects for financing will be made by
the ACP Secretariat subject to the
approval of the European Commission.
All information about this Call for
Proposals, the application documents and
the guidelines for applicants, can be
consulted at: www.acp-st.eu.

WHO CAN APPLY

Organisations that are interested to apply
for a grant under this Call must belong to
one of the following categories:
(a) ACP national or regional S&T
organisations, research institutions,
universities,
ministries
or
public
institutions dealing with research
policies,
ACP
national
research
networks, relevant civil society or
private sector actors or similar EU
actors
partnering
with
ACP
counterparts.
(b) Regional S&T institutions, with separate
legal status, not belonging to any
national system but formally recognised
by one of the eligible countries.
(c) Established
ACP S&T networks
provided that: all its members and
headquarters are located in eligible
countries; they have a legal status; they
are applying in its own right; and they
have been registered for a minimum of
2 years.
(d) Regional or inter-State bodies to which
one or more ACP States belong,
including bodies with non-ACP State
members, which are authorised by
those ACP States.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

The organisations must belong to one of

the 79 ACP Member States, the 27
Member States of the EU, the 3 EU
Candidate countries, or the 3 EEA EFTA

States (see table below). NB: This

obligation does not apply to international
organisations:

African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries

Eastern Africa

Central Africa

Western Africa

Southern Africa

Caribbean

Pacific

Burundi
Comoros
Djibouti
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Kenya
Madagascar
Mauritius
Rwanda
Seychelles
Somalia
Sudan
Tanzania
Uganda

Cameroon
Central African
Republic
Chad
Congo
Dem. Republic of
Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Sao Tome &
Principe

Benin
Burkina-Faso
Cape Verde
Cte d'Ivoire
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Liberia
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo

Angola
Botswana
Lesotho
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
South Africa
Swaziland
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Antigua and Barbuda

Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Dominica
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Guyana
Haiti
Jamaica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and
Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago

Cook Islands
Fiji
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Nauru
Niue
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Timor Leste
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic

Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany

Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia

Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain

Sweden
United Kingdom

Croatia

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

European Union
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland

EU candidate countries
Turkey

European Economic Area - European Free Trade Association (EEA EFTA) states
Iceland

Liechtenstein

Norway

The organisations must operate within a

partnership:
A partnership involves at least 3
organisations from at least 2 different
ACP Member States. NB: Established
ACP S&T networks and regional ACP
inter-state bodies are considered
partnerships in themselves and are not
obliged to form alliances with others.
Networks, however, have to be
multinational.

The number of non-ACP partners in a

partnership cannot be greater than the
number of ACP partners.
Preference will be given to partnerships
where the lead institution is an ACP partner
or to partnerships composed exclusively of
ACP partners, over those not fulfilling these
criteria if at a certain stage of the
evaluation process they receive the same
scores.

For further information about the ACP Science and Technology Programme, please consult
the Website: www.acp-st.eu or contact the Programme Management Unit by e-mail:
info@acp-st.eu or by Fax: +32-2-280.1406

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

3.

1.

BEFORE STARTING TO COMPLETE THE GRANT APPLICATION

FORM
Familiarise yourself with the ACP
Science and Technology
Programme

Read the information provided on the

Website of the ACP Science and
Technology Programme. Here you will find
answers in the section Frequently Asked
Questions which may cover some of your
own questions. If possible, attend one of
the Information Days for applicants the
ACP Secretariat will organise in the ACP
and EU regions. The dates will be
communicated in due time on the Website.

2.

Make sure that you are familiar with

the objective and purpose of the
ACP Science and Technology
Programme

Read the previous chapter The ACP

Science and Technology Programme in
brief. It explains in a few sentences the
objective and purpose of the Programme
and the results the Programme hopes to
achieve. They should be reflected in your
proposal.
Read also carefully Section 1 of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants, in
particular Section 1.1 which explains the
background of the Programme. You are
strongly encouraged to consult the policy
documents and other S&T initiatives that
are referred herein. Relevant components
hereof should be reflected in your proposal.
Remember that your project should, apart
from achieving its own objectives, also fit
well in the context of the Programme and
take part in achieving the objectives of the
Programme. It is, therefore, very important
for the Programme and towards the
financing sources that the projects to be
financed are linked to the above and other
relevant policies.

3.

Study thoroughly the type of

projects and participants the ACP
Science and Technology
Programme may support

Read the previous chapter The ACP

Science and Technology Programme in
brief and the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants. It explains the scope, the main
axes and the priority areas where the
Programme is focused on, as well as the
type of organisations that can apply for a
grant. These eligibility criteria must be met
in your proposal.
Ensure that your proposal is an additional
activity to existing funding programmes and
that it is in synergy with other initiatives at
national, regional or global level.
Bear in mind that your proposal must
contribute to the creation or
strengthening of frameworks for regional
and sub-regional co-operation and of interinstitutional co-operation in the ACP region
in the field of science and technology.
More precisely, this concerns building
and enhancing strong scientific and
technological capacity to support research,
development and innovation in the ACP
region, and enabling the identification and
formulation of activities or policies that are
critical to sustainable development.

4.

Follow the Guidelines for Grant

Applicants to the letter

These Guidelines describe the background

of the Programme, the application
procedure and how to fill in the Grant
Application Form.
Where to find the Guidelines?
a. - Go to www.acp-st.eu
b. - Choose your language
c. - Click on the section How to apply?

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

In various parts of the Guidelines, a

reference is made to specific documents
from the European Commission. You are
strongly encouraged to consult these
documents and apply the described rules
and criteria in your proposal, For a quick
reference, these documents are also
assembled in Chapter 7.4 of this Manual.

5.

From the very beginning, be aware

of the deadline for submission

Prepare a work plan for the completion of

your proposal, where you plot the essential
activities to be undertaken and the
milestones to be achieved against a strict
time schedule. You should include here,
among others:

the topic of your proposal;

the partners with whom to collaborate

6.

Choose the language for proposals

Proposals can only be submitted either in

English or in French. These are the
languages predominantly used by the
evaluators.

7.

Take into account that the

evaluators are the first target group
for your proposal

Bear in mind that the evaluators are the

persons who will read and assess your
proposal. Although carefully selected, they
have different backgrounds and may not be
specialists on the topic of your proposal.
So put yourself in the evaluators position:
while everything in your proposal is so
obvious for you as the author, it is not
necessarily so for the evaluators, who will
only see the information you provide.

and their agendas;

the organisation of meetings with

8.

partners (dates, location, contents);

the identification of who you need to

write the proposal and the assurance to
have them made available;

the design and subsequent supervision

of a schedule for the proposal
development stages (production of the
proposal concept, outline and sections,
and drafts; information search; sharing
of text parts; editing; etc.);

the inclusion of review moments (proof

reading and quality assurance); and

the

finalisation of the proposal

(obtaining the required signatures,
checking the full set of documents to be
submitted, timely submission),

The proposal development process should

start as early as possible to allow all
partners enough time to provide input into
the drafting of the proposal, to be involved
in the process to decide on priorities and
needs, and to send some original
documents
to
the
Applicant
(re:
Partnership Statement: Part B, Section
III.2 of the Grant Application Form)
Be sure to include some slack time
unforeseen things will inevitably happen.

Be aware that the evaluation will not

be carried out under luxury
conditions

Evaluators have to work their way through

a large number of proposals under strong
time pressure. They will not have the time
to read your proposal more than once. So
make sure that this one reading is enough
for them to correctly understand it.
9.

Be aware that the evaluators have

to make their choice among many
excellent proposals

A Call for Proposals and its evaluation is a

competitive process. Only the best ones
will finally be selected, because of the
limited amount of funding available. This
does not mean that the remainder are poor
proposals they are just less good.
Therefore, you cannot afford any weakness
in your proposal: all parts of it must be of
excellent quality.

10. Take notice of the various steps in

the Call for Proposals
Step 1. Become acquainted with the ACP
Science and Technology Programme.
Ensure that this Call for Proposals matches

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

your interest in promoting Science and

Technology in the ACP region.
Step 2. Obtain call-specific documentation
and forms. The ACP Secretariat publishes
a separate information package which
includes the Grant Application Form and
the accompanying Guidelines for Grant
Applicants that offers practical advice for
preparing and submitting proposals under
this Call for Proposals. Follow strictly the
rules on how to complete the application
form and related documents.

Step 5. Submit the proposal by the Call

deadline. Submit the proposal to the
Programme Management Unit (PMU) of
the ACP Science and Technology
Programme. The deadline for submitting
the application in the Call for Proposals is
clearly stated on the first page of the
application and the guidelines. Applications
submitted after the deadline are ineligible.
Step 6. Evaluation and selection of
proposals. All grant applications will be
evaluated by an Evaluation Committee.

Step 3. Establish a consortium of partners.

The Applicant must recruit partners to form
a consortium capable of undertaking all
aspects of the intended project. Partners
may be identified through established
networks or the Partner Search service
available on the ACP Science and
Technology website.

Step 7. Contract negotiations and Grant

Contract. The terms and conditions
regulating the selected projects are
contained in two documents: (a) the formal
Grant Contract between the consortium
and the ACP Secretariat, and (b) the
Consortium Agreement between the
partners and signed by them only.

Step 4. Prepare a proposal. Proposers

must use the Grant Application Form and
submit this together with the required
related documents.

Step 8. Contract signature.

Step 9. Launch of the project. The project
starts its implementation.

1. Become acquainted with the ACP Science and Technology Programme

2. Obtain call-specific documentation and forms

3. Establish a consortium of partners

4. Prepare a proposal

5. Submit the proposal by the call deadline

6. Evaluation and selection of proposals

7. Contract negotiations and Grant Contract

8. Contract signature

9. Launch of the project

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

4.
1.

SOME CRITERIA FOR A SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION

Strictly follow the rules and
provisions of the Call for
Proposals

When filling in the Grant Application

Form, strictly respect the rules as
explained in this form, in the Guidelines
for Grant Applicants and in this Manual.
Do not leave out or add any chapters or
change their sequence. Above all, respect
the limitations to the number of pages that
are indicated for some sections. Make
sure to send all required documents in
time and to the right address and do not
annex unrequired documents.
The Grant Application Form is not
specifically designed for the ACP Science
and
Technology
Programme.
The
European Commission uses the same
form as a basis for many different types of
programmes. At certain points you may,
therefore, not be entirely sure how to
complete it. In this case, if you do not find
an explanation in this Manual, first consult
the Frequently Asked Questions on the
Website of the ACP Science and
Technology Programme. If you still cannot
find an explanation there, you can always
contact the PMU of the ACP Science and
Technology Programme and ask for
clarifications.

2.

Study the different documents you

have to complete

The proposal application that you submit

consists of the following mandatory
documents available in Microsoft Word
or Microsoft Excel format:
Grant Application Form, which includes
a Part A (Concept Note) and a Part B
(Full Application Form);
Budget (worksheet 1 Budget, and
worksheet 2 Sources of funding);
Logical Framework;
The Checklist and the Declaration by
the Applicant (Part B Section V

respectively Section VI of the Grant

Application Form).
Familiarise yourself with the required
contents you have to provide.

3.

Read carefully the evaluation and

selection procedure

Before you start writing your proposal,

read carefully through the evaluation and
selection procedure in the Guidelines for
Grant Applicants. It shows which issues
the evaluators will look at, what the
various steps are a proposal can undergo,
and what the maximum scores are for
certain sections. Taking this procedure
into consideration should help you in
sharply focusing on the contents to be
drafted for your proposal.

4.

Find a good title for your project

The title of your project should be concise

and self-explanatory in view of the
proposed Action.

5.

Draft a convincing Concept Note

We cannot stress it enough: Overcoming

the first hurdle on the way to success of
your proposal depends on the quality of
your Concept Note. You have to convince
the evaluators in just 4 pages to
recommend your application for further
evaluation. So what you say must be wellstructured, concise, and complete!

6.

Make a thorough analysis of the

background of your project

This analysis will lay the foundation for the

Action you propose. It must identify the
essential problem areas; define target
group(s) and stakeholders, and links and
complementarities with other initiatives.
This must be done in such a way that the
activities you plan to undertake and the

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

solutions you propose follow logically from

this analysis. If you start the preparation of
your proposal with the Logical Framework
(see Chapter 6.3 of this Manual), as we
strongly suggest, you will automatically be
led to performing this background
analysis.

reasonable and realistic. It often occurs

that the amount of the grant requested in
proposals is identical to the upper grant
limit mentioned in the Call for Proposals.
This creates the impression that this figure
was taken as the starting point in
formulating the project proposal and then
filled with activities to justify that amount.

7.

However, it is unlikely that this approach

will lead to an optimally designed project.
When you prepare the budget, it is more
logical to start from realistic considerations
regarding the activities needed to
successfully carry out the Action and then
translate them into costs. Avoid the
impression that your budget was
artificially inflated in order to obtain the
maximum possible grant.

Identify clear objectives, methods

and results

Show that you have a clear idea of your

project; that you know exactly what the
intention is, what to do, how to do it, why,
and what will come out of it. Again, the
Logical Framework Analysis will help you
structure your ideas and check their logic.

8.

Develop a well-structured work

plan

Show in your work plan that you have a

realistic view of the sequence and timing
of the activities to be undertaken in the
performance of the project, the inputs
required at each point and the results you
expect to achieve. Be honest about
possible constraints and make appropriate
provision for them in the work plan.

9.

Make sure to have an appropriate

project cycle management

Your proposal should contain convincing

methods for the follow-up and evaluation
of your project, should it be selected. This
includes a good definition of objectively
measurable indicators. To help you with
this definition, we recommend you to
consult Chapter 6.3 of this Manual (the
Logical Framework). Remember that if
your project is selected for financing, you
will be expected to report regularly on its
progress. Monitoring and evaluation of
your project should, therefore, be
embedded as an essential activity into the
very fabric of the work plan.

10. Calculate a realistic budget

The budget must be expressed in Euros
(). The budgeted project costs must be

11. Have a clear text structure

The text of your proposal must be clear
and concise for easy reading. It should
have precise headings and sub-headings
and contain short paragraphs to structure
it. The information you provide should be
limited to what is essential for describing
your proposed Action and it should show a
logical sequence. Avoid redundancies and
jargon, and do not use acronyms without
explanation. Little credit will be given for
sweeping claims such as this project will
be entirely sustainable. Do not forget that
a proposal under the ACP Science and
Technology Programme is not a scientific
paper. You should write as if it was for a
non-technical reader. Look at it from a
pragmatic point of view: You want to
obtain funding to do a certain well-defined
work within a clear timeframe that will
result in tangible outputs. This is much
more like a business proposal.
Within a partnership, it is common practice
that each partner will make a contribution
to the proposal, in particular the text
segments related to its designated role in
the project. However, this implies the risk
that the final product will not be
homogeneous with regard to style, detail
of content, presentation, etc. It is,
therefore, advisable that one person

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

10

should do the final editing of the proposal

to ensure the homogeneity of the full text.
This person should also be responsible for
doing a last check of the completeness of
the application and its compliance with all
the provisions of the Call for Proposals.

The compulsory format of the Grant

Application Form was not respected;

Essential documents were missing

(budget, sources of funding, logical
framework );

Partnership is not eligible (no partners

at all, not enough partners, ineligible
partners ...);

12. Use good quality language

Proposals must be submitted in either
English or French. It goes without saying
that the use of good standard English or
French is an asset for your application.
Please ensure that your proposal is
reviewed by someone whose mother
tongue is English or French, where
applicable, and who could, within a few
hours, turn an incomprehensible text into
a legible application which might be
retained. After revising your application,
please have the grammar and spelling
again checked by someone whose mother
tongue is English or French. A proposal
must not be formulated in a sophisticated
way, but it should be easy to read and
more important to understand. How else
will the evaluators be in a position to
assess your proposal?

Requested

European Development
Fund (EDF) or EC general budget
(BUDGET) contribution exceeds the
limit.

Quality of the content:

The relevance of the project (to the
needs and constraints of the
country/region and to those of the
target group(s) and final beneficiaries)
is not convincing;

Proposal shows no clear relation to the

objectives of the ACP Science and
Technology Programme;

Goals are too ambitious and not

plausibly
substantiated
proposed activities;

by

the

Parts of the proposal are a duplication

of past or ongoing projects;

Objectives, methodology and results

13. Do not forget any documents!
Your application must be supported by a
certain number of documents (see
Chapter 6.1 of this Manual). Please note
that these documents will not be returned
at the end of the evaluation process.

are insufficiently
explained;

elaborated

and

Text is not clearly structured, lacking

internal logic;

Text is obviously written by cut and

paste of same text parts in different
sections; poor final editing;

Poor Logical Framework (intervention

14. Major reasons for the rejection of
applications under other
programmes
The application was posted after the
submission deadline:
This is the most annoying reason of all for
having your proposal rejected after all the
effort it took to prepare it. So be absolutely
sure to respect the deadline. Rejection of
late proposals is automatic and there will
be no exceptions.
The application failed to pass the
administrative check:

logic,
indicators,
verification);

sources

of

Costs appear exaggerated in relation

to the proposed activities and inputs.
Impact:
Target group(s) is/are not clearly
identified or negligible in quantitative
terms;

Proposal

does not elaborate

tangible outputs and results;

on

Sustainability of the project is not

sufficiently substantiated.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

11

Implementation:
Insufficient management experience of
the project coordinator;

Inadequate

knowledge of
Cycle Management (PCM).

Project

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

12

5.

FORMING AN ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP BASED ON A SOUND

PROJECT IDEA

Establishing a partnership
There are two possible approaches to the
establishment of your partnership:

Either you develop your project idea

first and then look for eligible
institutions / networks / groups that
might be interested in the subject and
in working with your organisation;

Or, if your organisation already has

well-established and tested relations
with other eligible institutions /
networks / groups, you can build on
this experience and jointly develop a
project idea of common interest.
You can also make use of the Search
Partner section on the Website of the ACP
Science and Technology Programme by
advertising your organisation and your
specific interests there. Please note that
the PMUs role is limited to placing your
search request on the Website. It will not
get involved as a broker between the
different parties.
As explained in Section 2.1 of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants, please
note that in the Call for Proposals of the
ACP Science and Technology Programme,
there is a variety of eligible institutions and
networks that can form an eligible
partnership structure.
Whichever approach you choose, the
selection of partners and the constitution of
the partnership must be based on clear
ideas and perceptions about the project.
The partnership should bring together all
competences relevant for the successful
execution of the project and should be
committed to the Action and its target
group(s). It is important that all partners
have a high level of mutual trust and a
good co-operative spirit.

How many members

partnership consist of?

should

the

There are minimum rules that you find

explained in the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants, but there is no upper limit to
the number of members the partnership
may comprise. However, there is no point
in adding partners just for the sake of it.
The optimum is a partnership that
combines all the required competences,
where each partner has a well-defined role
and where partners share project activities
and benefits in a balanced way. And
remember: the more partners are involved,
the more complex and difficult managing
the project will become.

Choosing the lead institution

One member of the partnership must be
designated as the lead institution who then
becomes the Applicant. The most useful
consideration in choosing the lead
institution of the partnership should be
project management experience and
capacity. This is an important criterion in
the evaluation process and should,
therefore, be the outstanding qualification
of the lead institution.

Formalising the partnership

The establishment of the partnership is
formalised
through
the
so-called
partnership statements, included in Part B,
Section III.2 of the Grant Application
Form. Each partner must sign, date (and
stamp) such a statement and in principle
they should all be included as originals in
your application. Faxed copies will be
accepted, but you may be asked by the
ACP Secretariat to provide the original at a
later time. Assembling the partnership
statements should, therefore, be one of the
very first activities to be undertaken once
the partnership structure has been agreed,
since experience shows that it may take
considerable time to obtain them all. The

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

13

signature on the Partnership Statement

must be that of a person authorised to
legally represent the institution.
An additional instrument to formalise your
partnership is an internal agreement
(consortium agreement, co-operation
agreement, ) that: describes the purpose
of the partnership; clearly defines the role
and responsibilities of each partnership
member: confirms their commitment to the
joint undertaking; etc. It is also
recommended to include the internal rules
of communication and decision making, the
financial conditions, property rights,

valorisation and the dissemination of

results, etc. It is necessary to consider all
possible events in order to avoid any
surprises in the project implementation,
which could lead to a deadlock or even the
suspension of the project. It is entirely up to
you whether and how you draw up such a
document. It is neither part of your
application nor is it a condition for its
validity. If your application should be
selected for a grant, you can then replace
this initial (and more informal) agreement
by a more precise and detailed one that is
legally binding on its signatories.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

14

6.

COMPLETING THE GRANT APPLICATION FORM

6.1

WHICH APPLICATION

Part B - Full Application Form

DOCUMENTS TO SUBMIT?

seven sections:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VI.

The Guidelines for Grant Applicants

contains the following list of Annexes:
Documents to fill in:
Annex A: Grant Application Form
(Microsoft Word format)
Annex B: Budget
(Microsoft Excel format)
Annex C: Logical Framework
(Microsoft Excel format)
Annex D: Legal Entity Sheet for
Public Entities and for
Private Companies
Annex E: Financial Identification
Form
Documents for information:
Annex F: Standard Grant Contract
Annex G: Daily Allowance Rates
(per diem)
Annex H: Standard Contribution
Agreement (applicable in
case where the
Beneficiary is an
international organisation)

The mandatory documents to be

submitted are the Grant Application
Form with the following parts and
annexes:

Part A - Concept Note

four sections:
1. Title of the Action
2. Relevance of the Action
3. Description of the Action and its
effectiveness
4. Sustainability of the Action

The Action
The Applicant
The Partners
The Associates
Checklist
Declaration by the Applicant
Assessment Grid

The 2 annexes:
-

Budget (worksheet 1 Budget

and worksheet 2 Sources of
funding)
Logical Framework

The following documents will only be

requested by the ACP Secretariat if your
proposal is provisionally selected at the
end of the evaluation procedure (see
Section 2.4 of the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants):
-

Legal Entity Sheet (of the Applicant)

Financial Identification Form (of the
Applicant)
Other: statutes or articles of
association (of the Applicant and
the partners); profit and los account
and balance sheet (of the
Applicant); and details on the audit
firm.

The following documents are provided for

information purposes only and should not
be returned:
-

Standard Grant Contract: this type

of contract will be officially sent to
you for signature only if a grant has
been awarded at the end of the
assessment.
Daily Allowance Rates: this
document can be consulted for the
calculation of per diems in case of

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

15

missions requiring an overnight stay

away from the base of operations.
These include accommodation,
meals, local travel within the place
of mission and sundry expenses.
Standard Contribution Agreement:
this type of contract will be used
only if a grant has been awarded at
the end of the assessment when
the Beneficiary is an international
organisation, with the exception if it
concerns an organisation with

which the EC has concluded a

specific framework agreement.
Do not send any additional documents
they will be disregarded. In particular, do
not send at this time any of the documents
listed in Section 2.4 of the Guidelines for
Grant Applicants (statutes, balance sheets,
etc.). You will be requested by the ACP
Secretariat to submit these if and when
your application should be selected for
funding.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

16

6.2

COVER SHEET AND FIRST PAGE OF THE GRANT APPLICATION FORM

6.2.1 Cover sheet

Name of Applicant:

Please indicate the name of the lead institution within the

partnership that submits the proposal and, if the proposal is
selected, signs the grant contract.

Title of the Action:

Give here the exact title of your Action, including the acronym, if
there is one.

Lot:

Please select the appropriate Lot number for the proposed

Action

Location(s) of the
Action:

Indicate here the location(s) where the proposed Action will take
place, at the level of region, country and, if applicable, town (for
example: Western Africa Burkina-Faso Ouagadougou;
Pacific Fiji, Samoa, Tonga; Europe Italy Rome, ).

Total eligible cost of the

Action (A)

Amount requested (B)

% of total eligible cost of

the Action (B/Ax100)

(EUR)

(EUR)

(%)

The amount you enter

here (in EUR) must be the
same that appears in the
bottom line of Annex B.1
of the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants - Budget for
the Action (budget line
11.Total eligible costs
(9+10) in the column All
Years).

The amount you enter here (in

EUR) must be the same that
appears in Annex B.2 of the
Guidelines for Grant
Applicants Expected
sources of funding in the line
EDF or EC general budget
contribution sought in this
application. It must be an
amount between 350,000
and 1,000,000 or up to
3,000,000 for exceptional
cases (see Chapter 2 of this
Manual and Section 1.3 of the
Guidelines for Grant
Applicants).

This percentage (%) must be

85%. If it exceeds 85%, even
by decimals, you must either
increase the figure for total
eligible cost thus increasing
the percentage contributed by
other sources than the EDF or
EC general budget or reduce
the figure for amount
requested.

Total duration of the

Action: (months)

Please calculate the

percentage precisely (for
example: 75.48%). Do not
round up or down.

Please indicate the number of months during which the

proposed Action will take place, including the possible months
where no activities are planned (holidays, ). This must be a
minimum of 12 and a maximum of 36 months.

Dossier No

Do not write here. This

is the number that will
be attributed to your
application by the ACP
Secretariat.

(for official use only)

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

17

6.2.2 First page

Contact details for the purpose of this Action:

Postal address:

Please indicate here the complete postal address of the

Applicants institution so that the letters of the ACP
Secretariat regarding the status of your proposal in different
stages of the evaluation process will reach you. The ACP
Secretariat will not be held responsible in case it cannot
reach an Applicant.
Please ensure that the address is correct and notify the PMU
of the ACP Science and Technology Programme of any
changes

Telephone number: Country

code + city code + number

Please indicate here the complete telephone number of the

Applicants contact person. This number will be used to
contact you in case of need for any additional information or
clarifications regarding your application.
Please ensure that the telephone number is correct and notify
the PMU of the ACP Science and Technology Programme of
any changes.

Fax number: Country code +

city code + number

Please indicate here the complete fax number of the

Applicants contact person (for the same reasons as
explained above).
Please ensure that the fax number is correct and notify the
PMU of the ACP Science and Technology Programme of any
changes

Contact person for this

Action:

Please indicate the title (Ms./Mr.), surname, first name and

function of the person to whom any requests for clarification
or further information can be addressed.

Contact persons e-mail

address:

Please indicate a valid e-mail address, preferably a

professional one. This address will be used to contact you in
case of need for any additional information or clarifications
regarding your application. This e-mail address is also the
one to which letters of the ACP Secretariat regarding the
status of your proposal in different stages of the evaluation
process will be sent.
Please ensure that the e-mail address is correct and notify
the PMU of the ACP Science and Technology Programme of
any changes.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

18

6.3

THE LOGICAL FRAMEWORK

In Part B, Section I, paragraph 1.11 of the

Grant Application Form you are required
to produce a so-called Logical Framework
Matrix (attached as Annex C to the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants) after you
have described your project in detail in the
sections I.1.4 I.1.10 of the Grant
Application Form.
However, we suggest that the Logical
Framework Matrix should best be
developed before you start writing the texts
of sections I.1.4 I.1.10. When going first
through the different steps of the Logical
Framework Approach (LFA) as described
below, this will naturally lead up to
identifying the contents of these texts.
Doing it the other way around writing your
texts first and then filling in the Logical
Framework Matrix as an afterthought frustrates the very philosophy of the
approach.
The LFA should be thought of as an aid to
thinking. It allows information to be
analysed and organised in a structured
way.
It is useful to distinguish between the LFA,
which is an analytical process (involving
stakeholder analysis, problem analysis,
objective setting and strategy selection),
and the Logical Framework Matrix
(logframe) as the product of this process,
which is based on further analysis on how
objectives will be achieved and the
potential risks that may occur.
The process of going through the various
steps of the LFA should ideally be carried
out by representatives of the Applicant and
its partners sitting together in a workshop
situation and assisted by a qualified
moderator. It requires the group to address
issues that may have appeared self-evident
or which importance was not fully realised
before. The process exposes previously
unstated assumptions and hypotheses, and
forces the group to analyse carefully what it
is planning to do and to think about the
why and how of the project. The overall
result is that the project you will then

describe in the Grant Application Form will

be clearly thought out and present a
feasible and consistent solution to the
problem(s) you propose to address.
If the organisation of the above-mentioned
workshop is not possible for cost reasons,
the Applicant may form a working group to
perform the exercise and then discuss and
share the results with its partners. A
situation where the logical framework is
developed in isolation by an individual staff
member or even by an external consultant
should definitely be avoided.
The Logical Framework Matrix (also
referred to as the Logframe) looks
deceptively simple, but in reality it should
not be perceived as a stand-alone
document that can be completed in
isolation. Rather, it is the end result of a
series of interlinked analytical planning
steps called the Logical Framework
Approach. If you feel that you are
sufficiently familiar with it, you can skip this
chapter and start straight away with the
production of the Logical Framework
Matrix. If not, please read this chapter
carefully as this will help you to significantly
improve the overall quality of your proposal
and thereby your evaluation scores.

The Logical Framework Approach (LFA)

The way in which projects are planned and
implemented follows a sequence that is
known as the project cycle, which consists
of the following phases: programming
identification formulation funding
decision implementation evaluation.
Project Cycle Management (PCM) is a set
of project design and management tools,
adopted by the European Commission in
1992, and based on the Logical Framework
Approach. These techniques are described
in detail in the document Project Cycle
Management Guidelines which can be
consulted at the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/multimedia/p

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

19

ublications/publications/manualstools/t101_en.htm.
The Logical Framework Approach (LFA)
must not be confused with the Logical
Framework Matrix. LFA is a systematic
analytical project preparation methodology,
whereas the Logical Framework Matrix is a
document produced at the end of the LFA
process with a special structure regarding
the project set-up and its implementation. It
is this matrix that you have to complete in
Part B, Section I, paragraph 1.11 of the
Grant Application Form (attached as
Annex C to the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants).
The LFA fulfils several functions:

It provides a picture of the contextual

environment of the project topic.

It develops a structured set of project
ideas by clarifying objectives and
outputs.
It provides a clear, brief and logical
description of the proposed project.
It helps to identify possible risks to
project implementation.
It provides a useful basis for evaluation
during and at the end of the project.

The LFA process can be divided into the

following seven steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Situation analysis
Stakeholder analysis
Problem analysis
Objectives analysis
Analysis of alternatives
Activity planning
Resource planning

Only when you have gone through these

steps, you can prepare the Logical
Framework Matrix.

1. Situation Analysis
As a first step, you need to undertake a
structured analysis of the existing situation
and the context of the envisaged project.
This will require you to answer questions of
the following type, among others:

What are the general areas of

concern, or themes, that the project
will focus on?
What is the historical background of
issues relating to the project?
What are the lessons learned from
comparable projects?
What is the project aiming to
achieve?
At what spatial levels will the project
focus, in terms of subject and/or
geography?
Within what political, socio-economic,
technological and biophysical
environment will the project operate?
Who will/should be involved in the
process of design, implementation,
monitoring, evaluation and reporting?
Who is working on the issues
already? What are they doing? What
results have been achieved?
Who will implement the project?
What is the intended duration of the
project?
What is the anticipated level of
funding?
Who will fund the project?

The information sources for answering the

above questions could be: a feasibility
study; a pre-appraisal report; strategy
papers of countries, themes, institutions,
etc.; science and technology policy
documents; a compilation of documents
prepared specifically for the LFA; or simply
the professional knowledge of the
participants to the planning process.

2. Stakeholder Analysis
The Stakeholder Analysis will produce a
document where you give a detailed
analysis of the people, groups, or
organisations that may influence or be
influenced by the problem area addressed
by the proposed project or by the potential
solution to the problem. The objective of
this step is: to identify these groups and
organisations and discuss their role,

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

20

interests, capacity to participate and

expectations with respect to the project;
how they relate one to another; how they
can be involved in the design and
implementation of the project; how it can be
assured that they will actually benefit from
it; etc.
When looking at who the stakeholders are,
it is useful to distinguish between the
target groups and the final beneficiaries
who both benefit in whatever way from the
implementation of the project:

Target groups are the groups/entities

who will be directly positively affected
by the project at the Project Purpose
level. They are sometimes also called
direct beneficiaries. They are listed
in Part B, Section II, paragraph 2.3 of
the Grant Application Form. This
may include the staff from partner
organisations;
Final beneficiaries are those who will
benefit from the project in the long
term at the level of the society or
sector at large.

3. Problem Analysis (the problem tree)

The Problem Analysis is undertaken by
developing a problem tree for your project
through an analysis of cause and effects.
By identifying what the main problems are
in the problem area and establishing the
cause and effect relationships which result
in, and flow from, these problems in the
form of a diagram called a problem tree
visualises the hierarchy of these
problems. Once complete, the problem tree
represents a summary picture of the
existing negative situation.
Identifying the main problems
You may use brainstorming techniques to
identify the main problems faced by the
target group(s) and final beneficiaries with
respect to the problem area. The facilitator
should explain the process and the rules
for brainstorming.

Brainstorming rules

All ideas are accepted without

argument.
The aim is for quantity rather than
quality.
No debate will be allowed about
whether ideas are accepted or not,
only about whether the idea has
already been listed.
No evaluation will take place at this
time; concentrate on getting a full
cross-section of ideas first.

For maximum efficiency, a brainstorming

group should be no more than around ten
people. If more persons participate, it is
better to split them into smaller groups. The
brainstorming exercise commences by
asking participants to identify the main
problems which the project will address.
They will be written on cards, and stuck on
the wall, in no particular order. When the
participants feel that all essential problems
are displayed, they should cluster them into
groups of similar issues. At this stage a
weeding exercise can be undertaken with
the aim of discarding problems that
duplicate each other and removing those
that can clearly not be addressed by the
project.
Developing the problem tree
The problem tree is then developed by
arranging the problem cards on the wall in
a causeeffect hierarchy, possibly adding
new ones that emerge as the tree is built
up. When building the tree, it will
automatically centre to one main problem
in the upper half of the tree, a series of
lower order problems that branch out below
this main problem and a series of upper
order problems that branch out above it.
The easiest way to develop the problem
tree is to begin with a starter problem and
progressively add the other problem cards
above or below it. It does not really matter
which problem is chosen as the starter,
but it is best if it is a problem that
participants agree is of major importance.
The problem tree is constructed by
successively relating your problem cards to

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

21

the starter problem using the cause-effect

rationale:

If the problem is a cause of the

starter problem, it is placed below it;
If the problem is an effect of the
starter problem, it goes above;
If it is neither a cause nor effect, it
goes to the same level.

Below we show an example of a problem

tree that may be drawn up by a restaurant
owner, who analyses the reasons for his
core problem that his business is
unprofitable (we have deliberately chosen
an example totally unrelated to the ACP
Science and Technology Programme).

4. Objectives Analysis (the objective

tree)
The next step is to reformulate all elements
in the problem tree into positive, desirable
conditions these are the objectives.

into positive achievements. In that sense,

the objective tree is the positive mirror
image of the problem tree. It can also be
considered as an ends-means diagram.
The top of the tree is the end that you
desire to achieve with your project and the
lower levels are the means to achieving it.
Its main strength is that it keeps the
analysis of potential project objectives
firmly based on addressing a range of
clearly identified priority problems.
Once complete, the objective tree provides
a summary picture of the desired future
situation. As with the problem tree, the
objective tree should provide a simplified
but robust summary of reality. It is simply a
tool to aid analysis and presentation of
ideas.
The following example shows the objective
tree corresponding to the previously shown
example of a problem tree. As you can see,
it is a mirror image what has been stated
before as a problem is now presented as a
positive, desirable situation, that is to say
as an objective to be achieved.

The problem tree is transformed into an

objective tree by converting the problems

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

22

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application
Menu display does not
attract passers-by

Uninviting faade and

entrance area

Unattractive exterior

Customers dont find

atmosphere attractive

No special incentives

No return customers

No advertisement or
publicity

Increase of overdue
payments

Restaurant not known

even in neighbourhood

High street noise level

Customers complain about

slow service

Furniture and interior

decoration is outdated

High turn-over of staff

Windows offer no noise

insulation

Tables have no
distinguishing features

Unattractive table
presentation

Qualified staff is leaving

Cutlery and china is worn

and old-fashioned

Waiters are inattentive

Untrained staff

Inexperienced kitchen
staff

Menu is undistinguished

Use of canned
ingredients
Customers dont find food
attractive

No recruitment policy

Salaries are not

attractive

Low-quality range of
suppliers

Example of a Problem Tree

Negative publicity by
unsatisfied customers

Business is not profitable

Too few customers

Restaurant is not well-known

23

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application
Visible outdoor display of
menu

Renovated faade and

entrance area

Improved outdoor
presentation

Satisfied customers

Special rates for parties

Pleasant atmosphere

Advertisement in Yellow
Pages

Increase of net benefits

Direct mail-drops in
neighbourhood

No disturbing outside
noise

Good service

Double-glazed windows

Modern and pleasing

decor

Good table presentation

High supply of qualified staff

Fresh flowers and linen

Good quality cutlery and

china

Prompt attention to
customers

Well-trained staff

Qualified cook

Attractive choice of menu

Use of fresh ingredients

Good quality of food

Recruitment through
specialised agency

Attractive salaries

High-quality suppliers

Example of an Objective Tree

Tree
Good publicity by satisfied
customers

Business is profitable

More customers

Restaurant is well-known

24

5. Alternatives Analysis
Looking at your objective tree you may
realise that several possible strategies can
be envisaged to achieve the objectives it
shows and that you will have to select the
one that appears most feasible. You may
also find that it will not be possible to
achieve all the objectives in the context of a
single project, given the limits of the
resources that can be applied or the
complexity of the items to be dealt with, the
different stakeholder interests, political
demands, institutional capacities, etc. In
such cases, you may have to reformulate
your project to address only a certain
section of the objective tree.
In our example of an objective tree, the
restaurant
owner
may
decide
to
concentrate only on the left-hand part of
the tree as a first step, since his current
financial situation does not allow for costly
renovation and advertising activities.

6. Activity Planning
After defining the objectives with respect to
the problem area and selecting a solution
from a set of alternatives that will be
incorporated into the proposed Action, the
detailed planning phase starts by defining
the activities that are required to achieve
each objective of the proposed Action
and this is where we finally come to the
Logical Framework Matrix.

It identifies specific indicators to be

used
to
measure
the
project
performance.
It specifies the important assumptions
and uncertainties (or: critical success
factors) beyond the control of the
project.
The matrix should provide a summary of
the project design in a coherent structure. It
should generally be 1 - 4 pages in length.
Both during the production of the matrix as
well as after it has been completed, the
following important questions have to be
answered: Is there a comprehensive
overall objective? Are the specific
objective(s), the results and activities
logically coherent as derived from the
overall objective? Can any single activity
be related to the realization of the overall
objective? Are indicators realistic and the
sources of verification available?
The preparation of the matrix is an iterative
process, not just a linear set of steps. As
new parts of the matrix are drafted,
information previously assembled needs to
be reviewed and, if required, revised.
Nevertheless, there is a general sequence
to completing the matrix, which starts with
the pre-conditions, followed by the project
description (top-down), the assumptions
(bottom-up), and at last the indicators and
the sources of verification (working across).

The Logical Framework Matrix

Let us first see in a general way, what

information goes into the different boxes
and then explain in more detail the different
column and row headings.

The Logical Framework Matrix (also called

the Logframe) summarizes the results of
the above LFA process in four columns and
four rows, and serves as a planning,
management, monitoring and evaluation
overview:

Column Headings

It describes how exactly the proposed

project is built up to achieve results.
specifies the components that
contribute to achieving the stated
results and objectives.

It

Intervention logic
This is the text that narrates or describes
the objectives, results and activities. It
summarizes the means-end logic of the
proposed project.
Components of the objective tree can be
used to start framing the hierarchy in this
column. Objectives at the top of the tree

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

25

Objectively
Verifiable
Indicators of
achievement (OVI)

Sources and
means of
verification
(MOV)

What is/are the

overall broader
objective(s) to
which the project
aims to make a
contribution?

What are the

quantitative ways of
measuring, or
qualitative ways of
judging, whether
these broad
objectives are being
achieved?
And by when will
they be produced?

Which sources of
information exists,
or can be
provided in a costefficient and
timely manner to
complete the
indicators?

Specific
objective

What is the
specific objective
the project expects
(by its own efforts)
to have achieved
by the end of the
project? And that
contributes to the
overall
objective(s)?

What are the

quantitative
measures or
qualitative evidence
by which
achievement and
distribution of
impacts and benefits
can be judged?
And by when will
they be produced?

Which sources of
information exist
or can be
provided in a costefficient and
timely manner to
complete the
indicators? Must
provision for
collection be
made under
Activities of the
project (and in the
budget)?

Expected
results

What are the

various results
(outputs) that must
be produced,
which, taken
together, will allow
the achievement of
the projects
specific objective?

What kind and

quantity of
characteristics are
needed to measure
the degree of
achievement of the
expected results?
And by when will
they be produced?

Activities

Which main
activities must be
carried out and in
what sequence to
achieve each of
the expected
results?

What are the means

which are necessary
to implement each of
the activities, for
example: personnel,
equipment, training,
etc.

Intervention logic

Overall
objective(s)

What are the

sources of
information to
complete the
indicators?

What are the

sources of
information to
measure the
progress of the
project?

Assumptions

Which conditions
external to the
project are
necessary if the
achievement of
the specific
objective is to
contribute to
reaching the
overall
objective(s)?

What are the

conditions not
within the control
of the project
which are
necessary to
progress from the
results towards
the specific
objective?
Which conditions
external to the
project must be
realised to obtain
planned results
on schedule?
Which preconditions must
be met in order to
start the project
itself?

Note:

The pre-conditions cell in the bottom right of the matrix is important to complete and analyse
during the construction of the matrix. This information may also be inserted as a second part
of the cell above (Which conditions external to the project must be realised to obtain planned
results on schedule?).

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

26

should help frame the Overall objective(s)

and the Specific objectives, while further
down the tree Expected results and
Activities could also be identified.
However, it should not be expected that the
objective tree can be transposed directly
into the matrix hierarchy. Further
adjustment and refinement of statements is
usually required and checking of the
means-ends logic should be ongoing as
the matrix is being developed.
Objectively
Verifiable
Indicators
of
achievement (OVIs)
OVIs define the evidence, direct or indirect,
that will show progress towards and
achievement of the objectives and results.
They are expressed as units of
measurement that provide a basis for the
monitoring and evaluation of project
achievements over time. They must be
objectively verifiable, which means that
different persons (within and outside the
project) must be able to collect the same
information and use the same measuring
process to obtain the same results
independently.
OVIs should meet the following criteria:

Be measurable and specific

An indicator must be able to be

measured in either quantitative or
qualitative terms. It must also be
specific enough to objectively
determine whether the project has
been successful or not, and to
what extent. Ensure that standard
indicators are used to the extent
possible for comparability over
time or between target groups.
Be feasible
An indicator should be feasible in
terms of finances, equipment,
skills and time available.
Be relevant and accurate
An indicator should be relevant to
the
management
information
needs and reflect what to
measure in an accurate way.
Be sensitive
An indicator should be capable of
picking up changes over the time
period that we are interested in.

Be timely, time-bound and timebased

An indicator should be able to
provide information in a timely
manner and should be defined for
each quarter or half year or year
as appropriate to the indictor. It
should express the benefits or
changes that a project aims to
bring about at certain intervals
and by the end of the
implementation period.
There is often a tendency to include large
numbers of indicators on the assumption
that more information is better than less.
This is not necessarily so: one well-chosen
indicator can be better than several less
precise ones.
When formulating OVIs, the following
questions should be asked:

What

characteristics, conditions or
features would indicate that the results
have been achieved?
Would the collected data help one
understand what is going on in the
project and would they make sense in
relation to the results?
Sources and means of verification (MOVs)
MOVs show where to find the information
that can be used to measure or verify the
indicators. They should specify:

how the information should be

collected (for example: performing
surveys; studying administrative
records, national statistics, etc.;
organising workshops; studying
research findings, publications, etc.);
where the information for the
measurements or verification can be
collected;
who should collect the information;
when or how regularly it should be
collected; and
the format in which the data
collected should be presented.

MOVs should allow obtaining the required

information with a reasonable input of time,
money and effort. For example, official

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27

statistics are a cheap and readily

accessible MOV, but they will often have a
time lag of a year or more against the
actual situation. A targeted survey will give
you precise and up-to-date information, but
this may be quite expensive to undertake. It
is preferable to use existing systems and
sources (where possible and appropriate)
before establishing new ones.
Assumptions
These are external factors outside the
control of the project, but which are critical
for the achievement of its objectives and
results. They need to be fulfilled if the
intervention logic is to hold true.
Assumptions should, therefore, be stated in
terms of the desired situation, for example:

Budget allocations are made

available in a timely manner.
Local institutions collaborate in
planning activities.
Suitable staff are identified and
recruited on time.

All stakeholders will attend the

stakeholder meetings.
New
laboratory
building
is
operational according to schedule.
Etc.

In
formulating
and
assessing
the
importance of your assumptions, you
should apply the logic presented in the
decision-making flowchart below.
Once the assumptions have been analysed
and tested, and assuming the project is still
considered feasible, the only assumptions
that should remain in the Logical
Framework Matrix are those which are
likely to hold true, but which nevertheless
need to be carefully monitored during
project implementation. They then become
part of the projects monitoring and risk
management plan.

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28

Decision-making flowchart for the verification of assumptions:

Is the external factor important to reach the Specific
Objective or Results of the proposed project?

YES

NO

Is the external factor likely to happen without the proposed project?

Certainly

Do not include in the matrix

Do not include in the matrix

Likely

Include as an assumption in the matrix

Unlikely

Can we do something in the project

to influence the external factor?

YES

Include in the project design:

Add the external factor as a result
and identify additional activities.

Row Headings
Overall Objective(s)
This is (these are) the higher-level
objective(s) to which the project is
expected to contribute. They are based on
the focal problem identified during the
LFA. The word contribute to' implies that
the project by itself cannot be expected to
achieve the overall objective(s).
Specific Objective
This is the anticipated effect your project
will achieve by delivering the planned
results.

NO

The external factor is a killer assumption:

From a technical point of view, the project
is not feasible, unless a solution is found
externally to realise the assumption or to
transform it into an acceptable
assumption.

Expected Results
These are the tangible results that the
project should be able to guarantee.
Results must generally be delivered within
a specified time frame and budget.
Activities
These are the activities that must be
undertaken by the project partners in order
to produce the results. Each activity is
directly related to one of the results. The
activities take time to perform and consume
financial and material inputs.

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29

Example

with respect to a restaurant owner who

wants to improve his business (we have
deliberately chosen an example totally
unrelated to the ACP Science and
Technology Programme).

The following example shows a part of a

Logical Framework corresponding to the
previously example of an objective tree
Example of parts of a Logical Framework:
Intervention logic
Overall
objective(s)

Specific
objective

OVIs

MOVs

Satisfied customers in
Good publicity.
village X

Good quality of
served food

Assumptions

Survey of customers.

Opinion of customers.
Opinion of nutrition

professionals.

Survey of customers.
Annual report of the

restaurant.
Press articles.
Rating in restaurant

Active

reporters.

guides.
Level of co-operation

Expected
results

Activities

1.
reflected in good and

frequent contacts
2.2.1 Improved
between restaurant
co-operation between
and suppliers.
the chef and the
Number of invitations
regional suppliers of
(from the suppliers) to
vegetables and fruits
all kind of events.
2.2.2
Frequent reduction on
..
products.

2.2.1.1 Organisation
of consultation
No. of meetings held.
No. of free meals
meetings.
served.
2.2.1.2 Inviting
suppliers for a free

meal.

Survey of suppliers.
Document review at

Postal and

telecommu
nication
the Chamber of
services are
Commerce.
properly
Business
functioning.
correspondence
Good
between the restaurant
harvest
and the suppliers.
years.

Minutes of the

meetings.
Bookkeeping records.

Interest of

suppliers to
participate.

Vertical and Horizontal Logic within the

Logical Framework Matrix

Delivery of the results should lead to

The matrix functions on two dimensions,

vertical and horizontal.

The vertical logic connects the levels of the

matrix activities, results, specific
objective, and overall objective(s). This
means that:

Meeting the pre-conditions should

lead to the start of the project.

Completion of the activities should

lead to the delivery of the results.

the achievement of the specific

project objective.
Achievement of the specific project
objective should contribute to the
overall objective(s).

If your project has good causality, the

vertical logic should be correct and
demonstrable. Testing the vertical logic will
help you to correct logical inconsistencies
when formulating your project proposal.
The illustration below presents the vertical
and horizontal logic within the matrix:

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30

Intervention Logic

Assumptions

Overall objective(s)

THEN
IF Specific objective

are valid
assumptions for achieving the
overall objective(s)

is achieved AND

THEN
IF Results

are valid
assumptions for achieving the
specific objective

are achieved AND

THEN
IF Activities

are valid
are carried out AND

THEN

assumptions for achieving the

results

are valid
IF pre-conditions for starting up
the project

Important Assumptions

In other words, the conditional logic of the

project design begins with the initial
assumptions about the necessary preconditions for project start-up, for example,
available
funding,
available
staff,
institutional support, etc. IF these initial
assumptions hold true, THEN the foreseen
project activities can be implemented. IF
the activities are achieved, AND provided
that the assumptions about the external
factors affecting the activities-results
relationships hold true, THEN the expected
results should be achievable. IF the results
are achieved, AND provided that the
assumptions about the external factors
affecting the results-specific objective
relationships hold true, THEN the specific
objective should be achievable. IF the

Intervention Logic
IF
this is one of the
expected results

OVIs
THEN
this will measure
whether it has been
achieved

specific objective is achieved, AND

provided that the assumptions about the
external factors affecting the specific
objective-overall objective(s) relationships
hold true, THEN the overall objective(s)
should be achievable.
The horizontal logic of the matrix considers
how to determine the status of the
activities, of the results, achieving the
specific project objective and contributing
to the overall objective(s) by listing the
indicators and means of verification and the
assumptions for the implementation of the
project (as such providing a framework for
monitoring and evaluation of the project),
for example:

MOVs
AND
this is where to find
the information that
will tell us whether it
has been achieved

Assumptions
AND
if these assumptions
are valid, the result
will lead to achieving
the specific project
objective

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31

Some basic rules you should keep in mind when completing the Logical Framework Matrix:

Start first with specifying the pre-conditions in the Assumption column.

Continue with the Intervention logic column (from the top to the bottom).
Write clear and concise statements in the Intervention logic column.
Number the Expected Results (1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, 2.1, , etc.)
Number the Activities (1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, 2.1, , etc.) and ensure that the numbers
correspond to those of the Expected Results, resulting in the activities being grouped
per result.

Continue with the Assumptions column (from the bottom to the top).
Leave the Assumptions cell for the Overall objective blank.
Now complete the columns Objectively Verifiable Indicators of achievement and
Sources and means of verification (working across).

7. Resource planning
Once the Logical Framework Matrix is
complete, a detailed plan of the resources
which are needed to implement the project
activities can now be made. These
resources can consist of specialised
expertise (local and/or foreign expertise;
available within the partnership or through
subcontractors), equipment, tools, supplies,
premises, finances and time.
The details of the activities, such as the
division into activity components, periods of
implementation and responsibilities will be
presented in the work plan of the project
(Part B, Section I.1.9 of the Grant
Application Form).
Financing for the project can be provided in
different forms, for example grants, funds,
credits or contributions in kind. It is
important to make a detailed overview of
the project costs; who will be entitled to
receive funding, how much and when; and
where should the total project finances
come from. Take into consideration that the
ACP Science and Technology Programme
applies certain criteria as to the minimum
and maximum sizes of grants ( 350,000
3,000,000) to be awarded, as well as to the
maximum percentage (85%) of the total

eligible costs (Section 1.3 of

Guidelines for Grant Applicants).

the

Because an unspecified division of

responsibilities and cost allocation may
create problems during the implementation
of the project, the budget, particularly in
respect of cost-sharing, should preferably
be decided before the start of the project
and be clearly stated in the proposal and in
the contract.
Although not to be mentioned in the Budget
breakdown (Part B, Section I.2 of the
Grant Application Form), time is an
important resource too. If, for instance,
equipment is needed, this might have to be
adapted to local conditions and training in
the use of the equipment should be
integrated as an activity in the project plan.
If the project is awarded a grant, it will
receive portions of the grant at different
intervals. This is stipulated in the Grant
Contract and important for the way at what
time during the implementation of the
project you can allocate the funds to the
various project actors.
Finally, the resource planning should lead
to a breakdown of the project budget where
the means and costs are linked to the
project activities and detailed per time
period.

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32

6.4

PART A - CONCEPT NOTE

The Concept Note a brief summary of the

proposed Action is one of the most
important parts of your application. As the
first step of the evaluation process after the
administrative check (see Chapter 7.3 of
this Manual), the Concept Note will be
evaluated and if it does not receive the
required minimum score, the rest of your
application will not even be considered for
further evaluation.

and read careful the explanations given on

p. 4 of the Grant Application Form:

It is, therefore, important that you should

give a great deal of attention to the
formulation of the Concept Note.

Make sure that everything that can be said

in relation to a certain section is said at this
point and not in another section. The
evaluators will find it difficult to attribute a
correct score if the information on a certain
issue is spread all over the Concept Note.

We recommend that you only draft your

Concept Note after having put together the
whole proposal. You will then have the
hindsight needed to present a Concept
Note that sums up the key points of your
proposal very well.
The main aim of the Concept Note is to get
acquaintance with the project concept (the
general framework of your project), before
the Full Application Form and relevant
documents are needed in case of a
successful assessment in the Concept
Note evaluation step.
Though limited to 4 pages, it must give a
clear and comprehensive overview of all
essential aspects of your proposal in
relation to the evaluation criteria applied to
it. Do not refer to explanations given in
further parts of the proposal the
evaluators will not see these when they are
looking at the Concept Note. Also, do not
make references to literature or other
documents; only what is actually written in
the Concept Note will be taken into
consideration. The Concept Note should
thus be written as a stand-alone
document.
For the presentation of your Concept Note,
you must strictly follow the structure shown

1. Title of the Action

2. Relevance of the Action
3. Description of the Action and its
effectiveness
4. Sustainability of the Action

It is up to you to decide how much space

you want to devote to each section. If you
think you can describe the relevance of the
Action (section 1) on half a page, but you
need 2 pages to sufficiently describe the
Action (section 2), this is perfectly
acceptable. It is the total of the Concept
Note that must not exceed 4 pages.
Please explain any acronyms you use if
they are essential for understanding the
text.
Please carefully read the instructions given
in the various parts of the Concept Note
and delete these before completing them.
Finally, if the author(s) of the Concept Note
is/are not fully proficient in the language in
which it is written (English or French), you
should have it checked by a competent
person preferably a native speaker. It
would be unfortunate if your Concept Note
does not receive the score it merits
because it cannot be properly understood
for reasons of poor linguistic quality.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

33

6.5

PART B - FULL APPLICATION FORM

Section I:

THE ACTION

If you have followed our advice and gone

through the Logical Framework Analysis
(Chapter 6.3 of this Manual) before you
come to this point, you will already have in
hand most of the elements you need to
complete this section of the Full
Application Form. It will now be a matter
of elaborating them in detail.
Please carefully read the instructions
given in the various parts of the Full
Application Form and delete these before
completing them.

1. Description
Sections I.1.1 I.1.3 repeat the
information you have already given on the
cover sheet of the Grant Application
Form.

1.1 Title
Give here the exact title of your Action,
including the acronym, if there is one.

1.2 Location(s)
Indicate here the location(s) where the
proposed Action will take place, at the
level of region, country and, if applicable,
town (for example: Western Africa
Burkina-Faso Ouagadougou; Pacific
Fiji, Samoa, Tonga; Europe Italy
Rome, ).

1.3 Cost of the Action and amount

requested from the ACP Secretariat
Total eligible cost of the Action
The amount you enter here (in EUR) must
be the same that appears in the bottom
line of Annex B.I - Budget for the Action
(budget line 11.Total eligible costs (9+10)
in the column All Years).

Amount requested
The amount you enter here (in EUR) must
be the same that appears in Annex B.2
Expected sources of funding in the line
EDF or EC general budget contribution
sought in this application. It must be an
amount between 350,000 and
1,000,000 or up to 3,000,000 for
exceptional cases.
% of total eligible cost of Action
This percentage (%) must be 85%. If it
exceeds 85%, even by decimals, you
must either increase the figure for total
eligible cost thus increasing the
percentage contributed by other sources
than the EDF or EC general budget or
reduce the figure for amount requested.
Please calculate the percentage precisely
up to two decimals (for example: 75.48%).
Do not round up or down.

1.4 Summary (maximum 1 page)

Total duration of the Action:
Indicate the number of months you
foresee for implementing the Action,
including the possible months where no
activities are planned (holidays, ). It
must be a minimum of 12 and a maximum
of 36 months.
Objectives of the Action:
The overall objective(s) and the specific
objective(s) you list here in a few lines
must be the same you will describe in
detail in Section I.1.5 of the Grant
Application Form.
Partners:
Indicate here the name, country and
location of all the partners who will be
collaborating in the Action, but not of the
Applicant or the associates (if any). They
must be the same for which you will be
requested to provide partner descriptions
and signed partnership statements in
Section III of the Grant Application Form.
Please ensure that the number and
nationality of partners respect the rules

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

34

explained in the Sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2

of the Guidelines for Grant Applicants.
Target group(s):
Target groups are defined as . the
groups/entities who will be directly
positively affected by the project at the
Project Purpose level. They are the direct
beneficiaries of the Action you propose.
Examples of target groups could be:
administrative staff of the participating
institutions, research managers in the
health sector, policy development staff of
governmental institutions, etc. Try to
define this group (or these groups) as
precisely as possible.
Final beneficiaries:
Final beneficiaries are defined as .
those who will benefit from the project in
the long term at the level of the society or
sector at large. In this respect, they are
the indirect beneficiaries of the Action you
propose. Examples of final beneficiaries
could be: research community in the
transport sector, university students,
public
administrations
involved
in
environmental management, etc. Try to
define these beneficiaries as precisely as
possible.
Estimated results
These are the results that will be achieved
through the Action if all the planned
activities are carried out. You can verify
these results and they do not depend on
other peoples or projects activities over
which you have no or only limited control.
Main activities:
In Section I.1.7 of the Grant Application
Form, you will have a maximum of 14
pages for a detailed description of the
activities you plan to carry out in the
proposed Action. At this point, just give a
short summary of the major ones.

1.5 Objectives (maximum 1 page)

Overall objective
Explain the overall objective(s) to which
the Action will contribute. In fact,
according to the Grant Application Form,
there should be just one such objective!

Also describe what other developments

outside the project must take place so that
the overall objective will be achieved. An
example of an overall objective could be
Quality
improvement
of
research
activities in renewable sources of energy
in the Pacific Region.
Specific objective(s)
There must be at least one, but there can
be several specific objectives, which can
and will be achieved if the project is
implemented as planned. So, contrary to
the overall objective, you can control the
specific objective(s). They should address
the core problem identified in the Logical
Framework Analysis (LFA) and be defined
in terms of sustainable benefit for the
target groups. An example for a specific
objective, related to the above example of
an
overall
objective
could
be
Strengthened capacity of the partner
institutions in drafting research proposals
on renewable sources of energy.

1.6 Relevance of the Action (maximum 3

pages)
This is a very important part of your
application. In the evaluation, you must
reach a total score of at least 20 points
(out of 25) for the heading Relevance. If
this is not the case, your proposal will be
rejected no matter how good the rest of
your project may be (see Section 2.3 of
the Guidelines for Grant Applicants).
Please respond to each item asked for in
this section in accordance with the points
developed in your Logical Framework
mentioned in Section I.1.11 (which we
once again advise you to prepare before
completing the Grant Application Form).
You should elaborate on the results of the
Logical Framework Analysis and clearly
describe the problems and their
interrelationships, the target group(s) and
final
beneficiaries
(including
their
particular needs and constraints), and the
specific problems to be addressed by the
proposed Action.
Describe precisely and clearly the
relevance of the project with respect to the

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

35

objectives and priorities of the ACP

Science and Technology Programme, as
well as to the perceived needs and
constraints which appear in the sector or
geographical area where your Action will
take place. It should also explain how you
arrived at the identification of the target
group(s) and final beneficiaries. It is
important to know who or which category
of the population is being targeted,
because this will determine the approach,
the content and the methodology of the
proposed
Action.
Therefore,
the
beneficiaries everybody or the general
public is not adequate: you must be more
precise. Make also clear how the
proposed Action will achieve the desired
solutions.
If there are synergies with other initiatives,
such as of the EC or the ACP Group of
States, please mention these and explain
clearly how the proposed Action adds
value or complements these and that it
does not concern a duplication of activities
that are or have already been supported.
You should call on your partners in the
other countries to propose an analysis of
local situations that can be integrated in
this text.
This analysis of the current (pre-project)
situation should expose the context in
which your proposed Action would take
place. Consequently, the necessity of the
Action and its justification, the description
of its effectiveness and the methodology
applied should be a logical conclusion. As
far as possible, you should propose
numeric indicators, for instance: What is
the size of the group of final beneficiaries?
After how many years will the estimated
impact be apparent? etc.

1.7 Description of the Action and its

effectiveness (maximum 14 pages)
Overall Objective and the Purpose of the
Action (maximum 1 page)
This complements what you have said
under Section I.1.5, but gives you the
opportunity to elaborate further on it. The

term Purpose of the Action is a synonym

of Specific Objective(s).
Outputs and expected results (maximum 4
pages)
Give a description of the concrete results
(products and services) that are expected
from the Action. Be specific and quantify
as much as possible. Keep in mind that
these achievements must be consistent
with the objectively verifiable indicators
(OVI) and sources and means of
verification (MOV) defined in the Logical
Framework (Section I.1.11).
Present and describe outputs and
expected results in a logical chronological
order as they accrue over the time
duration of the project. Some outputs may
be produced in the early stages of the
project and be a pre-condition for
producing subsequent ones. This should
be clearly shown so that the internal logic
of your project becomes apparent to the
evaluators.
In this section you must also show that the
project is likely to have multiplier effects,
which includes the scope for replication
and extension of the outcome of the
Action, as well as the dissemination of
information.
The proposed activities and their
effectiveness (maximum 9 pages)
Use a step-by-step approach for all tasks:
activity 1, activity 2, etc. and include the
title for each activity. Please ensure that
the activities are presented and described
in their logical sequence.
Explain in detail who will carry out the
activities (the Applicant, which partner,
which associate), where and when they
will be carried out, and what the
necessary inputs are (persons involved,
materials). Link the activities to the
outputs you have described above,
because each activity is directly related to,
one of the outputs (as mentioned in the
Logical Framework Matrix). Show and
demonstrate clearly the cross-cutting
issues between components of each
activity which adds value to the project

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

36

and distinguish, where appropriate,

between critical and supportive activities.

synergies that may be gained from

this approach.

It is important that this section

corresponds to the indicative action plan
(see Section 1.9 below) and allows a
cross-check with the budget (Section I.2).

If the project might have synergies

with or experience constraints due
to other current or planned
projects, or with projects in the
vicinity of the location of the
proposed Action, describe these
and explain how these will be dealt
with.

It is also important that this section clearly

indicates the sequence of all the different
activities and the links between them. This
should be done in a project management
description which is appropriate to the
type of Action you are proposing,
identifying
the
critical
path
for
implementing the Action (start-to-finish,
finish-to-finish, start-to-start, finish-to-start,
etc.).

1.8 Methodology (maximum 4 pages)

The methodology is the method (or the
how) of project implementation and
management. It must be appropriate and
practical, and you should be able to
demonstrate that it is capable of producing
the objectives and expected results.
Please respond to each item asked for in
this section, in particular:
The methodology must be orderly,
logical and consistently designed,
as well as clearly described and
feasible. Please ensure that it also
reflects the analysis of the
problems identified in Section I.1.6
of the Grant Application Form.
Describe precisely the method of
project implementation (areas,
phases, ) and explain why you
have
chosen
for
such
a
methodology.
If the project builds on previous
activities, show how it will be
ensured that they are integrated
into the project design.
If the project is part of a larger
programme, show how it fits into
and is coordinated with this
programme. Describe potential

Describe the team proposed for

the implementation of the project in
terms of number, role and status of
persons
(no
names
are
necessary). Please note that the
project coordinator must be a
member of staff of the applicant
organisation and that there should
be work packages and task
managers at the partners level.
Describe the number and role of
other stakeholders (for example,
target groups, local authorities,
etc.), why these roles have been
assigned to them, and how they
interrelate
with
the
project
partners.
Describe
the
management
structure put into place for the
proposed Action: how the activities
of the different partners and other
stakeholders will be coordinated,
what the function and responsibility
of each partner is, which types of
information will be transferred
between them, how a full use of
synergies can be ensured, how an
adequate information flow and
communication is guaranteed, how
the decision-making processes will
be organised, how possible risks
will
be
controlled,
other
procedures, etc.
The partners' level of involvement
and participation in the Action must
be balanced. It is important that
the role of each member of the
partnership is clearly defined,
including the way how they
collaborate amongst each other.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

37

If applicable, describe how the

relationship between the Applicant
and the partners and between the
partners is working.
Provide information on the different
means necessary for implementing
the various project activities
(equipment, tools, etc.) and how
they will be used.
Describe how all stakeholders
think about the Action and its
various activities and how they see
their involvement herein.
Elaborate on procedures for
monitoring and evaluation. This
means in particular monitoring of
actual versus planned activities
(use the OVIs in the Logical
Framework), reporting (internal
and to the ACP Secretariat) and
arrangements for internal and/or
external evaluation of project
achievements.

1.9 Duration and indicative action plan

for implementing the Action

Complete the form in accordance

with the template provided.
Do not mention actual dates: use
month 1 as the starting month,
then month 2, etc.
For the first year, please ensure
that all activities mentioned in the
description of Section I.1.7 appear
here.
For the following year(s), you need
only to list the most important
activities (at semester level).
Ensure that the numbers and titles
of activities correspond to those in
Section I.1.7.
As a precaution, foresee a certain
amount of slack in the timetable.
Provide the name(s) of the
organisation(s) responsible for the
implementation of each activity.

1.10 Sustainability (maximum 3 pages)

In this section you must show that all
probable risks can be managed in order to
ensure a smooth implementation of the
Action and the achievement of the specific
objective and results. You must, therefore,
provide an analysis of the possible risks in
which you identify the likelihood or chance
of problematic events or other difficulties,
and the likely consequences.
Include also the main pre-conditions and
the assumptions prior, during and after the
implementation of the project (as
mentioned in the Logical Framework in
Section I.1.11). You must describe here
the context of your project in the sense
that you must identify what are the
conditions that will allow your project to be
started and implemented, as well as the
constraints that you must deal with.
On the basis of this analysis, you must
develop a contingency (or back-up or
emergency) plan with alternatives that
allows you to redress any problems
encountered
and
to
pursue
the
implementation of the Action.
In this section you must also show that the
Action is likely to have a tangible impact
on its target group(s) and final
beneficiaries and that the expected results
are sustainable, in other words, that they
will be continued after the project comes
to an end. Some interesting questions
you should ask with respect to impact and
follow-up are:

What impact shall the project have

on the identified problem(s)?
Shall the project have a multiplier
effect?
What will you do when the donors
money ends?
How will you ensure the follow-up?

Please distinguish between the financial

sustainability (how will the activities be
financed after the grant ends?), the
institutional sustainability (will institutional
structures allowing the activities to
continue be in place at the end of the

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

38

project?; will there be local ownership of

project outcomes?), and the sustainability
on policy level (what will be the structural
impact of the project?; will it lead to
improved
science
and
technology
capacities, research proposals, science
and
technology
policies,
research
management, etc?).
Please also provide details on whether
any multiplier effects are foreseen,
whereby the implementation and/or the
results of the Action promotes the
implementation of similar initiatives.

Before completing these worksheets,

please reflect on the following issues:

Use the format proposed.

Be detailed and realistic.
Make calculations understandable.
Respect maximum and minimum
amounts allowed.
Make a clear link between actions
and costs.
Do not ask too much or too little.

Worksheet 1 of Annex B (Annex B.1 Budget for the Action)

1.11 Logical Framework
At this point of completing the Grant
Application Form appears Annex C of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants the
Logical Framework (Microsoft Excel
format). We have, however, already
explained before to start with completing
the Logical Framework before you start
writing the texts of Sections I.1.4 I.1.10
of the Grant Application Form. If you
preferred not to follow our advice, you can
now consult Chapter 6.3 The Logical
Framework. The preparation of the
Logical Framework Matrix will allow you to
structure the proposed Action coherently.
Furthermore, the matrix aims to facilitate
the implementation of the Action.
The matrix should provide a narrative
summary of the project design in a
coherent structure and should generally
be 1 - 4 pages in length. Use the matrix
structure with the columns and rows and
complete it with the by you desired
information. Please carefully read the
instructions given in the cells of the matrix
and delete these before completing them.

Budget for the Action

This is Annex B to the Guidelines for

Grant Applicants and consists of 2
worksheets (Microsoft Excel format) plus
the budget justification.

The budget for the Action has to be

presented in Euros (EUR) with a
thousands separator , and a decimal
separator . (for example, 182.31 or
2,130.00). All figures you insert in the
columns number of units, unit rate and
costs must be presented with two
decimals.
Please respect the template provided
(Microsoft Excel Format). Data on the
expenses categories have to be provided
for the full duration of the Action (All
Years) in the left-hand part of the
template and, if applicable, for the first
year of the Action (Year 1) in the righthand part of the template.
The budget must show the total eligible
costs of the project, that is to say the sum
of the requested EDF or EC general
budget contribution plus the own
contribution. This is the figure that
appears in the bottom line (budget line 11
Total eligible costs (9+10) in the column
All Years) and must be the same as the
figure you have entered on the cover page
and again on p. 6 (Part B, Section I,
paragraph 1.3) of the Grant Application
Form. You do not have to show, which
items will be financed from the EDF or EC
general budget contribution and which
from your own contribution. Data on own
and external contributions should be
provided in Worksheet 2 of Annex B (see
below).

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

39

The budget headings are separated in

direct eligible costs (budget lines 1-9)
and indirect eligible costs (budget line
10), which together add up to the total
eligible project costs (budget line 11).
Direct eligible costs are costs which can
be charged directly to the project, whereas
indirect
eligible
costs
are
the
administrative costs or overheads which
are not directly attributable to the project,
but are incurred in relation to the direct
costs of the project. The ACP Science and
Technology
Programme
allows
a
maximum administrative costs of 7% of
the total eligible direct costs of the Action.
Please respect the main headings
provided and add lines under each of
them as necessary. The budget does not
have to be split equally between the
partners (though there should be a
balanced involvement of all partners). It is
up to the Applicant and its partners to
divide the budget according to actual
costs and in the most appropriate way.
A short explanation on the terminology
used in the budget table:
Unit
A unit is a standard measure of a
quantity, e.g., day, month, flight,
meeting, item, etc.

# of units
The number of units refers to the total
of days, months, meetings, flights, etc.
required to implement the Action.
Unit rate (in EUR)
This figure describes how many euros
correspond to one unit of the
mentioned expenses item (cost per
item).
Below, we elaborate on some of the
headings in the expenses categories.

1. Human Resources

Subdivide the heading salaries according

to staff profiles (see example below).
Normally, there is no differentiation
between local and expat/international
staff. Specify the percentage of time in
the staff profiles. The unit rate for salaries
should be realistic local market rates and
you may be requested by the ACP
Secretariat during the proposal evaluation
process to substantiate the rates you
apply with supporting documents (see
Chapter 7.3 of this Manual).

Example:
1. Human Resources
1.1 Salaries (gross amounts, local staff)
1.1.1 Technical
1.1.1.1 One half-time Research Associate,
Applicant 50% of time
1.1.1.2 One half-time Project Coordinator
1.1.1.3 Project Leader
1.1.2 Administrative/support Staff
1.1.2.1 Secretary 10% of her capacity
1.1.2.2 Head of Financial Management for
Research 5% of capacity

Salaries
Local staff = staff placed in the project
location that is hired on the local market.
Expat/International staff = An expatriate
(in abbreviated form expat) or
international staff member is a project

Unit

# of
units

Unit rate
(in EUR)

Costs
(in EUR)

Per month

18.00

4,000.00

72,000.00

Per month
Per day

18.00
80.00

3,750.00
319.05

67,500.00
25,524.00

Per month

3.60

2,000.00

7,200.00

Per month

1.80

3,300.00

5,940.00

staff member temporarily residing in the

country and culture where the project is
located other than that of the person's
upbringing or legal residence or of the
headquarters of the organisation he is
working for.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

40

 2.3 Participation in stakeholders

meetings

Technical staff = project coordinators,

managers, researchers, etc.

You must enter a lump sum of 5,000

to cover the costs of participation in an
ACP
Science
and
Technology
stakeholders
meeting.
The
stakeholders meeting will be organised
for representatives of the selected
partnerships to explain the financial and
administrative rules and procedures for
project implementation. In case your
project is selected for funding, but you
have not made provision for it in the
budget, you must have to pay for your
participation in the meeting from your
own resources.

Administrative staff = support staff

(secretaries, accountants, drivers, etc.).
No names of staff members are required
in the budget table, just their positions in
the project.
The salaries refer to the actual salaries
paid by the Beneficiary and its partners
to their staff members assigned for the
project, including the social security
contributions.
Per month
Standard month = 22 working days.
# of units

4. Local office

if staff is not working full time for the

Action, the percentage of involvement
should be indicated in the first column
under the heading Human Resources
and reflected in the number of units
column.

Costs for a local office can be introduced in

case a local office is established in one of
the partner countries specifically for the
implementation of the project (or if special
costs arise). Otherwise, such costs are
covered by budget line 10 Administrative
costs.

Unit rate (in EUR)

Unit rates cannot be higher than gross

salaries (employees) or qualifications
and experience (independents). In case
of part-time work, please adapt the
number of units and not the unit rate.

Under this heading, a variety of eligible

costs and subcontracted services can be
identified as directly attributable to the
project.

1.3 Per diems for missions/travel

Include per diem rates by country of
destination. A per diem is an established
daily allowance rate in case of missions
which require an overnight stay away
from the base of operations. It covers
accommodation, meals, local travel
within the place of mission and sundry
expenses. Current per diem rates are
available on the Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proc
edures/implementation/per_diems/index
_en.htm. For long periods, monthly
allowances may be considered.

2. Travel

Indicate the place of departure and arrival

for the international and local travels.

5. Other costs, services

5.3 Auditing costs

If your project is selected, an audit
carried out by a recognised external
audit firm is compulsory at the end of the
implementation period, in order to
receive the final payment. This is also
the case of interim payments to projects
that are granted 750,000 or more.
Further details on the audit are provided
in Article 15.6 of the General Conditions
to the standard Grant Contract (see
Annex F of the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants), which can be consulted at
the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proc
edures/documents/execution/grants/e3h
_2gencond_en.pdf.
You must select an audit firm of your
choice and make a provision for the

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

41

estimated costs in the budget. However,

this must be an independent and
approved firm who is member of an
internationally recognised supervisory
body for statutory auditing. If you do not
make that provision, you must have to
finance the cost of the audit from your
own resources.
The external auditing institution will audit
all expenditures related to the awarded
grant. The auditing report must certify
that the awarded grant money was
always and completely spent according
to the submitted proposal and in line
with the regulations of the ACP
Secretariat and the EC. Any failure
either in providing such a report or
evidence of misconduct will entitle the
ACP Secretariat to refuse further
payment and to demand reimbursement
of awarded funds.
5.8 Visibility actions
If your project is selected, it will be
partially funded by the EC. You will then
be expected to comply with certain
requirements as to the incorporation of
information and communication activities
that: (a) raise awareness of the reasons
for the Action, (b) visibly acknowledge
the EU support and (c) promote the
results and the impact of this support.
They cover the written and visual
identity of the EU and ACP Secretariat
and are to be used in briefings,
newsletters,
press
conferences,
presentations, invitations, signs etc. For
all such actions, you must make a
provision for the estimated costs in the
budget.
Further details on the visibility
requirements are provided in Article 6 of
the General Conditions to the standard
Grant Contract (see Annex F of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants), which
can be consulted at the following
Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proc
edures/documents/execution/grants/e3h
_2gencond_en.pdf.

Guidance on how to make the project

visible and examples on types of
visibility actions can be consulted at:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/visibi
lity/index_en.htm.

11. Total eligible costs

The amount you indicate here is the total

cost of the Action, as indicated on the
cover sheet and on p. 6 (Part B, Section I,
paragraph 1.3) of the Grant Application
Form.

Footnotes

Despite the clarifications given here, please

read carefully the information in the
footnotes.

Table: Budget justification

All budget items must be further explained
in the Budget Justification table in Part B,
Section I, paragraph 1.3 of the Grant
Application Form in a clear and
transparent way. This is an explanation of
the factors used to determine the costs of
each budget category or budget line item.
This should also include the financial
details concerning the subcontracted
activities (the subcontractors rates,
number of days/months, outputs, etc.)
Please justify each budget item with
respect to:
the necessity for the item (for
example: flight, computer, etc.);
the number of units proposed; and
the choice of the unit rate applied.
The justification should make reference to
the activities foreseen in your proposal.
The unit rates for staff involved in the
Action must be actual local market rates
and must also be explained in the budget
justification. Please note that the ACP
Secretariat as Contracting Authority is
entitled to ask for salary slips to verify the
accuracy of the rates presented in the
budget.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

42

Example:
Budget line 1.3.1.1 25 days per diem: 4
missions of 5 days each to Angola by
coordinator to participate in 2 Advisory
Group Meetings and 2 Training of the
Trainers sessions (see activities 2.1 and 4
for details). The EC per diem rates are
applied.

Expected sources of
funding

Worksheet 2 of Annex B (Annex B.2 Expected sources of funding)

In this worksheet you must provide
information on contributions from your own
organisation, contributions you request
under this Call for Proposals from the EDF
or EC general budget, and contributions
from other sources. Together, they sum up
the total costs of the proposed Action.

EDF or EC general budget

contribution sought In this
application

The EDF or EC general budget

contribution sought in this application
cannot be more than 85% of the total
project cost shown in the bottom line
(Overall total).

Own contribution

The own contribution or co-financing part

must be a minimum of 15% of the total
project cost shown in the bottom line
(Overall total). It is the sum of:

Applicants financial contribution,

which also includes contributions of
the partners. Associates (if any)
may also make a financial
contribution to the project.
Contribution(s)
from
other
European
Institutions
or
EU
Member States.
Contributions
from
other
organisations must be listed
individually.

Direct revenue from the Action

If applicable, the income generated by the

project (for instance, admission fee to a
conference carried out by the consortium,
sale of the proceedings of the conference,
etc.) has to be mentioned under the item
Direct revenue from the Action.

Overall total

The overall total corresponds to the total

eligible costs for the Action as described
above. It must be the same as the figure
you have entered on the cover sheet and
on p. 6 (Part B, Section I, paragraph 1.3) of
the Grant Application Form.
When you compile your application
documents, please pay attention to the
printing of both worksheets of the budget.
Worksheet 2 will not print out automatically
when you print worksheet 1.

Table: Contribution in kind

If applicable, please mention the resources
that will be made available by third parties
to the Applicant or the partners or by the
members of the partnership themselves by
means of contributions in kind which are
free of charge and have been contributed
specifically to be used on the project. Such
contributions are non-cash inputs which
can be given a cash value (for instance: an
institution provides the use of an office, a
seminar room or a vehicle for free; a
government agency donates some paper to
print books; a consultant donates his time
to your project; etc.). Section 2.1.4 of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants refers to
these contributions as non-representative
for actual expenditures which makes them
non-eligible costs. Therefore, they can not
be treated as co-financing costs nor
mentioned in Worksheet 2.
You can use the space provided in the box
in Part B, Section I, paragraph 1.3 of the
Grant Application Form. Please specify
the contributions and their (estimated)
value as precisely as possible.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

43

4.

Linkages
to
other
programmes and policy
initiatives

If applicable, you should provide here

information on the linkages which the
proposed
Action
has
with
other
programmes or policy initiatives, either
ongoing or expected ones. These
programmes can be from the EC, from EU
Member States, the ACP Group of States,
ACP
Member
States,
international
organisations, etc. You should include here
and elaborate on the probable synergies
with other initiatives you already provided
in Part B, Section I, paragraph 1.8 of the
Grant Application Form.

Experience of similar
Actions

The intention of this section is to establish

your management experience by providing
references of similar Actions in which you
and all partners of the partnership in the
proposed Action have participated either as
the Applicant or as a partner. Please use
the provided template, one for each Action
not exceeding 1 page. You can give as
many references as you like, but we
suggest you limit yourself to projects that
are ongoing or have been completed within
the last 3 years.
Reference no: Provide a reference number
of the Action, if any.
Project title: Mention the title of the Action
in which your organisation or that of the
partner were involved.
Sector: Mention the sector in which the
Action was focussed on. You can use the
sector list provided in Part B, Section II,
paragraph 2.2 of the Grant Application
Form. If the sector type is not mentioned
here, please use the names provided by

the OECD at the following Internet address:

http://www.oecd.org/document/21/0,3343,e
n_2649_34469_1914325_1_1_1_1,00.html
Name of organisation: Give the name of
your organisation or that of the partner who
were involved in the Action.
Location of the Action: State all the
locations where the Action has taken place
(countries/regions) and underline the
location of the part for which you or the
partner were directly responsible.
Cost of the Action: Give the total cost and
in brackets the cost of the part for which
you or the partner were directly
responsible.
Lead manager of partner: State the role of
your organisation or that of the partner.
Donors to the Action: State the name of all
the donors that financially supported the
Action. If one of the donors is the EU
Commission or an EU Member State,
please specify the EC budget line, EDF or
EU Member State.
Amount contributed: State the amount (in
EUR) of financial support received per
donor. If the original data is not expressed
in Euro, please use the official InforEuro
exchange rate according to the month
stated at the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro/index.c
fm?Language=en.
Dates: If the Action is still ongoing, state
the starting date (Day/Month/Year)
present
Objects and results of the Action: Show
briefly the overall objectives and results
achieved and then in more detail your
organisations or the partners role herein,
in which you describe in particular your or
the partners management and coordination
activities.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

44

Section II: THE APPLICANT

EuropeAid ID number

You have to provide this identification number only if your

institution is registered in the European Commissions on-line
PADOR registration service, which is accessible through:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/onlineservices/pador.
Please note that registration to the PADOR is not
compulsory.

Name of the organisation

It is important that you indicate the full name of the institution.

In cases where the Applicant is a Legal Entity within an
institution, indicate the full name of the Entity followed by the
full name of the institution, for example: Faculty of Applied
Sciences, Kenyatta University.

Applicants that are registered in PADOR do not need to fill in the rest of this section.
However, to ensure a smooth processing of all information throughout the evaluation
procedure and, in case of being awarded a grant, the contract negotiation phase, Applicants
are strongly encouraged to still provide the information requested below.

1.

Identity

Legal Entity File number

You have to provide this number only if your institution has

already signed a contract with the European Commission or
the ACP Secretariat.
If this is the case, check this contract to find the number.

Abbreviation

If applicable, provide the abbreviation or the commonly used

acronym of your institution.

Registration Number (or

equivalent)

This is the number that your institution is registered under

with the competent authorities for official purposes.

Date of Registration

Indicate here the date on which your institution was first

officially registered with the competent authorities.

Official address of
Registration

This is the legal address under which your institution is

registered for official purposes. It may be different from the
postal address.

Country of Registration

Please spell out the name of the country in full where your
institution is registered for official purposes.

E-mail address of the

Organisation

Indicate here a valid general e-mail address for your

institution, if there is one, preferably a professional e-mail

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

45

address.
This address will be used to contact you if any information or
clarification is needed concerning your application. This is also
the e-mail address that will be used by the ACP Secretariat for
sending correspondence concerning your proposal in the
different phases of the evaluation process. It is, therefore,
extremely important to give an operational address that works
and to notify the PMU of the ACP Science and Technology
Programme if there are any changes.
Indicate here a general telephone number for your institution,
if there is one.
Telephone number:
Country code + city code +
number

This number will be used to contact you if any information or

clarification is needed concerning your application. Please
ensure that this number is correct and notify the PMU of the
ACP Science and Technology Programme if there are any
changes.
Indicate here a general fax number for your institution, if there
is one.

Fax number: Country code This number will be used to contact you if any information or
+ city code + number
clarification is needed concerning your application. Please
ensure that this number is correct and notify the PMU of the
ACP Science and Technology Programme if there are any
changes.
Website of the
Organisation

2.

If applicable, indicate the Website address of your institution

for information purposes (starting with www.).

Profile

This section is aimed at identifying the

nature of your institution, the sector(s) in
which it is active and the related target
group(s). Please remember that the Grant
Application Form is also used for other
types of programmes and projects under
EC financing, so the following tables
include options that may not appear
appropriate to the ACP Science and
Technology Programme, but may apply in
other cases.
Legal status
Please indicate the legal status of your
institution or, if the Applicant is an entity
within an institution, of this entity. The legal
status refers to your organisation as a
properly constituted legal person, which
means that the statutes of your

organisation must have been registered or

filed with the competent authorities.
Examples of a legal status are: public
agency, private university, co-operative
association, corporation limited company,
limited-liability
company,
NGO,
cooperative society, etc.
Profit-Making
Tick as appropriate.
Please remember that grants provided to
an Action may not have the purpose or
effect of producing a profit for the Applicant
or its partners as explained in Section 2.1.4
of the Guidelines for Grant Applicants and
Article 17.3 of the General Conditions to
the standard Grant Contract (see Annex F
of the Guidelines for Grant Applicants),
which can be consulted at the following
Internet address:

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

46

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proced
ures/documents/execution/grants/e3h_2ge
ncond_en.pdf.
NGO
Tick as appropriate.
Value based
Tick as appropriate.
Is your institution linked with another entity?
In the case of a parent entity, you have to
provide the EuropeAid identification number
only if the parent entity is registered in the
ECs online PADOR registration service,
which
is
accessible
through:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/onlineservices
/pador. Please note that registration to the
PADOR is not compulsory.
The case of a controlled entity would be
relevant if you apply as a legal entity within
an institution.

2.1 Category
The category refers to the type of your
organisation, either in the public or private
sector. Please note that only one choice
may be made.
2.2 Sector(s)
The sectors listed here refer to those your
organisation has been active in. The list is
not exhaustive, but reflects the sectors to
which this Call for Proposals is focussed on
(see Section 2.1.3 of the Guidelines for
Grant Applicants). Here, you can tick as
many boxes as judged relevant and
appropriate.
2.3 Target Group(s)
Again, you can tick as many boxes as
judged relevant and appropriate. The
Target group(s) listed here should be
understood as to include both immediate
(direct) and final (indirect) beneficiaries of
your organisations activities in the above
sectors.

3.

Capacity to manage
implement Actions

and

All participants must have an appropriate

discipline-oriented expertise with respect to
the activities listed in the proposed Action.
In this section, the Applicant must show
that it has the technical and management
capacity, and stable and sufficient sources
of finance to manage and implement
projects.

3.1 Experience by Sector

In this table you must complete as many
rows in the first column (Sector) as you
have ticked boxes in the table of Section
2.2 above. If you need more rows in the
table, please copy an empty row and insert
this at the bottom of the table. For each
row, you have to complete the information
requested in the columns to the right.
In the next column to the right (Year(s) of
Experience), tick the box that corresponds
to the years of your institutions experience
in the sector shown in the first column.
The next column to the right (Experience in
the last 3 years) you have to tick only if in
the previous one you have given your
experience as being 3 years or less.
In the next column to the right (Number of
Projects), give an estimate of the number
of projects your institution as a whole has
carried out over the period you have
described in the Year(s) of Experience
column. We can define a Project as A
planned undertaking of related activities to
reach an objective. It has a defined
beginning and end and typically its own
funding,
accounting,
and
delivery
schedule. If, for example, your application
under the ACP Science and Technology
Programme should be selected and receive
funding, this would be a project in the
sense of this definition.
Finally, in the last column (Estimated
Amount) try to put a value expressed in
,000 (thousand Euros) to the total
number of projects you have defined in the
previous column.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

47


Then continue on the next row with the
other sectors you have ticked in the table of
Section 2.2 above.
3.2 Experience by Geographical Area
In this table you have to translate the
information given in the table of Section 3.1
above into geographical terms. If all your
experience is in your own country, then you
have to fill in only one row and the
information you give in the columns
Year(s) of Experience, Number of
Projects and Estimated Amount must
correspond to the information provided in
Section 3.1. If your experience is in several
countries or regions (for example: East
Africa, Caribbean, Fiji), then you must fill
one row for each geographical area and
break down the information given in
Section
3.1 regarding
Year(s)
of
Experience, Number of Projects and
Estimated
Amount
between
these
countries or regions.
If you need more rows in the table, please
copy an empty row and insert this at the
bottom of the table.
The next table Cross-reference of
experience by Sector and by Geographical
area combines the information you have
provided in the tables of Sections 2.2 and
3.2. If you need more rows in the table,
please copy an empty row and insert this at
the bottom of the table.

3.3 Resources
This section is aimed at identifying the
financial and human resources of your
organisation. This information is needed to
verify the financial and operational capacity
required to implement the Action.

3.3.1 Financial data

Here you are requested to provide certain

financial information, which can be
retrieved from your:

Profit and loss account (the financial

statement that shows the revenue,
expenditure and the profit and/or
loss of an organisation); and

Balance
sheet
(the
financial
statement that shows the assets,
liabilities and, if applicable, the
owners equity of an organisation).

You should interpret the table accordingly

and add explanatory footnotes as
necessary. N is the most recent year for
which the information is available this
should be 2007; N-1 is 2006; etc. So,
replace N, N-1 and N-2 by the
corresponding years (also to be done in the
tables hereafter).

3.3.2 Financing Source(s)

Indicate the sources of funding for your

organisation for the last 3 years, where
year N is the same as year N in the table
of Section 3.3.1 above.
The column Number of fee-paying
members is mostly of use for NGOs and
other associations who have members who
pay fees. If you do have 'fee-paying
members' in your organisation, then fill in
this column in the row Members fees,
otherwise ignore it.
The last table in this section needs to be
completed if the Applicant requests for a
grant that is more than 500,000. The
name of an approved external auditor
recognized by public authorities who has
verified the financial data of the past three
financial years of your organisation needs
to be mentioned here, where year N is the
same as year N in the tables above. The
exact periods of the validity of the audit
reports have to be mentioned in the last
column as follows: Day/Month/Year.

3.3.3 Number of Staff

EU applicants will find the first row most

appropriate to indicate the number of staff
of their institution. If some of their staff is
(temporarily) seconded to institutions or
projects in ACP countries, they may also
make a corresponding entry in the second
row. For ACP Applicants, the third row of
the table is the most appropriate one.
Please note that you are requested to
express the number of staff of your
institution in full-time equivalents (FTE),

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

48

paid and/or unpaid. If, for example, you

have 20 staff members working for 50% of
their time, this would convert into 10 fulltime equivalent staff members.

4.

List of the Management

Board/Committee
of
your
organisation

List here the members of the supreme

decision-making body responsible for your
institution (or, if you are applying as a legal
entity within an institution, for that entity).
You do not have to list members of
secondary bodies. If you need more rows
in the table, please copy an empty row and
insert this at the bottom of the table.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

49

Section III: PARTNERS OF THE APPLICANT PARTICIPATING IN THE

ACTION
1

Description of the partners

The following table must be filled in and

numbered for each partner individually
(Partner 1, Partner 2 .). If you need more

tables, please copy an empty table and

insert this on a new page. The information
should be provided by the partners to
ensure it is complete and correct.

Partner 1

EuropeAid ID number:

You have to provide this identification number only if the

institution is registered in the European Commissions on-line
PADOR registration service, which is accessible through
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/onlineservices/pador.
Please note that registration to the PADOR is not
compulsory.

Full legal name

Indicate the full legal name of the institution. In cases where

the partner is a Legal Entity within an institution, indicate the
full name of the Entity followed by the full name of the
institution, for example: Faculty of Applied Sciences,
Kenyatta University.

Partners that are registered in PADOR do not need to fill in the following part of the table:
However, to ensure a smooth processing of all information throughout the evaluation
procedure and, in case of being awarded a grant, the contract negotiation phase, Applicants
are strongly encouraged to still provide the information requested below.

Date of Registration

Indicate here the date on which the institution was first

officially registered with the competent authorities.

Legal status

Legal status of the institution or, if applicable, of the entity

within the institution that acts as a partner in the Action.

Official address of
Registration

This is the legal address under which the institution is

registered for official purposes. It may be different from the
postal address.

Country of Registration

Please spell out the name of the country in full where the
institution is registered for official purposes.

Contact person

Indicate the title (Ms./Mr.), surname, first name and function

of the person within the institution who is responsible for the
participation in the Action.

Telephone number:
country code + city code +

Indicate here the telephone number of the contact person or a

general telephone number for the institution, if there is one.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

50

number
This number will be used to contact the contact person if any
information or clarification is needed concerning the
application. Please ensure that this number is correct and
notify the PMU of the ACP Science and Technology
Programme if there are any changes.
Indicate here the fax number of the contact person or a
general fax number for the institution, if there is one.
Fax number: country code
+ city code + number

This number will be used to contact the contact person if any

information or clarification is needed concerning the
application. Please ensure that this number is correct and
notify the PMU of the ACP Science and Technology
Programme if there are any changes.

E-mail address

Indicate here a valid e-mail address of the contact person or

a general one for the institution, preferably a professional email address. This is important as the e-mail address will be
used in case of need for any additional information or
clarifications regarding the partners participation in the
application.

Website of the
Organisation

If applicable, indicate the Website address of the institution

for information purposes (starting with www.).

Number of employees

Please give this number in full-time equivalent (FTE).

Other relevant resources

If applicable, please describe any relevant human, financial

or material resources the institution can mobilise for the
implementation of the Action.

All partners must fill in the last part of the table:

Experience of similar
Actions, in relation to the
role in the
implementation of the
proposed Action

Give title, name of funding agency and amount of funding,

period of implementation, role and involvement, and names
of other institutions participating in such Actions.

History of cooperation
with the Applicant

If applicable, briefly describe the previous cooperation with

the Applicant, both formal and informal.

Role and involvement in

preparing the proposed
Action

Describe the institutions role and participation in the process

of preparing the application for the proposed Action.

Role and involvement in

implementing the
proposed Action

Describe the institutions role and participation in the

implementation of the proposed Action.
The description given here must correspond to the one given
in Part B, Section I (The Action) of the Grant Application
Form.

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51

2. Partnership Statement
This statement must be filled in and signed
by each of the partners. If you need more
partnership statement pages, please copy
an empty one and insert this on a new
page.
It is a very important document as it is the
formal proof of the existence of the
partnership. The signature on the
partnership statement must be that of a
person authorised to legally represent the
institution.

The partnership statement must not be

signed by the Applicant.
The
application must
contain
the
statements of all partners, preferably
bearing an original signature. Faxed copies
will be accepted, but you may be asked to
provide the original at a later time.
Assembling the partnership statements
should, therefore, be one of the very first
activities to be undertaken once the
partnership has been agreed, since
experience shows that it may take
considerable time to obtain them all.

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52

Section IV: ASSOCIATES OF THE APPLICANT PARTICIPATING IN THE

ACTION
Associates play a real role in the Action,
but may not receive funding from the grant
with the exception of per diems or travel
costs. Conversely, they may make a
financial contribution to the project that will
be included in the own contribution of the
project. Associates do not have to meet the
eligibility criteria set out in Section 2.1.2 of

the

Guidelines

for

Grant

Applicants.

The following table must be filled in for

each associate and numbered (Associate
1, Associate 2, .). If you need more
tables, please copy an empty table and
insert this on a new page.

Associate 1

Full legal name

EuropeAid ID number:

Indicate the full legal name of the institution. In cases where

the associate is a Legal Entity within an institution, indicate
the full name of the Entity followed by the full name of the
institution, for example: Faculty of Applied Sciences,
Kenyatta University.
You have to provide this identification number only if the
institution is registered in the European Commissions online
PADOR registration service, which is accessible through
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/onlineservices/pador.
Please note that registration to the PADOR is not
compulsory.

Country of Registration

Please spell out the name of the country in full where the
institution is registered for official purposes.

Legal status

Legal status of the institution or, if applicable, of the entity

within the institution that acts as an associate in the Action.

Official address

This is the legal address under which the institution is

registered for official purposes. It may be different from the
postal address.

Contact person

Indicate the title (Ms./Mr.), surname, first name and function

of the person within the institution who is responsible for the
participation in the Action.
Indicate here the telephone number of the contact person or a
general telephone number for the institution, if there is one.

Telephone number:
country code + city code +
number

Fax number:
country code + city code +

This number will be used to contact the contact person if any

information or clarification is needed concerning the
application. Please ensure that this number is correct and
notify the PMU of the ACP Science and Technology
Programme if there are any changes.
Indicate here the fax number of the contact person or a
general fax number for the institution, if there is one.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

53

number
This number will be used to contact the contact person if any
information or clarification is needed concerning the
application. Please ensure that this number is correct and
notify the PMU of the ACP Science and Technology
Programme if there are any changes.

E-mail address

Indicate a valid e-mail address of the contact person or a

general one for the institution, preferably a professional e-mail
address.
This is important as the e-mail address will be used in case
of need for any additional information or clarifications
regarding the associates participation in the application.

Number of employees

Please give this number in full-time equivalent (FTE).

Other relevant resources

If applicable, please describe any relevant human, financial

or material resources the institution can mobilise for the
implementation of the Action.

Experience of similar
Actions, in relation to the
role in the
implementation of the
proposed Action

Give title, name of funding agency and amount of funding,

period of implementation, role and involvement, and names
of other institutions participating in such Actions.

History of cooperation
with the Applicant

If applicable, briefly describe the previous cooperation with

the Applicant, both formal and informal.

Role and involvement in

preparing the proposed
Action

Describe the institutions role and participation in the process

of preparing the application for the proposed Action.

Role and involvement in

implementing the
proposed Action

Describe the institutions role and participation in the

implementation of the proposed Action.
The description given here must correspond to the one given
in Part B, Section I (The Action) of the Grant Application
Form.

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54

Section V: CHECKLIST
Applicants are strongly encouraged to
carefully go through the Checklist to
crosscheck the documents required.
Having completed Sections II (The
Applicant) and III (Partners of the
Applicant) of the Grant Application Form,
you already have all the administrative
information you need to fill in the first table
of the Checklist.

Name of the Applicant

EuropeAid ID number

Indicate on the top of the Checklist which

lot your application refers to:

either Lot 1 (funds from the 9th EDF)

or Lot 2 (funds from the EC budget
line 21.031700).

Make sure that all the partners appear in

the table. You must make as many copies
of the row Partner as necessary to create
entries for each partner and insert them all
in this table.

It is important that you indicate the full name of the institution.

In cases where the Applicant is a Legal Entity within an
institution, indicate the full name of the Entity followed by the
full name of the institution, for example: Faculty of Applied
Sciences, Kenyatta University.
You have to provide this identification number only if your
institution is registered in the European Commissions on-line
PADOR registration service, which is accessible through:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/onlineservices/pador.
Please note that registration to the PADOR is not
compulsory.

Country and date of

Registration

Legal Entity File number

Please spell out the name of the country in full where your
institution is registered for official purposes. Indicate here
also the date on which your institution was first officially
registered with the competent authorities.
You have to provide this number only if your institution has
already signed a contract with the European Commission or
the ACP Secretariat.
If this is the case, check this contract to find the number.

Legal status

Legal status of the institution or, if applicable, of the entity

within the institution that acts as the Applicant in the Action.
Please provide here the same type of information for the
partner as done for the Applicant above:

Partner no.

Name/EuropeAid ID number:
Nationality/Country of registration:
Legal status:

The second table allows you to go through

a final verification before sending your

application. If everything is in order, only

the cells in the column Yes will be ticked.

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55

Section VI: DECLARATION BY THE APPLICANT

This declaration must be signed by the
person authorised to do so on behalf of the
Applicant (that is to say, the lead institution)
and of the consortium (that is to say, all the
partners). It must be included in the
application as an original no fax copies
will be accepted.
Please read the declaration carefully. In
particular, take note of the 5th bullet point
which refers you to a list of documents in
the Guidelines for Grant Applicants that
you will be required to produce within 15
working days only in the case if your
application advances to the final stage of
the evaluation process. This is further
explained in Chapter 7.3 of this Manual
(The Evaluation Process).
In the 4th bullet point, reference is made to
the Practical Guide to Contract procedures

for EC external actions (available at the

following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proced
ures/implementation/practical_guide/docum
ents/2008new_prag_final_en.pdf). This is a
useful document to consult which explains
the contracting procedures applying to all
EC external aid contracts financed from the
EDF and EC general budget. These are the
financing sources of the ACP Science and
Technology Programme.
The line list only Actions in the same field
as this proposal you are requested to
insert in the lower part of this page (if
applicable) can largely be produced from
the information you have been asked to
provide in Part B, Section I.I.5 (Experience
of similar Actions) of the Grant Application
Form.

Section VII: ASSESSMENT GRID

This page presented on the following
page is added for your information only;
do not tick any of the boxes. It shows you
the different steps of the evaluation
process, which are further explained in the
following chapter of this Manual.

This table will be completed by the PMU of

the ACP Science and Technology
Programme, as the evaluation of proposals
proceeds and according to the decisions of
the Evaluation Committee.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

56

Assessment grid:
YES

NO

STEP 1: OPENING SESSION AND ADMINISTRATIVE CHECK

1. The Deadline has been respected.
2. The Grant Application Form satisfied all the criteria mentioned in the Checklist
(Section V of Part B of the Grant Application Form).
The administrative verification has been conducted by:
Date:
DECISION 1:
The Evaluation Committee has recommended the Concept Note for Evaluation after
having passed the Administrative check.
STEP 2 : EVALUATION OF THE CONCEPT NOTE
DECISION 2:
The Evaluation Committee has approved the Concept Note and decided to proceed
with the evaluation of the Full Application Form after having pre-selected the best
Concept Notes.
The evaluation of the Concept Note has been conducted by:
Date:
STEP 3: EVALUATION OF THE FULL APPLICATION FORM
DECISION 3:
A. The Evaluation Committee has recommended the proposal for Eligibility
verification after having been provisionally selected within the top-ranked scored
proposals within the available financial envelope.
B. The Evaluation Committee has recommended the proposal for Eligibility
verification after having been put on the reserve list according to the top-ranked
scored proposals.
The verification of the proposal has been conducted by:
Date:
STEP 4: ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION
3.

The supporting documents listed hereunder, submitted according to the

Guidelines for Grant Applicants (Section 2.4), satisfied all the eligibility criteria of
the Applicant and his partner(s).
a. The Applicant's statutes.
b. The statutes or articles of association of all partners is attached and duly
signed.
c. The Applicant's external audit report (if applicable).
d. The Legal Entity File (see annex D of the Guidelines for Applicants) is duly
completed and signed by the Applicant and is accompanied by the justifying
documents requested.
e. A Financial Identification Form (see annex E of the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants) is duly completed, signed and stamped by the Applicant and his
bank.
f

Copy of the Applicants latest accounts.

The assessment of the eligibility has been conducted by:

Date:
DECISION 4:
The Evaluation Committee has selected the proposal for funding after having verified
its eligibility according to the criteria stipulated in the Guidelines for Grant Applicants.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

57

7.

Final stages

7.1

Validation of the proposal

The proposal is compliant with all

requirements from the Grant
Application Form in the correct
format and sequence; and it is
properly sized and scoped.

The
proposal
submission.

At the proposal release, validate that with

respect to the contents of the proposal:

The proposal is what you expected.

You are still interested in submitting

the proposal.

Are the objectives of the proposal

and the envisaged results clear?

The proposed approaches reflect the

best cost/benefit balance and the
partners preferences.

All the changes suggested by the

partners in previous drafts of the
proposal have been carefully studied
and, when relevant, incorporated.

The reasons why the ACP

Secretariat
should
select
the
proposal are clear.

All proposal parts are correct and

optimized against the evaluation
criteria.

The
methodology
identifies
everything needed to produce the
results.

The schedule in the action plan is

the best allocation of time, and
deadlines
are
realistic
and
enforceable.

Assignments
of
tasks
and
responsibilities among the partners
are correct, no one is overloaded,
and everyone who can contribute is
included.

The proposal is compliant with the

objectives of the ACP Science and
Technology Programme and fits
within the Call for Proposals.

The proposal is sufficient to meet the

required quality standards

The checklist matrix includes all

response requirements.

is

ready

for

and with respect to the production of the

proposal:

The proposal has been edited and

proofread.

The
proposal
specifications of
Proposals.

The proposal has been assembled

correctly and is ready for packaging
and sending off (see Chapter 7.2
below).

7.2

matches
the Call

the
for

THE LAST STEPS OF

SUBMITTING THE PROPOSAL

1.

Binding your proposal

All the elements of the proposal should be

compiled according to the precise
sequence of the Grant Application Form
and loosely bound in an A4-size (210mm
by 297mm) binder:

the application form (Part A and Part

B);

the budget and the financing

sources (the two worksheets of
Annex B); and

the logical framework (Annex C).

However:
The Checklist (Part B, Section V of
the Grant Application Form) and

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

58

 The Declaration by the Applicant

(Part B, Section VI of the Grant
Application Form)

version of the Grant Application

Form.
Do not send the electronic copy in
pdf format (the Portable Document
Format from Adobe), as this will
considerably complicate the process
of entering your application into the
ACP Science and Technology
Programme database. Please use
Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel
formats. If you wish, you can add a
second electronic copy in pdf
format.

must be loosely bound and enclosed

separately in the envelope.
Check that your paper and electronic
copies (see next paragraph) are identical to
the original application. The PMU of the
ACP Science and Technology Programme
will not be held responsible if the
evaluators are unable to evaluate the
proposal correctly because of the bad
quality of the copies or missing parts or
differences with the original.
Please follow this rule strictly. Noncompliance may not lead to the rejection of
your proposal, but it will complicate the
administrative check and the following
steps of the evaluation process. Above all,
it will raise doubts as to your management
capabilities and the evaluation of your
proposal will start with a burden. Avoid this!

2.

What to send

1 original and 1 copy of the paper

version of your proposal: one-sided
printed, separately and loosely
bound.

An electronic version of your

proposal. It must contain exactly the
same information as the paper copy
and can be provided in the form of a
floppy disc or CD-Rom.
The three components of the
application (Grant Application Form,
Budget and Logical Framework)
must be submitted in a separate and
unique electronic file. Please do not
split the Grant Application Form.
Please note that the Declaration by
the Applicant (Part B, Section VI of
the Grant Application Form) can, if
possible,
contain
a
scanned
signature. Otherwise, leave this cell
empty and provide the signature
only as an original on the paper

If you submit more than one proposal,

each one must be sent separately and
conform to the above instructions.

3.

How, when and where to send your

proposal

You can submit your proposal either by

sending it by post or courier service or by
hand-delivering it to the Programme
Management Unit (PMU) of the ACP
Science and Technology Programme in
Brussels.
In the first case, please note that the
deadline for the Call for Proposals (27
February 2009) is the deadline for sending
it, not for its receipt in Brussels.
In case of hand delivery, you must arrive at
the PMU address before 16:00 hours
(Brussels time) on the day of the deadline
and you will be given an acknowledgement
of receipt to prove it.
Make sure to use the right address, that is
to say, the address of the Programme
Management Unit of the ACP Science and
Technology Programme. Do not use any
other address, such as the ACP Secretariat
or the European Commission.

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59

Send your proposal in a sealed envelope labelled as below:

ACP Science and Technology Programme

Call for Proposals: EuropeAid/127860/D/ACT/ACP
Lot No. Insert the LOT number of the proposed Action
FROM: Insert the full name and address of the APPLICANT
Not to be opened before the opening session

TO:

ACP Science and Technology Programme

Programme Management Unit
c/o GOPA-Cartermill
Rue de Trves 45
1040 Brussels
BELGIUM

In the top left corner of the envelope, you

mention in separate lines: (a) the title of the
Programme, (b) Call for Proposals and its
number, (c) the number of the Lot, (d) the
name and address of the sender, that is to
say, the Applicant, and (e) the phrase Not
to be opened before the opening session.
In the middle of the page, you mention the
full name and address of the PMU of the
ACP Science and Technology Programme.
Ensure yourself once again that the
packaging and labelling match the
specifications of the Call for Proposals and
then send it off.

If you use the normal mail services:

inform
the
PMU
by
e-mail
(info@acp-st.eu) or fax (+32-2280.1406) of the sending by mail
indicating the date of sending.

If you use a courier service:

make sure that the address on the

courier envelope is not only correct,
but legible and includes the PMU
telephone number in Brussels (+322-280.1737);

inform
the
PMU
by
e-mail
(info@acp-st.eu) or fax (+32-2280.1406) of the sending by courier
indicating:
the date of sending;
the name of the courier service;
and
the courier services registration
number of the shipment.

In any case, keep some documentary proof

of having sent your application before the
deadline so that there can be no doubt
about it.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

60

7.3
1.

THE EVALUATION PROCESS

The Evaluation Committee

Proposals are evaluated by an Evaluation

Committee appointed by the ACP
Secretariat. It consists of a non-voting
Chairperson, a non-voting Secretary and
three voting members.
The detailed evaluation will be carried out
by a team of independent assessors. The
Evaluation Committee will conduct its
deliberations on the basis of their
assessments.
The task of the assessors consists of
carrying out a written assessment of the
concept notes (Part A of the Grant

Application Form) and of the full

application forms (Part B of the Grant
Application Form) on the basis of the
respective evaluation grids, which are
presented in Section 2.3 of the Guidelines
for Grant Applicants. At least two
assessors will assess each concept note
and each full application form, working
independently of each other.

2.

The Evaluation Process

The evaluation process consists of a series

of successive steps; each is undertaken
only after the previous one has been
completed. These steps are:

Publication of Call for Proposals

Receipt and registration of proposals
Opening session and administrative check
Evaluation of Concept Notes
Evaluation of Full Application Forms
Verification of eligibility
Conclusions of the Evaluation Committee
Preparation and signing of contracts
Project implementation

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61

Receipt and registration of proposals

Upon receipt, the proposals will be
registered and for those delivered by hand
an acknowledgement of receipt will be
issued. The envelopes remain sealed and
in a safe place until the opening session.

Opening session and administrative

check
All proposals received will be opened in an
opening session at which the registration
details will be checked and the proposals
numbered. Proposals not submitted before
the specified deadline (as evidenced by the
postmark or the date of the deposit slip) will
be disqualified at this time. The secretary of
the Evaluation Committee supervises the
opening session.
Proposals that have been submitted before
the deadline are then subject to an
administrative check, which assesses
whether they satisfy all the criteria
mentioned in the checklist tables shown in
Part B, Section V of the Grant Application
Form.
Incomplete
from the
However, if
found, the

proposals will be disqualified

further evaluation process.
only minor inconsistencies are
Evaluation Committee may

decide to invite the Applicant to submit a

clarification within a fixed deadline.
Following the opening session and the
administrative check, the Evaluation
Committee will meet to decide on any
contentious case and signs the Proposal
Opening Session and Administrative
Check report.
A standard letter will then be sent to all
Applicants informing them whether or not
their application was found to be submitted
before the deadline, whether or not it has
satisfied all the administrative criteria
mentioned in the checklist and whether or
not their concept note has been
recommended for further evaluation. The
letter will also inform the Applicants of the
application reference number allocated to
their proposal which must be used in all
further correspondence.

Evaluation of the Concept Note

In the next phase of the evaluation
process, the concept notes of applications
submitted before the deadline and having
satisfied the administrative criteria will
undergo an evaluation of the relevance of
the Action, its effectiveness, as well as of
its feasibility and sustainability on the basis
of the following evaluation grid:

Evaluation grid for the Concept Note:

Heading / subheading
1. Relevance of the Action
1.1 Relevance of the problems to needs and constraints of the
country/region to be addressed in general, and to those of the target
groups and final beneficiaries in particular.
1.2 Relevance to the priorities and objectives mentioned in the Guidelines.
2. Effectiveness and Feasibility of the Action
2.1 Assessment of the problem identification and analysis.
2.2 Assessment of the proposed activities (practicality and consistency in
relation to the objectives, purpose and expected results).
2.3 Assessment of the role and involvement of all stakeholders and
proposed partners.
3. Sustainability of the Action
3.1 Assessment of the identification of the main assumptions and risks,
before the start-up and throughout the implementation period.
3.2 Assessment of the identification of long-term sustainable impact on the
target groups and final beneficiaries.
Maximum total score
*

Maximum
Score
15
5

5 (x2)*
25
5
5 (x2)*
5 (x2)*
10
5
5
50

these scores are multiplied by 2 because of their importance.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

62

This evaluation grid is also shown in

Section 2.3 of the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants. The overall assessment is
based on the scores obtained under each
subheading, added up by heading. The
final score is the arithmetical average of the
scores given by the two assessors.
The secretary of the Evaluation Committee
will then prepare a list of all evaluated
concept notes, ranked by score:

As a first step, only the concept

notes which have been given a
score of at least 12 points (out of 15)
in the category Relevance, as well
as a minimum total score of 30
points (out of 50) will be considered
for pre-selection.
In a second step, counting in
descending order of the total scores,
only the set of concept notes for
which the cumulative sum of grant
requests totals no more than twice
the amount available for the Call for
Proposals
(that
is
to
say,
2 x 28 million EUR = 56 million EUR
for Lot 1 and 2 x 5 million EUR =
10 million EUR for Lot 2) will be
considered for pre-selection.

Thus the applications of which the concept

notes have been pre-selected according to
the above ranking list will undergo the next
evaluation step (evaluation of the full
application form).
A standard letter will then be sent to the
Applicants whose concept note have been
evaluated, informing them whether or not
their full application form will be evaluated
in the next step of the evaluation process.
For those applications that will not pass to
the next phase, the letter will indicate the
reason and include the scores attributed to
each section and sub-section of the
evaluation grid shown in Section 2.3 of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants.

Evaluation of the Full Application Form

The quality of the full applications forms will
be assessed on the basis of the evaluation
grid shown in Section 2.3 of the Guidelines

for Grant Applicants (and presented below)

containing the selection and award criteria.
Comments are made for each heading on
the basis of the questions and criteria used
for that heading and, in particular cases, for
specific
subheadings.
The
overall
assessment is based on the scores
obtained under each subheading, added up
by heading. The final score is the
arithmetical average of the scores given by
the two assessors.
The Secretary of the Evaluation Committee
will then prepare a list of all the proposals,
ranked by score:

As a first step, only the applications

which have been given a score of at
least 12 points (out of 20) in the
category Financial and operational
capacity and 20 points (out of 25) in
the category Relevance will be
considered for provisional selection.

In a second step, counting in

descending order of the total scores,
only the set of applications for which
the cumulative sum of grant requests
totals no more than the available
budget for the Call for Proposals
(that is to say, 28 million EUR for
Lot 1 and 5 million EUR for Lot 2)
will be considered for provisional
selection.

According to the above ranking list, a table

will be established with the provisionally
selected proposals. These applications will
undergo the next evaluation step
(verification of eligibility of the Applicant
and partners).
The
Evaluation
Committee
will,
furthermore, draw up a reserve list
comprising a limited number of proposals
having obtained the best scores after those
provisionally selected for financing. The
proposals included in that list are likely to
receive a grant only if funds become
available under the Call for Proposals
(because of: decrease of the eligible costs
of the selected proposals; rejection of the
proposal in the eligibility verification step
see below; impossibility to sign a contract
with a selected Applicant; etc).

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

63

Evaluation grid for the Full Application Form:

Section / subsection
1. Financial and operational capacity
1.1 Do the Applicant and partners have sufficient experience of project
management?
1.2 Do the Applicant and partners have sufficient technical expertise?
(notably knowledge of the issues to be addressed.)
1.3 Do the Applicant and partners have sufficient management capacity?
(including staff, equipment and ability to handle the budget for the
Action)?
1.4 Does the Applicant have stable and sufficient sources of finance?
2. Relevance
2.1 How relevant is the proposal to the objectives and one or more of the
priorities of the Call for Proposals?

Maximum
Score
20
5

Note: A score of 5 (very good) will only be allocated if the proposal

specifically addresses at least one priority.
Note: A score of 5 (very good) will only be allocated if the proposal
contains specific added-value elements, such as promotion of gender
equality, equal opportunities,
2.2 How relevant to the particular needs and constraints of the target
country/countries or region(s) is the proposal? (including synergy with
other EC initiatives and avoidance of duplication.)
2.3 How clearly defined and strategically chosen are those involved (final
beneficiaries, target groups)? Have their needs been clearly defined
and does the proposal address them appropriately?
3. Methodology
3.1 Are the activities proposed appropriate, practical, and consistent with
the objectives and expected results?
3.2 How coherent is the overall design of the Action?
(in particular, does it reflect the analysis of the problems involved, take
into account external factors and anticipate an evaluation?)
3.3 Is the partners' level of involvement and participation in the Action
satisfactory?
3.4 Is the Action plan clear and feasible?
3.5 Does the proposal contain objectively verifiable indicators for the
outcome of the Action?
4. Sustainability
4.1 Is the Action likely to have a tangible impact on its target groups?
4.2 Is the proposal likely to have multiplier effects? (including scope for
replication and extension of the outcome of the Action and
dissemination of information.)
4.3 Are the expected results of the proposed Action sustainable:
- financially (how will the activities be financed after the funding ends?)
- institutionally (will structures allowing the activities to continue be in
place at the end of the Action? Will there be local ownership of the
results of the Action?)
- at policy level (where applicable) (what will be the structural impact of
the Action e.g., will it lead to improved legislation, codes of
conduct, methods, etc?)
5. Budget and cost-effectiveness
5.1 Is the ratio between the estimated costs and the expected results
satisfactory?
5.2 Is the proposed expenditure necessary for the implementation of the
Action?
Maximum total score

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

5
5

5
25
5x2

5x2

25
5
5

5
5
5
15
5
5

15
5
5x2
100

64

A standard letter will be sent to the

Applicants, stating whether or not their
proposal has been provisionally selected
according to its score:

Applicants whose proposals have

been provisionally selected will be
invited to supply the supporting
documents listed in Section 2.4 of
the Guidelines for Grant Applicants.
These documents must be provided
within 15 calendar days following the
receipt of the provisional selection
notification
from
the
ACP
Secretariat.

Applicants whose proposals have

been put on the reserve list will be
informed that there application was
rejected, indicating the reason and
including the scores attributed to
each section and sub-section of the
evaluation grid shown in Section 2.3
of the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants. However, they will still
be invited to supply the supporting
documents listed in Section 2.4 of
the Guidelines for Grant Applicants
(within 15 calendar days following
the receipt of the provisional
selection notification from the ACP
Secretariat).

For those applications that were

rejected, the letter will indicate the
reason and include the scores
attributed to each section and subsection of the evaluation grid shown
in Section 2.3 of the Guidelines for
Grant Applicants.

articles of association (a formal document

that regulates the organisations internal
management and administrative affairs).
These formal documents do not need to be
submitted by those Applicants and/or
partners whose eligibility has already been
recognised by the ACP Secretariat or the
EC in another Call for Proposals under the
same budget lines within 2 years before the
deadline for submission of applications of
the current Call for Proposals. These
budget lines are the 9th EDF and the
budget
line
21.03.17
European
Programme
for
Reconstruction
and
Development (see Section 1.3 of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants). It is
sufficient if in these cases a copy of the
document is enclosed proving the eligibility
of the Applicant and/or partner(s) in such
former Call for Proposals (e.g., a copy of
the Special Conditions of a grant contract
received). However, if a change in the legal
status has occurred in the meantime, a
copy of their statutes or articles of
association still has to be submitted. This
obligation does not apply to international
organisations which have signed a
framework agreement with the EC.
A copy of the Applicants latest accounts:
Only when the Applicant is not a public
entity or an international organisation, a
copy of the Applicants accounts has to be
provided that covers the previous financial
year for which the accounts have been
closed. This concern the:

Profit and loss account (the financial

statement that shows the revenue,
expenditure and the profit and/or
loss of an organisation); and

Balance
sheet
(the
financial
statement that shows the assets,
liabilities and, if applicable, the
owners equity of an organisation).

Submission of supporting documents

The Applicants from those proposals that
have either been provisionally selected or
put on the reserve list will be requested by
the ACP Secretariat to supply a set of
additional documents in order to verify the
eligibility of the Applicants and partners:
Statutes or articles of association of the
Applicants and partners organisation:
The Applicants organisation as well as
each partners organisation must provide a
copy of their statutes (legal act of
establishment or Court registration) or

Legal Entity Sheet of the Applicant:

According to the legal statute of the
Applicants organisation, the Applicant
must fill out the Legal Entity Sheet of one of
the two categories of entities which are
provided in Annex D of the Guidelines for
Grant Applicants: Public Entities or
Private Companies. The form has also to:

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

65

be signed and dated by an

authorised representative of the
Applicants organisation. In the case
of a public entity, the name and
function
of
the
authorised
representative must be given too.
be stamped.

Please ensure that you also attach some

additional supporting documents which are
requested in the footnotes of the form.
In the case of a private company, this
concern:

A copy of an official document

(official gazette, company register
etc.) showing the name of the legal
entity, the address of the head office
and the registration number given to
it by the competent national
authorities.

A copy of the VAT registration

document, if applicable, and if the
VAT number does not appear on the
above official document.

In the case of a public entity, this concern:

A copy of the resolution, law, decree

or decision establishing the entity in
question. Or, when such document
cannot be provided, any other official
document
attesting
to
the
establishment of the entity by the
competent national authorities.

If in the form the VAT field is

completed, please attach an official
VAT document.

As a general rule, you will have to fill out

this form and submit them together with the
additional supporting documents to the
ACP Secretariat only once. If the Applicant
has already signed a contract with the ACP
Secretariat or the EC, the Legal Entity File
Number previously assigned may be
provided, which is the same number as
stated in the table of Part B, Section II.1 of
the Grant Application Form.
However, in the event of change of the
legal status of the Applicants organisation
compared to what is already recorded, you

will be required to provide a new form,

completed,
signed
and
stamped,
accompanied if necessary by the adequate
supporting documents.
The above requested legal co-ordinates
allow the ACP Secretariat to record and
validate this information which is needed to
verify the eligibility of the Applicant and, in
the case of being awarded a contract, to
launch the necessary contract procedures.
Financial Identification Form of the
Applicant:
In order to allocate funds to the bank of the
Applicants organisation, in the case of
being awarded a contract, the Financial
Identification Form in Annex E of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants or
another form with the same information
needs to be filled out correctly. It is very
important to make sure that the
denomination (title) under the item
Contact and the other contact coordinates, as well as the account and bank
information are exactly in conformity with
what is recorded at the bank.
If the Applicant has already signed a
contract with the ACP Secretariat or the
EC, or where the EC has been in charge of
the payments of a contract, a copy of the
previous Financial Identification Form may
be provided instead. However, if the
banking co-ordinates have changed, you
will be required to provide a new form,
completed,
signed
and
stamped,
accompanied if necessary by the adequate
supporting documents.
Audit firm co-ordinates:
Whenever a contract is awarded and the
Action is being implemented, the Actions
expenditure will have to be verified by an
independent and approved auditor who is a
member of an internationally recognised
supervisory body for statutory auditing.
Therefore, the name, complete address
and contact details of this audit firm must
be given.
Further details of this verification are
provided in Article 15.6 of the General
Conditions to the standard Grant Contract
(see Annex F of the Guidelines for Grant

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

66

Applicants), which can be consulted at the

following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proced
ures/documents/execution/grants/e3h_2ge
ncond_en.pdf.

A standard letter will be sent to the

Applicants whose proposal has not been
selected or whose proposal remains on the
reserve list:

Applicants who had been put on the

reserve list and who have been
found eligible on the basis of the
provided supporting documents will
be informed that they remain on the
reserve list. Only if funds become
available under the Call for
Proposals (as explained above),
they may still have a chance to be
awarded a grant.

For those applications that were

rejected, the letter will indicate the
reason.

Verification of eligibility
The proposals that have been provisionally
selected will undergo an eligibility
verification of the Applicant and its
partners. This assessment will be carried
out using the Declaration by the Applicant
shown in Part B, Section VI of the Grant
Application Form and the criteria set out in
the Sections 2.3 and 2.4 of the Guidelines
for Grant Applicants:

Is the Declaration by the Applicant

in conformity with the supporting
documents provided?
Any missing supporting document
or any incoherence between the
Declaration and the supporting
documents will lead to the rejection
of the proposal on that sole basis.

Are the Applicant, the partners and

the Action eligible?

Following the above analysis, any rejected

proposal will be replaced by the next best
placed proposal in the reserve list that falls
within the available financial envelope. This
proposal will then undergo the eligibility
verification examination.
Even though the verification of eligibility is
foreseen to be carried out only for the
provisionally selected proposals at the end
of the evaluation process, the Evaluation
Committee may decide to verify this item at
any previous step of the procedure. Taking
into
account
good
administrative
practices, the Evaluation Committee can
exclude an Applicant at any stage of the
evaluation process whenever it is obvious
that the Applicant does not meet the
eligibility criteria.
The Secretary of the Evaluation Committee
will draw up a list containing the proposals
which are found to be ineligible. For each
entry on the list, the grounds for ineligibility
must be identified.

Conclusions of the Evaluation

Committee
The Evaluation Committee will ultimately
draw up a list of the proposals selected for
financing. This list is made up of the
proposals obtaining the best scores,
ranked by order, within the limits of the
funds available under the Call for
Proposals.
However:

The Evaluation Committee may not

allocate all the available funds if it
finds that there are too few
proposals of the quality required to
receive a grant.

The Evaluation Committee may

reject a proposal if it has selected
another one which is of a similar
nature, but has been awarded a
higher score.

If several proposals submitted by

the same Applicant are selected for
financing, but the Applicant is
judged not to have the financial and
operational capacity required to
implement the Actions all together,
the Evaluation Committee may
reject the proposal(s) which has
(have) been awarded a lower score,
and select the proposal(s) where
the Applicant has the capacity to
implement.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

67

A final Evaluation Report is drawn up

following the final meeting of the Evaluation
Committee. It comprises the completed
evaluation grids, the eligibility verification
and the minutes of the evaluation sessions.
The report will be signed by all members of
the Evaluation Committee.
Once the approvals have been given, the
ACP Secretariat will commence awarding
the grants. A standard letter will be sent to
the Applicants from awarded grants. The
award decision contains the subject and
overall amount of the decision, the
evaluation
outcomes
and,
where
appropriate, the grounds for the decision by
the ACP Secretariat to depart from the
recommendations made by the Evaluation
Committee in the report in respect of a
particular proposal. The letter also
announces the start of the grant contract
preparation procedures.
The entire procedure, from the drawing-up
of the Call for Proposals to the selection of
successful Applicants, is confidential. The
Evaluation Committee's decisions are
collective and its deliberations must remain
secret.

7.4

Sources of further
guidance

ACP Science and Technology

Programme
Information about this ACP-EU cooperation programme on science and
technology, the current Call for
Proposals and Frequently Asked
Questions:
http://www.acp-st.eu
http://www.acpsec.org
(ACP Secretariat)
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/fundi
ng/index_en.htm
(EuropeAid Calls for proposals and
tenders)

European Commission
Practical
Guide
to
Contract
procedures for EC external actions.
This is a useful document to consult
which
explains
the
contracting
procedures applying to all EC external
aid contracts financed from the EDF and
EC general budget. These are the
financing sources of the ACP Science
and Technology Programme:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proc
edures/implementation/practical_guide/
documents/2008new_prag_final_en.pdf
Information about how to prepare a
project proposal and manage a project
with respect to its quality (in terms of the
relevance, feasibility and effectiveness
of projects) in the document Project
Cycle Management Guidelines:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/multimedi
a/publications/publications/manualstools/t101_en.htm
Guidance on how to make the project
visible and examples on types of
visibility actions:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/visibi
lity/index_en.htm
PADOR on-line registration service for
consulting or acquiring an EuropeAid ID
number:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/onlineserv
ices/pador
Currency
exchange
rates
at
InforEuro, the ECs website with the
monthly accounting rate of the Euro:
http://ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro/ind
ex.cfm?Language=en
Per diem
destination:

rates

by

country

of

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proc
edures/implementation/per_diems/index
_en.htm.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

68

 The General Conditions

standard Grant Contract:

to

the

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proc
edures/documents/execution/grants/e3h
_2gencond_en.pdf
The Special Conditions
standard Grant Contract:

to

the

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/proc
edures/implementation/grants/document
s/e3_h_1_speccond_en.doc
Seventh Framework Programme for
research
and
technology
development (FP7). It bundles all
research-related EU initiatives together
under a common roof playing a crucial
role in reaching the goals of growth,
competitiveness and employment:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.htm
l

7.5

In this Manual, we have tried to give you

guidance on how to prepare and present
your proposal in the Call for Proposals of
the ACP Science and Technology
Programme. As we have pointed out in the
Introduction, it is not possible to cover all
the questions that YOU may have in YOUR
specific situation.
Do not hesitate, therefore, to ask the
Programme Management Unit (PMU) of
the ACP Science and Technology
Programme any question for which you did
not find an answer in this Manual or in the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants. You can
do this by:

sending an e-mail to:

info@acp-st.eu

checking
the
FAQ
section
(Frequently Asked Questions) on
the Website of the ACP Science
and Technology Programme at the
following Internet address:
www.acp-st.eu or

sending a fax to: +32-2-280.1406

OECD
List of sectors needed to complete Part
B, Section I (paragraphs 1.4 and 1.5)
and Section II (paragraph 2.2, 3.1 and
3.2) of the Grant Application Form:
http://www.oecd.org/document/21/0,334
3,en_2649_34469_1914325_1_1_1_1,0
0.html

A FINAL WORD

The PMU will do its best to give you a quick

and complete reply. However, we would
like to point out once more that the PMU
may and will answer only to questions
related to the formal aspects of your
proposal. For reasons of impartiality the
PMU is not allowed to answer questions
related to the content of a proposal.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

69

GLOSSARY
ACP

African, Caribbean and Pacific.

ACP Group of States

The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States. The

Group is composed of the 79 African, Caribbean and
Pacific States (see Chapter 2 of this Manual) who are
signatories apart from Cuba to the Georgetown
Agreement (signed in 1975 and revised in 2003) or the
Partnership Agreement between the ACP and the EU
(signed in 2000), officially called the ACP-EC Partnership
Agreement or the Cotonou Agreement. It aims to
coordinate co-operation between its members and the EU,
but also in diverse international fora such as the WTO
covering trade, economics, politics and culture. Internet
address: http://www.acpsec.org

ACP Secretariat

The Secretariat responsible for the administrative

management of the ACP Group of States: it assists the
Group's decision-making and advisory organs in carrying
out their work; its headquarters is located in Brussels
(Belgium). Internet address: http://www.acpsec.org

ACP Science and Technology

Programme

An ACP-EU co-operation programme that promotes intraACP co-operation in the field of science and technology
innovations and capacity building, with specific reference to
formulating and implementing science and technology
policies that can lead to sustainable development and
poverty reduction through economic growth and
progressive integration in the world economy. It funds
partnership projects to be selected from a public Call for
Proposals. Internet address: http://www.acp-st.eu

Action -or- Project

The set of activities the partnership proposes to carry out:

(a) it is a planned undertaking of related activities to reach
an objective; and (b) it has a defined beginning and end
and typically its own funding, accounting, and delivery
schedule. By definition, all projects are unique, which is
one reason it is difficult to compare different projects to one
another.

Action plan -or- Work plan

A schematic overview of the major project activities to be

performed during the implementation period of the project
which presents, in chronological order, the major activities
and tasks together with the period of implementation and
the implementing organization(s). It will also be used in
preparing project reports to reflect the accomplishment of
objectives and results.

Administrative costs

The overheads or indirect costs, that is to say, the eligible

costs which are not directly attributable to the project, but
are incurred in relation to the direct costs of the project.
The ACP Science and Technology Programme applies
here a maximum of 7% of the total eligible direct costs of
the project.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

70

Applicant

The lead institution within the partnership that submits the

proposal and, if the proposal is selected, signs the grant
contract and becomes the Beneficiary of the grant.

Application -or- Proposal

Written request for a grant or contribution to implement a

project. It outlines why the grant is needed, the purpose it
will serve, the plan for meeting the need, the required
resources, the amount of money needed, and information
about the Applicant and its partners.

Articles of association

The body of rules, directions and regulations for internal

regulation of an organisation, that is to say, the internal
affairs of the organisation, including the powers and duties
of its members, and formalities attaching to the convening
and holding of meetings and procedure of rules for
members attending them.

Associate

Organisation that has a real role in the Action, but cannot

receive funding from the ACP Science and Technology
Programme, with the exception of per diems or travel
costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria
referred to in Section 2.1.1 of the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants.

Assumption

An external critical factor which could affect the

progress or success of the project, but over which the
project (manager) has no direct control.

Audit

A formal examination of an organisation's accounts or

financial situation. An audit may also include examination
of compliance with applicable terms, laws, and regulations.

Award criteria

The evaluation criteria applied in the Full Application

Form evaluation step under this Call for Proposals that
allow to assess the quality of the proposals submitted in
relation to the set objectives and activities, and to award
grants to Actions which maximise the overall effectiveness
of the Call for Proposals. They enable the selection of
proposals which the ACP Secretariat can be confident will
comply with its objectives and priorities and guarantee the
visibility of EC financing. These criteria cover such aspects
as the relevance of the Action, its consistency with the
objectives of the Call for Proposals, quality, expected
impact, sustainability and cost-effectiveness.

Balance sheet

The financial statement that shows the assets, liabilities

and, if applicable, the owners equity of an organisation.

Beneficiary -orGrant Beneficiary

The organisation that signs a grant contract with the ACP

Secretariat and receives the grant on behalf of the
partnership.

BUDGET

The European Communities general budget.

Call for Proposals

A public invitation by the Contracting Authority, addressed

to clearly identified categories of applicants, to propose
operations within the framework of a specific grant
programme.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

71

Capacity building

Strengthening the operating efficiency of an organisation,

group or individual through training (increasing knowledge),
changed operating procedures, restructuring, etc.

Civil society actors

National and international non-governmental organisations,

community-based
groups,
academic
institutions,
professional organisations, faith-based organisations,
womens organisations, schools, research institutions, etc.

c/o

Care of, used when sending something to an address in

care of the person or department that resides or has an
office at that address.

Concept Note

An abstract or comprehensive description of a project or a

short version of a project proposal. It is part of the Grant
Application Form and has a specific format.

Consortium

A grouping of eligible natural and legal persons which

submits an application in response to a Call for Proposals.
It may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a
grouping which has been constituted informally for a Call
for Proposals. All members of a consortium (that is to say,
the leader and all other partners) are jointly and severally
liable to the Contracting Authority.

Consortium agreement -orCo-operation agreement

Contingency plan -orEmergency plan -orBack-up plan

A formalized agreement or collaborative arrangement in

support of a project between the Applicant and the partners
which describes the purpose of the partnership, assures
the collaboration between the members of the partnership
and their role and responsibilities, and stipulates the usage
of results in the form of terms and conditions of the joint
implementation of the project. It is a separate document
from the formal Grant Contract between the Contracting
Authority and the Grant Beneficiary.

A plan that identifies potential problems or risks that may

occur during the project period and that are beyond the
control of the project. It also identifies alternative strategies
to mitigate the unintended consequences in order to still
continue with the project and achieve the project results.

Contract -or- Grant Contract

A legal document that states the agreement, between the

ACP Secretariat and the Beneficiary, with specific terms
and an undertaking to implement a project, selected from a
Call for Proposals, in return for a financial contribution.

Contracting Authority

The ACP Secretariat, acting for and on behalf of the EC, in

the execution, management and administration of the ACP
Science and Technology Programme, assisted by a
Programme Management Unit (PMU). The European
Commission exercises systematic ex-ante controls, that is
to say, that every step requires prior approval from the
European Commission before they are taken by the
Contracting Authority.

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

72

Contribution in kind

A contribution in the form of material, equipment or

services provided by a member of the partnership or a
third party to the project that has a monetary value, but is,
however, not charged to the project.

Criteria

The standards, measures, or expectations used in making

an evaluation or verification.

Critical path

The sequence of activities that must be completed on

schedule for the entire project to be completed on
schedule. Its cumulative time requirements determine the
minimum total project time. Delay in critical path activities
delay the entire project if other steps are not compressed.

Direct costs

All costs that fall under the definition of eligible costs which
can be charged directly to the project.

EC

European Community.

EC general budget

Within this Call for Proposals, Lot 2 receives funding from

the EC general budget (BUDGET), more specifically from
the European Programme for Reconstruction and
Development (EPRD), the development co-operation
programme between the EC and South Africa, financed
from the EC budget line 21 03 17.

EDF

European Development Fund, the main instrument for

providing EC aid for development co-operation in the ACP
States and the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT).
Within this Call for Proposals, Lot 1 receives funding from
the EDF. Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/development/how/sourcefunding/edf_en.cfm

EEA

European Economic Area. It unites three of the four EFTA

Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and
the 27 EU Member States into an Internal Market, which is
governed by the same basic rules. These rules aim to
enable goods, services, capital, and persons to move freely
among the EEA countries in an open and competitive
environment. Internet addresses:
http://www.efta.int/content/eea
http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/eea

EFTA

European Free Trade Association, an intergovernmental

organisation set up for the promotion of free trade and
economic integration to the benefit of its four Member
States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Internet address: http://www.efta.int

Eligible costs

Costs in the project which are actual, economic and

necessary for the implementation of the project. They must
be determined in accordance with the terms of the Call for
Proposals (see Section 2.1.4 of the Guidelines for Grant
Applicants) and incurred during the duration of the project,
except for the costs in drawing up the final report. Once the
project is awarded a grant, these costs are reimbursable in
full or in part by the Contracting Authority, under the terms
of the Contract that is the basis for the project.

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Eligibility criteria

A set of specified characteristics that are required for a

proposal to take part in the Call for Proposals. with respect
to the type of participants, the type of project they would
like to execute and the type of costs needed to implement
the proposed project.

EMU

European Monetary Union.

EPRD

European
Programme
for
Development in South Africa.

Established network

Within the context of the ACP Science and Technology

Programme, this is a consortium of organisations existing
prior to submitting an application and fulfilling the following
criteria:

Reconstruction

and

all network members and the network headquarters are

located in eligible countries;
the network has a legal status;
the network is applying in its own right; and
the network has been registered for a minimum of two
years

EU

European Union. It is an intergovernmental organisation

currently composed of 27 European nations (see Chapter 2
of this Manual) created in 1991 with its own institutional
structures and decision-making framework. It aims to
enhance political, economic and social co-operation among
its 27 members (or Member States). It is also called the
European Community or the Common Market. Internet
address: http://europa.eu

Euro

The common currency of the countries participating in the

EMU, that is to say, the EU Member States which belong to
the Euro zone. Its currency sign is and its banking code
is EUR.

EuropeAid

The ECs Co-operation Office that manages EU external

aid programmes: it finances with funds from the EC
general budget and EDF external actions to beneficiary
countries through financing agreements, namely legal acts
concluded with those States, and by other means such as
calls for proposals and actions implemented by other
international organisations. Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid

Evaluation

(of a project) The assessment of how well a project

achieved its objectives. This can be done at regular
intervals, at mid-term or at the end of a project. It seeks to
understand what happened and why, to look for impact and
to learn lessons.
(of a proposal) An integrated assessment of a submitted
proposal which uses a minimum set of administrative
requirements and evaluation criteria to determine whether
the proposal satisfies the application requirements. The
process examines and assesses the merits of each
proposal against the application requirements and rates the
proposals on each evaluation criterion.

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74

Evaluation Committee

A committee made up of a number of members (at least

three) with the necessary technical and administrative
expertise to give an informed opinion on the grant
applications.

Evaluation criteria

The standards used to evaluate a proposal.

Expat/International staff

An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) or international

staff member is a project staff member temporarily residing
in the country and culture where the project is located other
than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence or of
the headquarters of the organisation he is working for.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions.

Final beneficiary

Those groups or entities which will benefit from the project

in the long term at the level of the society or sector at large.

Financial Identification Form

A standard form used to provide banking co-ordinates in

order to allocate funds to the bank of the Applicants
organisation in the case of being awarded a contract.

Finish-to-finish

A model used in project management which refers to the

particular and specific long-term and logical relationship
between one particular activity and another particular
activity within the project. This relationship is based on the
end times and the activities can start whenever needed.

Finish-to-start

A model used in project management whereby a particular

activity cannot start until another activity has completed.
This is by far the most common relationship between
multiple activities.

FP7

Seventh Framework Programme for research and

technology development. It bundles all research-related EU
initiatives together under a common roof playing a crucial
role in reaching the goals of growth, competitiveness and
employment. Internet address:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html

Framework agreement

An agreement between the EC and the beneficiary

international organisation, in particular to UN programmes,
as part of an ongoing, formalised relationship of cooperation.

FTE

Full-Time Equivalent.

Full Application Form

The extended version of a project proposal. It is part of the

Grant Application Form and has a specific format.

General Conditions

The general contractual provisions setting out the

administrative, financial, legal and technical clauses
governing the execution of all contracts of a particular type.
It forms an integral part of the set of contractual
documents. Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/documents/
execution/grants/e3h_2gencond_en.pdf

Grant

A type of financial contribution of a non-commercial nature

awarded by the Contracting Authority to the Beneficiary to
undertake the project activities as stipulated in the contract
with the Contracting Authority in order to promote the

ACP Science and Technology Programme - Manual for preparing a grant application

75

objectives of
Programme.
Grant Application Form

the

ACP

Science

and

Technology

The standard form used to apply for a grant. It has to be

submitted by the Applicant on behalf of the partnership. It
consists of a set of mandatory documents (Concept Note
and Full Application Form) and annexes (Budget, Sources
of funding, Logical Framework) to be completed.

Guidelines for Grant Applicants A document explaining the purpose of a Call for Proposals
for grants. It sets out the rules regarding who may apply,
the types of activities and costs which may be financed,
and the evaluation (selection and award) criteria. It also
provides practical information on how to complete the
Grant Application Form, what documents must be
annexed, and rules and procedures for applying.
ID number

Identification number.

Indicator

A measurable characteristic that can be used to determine

the degree of adherence to a standard or the level of
quality achieved. It is used to monitor or evaluate the
achievement of project activities, results and objectives
over time.

InforEuro

The ECs website with the monthly accounting rate of the

Euro. Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro/index.cfm?Language=
en

Inputs

The financial, human, material, technological and

information resources which are needed for the
implementation of the project.

Internal Market -orEU Internal Market

One of the cornerstones of EU co-operation, that is to say,

a trading area governed by the same basic rules, enabling
the free movement of goods, services, capital and people the four freedoms. The internal market encompasses the
EU Member States plus the EEA countries Norway, Iceland
and Liechtenstein.

Intervention logic

A systematic and reasoned description of the links between

a projects activities, results, specific and overall objectives.
In the Logical Framework Matrix, this should be a brief
description provided in the form of a narrative summary.

Legal Entity Sheet

The standard form used to describe the legal status of the

Applicant. Within the context of this Call for Proposals, a
legal entity has, in the eyes of the law, the capacity to enter
into a contract with the Contracting Authority and the
abilities to assume an obligation and to pay off its debts. A
legal entity, under the law, is responsible for its actions and
may be sued for not performing in accordance with the
contract.

LFA

Logical Framework Analysis or Logical Framework

Approach. A methodology for planning, managing and
evaluating programmes and projects in a structured and
analytical manner. It involves situation analysis,

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stakeholder analysis, problem analysis, objectives analysis,

analysis of alternatives, and the preparation of the Logical
Framework Matrix.
Local staff
Logical Framework (Matrix)
-or- Logframe

Staff placed in the project location that is hired on the local

market.
A management tool used to improve the design of a
project. It involves identifying strategic elements (inputs,
outputs, outcomes and impact) and their causal
relationships, indicators, and the assumptions and risks
that may influence success and failure. It thus facilitates
the planning, execution and evaluation of a project.

Microsoft Excel

A spreadsheet software from Microsoft. It is a computer

application which is used for making calculations and
related graphics and tables.

Microsoft Word

A word processing software from Microsoft. It is a computer

application used for the preparation of documents
(including composition, writing, editing and formatting).

Monitoring

The process of periodically or continuously assessing the

implementation progress of the project in connection to the
established timetables and the use of services,
infrastructure and inputs by the project actors, as well as
identifying measures to correct problems where they occur.
It includes the collection, analysis, recording, reporting and
use of management information about the physical and
financial progress of a project. The purpose of monitoring is
to understand what is happening as the project progresses
in order to keep it on track, that is to say, to achieve
efficient and effective performance of an operation. Its
focus is on the activity and output levels of the project.

MOV

Means and Sources of Verification. They serve as a

guidance to help to find the information necessary to
complete the indicators.

Multiplier effect

Direct or indirect consequences of an action, whereby a

change or changes which has (have) been the result of the
implementation of that action can act to promote changes
elsewhere (outside the context of the action) and in turn act
on the original action itself.

NGO

Non-Governmental Organisation.

Objective tree

A diagrammatic representation of the situation in the future

once problems have been remedied, following a problem
analysis, and showing a means to ends relationship.

OCT

Overseas Countries and Territories: there are 21 OCTs

related to the EU and they depend constitutionally on 4 of
its Member States: Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and
the United Kingdom; OCT nationals are EU citizens.

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Outcomes

The results the project is expected to achieve at the overall

and purpose level objectives.

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Outputs

The products and services which are directly produced and

delivered by the project. In the context of the Logical
Framework, these are the tangible results (directly
achievable and observable) of applying inputs to and
undertaking activities in the project.

Overall objective

The higher-level objective to which the project is expected

to contribute.

OVI

Objectively Verifiable Indicators of achievement. They

define the performance standard and specify the evidence
which will tell you if an expected result, objective or activity
is reached or implemented.

Own contribution

The part of the total eligible costs funded from the

Applicant's or partners' own resources, or from sources
other than the budget of the EDF or EC general budget.

PADOR

Potential Applicants Data On-line Registration. Internet

address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/onlineservices/pador

Partner

The institution other than the Applicant that is a

member of the partnership.

Partnership

The grouping of institutions, that is to say, the Applicant

and, if applicable, its partners, constituted for the purpose
of submitting an application and, if successful, for
implementing the Action. To be eligible, the institutions
must belong to one of the following categories:
(a) ACP national or regional S&T organisations, research
institutions, universities, ministries or public institutions
dealing with research policies, ACP national research
networks, relevant civil society or private sector actors
or similar EU actors partnering with ACP counterparts.
(b) Regional S&T institutions, with separate legal status,
not belonging to any national system but formally
recognised by one of the eligible countries.
(c) Established ACP S&T networks provided that: all its
members and headquarters are located in eligible
countries; they have a legal status; they are applying in
its own right; and they have been registered for a
minimum of 2 years.
(d) Regional or inter-State bodies to which one or more
ACP States belong, including bodies with non-ACP
State members, which are authorised by those ACP
States.
Under this Call for Proposals, a partnership involves at
least 3 organisations from at least 2 different ACP Member
States. NB: Established ACP S&T networks and regional
ACP inter-state bodies are considered partnerships in
themselves and are not obliged to form alliances with
others. Networks, however, have to be multinational. The
number of non-ACP partners in a partnership cannot be
greater than the number of ACP partners.

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PCM

Project Cycle Management. It is a methodology for

planning, implementation and evaluation of projects and
programmes based on the Logical Framework Approach,
focusing especially on the beneficiaries.

pdf

Portable Document Format. It is a document-encoding

process (software) developed by Adobe that maintains
page lay-out, fonts, and graphics and can include many
other features such as hyperlinks.

per diem

An established daily allowance rate in case of missions

which require an overnight stay away from the base of
operations. Per diems cover accommodation, meals, local
travel within the place of mission and sundry expenses.
The Internet address stipulating the per diem rates by
country of destination, which are applicable for the ACP
Science and technology Programme, is:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementa
tion/per_diems/index_en.htm

PMU

Programme Management Unit.

Practical Guide to Contract

procedures for EC
external actions

The working tool which explains the contracting procedures

applying to all EC external aid contracts financed from the
European Communities general budget (Budget) and the
European Development Fund (EDF). Since it incorporates
the relevant provisions of the legal texts respectively ruling
the Budget and the EDF, the purpose of this instrument is
to provide all users, in an encompassing manner, with all
the information necessary to undertake procurement or a
grant procedure from the very first steps to the award of
contracts, including the contracting procedures. Internet
address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementa
tion/practical_guide/documents/new_prag_final_en.pdf

pre-selection

The interim results of the application evaluation process

conducted by the Evaluation Committee whereby the
proposals submitted under this Call for Proposals have
positively passed the Concept Note evaluation step.

Private sector actors

National and international organizations and entities that

are not part of any governmental structure. It includes forprofit (SMEs, industry, etc.) and not-for-profit organizations
private sector associations, chambers of commerce,
NGOs, etc.), and can have a formal or informal structure.

Problem tree

A diagrammatic representation of a negative situation,

showing a cause-effect relationship.

Profit and loss account

The financial statement that shows the revenue,

expenditure and the profit and/or loss of an organisation.

Project purpose

The specific objective(s) of the project.

Provisional selection

The interim results of the application evaluation process

conducted by the Evaluation Committee whereby the
proposals submitted under this Call for Proposals have

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79

positively passed the Full Application Form evaluation

step.
Region

In the context of the ACP Science and Technology

Programme, this is referred to as one of the 6 regions in
the ACP area (see Chapter 2 of this Manual).

Resources

The means needed to implement projects and procedures,

such as people, equipment, services, supplies, facilities,
finances and time.

S&T

Science and technology.

Selection criteria

The evaluation criteria applied in the Full Application

Form evaluation step under this Call for Proposals that
help assess the Applicants' financial and operational
capacity to ensure that they have:

stable and sufficient sources of finance to maintain their

activity throughout the period during which the Action is
being carried out and, where appropriate, to participate
in its funding;
the management capacity, professional competencies
and qualifications required to successfully complete the
proposed Action. This also applies to any partners of
the Applicant.

SME

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

Special Conditions

The special conditions laid down by the Contracting

Authority as an integral part of the Call for Proposals
dossier, including amendments to the General Conditions
and clauses specific to the contract. It forms an integral
part of the set of contractual documents. Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementa
tion/grants/documents/e3_h_1_speccond_en.doc

Specific objective

The anticipated effect a project will achieve by delivering

the planned results.

Stakeholder

Any person, group or organisation that is interested in,

affected by or involved in the proposed Action.

Standard Contribution
Agreement

The grant contract between the Contracting Authority and

the Beneficiary in case the Beneficiary is an international
organisation, with the exception if it concerns an
organisation with which the EC has concluded a specific
framework agreement. It is drawn up by EuropeAid Cooperation Office on the basis of the standard grant contract
for external aid.

Start-to-start

A model used in project management whereby a particular

activity must start before another activity can start. This
relationship is based on the activity start times. The end
times of each activity are not related and, in fact, one
activity could end at a much later time than the other.

Start-to-finish

A model used in project management which emphasizes to

be certain to keep a logical flow to the project(s), ensuring
that the successor activity does not begin until after the

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80

predecessor activity is completed. This is the most logical

path to follow when planning a project.
Statutes

Legal act of establishment or Court registration that

regulates the activities of the organisation and the functions
of its management bodies in conformity with other details
provided in the law. Organisations are formally governed
by their statutes.

Subcontractors

The organisation (public entity or private company) that will

execute some necessary limited parts of the Action which
the beneficiaries of the grant cannot execute themselves,
e.g., the supply of products, execution of works, or
provision of services. They are neither partners nor
associates, and are subject to the General Conditions and
the Procurement Rules set out in the Annexes II and IV to
the standard Grant Contract (see Annex F of the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants).

Successful Applicant

The Applicant selected at the end of a Call for Proposals

procedure for the award of a contract.

Sustainability

The ability to continue any given activity into the future

within the likely existing resources of an organisation or
project, as part of its ongoing budgetary and management
processes.

Target groups -orDirect beneficiaries

The groups or entities that will be directly positively

affected by the project at the project purpose level.

UN

United Nations.

Unit

A standard measure of a quantity, e.g., day, month, flight,

meeting, item, etc.

Unit rate (in EUR)

The figure describing how many euros correspond to one

unit of expenses (cost per item).

VAT

Value Added Tax.

WTO

World Trade Organization.

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81

12.2: Call Profiles

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

CALL PROFILES
Livestock CGS Research Call for 2006 (Livestock/ 01)

Result Area 1: Institutional capacity for cost-effective surveillance and

innovative methods of pests disease control in livestock and
forage crops developed and promoted.
Background
Disease remains the topmost concern of the stakeholders because of its effects in productivity and
access to lucrative markets for livestock and livestock products. To the producers, the priority
diseases are ticks and tick-borne diseases in cattle-based enterprises; worms in cattle, goats and
pigs; New Castle Diseases in chickens; and African swine fiver in pigs. The strategy document of the
Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries puts considerable emphasis on notable
diseases: Foot and Mouth Diseases; Contagious Bovine and Caprine Pleuropneumonia in the context
of creating disease-free zone to win credibility of the regional, and international markets. Resurgence
of tsetse and the attendant trypanosomosis has provoked political overtures that MAAIF needs to
contain. There is urgent need to establish the geographical spread and ascertain risk levels to the
livestock and human population. There are a number of technologies that have been proven to contain
the pests and diseases. The persistence of the problems among resource poor households is
indicative of incompetence in the existing innovation system to create, managed and utilized
knowledge and technologies.
New Castle Disease remains the major challenge in free range poultry production. Community-based
vaccination programs has been successful in delivering thermo-labile vaccines, to offset losses and
increase offtakes in rural flocks. Thermostable vaccines have been evaluated and proven to be
economically viable and socially acceptable. The challenge is to develop the national capacity to
produce and distribute the vaccines to farmers at affordable prices.
For more than 2 decades, Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureus) has been the feed base for
smallholder dairy production in Uganda. The fodder base is threatened by Napier Stunt Disease.
Research and development assignment for call
This call: Institutional capacity for cost-effective surveillance and innovative methods of pests
disease control in livestock and forage crops developed and promoted, will focus on ticks and
tick-borne diseases, worms, tsetse notifiable diseases, viral diseases in pigs and poultry, and NSD IN
Napier grass. It is expected to provide innovative tools, methods and approaches, policies and
institutions that will enhance access of resource-poor households to improved technologies for
controlling the key pests and diseases and to improve the competitiveness of the poor farmers in the
livestock market. In the case of notifiable diseases, policy incentives and diagnostic tools that enhance
community participation in disease surveillance and compliance to veterinary regulations is a notable
area of interest. The underlying hypothesis is that: Limited participation of the consumers, producers,
the private sector, and scientists is a disincentive to adoption and utilization of disease control
methods in livestock production.
Research design
CN should therefore be indicative of an integrated agricultural research approach that brings together
all relevant stakeholders in the technology development and dissemination processes. Generically, the
stakeholders are expected to include scientific, policy, and private sector institutions, farmers and
1

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

advisory service organizations. Where desirable, the CN should show the need and capacity to
perform cutting edge science for new knowledge as public or private goods or services. There must be
of indication of well-articulated environmental and social implications including specific gender
concerns; and estimates of levels of adoption, expect impact and methods of monitoring and
evaluation. A brief logical framework must be included.
Budget requirements
The CN should present a realistic indication of at most a 3-year financial scope of the work. Please
note that:
1. The total cost of the project should not exceed US $ 30,000 for three years
2. The scheme covers only direct costs including professional fees for quantified professional
time. Stipends for students, per diems, and supervision fees are not included
3. The scheme does not cover salaries, wages and allowances such as medical cover, housing
4. Grantee institutions are eligible to overhead allowance not exceeding 15% of the total budget
for field or laboratory based research.
Other issues related to the call
1. Documentary evidence of willingness of stakeholders institutions to participate in the project
duly expressed on letterheads and endorsed by the head of the institution.
2. Electronic version should reach the Office of Director for Research by 5:00 pm of 21st April,
2006
3. Adhere to the format for the CGS in the number of words/pages
4. For a consortium that involves foreign institutions, the Lead Investigator must be a Ugandan
from registered institution
5. NARO is not liable to sub-contractual obligations undertaken by the grantee of the call.

Result area 2: Innovations for rational land and water resource use in food and feed production
in intensive, semi-intensive and rangeland production systems developed
and promoted:
Background
High population growth in Uganda has exacerbated the urge to produce more food using high yielding,
nutrient demanding crop varieties and livestock breeds on highly fragmented and rapidly declining per
capita land holdings. Population pressure has also compelled farmers to encroach on marginal lands
including steep slopes, forest ecosystems and wetlands. Over the years, these factors have
contributed to progressive degradation of the biophysical environment, notable among which is a
legacy of unabated soil fertility declines, increased vegetation and biodiversity losses, and the
development of favourable climatic conditions for spread of previously unfamiliar diseases to the
region, notably malaria. Intensive cultivation has led to precipitous soil fertility declines, and low
agricultural productivity is a primary cause of periodic food insecurity and acceptably high levels of
poverty in the country because farmers can neither produce enough food to store for the lean months
of the year nor realize sufficient surplus for sale and income generation.
Seasonal feed and water shortages are persistent features in the rangeland production systems.
During the LSRP phase fodder bank technologies and feed conservation technologies were tested
and disseminated, but the adoption was lower than expected due to limitations on land and drudgery
in hay and silage making. In the pastoral areas an early warning system was developed as an internet
based advisory for pastoralists in the western and central rangeland of Uganda. The application has
neither been institutionalized in the National Early Warning System nor integrated into the ongoing

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

rangeland monitoring and inventorying process. Cymbopogon nardus is one of the undesirable plant
species that pastoralists identified as major constraint to forage supply especially in the dry season.
The importance of the weed as an aggressively invasive species, its potential as a threat to
biodiversity, and impact on livestock productivity has been established. However scientists know too
little about the biology of the weed and sustainable options to contain it below economically injurious
levels. The problem of the weed is compound by high stock densities, and attitudes that dissuade
individuals and communities to invest in appropriate land and water resources management.
Development of a rangeland policy is in progress. The process should be nurtured by robust
knowledge derived from platforms and debates that involves and informs all stakeholders.
Research and development assignment to the call
This call targets CNs that will lead to the development of decision support tools for delivering
customized advisories to farmers on enterprise selection on smallholdings in intensive, semi-intensive,
and rangeland production systems. It includes development of new tools and institutionalization of the
applications of proven models. Noting the complexities in the rangeland ecosystems, and new of multistakeholder participation, harness competencies from relevant stakeholders in addressing the
technological, economic, policy and social factors. The thrust should be on: management of the
rangeland weeds; attitudinal change in land and water resource management and; systems integration
options that links rangelands to the market. The generic hypothesis is that: Smallholder croplivestock
farmers, and pastoral communities can derive economic benefits from decision support tools and
systems integration linked to urban markets.
Research design features
IAR4D is adopted as the operating paradigm in the call. The CNs must indicate relevant
multidisciplinary inputs, with strong indications of the envisaged interactions between natural
environment and human interventions including policies and the market.
Budget requirements
The CN should present a realistic indication of at most a 3-year financial scope of the work. Please
note that:
1. The total cost of the project should not exceed US $ 30,000 for three years
2. The scheme covers only direct costs including professional fees for quantified professional
time. Stipends for students, per diems, and supervision fees are not included
3. The scheme does not cover salaries, wages and allowances such as medical cover, housing
4. Grantee Institutions are eligible to overhead allowance not exceeding 15% of the total budget
for field or laboratory based research.
Other issues related to the call
1. Documentary evidence of willingness of stakeholders institutions to participate in the project
duly expressed on letterheads and endorsed by the head of the institution.
2. Electronic version should reach the Office of Director for Research by 5:00 pm of 21st April,
2006
3. Adhere to the format for the CGS in the number of words/pages
4. For a consortium that involves foreign institutions, the Lead Investigator must be a Ugandan
from registered institution
5. NARO is not liable to sub-contractual obligations undertaken by the grantee of the call.

Result Area 3: Utilization of plant and animal biodiversity for food production
and income generation enhanced

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

Needs assessment strongly indicated that improved breeds of goats; chicken and pigs are on high
demand by farmers. The Boer goat craze has provoked concerns among the scientific community that
indiscriminate breeding was an imminent threat of erosion of genetic merits of the indigenous goat
population. In any case, such introductions appeared to have been guided by intuitive impulses and
uninformed policies rather than credible economic analysis and information about the target markets.
Livestock Development Strategy (2005/062007/08) has identified a number of genetic resources that
can be tapped for goat improvement. The gap is a market focused breeding program with defined
breed standards to guide the selection process and develop management packages for producing
desirable marketable products. Effort to improve genetic potential in the free range poultry using the
SAARI cockerel program has indicated that growth rate, egg number, size and clutch size can be
doubled using F1 upgrade cocks in the breeding program. However, there are indications that the
response of the improved chicken to endemic disease challenges is likely to tilt preference in favour of
indigenous chickens. Review of the Farmers experiences indicated that the stock of cattle in Uganda
produce below the breed standards for dairy cattle elsewhere and there is need to recharge the gene
pool through importation of pedigree semen, embryos and live animals. But the current ban on
importation of cattle has impeded utilization of these options. Nevertheless there are indications that
high performing dairy cattle exist within the national herd. A comprehensive strategy to optimize their
utilization has not been adequately explored. Compared to other livestock, pigs are new animals in
Uganda having been introduced less than five decades ago. There are indications that performance of
the national herd is affected by inbreeding depression and a relatively closed population. These
contention needs to be validated and strategies for broadening the gene pool established.
Intensive dairy production which has been a major toolkit in the household poverty reduction schemes
and emancipation of women is reliant on Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureus). However, Napier
Stunt Disease is an emerging threat to the feed base that needs to be contained before it attains crisis
levels. Season fluctuations in forage supply especially in the rangelands calls for innovative strategies
for improving pasture productivity and efficiency of utilization in the rangelands and arid agropastoral
systems.
Research and development assignment to the call
The CN is expected to show market focused livestock breeding programs with defined breed
standards to guide the selection process and develop management packages for producing desirable
marketable products. Elements should strategize for developing institutional capacities for enhancing
the exploitation of existing animal population, and strategic imports to broaden the gene pool.
Innovative approaches for including disease resistance in the breeding programs will be of
comparative advantage as a public or private good.
Research design features
IAR4D is adopted as the operating paradigm in the call. The CN must indicate relevant
multidisciplinary inputs, with strong indications of the envisaged interactions among the public, private
and farmers organizations. Ways to creating incentives among farmers to participate in National Herd
Recording schemes is of strategic importance. Similarly innovative methods of dissemination
information for the National Herd Registry will be an important feature.
Budget requirements
The CN should present a realistic indication of at most a 3-year financial scope of the work. Please
note that:
1. The total cost of the project should not exceed US $ 30,000 for three years
2. The scheme covers only direct costs including professional fees for quantified professional
time. Stipends for students, per diems, and supervision fees are not included

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

3. The scheme does not cover salaries, wages and allowances such as medical cover, housing
4. Grantee Institutions are eligible to overhead allowance not exceeding 15% of the total budget
for field or laboratory based research.
Other issues related to the call
1. Documentary evidence of willingness of stakeholders institutions to participate in the project
duly expressed on letterheads and endorsed by the head of the institution.
2. Electronic version should reach the Office of Director for Research by 5:00 pm of 21st April,
2006
3. Adhere to the format for the CGS in the number of words/pages
4. For a consortium that involves foreign institutions, the lead investigator must be a Ugandan
from registered institution
5. NARO is not liable to sub-contractual obligations undertaken by the grantee of the call.

12.3: DM2009 Competition Guidelines

DM2009 COMPETITION GUIDELINES

I. OVERVIEW
I.a. Introduction
Development Marketplace (DM) is a competitive grant program administered by the World Bank and supported by the
Global Environment Facility (GEF) and additional DM partners that identifies and funds innovative, early-stage projects
with high potential for development impact. Since its inception in 1998, DM has awarded roughly US$54million to more
than 1,000 projects through global, regional and country-level Marketplaces. Using DM funding as a launching pad,
many projects go on to scale up or replicate elsewhere, winning prestigious awards for social entrepreneurship.
I.b. DM2009: Innovations for Climate Adaptation
There is now a strong consensus that climate change presents an urgent challenge to the well-being of all countries,
particularly the poorest people in them. Even if efforts to reduce greenhouses gas (GHG) emissions are successful, it is
no longer possible to avoid some degree of global warming and climate change. The primary direct effects of climate
change are an increase of droughts and floods, more seasonal peaks in river flow, and a higher probability of stronger
tropical storms. The poorest countries and communities are likely to suffer the most because of their geographical
location, low incomes, and low institutional capacity, as well as their greater reliance on climate-sensitive sectors like
agriculture. Adaptation to climate risks and change therefore is increasingly important in developing countries; this is
understood as efforts to adjust to ongoing and potential effects of climate change. Building up resilience to increasing
climate variability is the most significant climate challenge facing these countries. Countries will need to factor climate
risks into their developing planning, and consider the range of interventions that will increase their resilience to climate
change. This call for proposals aims to identify the most innovative means to address this challenge.
II.ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
II.a. Sub-themes
Each project idea submitted to the competition must focus on one of the three following sub-themes described below.
Although a project idea may be relevant to more than one sub-theme, it can only be submitted through one sub-theme.
A project idea that is submitted by an applicant through more than one sub-theme window will be ineligible.
Sub-theme 1: Resilience of Indigenous Peoples Communities to Climate Risks
There are approximately 250 million Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Indigenous Peoples are distinct in that the land on
which they live, and the natural resources on which they depend, form part and parcel of their identity and culture.
Ancestral territories of Indigenous Peoples encompass up to 22% of the worlds land surface and coincide with regions
containing the worlds remaining forests and rich reserves of biodiversity and other natural resources.
Climate change poses differential and heightened threats to the survival of Indigenous Peoples communities.
Indigenous Peoples, particularly those living in deserts, high altitudes, tropical forests, islands and coastal regions, and
the arctic already experience adverse impacts of climate change. At the same time, because of their close traditional
relationship with the environment, Indigenous Peoples are uniquely positioned to adapt to climate change. Indigenous
Peoples rich traditional knowledge on the environment, agriculture, land management, cultural practices, and trade and
customary law can provide a basis for innovations needed to adapt to climate change. However, this knowledge
possessed by their elders is itself under serious threat of being forgotten to the detriment of future generations.
This sub-theme of the DM2009 promotes Indigenous Peoples communities and organizations development of
innovative ways to adapt to climate change. With particular interest on efforts that focus on the engagement of women
and youth, we seek proposals that:

Identify and conserve agriculture, land, water and soil management practices that are based on traditional
Indigenous knowledge and that help increase the resilience of Indigenous Peoples communities to climate threats;

Develop and apply innovative adaptation plans and communication strategies based on Indigenous systems that
would help accelerate learning and knowledge sharing on climate change adaptation.

Sub-theme 2: Climate Risk Management with Multiple Benefits

Poor communities have the weakest capacity to manage climate risks. They already struggle to cope with climate
variability and extreme weather. These shocks interact with socio-economic factors to worsen the vulnerability and
inequality of disadvantaged groups such as women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. As the future
brings more dramatic climates, their vulnerability is set to increase unless adaptation is stepped up.
Communities need to build resilience to climate variability and climate change. At the same time as robust adaptation
helps safeguard progress in reducing poverty, it may also yield other benefits such as conserving biodiversity and
improving the state of eco-systems.
This sub-theme of the DM2009 promotes innovative community-based climate risk management with multiple social
and environmental benefits for the vulnerable. Specifically, we seek proposals that deliver multiple social and
environmental benefits and empower poor communities exposed to climate risk to:

Test innovative, low-cost strategies to spread climate risk beyond the local level (e.g. trade and value-chain
improvements; micro-finance), with a preference for strategies that target vulnerable groups such as women,
children, the elderly;

Forge innovative partnerships that build adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities, including increased
access to climate risk management knowledge, information, and services;

Use innovative means to help educate communities on climate risks that leads to empowerment for action.

Sub-theme 3: Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management

Climate change is projected to worsen the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Already, disasters kill
tens of thousands of people every year and destroy the livelihoods of millions. Disasters destroy decades of
development gains in a few moments and the costs of relief, recovery, and reconstruction consume billions of dollars
from regular development funds and household savings.
Disasters push households towards poverty by destroying their human, social, and fixed capital and trap poorer
households in persistent poverty. Moreover, disasters disproportionately impact disadvantaged groups such as women,
children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Sustained long-term efforts are needed to integrate climate
adaptation and disaster risk management to reduce vulnerability and safeguard development in urban and rural areas.
This sub-theme of the DM2009 promotes innovative ideas linking climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
Specifically, we seek proposals that:

Develop innovative arrangements, such as social safety nets or micro-insurance, that diffuse climate-related
disaster risks faced by the poor and vulnerable beyond the local level with a preference for proposals that
target vulnerable women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and communities in conflict-prone
areas;

Create innovative low-cost approaches for making housing and local infrastructure resistant to climate-related
disasters and for spatial planning (land use, housing, coastal zone management) for climate resilience;

Improve the capacity of local communities to access and use multi-hazard risk information to enhance their
early warning systems for droughts, floods and cyclones and other community-based responses to climatic
extremes and climate change.

II.b. On-the-ground results

The proposal must target a group of beneficiaries that would be impacted directly by the project. While applied field
research is eligible, proposals with the primary output of academic / published research or knowledge dissemination
through publications or conferences are not eligible for DM grants.

II.c. Organization type:

Organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), other civil society organizations (e.g. community
associations, faith-based groups, labor unions, etc.), private foundations, development agencies, government agencies,
academia and the private sector are eligible to apply, subject to the criteria below. The eligible organization applying
must be legally registered in a member country of the World Bank, have an established bank account in its name, and
be able to receive international financial contribution (in US dollars). The universe of country-based options is
imbedded in the short-proposal form.
Organizations that are active in World Bank supported programs and past DM winners (from global, region, or countrylevel competitions) can apply if their proposal is substantially different from the one that has already received World
Bank / DM funding.
Individuals, including World Bank consultants and other World Bank employees are not eligible.
Organization type criteria:
i) For sub-theme 1, applicants must be from Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities, IP not-for profit and nongovernmental organizations, and IP research centers or universities located in the country where the project will be
implemented. Because the World Bank can only enter into a Grant Agreement with a legally registered entity, an IP
community or IP group that does not have legal representation but would like to apply may designate a nongovernment organization or other civil society organization, a private foundation or a development agency that is legally
registered in the country of implementation to apply on its behalf. In such cases, the relationship between the IP
community or group and the applicant entity must be made explicit in writing in the Implementation Capacity of the
Organization(s) question of the short form application. Please note that in the case that the proposal is selected to
receive a grant, the designated applicant will enter into a Grant Agreement with the World Bank on behalf of the IP
community or IP group. Also, consistent with the World Bank Policy on Indigenous Peoples OP 4.10, prior to signing
the Grant Agreement, the designated applicant will be requested by the World Bank to submit a letter from the IP
community or IP group that is signed by their leader/s and/or representatives, that delegates the applicant organization
to apply on the IP community or groups behalf and that states the broad support of the IP community or group. The
address and contact information of the representative(s) of the IP community or group benefiting from the project must
be indicated.
All IP eligible applicants, including those that have been designated by an IP community or group, can (but are not
required to) apply in partnership with another entity from inside or outside the country of implementation, including
NGOs and other civil society organizations, private foundations, development agencies, government agencies,
academic institutions, and private businesses.
ii) For sub-themes 2 and 3, applicants for DM2009 are welcomed from the following organizations - NGOs, other civil
society organizations, private foundations, development agencies, government agencies, academia and the private
sector. However, some types of these organizations are required to have a partner. Specifically:
For the sub-themes (2) Climate risk management with multiple local benefits and (3) Disaster Risk Management:
NGOs, other civil society organizations / groups, private foundations or development agencies that are based in the
country of implementation may apply without a partner. All other groups must apply in partnership with at least one
organization, subject to the conditions below:
At least one of the parties involved in the proposal must be based in the country of implementation.
Both parties cannot be private businesses.
Both parties cannot be academic institutions.
Both parties cannot be local, national or regional government institutions.
II.d. Implementation time frame
Proposed activities must be completed within two years of receiving the initial disbursement from Development
Marketplace.
II.e. Award size
Requests for DM funding must not be greater than US$200,000 or less than US$50,000.
II.f. Language
Consistent with past World Bank small grant programs for Indigenous Peoples, proposals for Sub-theme 1 may be
submitted in English, Spanish or French. For Sub-themes 2 and 3, proposals must be submitted in English.

Irrespective of sub-theme, all finalists of the DM2009 competition will be offered translation services on an as needed
basis to comply with the DM requirement that all full proposals are submitted in English to the jury panel that selects the
winning proposals.
III. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Proposals will be assessed according to the following criteria:
III.a. Innovation
Innovation is a major differentiating element of DM competitions compared to other development grant programs. All
proposals selected for funding should go beyond standard climate change adaption development projects. The
proposal will be assessed according to how it differs from existing approaches. Note that transferring an approach to
solve a common problem from one beneficiary group or from one geographic area to another is not considered
innovative by the DM Program. Please see the Annex for details.
III.b. Objective & Measuring Results
The project should have clear and measurable results that will have a direct impact on improving individuals or
communities ability to adapt to climate change. The expected results / outcome of the proposed project should be
achievable within the timeframe of implementation of the DM funding. Assessors will also examine the quality of
proposed indicators of the outcomes/results you expect to achieve and review any other method(s) that you propose to
use to measure project success.
III.c. Project Design & Organizational Capacity
The project should have a realistic plan with concrete steps/activities to achieve the project objective within the two-year
or less span of implementation. The organizations, and if applicable, its partners capacity to implement the project will
be assessed.
III.d. Sustainability of Impact
Assessors will assess the characteristics of the project that, if successful, will help ensure that its results and
development impacts are sustainable after DM funding. Depending on the project design, the characteristics could
involve financial and/or organizational sustainability.
For organizational sustainability, proposals should describe the factors related to your organizations capacity and the
capacity of your partner organization to sustain the results of the project.
For financial sustainability, the strategy to become self-perpetuating will differ depending on the type of project.

For revenue-generating projects, a realistic timeframe and pathway to reach the point of revenue breakeven
should be included. If possible, project the long term expenses and revenue/income stream (noting any market
assumptions for sources such as user fees, sales revenues, community contributions, etc.). If breakeven is not
expected by the end of DM support, the strategy for external donor or investor support between the end of the DM
project and the breakeven point should be stated.
For projects that are not generating any income or revenue, the proposal should provide a realistic strategy for

sustaining the projects results after completion of DM support from sources such as other donors, private
foundations, and government agencies, etc.
III.e. Growth Potential
DM places a premium on projects that have the potential to have a large scale development impact. Assessors will
explore possible constraints as well as the opportunities to scaling up / replicating.
Note:
Replicability is when a project can be adopted by other groups. For example, a new method for organizing work flow
and quality control to increase production of bamboo-based home decorations tested by a DM project is then
transferred / learned by a rural artisan cooperative of Vietnamese women, and as a result they increase production from
1,000 pieces to 10,000 pieces per month, enabling them to get a major EU retailer to become a customer of the
cooperative.
Scalability is when a project can be expanded within a geographic area to benefit more people in the project area. For

example, an innovative approach to use specific types of grasses to stabilize freshwater embankments that has been
successfully tested on a few hectares of embankments is then rolled out on a massive scale along creeks in fragile,
high rainfall areas on the Eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains.
IV. Selection Process
Once the call of proposals is closed, the following process is used to select the winners:
1. All submitted proposals are screened by the DM Program and World Bank sector specialists to ensure proposals are
eligible.
2. Eligible proposals are assessed by experts in each sub-theme on how innovative the project idea is. The most
innovative subset of proposals is then assessed by experts using all five assessment criteria. At least three sector
specialists read each proposal. In aggregate, at least half of the assessors are experts from outside the World Bank.
3. The 100 top ranked proposals will be identified as finalists, subject to the condition that at least the 20 top ranked
proposals from each of the three sub-themes will become finalists. (This condition is in place to ensure all three subthemes are adequately represented at the Marketplace).
4. The 100 finalists will be invited to submit a more detailed full proposal in English and to attend the Marketplace
Event at World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC. There, an independent jury comprised of senior World Bank
staff and leading individuals in development outside the World Bank (from academia, civil society, foundations,
government, other donor institutions and the private sector) will select 20-25 winners based on the five selection criteria
and a review by the World Bank to ensure consistency with applicable World Bank policies, procedures and practices
and aligned with the World Bank's mission.
To take advantage of the presence of a variety of development actors together in one place, DM also will convene a set
of Knowledge Exchange sessions at the event to share ideas and engage finalists with other representatives of the
development community. The World Bank will cover the cost for one representative from each finalist team to attend
the event.
V. COMPETITION TIMELINE AND KEY STEPS
May 18, 2009: Call for proposals closes at 6 p.m. EST (22:00 GMT)
July 30, 2009: Announcement of finalists
September 15, 2009: Deadline for finalists to submit their full proposal (tentative date)
November 3-5, 2009: Global Development Marketplace & Knowledge Exchange, Washington, D.C.
VI. HOW TO APPLY
1. PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT MARKETPLACE WEBSITE. For
instructions on how to apply, please visit our website at www.developmentmarketplace.org and posted step-bystep instructions for filling out the online proposal form.
2. The online form allows applicants to save a draft of their proposal in the system while they work on it. Note that
only submitted applications will be considered for the competition and that any proposal in draft form will be
automatically deleted after the submission deadline. To be considered for this competition, please make sure
that you click the Submit button on your application by 6:00 p.m. EST (22:00 GMT) on May 18, 2009.
3. The Development Marketplace Team must receive your completed proposal by 6:00 p.m. EST (Washington,
D.C. time) or 22:00 GMT on May 18, 2009.
4. If you are unable to access the internet or our website, please contact the DM team at +1 (202) 676-0959 by
fax or send an e-mail to: DMinfo@worldbank.org.

ANNEX:
DEFINING INNOVATION
Innovation is a major criterion for the Development Marketplace. All proposals selected for funding will be innovative
beyond traditional development projects. For illustrative purposes only, here are some examples of possible types of
innovation.
New technologies

New technologies and communication tools to translate weather and climate information for local use

New technology, standards, and practices that are resilient to changing climates and climate related disasters,
for low-cost housing and local infrastructure

New products or services using existing technology

Rapid participatory testing of new varieties of crops and practices for new climates

New community-based approaches to deliver safety nets and micro-insurance for managing climate risk

A portable package to help integrate a climate risk mapping system that combines multiple sources of
information (scientific, participatory, customary knowledge) and tools (satellite maps, participatory 3-D
mapping, sketch mapping, clay models)

New means to equip urban planners with knowledge and tools to adopt standards of climate resilient housing
and local infrastructure

New agriculture products and practices that conserve water and are resilient to low and unpredictable rainfall

New processes, including new mechanisms to deliver products or services

New processes that enable rapid exchange of adaptation knowledge among indigenous groups

New types of incentives to spur adoption of practices that better manage the risks from new climates

New approaches including those that draw from multiple sources of knowledge (scientists, practitioners) to
identify and target communities and households vulnerable to climate risks

New type of partnership to share and act upon land, water, and soil management knowledge

New type of partnership to help farmers access markets, products, and services for climate risk management
(for example, setting up farmers groups that promote resilient and water conserving crops or to market those
crops)

Novel micro-finance scheme geared toward managing climate risks or improving the value chain

12.4: ACP Science and Technology Programme Grant Application Form

African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

(ACP Secretariat)

ACP Science and Technology Program 1

Grant Application Form
Open Call for Proposals 2008

9th European Development Fund (Lot 1)

and
Budget Line 21.03700 (Lot 2)
Reference: EuropeAid/127860/D/ACT/ACP
Deadline for submission of applications: 27 February 2009
Name of applicant:
Title of the action:
Lot:
Location(s) of the
action:
Total eligible cost of
the action (A)
(EUR)

<specify country(ies), region(s), area(s) or town(s) that will

benefit from the action>

Amount requested (B)

(EUR)

% of total eligible cost of

the Action (B/A x 100)
(%)

Total duration of the

action: (months)
Dossier No
(for official use only)
1

(formerly called Program for Science and Technology Innovations and Capacity Building PSTICB).

ACP Science and Technology Program

Grant Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

Contact details for the purpose of this action:

Postal address:

Telephone number: Country

code + city code + number
Fax number: Country code +
city code + number
Contact person for this
action:
Contact persons e-mail
address:

Any change in the addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and in particular e-mail, must be
notified in writing to info@acp-st.eu. The ACP Secretariat will not be held responsible in case it
cannot contact an applicant.

NOTICE
Please read and complete this grant application form with all due care in accordance with the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants.
Please note that the evaluation of your full application form (Part B) will only be performed if your
concept note (Part A) has been pre-selected. Hereafter, the eligibility conformity check will only be
performed for those proposals that have been provisionally selected according to the score obtained
after the complete evaluation on the basis of (a) the supporting documents requested by the ACP
Secretariat and (b) the Declaration by the Applicant (Section VI) signed and sent together with the
application .

PART A. CONCEPT NOTE

I. GUIDANCE FOR THE DRAFTING OF THE CONCEPT NOTE
There is no specific template for the concept note, but the applicant has to ensure that the text of his
concept note:

does not exceed 4 full pages (A4 or letter size) of Arial 10 characters with 2 cm margins;
responds, in the same sequence, to the headings listed below and in the full application form
(Part B). It is expected that the size of each section will reflect the relative importance of each
heading (ref. max. scores in the evaluation grid Section VII and in the guidelines for grant
applicants). The applicant may provide any additional information that he may deem useful

ACP Science and Technology Program

Grant Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

for the evaluation, but which might not have been specifically requested (e.g., added value
and/or synergy with other similar interventions past, present, or planned past activities,
multiplier or spill-over effects, why the Applicant is the best placed for the implementation of
the Action, etc). The evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the evaluation grid and
it will be based solely on the information provided by the applicant in the concept note;
is drafted as clearly as possible to facilitate its assessment; and

is described according to the following paragraphs:

1. Title of the action

2. Relevance of the action

Provide a general presentation and analysis of the problems and their interrelation at all levels.
Identify clearly specific problems to be addressed by the Action.
Include a brief description of the target groups and final beneficiaries.
Demonstrate the relevance of the proposal to the needs and constraints in general of the target
country(ies) or region(s) and to the target groups/final beneficiary groups in particular.
Demonstrate the relevance of the proposal to the priorities and requirements presented in the
Guidelines for Grant Applicants.

3. Description of the action and its effectiveness

Provide a description of the proposed action including, where relevant, background information
that led to the presentation of this proposal. This should include:

a description of the overall objective of the action, outputs and expected results;
a description of the proposed activities and their effectiveness;
involvement of implementing partners, their role and relationship to the Applicant, if
applicable, and the applicant's relationship with them;
other possible stakeholders (national, local government, private sector, etc.), their
anticipated role and/or potential attitudes towards the project.

4. Sustainability of the action

Provide an initial risk analysis and eventual contingency plans. This should include at minimum a
list of risks associated for each activity proposed accompanied by relevant mitigation measures. A
good risk analysis would include a range of risk types including physical, environmental,
political, economic and social risks.
Give the main preconditions and assumptions during and after the implementation phase.
Explain how sustainability will be secured after completion of the action. This can include aspects
of necessary follow-up activities, built-in strategies, ownership, etc., if any.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Grant Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

PART B. FULL APPLICATION FORM

I. THE ACTION
1.

DESCRIPTION

1.1. Title

1.2. Location(s)
Country(ies), region(s), town(s)

1.3. Cost of the action and amount requested from the ACP Secretariat
Total eligible cost of the action
(A)
[EUR]

Amount requested (B)

[EUR]

% of total eligible cost of the

action (B/Ax100)
%

Lot
NB: The % of total eligible cost of the action must not exceed 85%.
Please note that the cost of the action and the contribution requested have to be expressed in EURO

1.4. Summary (max. 1 page)

Total duration
action

of

the months

Objectives of the action

Overall objective(s)
Specific objective

Partner(s)
Sector

Target group(s)3
Final beneficiaries4
2
3
4

Where applicable, clearly indicate the sector specified in the call for proposals to which the proposed
Action would apply - See paragraph 2.2 in Section II for the list.
Target groups are the groups/entities who will be directly positively affected by the project at the project
purpose level (i.e., the Specific Objective level) See paragraph 2.3 in Section II for the list.
Final beneficiaries are those who will benefit from the project in the long term at the level of the society
or sector at large. Please indicate as precisely as possible and estimate the number of beneficiaries to be
reached through this action.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Grant Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

Estimated results
Main activities

1.5. Objective(s) (max. 1 page)

Describe the overall objective(s) to which the action aims to contribute towards and the specific
objective that the action aims to achieve.

1.6. Relevance of the action (max. 3 pages)

Please provide the following information:

Provide a general and detailed presentation and analysis of the problems and their interrelation at
all levels.
Provide a detailed description of the target groups and final beneficiaries and estimated number.
Identify clearly the specific problems to be addressed by the action and the perceived needs and
constraints of the target groups.
Specify clearly which axis or combination of axes (mentioned in Section 1.2 of the guidelines for
grant applicants) the action is referring to.
Demonstrate the relevance of the action to the needs and constraints in general of the target
country(ies) or region(s) and to the target groups/final beneficiary groups in particular and how
the action will provide the desired solutions, in particular for the targeted beneficiaries and
population.
Demonstrate the relevance of the Action to the priorities and requirements presented in the
guidelines for grant applicants.

1.7. Description of the action and its effectiveness (max. 14 pages)

Provide a description of the proposed action including, where relevant, background information that
led to the formulation of the action. This should include:

Overall objective and the purpose of the action (max. 1 page). Provide and describe the overall
objective(s) to which the action aims to contribute towards as well as the purpose that the action
aims to achieve.
Outputs and expected results (max. 4 pages). Indicate how the action will improve the situation of
target groups/beneficiaries as well as the technical and management capacities of target groups
and/or any local partners where applicable. Be specific and quantify outputs as much as possible.
Indicate notably foreseen publications. Describe the possibilities for replication and extension of
the action outcomes (multiplier effects).
The proposed activities and their effectiveness (max. 9 pages). Identify and describe in detail each
activity to be undertaken to produce the results, justifying the choice of the activities and
specifying where applicable the role of each partner (or associates or subcontractors) in the
activities. In this respect, the detailed description of activities must not repeat the indicative action
plan which has to be presented in paragraph 1.9 below.

Indicate clearly the sequence of, and links between all different activities in an appropriate project
management form, identifying the critical path for implementing the action (start-to-finish, finish-tofinish, start-to-start, etc.)

ACP Science and Technology Program

Grant Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

1.8. Methodology (max. 4 pages)

Describe in detail:
the methods of implementation and reasons for the proposed methodology;
where the action is the prolongation of a previous action or project, and how the action is
intended to build on the results of this previous action or project;
where the action is part of a larger program, explain how it fits or is coordinated with this
program or any other eventual planned project. Please specify the potential synergies with other
initiatives, in particular from the EC;
the procedures for follow-up and internal/external evaluation;
the role and participation in the action of the various actors and stakeholders (local partner/-s,
target groups, local authorities, etc.), and the reasons for which these roles have been assigned to
them;
the organizational structure and team proposed for implementation of the action (by function:
there is no need to include the names of individuals);
the main means proposed for the implementation of the action (equipment, tools, etc.) and for
carrying out the proposed activities;
the involvement of implementing partners, their role and relationship to the applicant, if
applicable, and the applicant's relationship with them;
the attitudes of all stakeholders towards the action in general and the activities in particular;
any anticipated synergies with, or possible constraints due to other current or planned projects or
activities in the vicinity of the location of the action.

1.9. Duration and indicative action plan for implementing the action
The duration of the action will be <X> months.
The indicative action plan may not prejudge a specific start-up implementation date. To this end, it
may not make reference to specific dates or months, and therefore simply show month 1, month 2,
etc.
Applicants are recommended to base the estimated duration for each activity and total period on the
most probable duration and not on the shortest possible duration by taking into consideration all
relevant factors that may affect the implementation timetable.
The activities stated in the action plan should correspond to the activities described in detail in this
section. The implementing body shall be either the applicant or any of the partners, associates or
subcontractors. Any months or interim periods without activities must be included in the action plan
and count toward the calculation of the total estimated duration of the action.
The action plan for the first 12 months of implementation should be sufficiently detailed to give an
overview of the preparation and implementation of each activity. The action plan for each of the
subsequent years may be more general and should only list the main activities foreseen for those years.
To this end, it shall be divided into six-month interim periods (NB: A more detailed action plan for
each subsequent year will have to be submitted before receipt of new pre-financing payments,
pursuant to Article 2.1 of the general conditions of the grant contract http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/documents/execution/grants/e3h_2gencond_en.pdf).
The action plan shall be coherent with, and based on the identification of all links and relation between
the different activities described in paragraph 1.7.
The action plan will be drawn up using the following format:

ACP Science and Technology Program

Grant Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

Year 1
Activity

Month
1

Semester 1
3 4

Semester 2
9
10 11

1
2

Preparation
activity 1 (title)
Execution
activity 1 (title)
Preparation
activity 2 (title)
etc.
For the following years:
Activity
Semester 3
Execution
activity 1 (title)
Execution
activity 2 (title)
Preparation
activity 3 (title)
etc.

Implementing body
Local partner 1
Local partner 1
Local partner 2

Semester 4

Semester 5

Semester 6

Implementing body
Local partner 1
Local partner 2
Local partner 1

1.10. Sustainability (max. 3 pages)

Provide a detailed risk analysis and eventual contingency plans. This should include at minimum
a list of risks associated for each activity proposed accompanied by relevant mitigation measures.
A good risk analysis would include a range of risk types including physical, environmental,
political, economic and social risks.
Describe the main preconditions and assumptions during and after the implementation phase.
Explain how sustainability will be secured after completion of the action. This may include
aspects of necessary follow-up activities, built-in strategies, ownership, etc., if any.

In so doing, please make a distinction between the following 3 dimensions of sustainability:

Financial sustainability (financing will follow up activities, sources of revenue for covering all
future operating and maintenance costs, etc.);
Institutional level (Which structures would allow, and how, the results of the Action to continue
be in place after the end of the action? Address issues about the local ownership of action
outcomes);
Policy level where applicable (What structural impact will the action have - e.g., will it lead to
improved legislation, codes of conduct, methods, etc.).

1.11. Logical framework

Please fill in Annex C5 to the guidelines for grant applicants.

Explanations can be found at the following address:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/multimedia/publications/documents/tools/europeaid_adm_pcm_guidelines_2
004_en.pdf

ACP Science and Technology Program

Grant Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

BUDGET FOR THE ACTION

2.

Fill in Annex B (worksheet 1 Budget) to the guidelines for grant applicants:

for the total duration of the action and

for its first 12 months.

For any subcontracted activities (including the corresponding services) please complete additionally
the following Budget Justification table, providing a detailed explanation of the financial details for
each budget category, indicating why an item costs what it does (at what rates) and how each item
relates to the activities of the action (number of days/months, outputs, etc.).
Budget justification
Cost
category

Explanation

For further information see the Guidelines for Grant Applicants (Section 2.1.4).

3.

EXPECTED SOURCES OF FUNDING

Fill in Annex B (worksheet 2 Sources of funding) to the guidelines for grant applicants to provide
information on the expected sources of funding for the action.
NB: Please note that there are two different worksheets to be completed in Annex B.
Please mention here below the contributions in kind to be provided (please specify), if any (max. 1
page).
Contribution(s) in kind to be provided (if applicable)

4.

LINKAGES TO OTHER PROGRAMS AND POLICY INITIATIVES

Please mention here below the linkage(s), if any, of the action to other programs or policy initiatives.
Some examples of possible linkages are given in Section 1.1 of the guidelines for grant applicants
(max. 1 page).
Linkage(s) to other programs and / or policy initiatives (if applicable)

ACP Science and Technology Program

Grant Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

5.

EXPERIENCE OF SIMILAR ACTIONS

Max. 1 page per action.

Please provide a detailed description of actions managed by your organization (the applicants and all partners) over the past three years.
This information will be used to assess whether you have sufficient and stable experience of managing actions in the same sector and of a comparable scale to the
one for which you are requesting a grant.
You must make as many copies of this table as necessary to create entries for more associates and insert these directly hereafter.
Reference no:
Name of organization

Project title:
Location of
the action

Cost of the
action
(EUR)

Sector (see paragraph 2.2 in Section II):

lead manager or
Donors to the
6
partner
action (name)

Amount
contributed (by
donor)

Dates
(from dd/mm/yyyy to
dd/mm/yyyy)

Object and results of the action

If the donor is the EU Commission or an EU Member States, please specify the EC budget line, EDF or EU Member State.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Open Call for Proposals 2008

11

II. THE APPLICANT

7

EuropeAid ID number

Name of the organization

Please note that applicants that are registered in PADOR do not need to fill in the rest of this section.

1.

IDENTITY

Legal Entity File number8

Abbreviation
Registration number (or
equivalent)
Date of registration

Official address of registration

Country of Registration9

E-mail address of the

Organization
Telephone number: country code +
city code + number
Fax number: country code + city
code + number
Website of the organization

7
8
9

This number is available to an organization which registers its data in PADOR. For more information and to
register, please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/onlineservices/pador.
If the Applicant has already signed a contract with the European Commission.
If organizations / institutions/ networks are not in one of the countries listed in Section 2.1.1.3 of the
guidelines for grant applicants, please justify its location.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

12

2.

PROFILE

Legal status

10

Yes
No
Yes
NGO
No
Political
11
Value based
Religious
Humanistic
Neutral

Yes, parent entity:

Is your organization linked with
(please specify its EuropeAid ID:)
another entity?
Yes, controlled entity(ies)
No, independent
Profit-making

2.1.

Category

Category

10
11
12

12

Public

Private

Public administration
Decentralised representatives of
sovereign states
International organization
Judicial institution
Local authority
Implementation agency
University/Education
Research institute
Think Tank
Foundation
Association
Media
Network/Federation
Professional and/or Industrial
organization
Trade union
Cultural organization
Commercial organization

Implementation agency
University/Education
Research Institute
Think Tank
Foundation
Association
Media
Network/Federation
Professional and/or Industrial
organization
Trade Union
Cultural organization
Commercial organization
Other non state actor

E.g., non-profit making, governmental body, international organization.

Please choose only one set of values.
Please specify 1) the sector to which your organization belongs, as defined in its statutes (or equivalent
document): Public (established and/or funded by a public body) OR Private (established and/or funded by a
private entity); 2) in the appropriate column, the category to which your organization belongs (ONE
CHOICE ONLY).

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

13

2.2.

Sector(s)13

12110
12181
12182
12191
12220
12230
12240
12250
12261
12262
12263
12281
14010
14015
14020
14030
14040
14050
14081
21010
21020
21030
21040
21050
21061
21081
22010
22020
22030
22040
23010
23020
23030
23040
23050
23061
23062
23063
23064

13

HEALTH
Health, general
Health policy and administrative management
Medical education/training
Medical research
Medical services
Basic health
Basic health care
Basic health infrastructure
Basic nutrition
Infectious disease control
Health education
Malaria control
Tuberculosis control
Health personnel development
WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION
Water resources policy and administrative management
Water resources protection
Water supply and sanitation - large systems
Basic drinking water supply and basic sanitation
River development
Waste management/disposal
Education and training in water supply and sanitation
TRANSPORT AND STORAGE
Transport policy and administrative management
Road transport
Rail transport
Water transport
Air transport
Storage
Education and training in transport and storage
COMMUNICATION
Communications policy and administrative management
Telecommunications
Radio/television/print media
Information and communication technology (ICT)
ENERGY GENERATION AND SUPPLY
Energy policy and administrative management
Power generation/non-renewable sources
Power generation/renewable sources
Electrical transmission/ distribution
Gas distribution
Oil-fired power plants
Gas-fired power plants
Coal-fired power plants
Nuclear power plants

Please tick the box for each sector your organization has been active in. The sectors starting with a reference
code come from the DAC list set up by the OECD. For further information, please consult the following
Internet address: http://www.oecd.org/document/21/0,3343,en_2649_34469_1914325_1_1_1_1,00.html

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

14

23065
23066
23067
23068
23069
23070
23081
23082
31110
31120
31130
31140
31150
31161
31162
31163
31164
31165
31166
31181
31182
31191
31192
31193
31194
31195
31210
31220
31261
31281
31282
31291
31310
31320
31381
31382
31391
32110
32120
32130
32140
32161
32162
32163
32167
32168
32171
32172
32182

Hydro-electric power plants

Geothermal energy
Solar energy
Wind power
Ocean power
Biomass
Energy education/training
Energy research
AGRICULTURE
Agricultural policy and administrative management
Agricultural development
Agricultural land resources
Agricultural water resources
Agricultural inputs
Food crop production
Industrial crops/export crops
Livestock
Agrarian reform
Agricultural alternative development
Agricultural extension
Agricultural education/training
Agricultural research
Agricultural services
Plant and post-harvest protection and pest control
Agricultural financial services
Agricultural co-operatives
Livestock/veterinary services
FORESTRY
Forestry policy and administrative management
Forestry development
Fuel wood/charcoal
Forestry education/training
Forestry research
Forestry services
FISHING
Fishing policy and administrative management
Fishery development
Fishery education/training
Fishery research
Fishery services
INDUSTRY
Industrial policy and administrative management
Industrial development
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) development
Cottage industries and handicraft
Agro-industries
Forest industries
Textiles, leather and substitutes
Energy manufacturing
Pharmaceutical production
Engineering
Transport equipment industry
Technological research and development

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

15

33110
33120
33130
33140
33150
33181

41010
41020
41030
41040
41050
41081
41082
43030
43040
43050
43081
43082

TRADE POLICY AND REGULATIONS AND TRADE-RELATED

ADJUSTMENT
Trade policy and administrative management
Trade facilitation
Regional trade agreements (RTAs)
Multilateral trade negotiations
Trade-related adjustment
Trade education/training
MULTISECTOR/CROSS-CUTTING
General environmental protection
Environmental policy and administrative management
Biosphere protection
Bio-diversity
Site preservation
Flood prevention/control
Environmental education/ training
Environmental research
Other multisector
Urban development and management
Rural development
Non-agricultural alternative development
Multisector education/training
Research/scientific institutions

2.3. Target group(s)

14

All
Child soldiers
Children (less than 18 years old)
Community based organization(s)
Consumers
Disabled
Drug consumers
Educational organizations (school, universities)
Elderly people
Illness affected people (Malaria, Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS)
Indigenous peoples
Local authorities
Migrants
Non governmental organizations
Prisoners
Professional category
Refugees and displaced
Research organizations/Researchers
14
SME/SMI
Students
Urban slum dwellers
Victims of conflicts/catastrophes
Women
Young people
Other (please specify): ..
SME = Small and Medium Enterprises; SMI = Small and Medium Sized Industries.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

16

3.

CAPACITY TO MANAGE AND IMPLEMENT ACTIONS

3.1.

Experience by sector (for each sector selected in paragraph II.2.2)

If you need more rows in this table, please insert these directly hereafter.

Sector

Year(s) of
experience

Experience in
the last 3 years

Number of
projects

Less than 1
year
1 to 3 years
4 to 5 years
6 to 10 years
11 to 20 years
20 years +

Less than a
year
1 year
2 years
3 years

1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 20
21 to 50
51 to 200
200 to 500
500+

Less than 1
year
1 to 3 years
4 to 5 years
6 to 10 years
11 to 20 years
20 years +

Less than a
year
1 year
2 years
3 years

1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 20
21 to 50
51 to 200
200 to 500
500+

Less than 1
year
1 to 3 years
4 to 5 years
6 to 10 years
11 to 20 years
20 years +

Less than a
year
1 year
2 years
3 years

1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 20
21 to 50
51 to 200
200 to 500
500+

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

Estimated amount
(in thousand
Euros)
Less than 1
1 to 5
5 to 20
20 to 50
50 to 100
100 to 300
300 to 1.000
1.000
Unknown
Less than 1
1 to 5
5 to 20
20 to 50
50 to 100
100 to 300
300 to 1.000
1.000
Unknown
Less than 1
1 to 5
5 to 20
20 to 50
50 to 100
100 to 300
300 to 1.000
1.000
Unknown

17

3.2.

Experience by geographical area (country or region)

If you need more rows in this table, please insert these directly hereafter.

By geographical
area (country or
region)

Year(s) of
experience

Number of
projects

Less than 1
year
1 to 3 years
4 to 5 years
6 to 10 years
11 to 20 years
20 years +

1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 20
21 to 50
51 to 200
200 to 500
500+

Less than 1
year
1 to 3 years
4 to 5 years
6 to 10 years
11 to 20 years
20 years +

1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 20
21 to 50
51 to 200
200 to 500
500+

Less than 1
year
1 to 3 years
4 to 5 years
6 to 10 years
11 to 20 years
20 years +

1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 20
21 to 50
51 to 200
200 to 500
500+

Estimated
amount (in
thousand
Euros)
Less than 1
1 to 5
5 to 20
20 to 50
50 to 100
100 to 300
300 to 1.000
1.000
Unknown
Less than 1
1 to 5
5 to 20
20 to 50
50 to 100
100 to 300
300 to 1.000
1.000
Unknown
Less than 1
1 to 5
5 to 20
20 to 50
50 to 100
100 to 300
300 to 1.000
1.000
Unknown

Indicative list of
regions

Europe EU
Europe non-EU
Eastern Europe
Central America
South America
Southeast Asia
Northeast Asia
South Asia
Central Asia
Mediterranean
Gulf Countries
Eastern Africa
Central Africa
Western Africa
Southern Africa
Indian Ocean
Caribbean
Pacific

Cross-reference of experience by sector and by geographical area:

Sector(s)
(as selected in paragraph 2.2)

ACP Science and Technology Program

Geographical area(s)
(country or region, as identified previously)

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

18

Resources

3.3.

3.3.1

Financial data

Please provide the following information, if applicable, on the basis of the profit and loss
account and balance sheet of your organization. If the original data is not expressed in
Euro, please use the official InforEuro exchange rate according to the month stated. For
information on the InforEuro exchange rates, please visit the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro/index.cfm?Language=en.
Year

15

Turnover
or
equivalent

Net earnings
or
equivalent

Total
balance
sheet or
budget

Shareholder
s equity or
equivalent

Medium
and longterm debt

Short-term
debt
(< 1 year)

(EUR)

(EUR)

(EUR)

(EUR)

(EUR)

(EUR)

N
N-1
N-2

3.3.2. Financing source(s)

Please tick the source(s) of the revenues of your organization and specify the additional
information requested.
Year14

Source

N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N

Total

Year14

Percentage (total for a

given year must be equal
to 100%)

EU Commission
EU Member States Public Bodies
16
Third Countries Public Bodies
United Nations
Other international organization(s)
Private sector
Member's fees
Other (please specify):

N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
100%

Source

N/A

Percentage
(total for a given year
must be equal to 100%)

N1
N1
N1
15
16

Number of feepaying members

(only for source
= Members' fees)

EU Commission
EU Member States Public Bodies
Third Countries16 Public Bodies

Number of feepaying members

(only for source
= Members' fees)
N/A
N/A
N/A

N = current year; N - 1 = previous year; etc.

Non-EU Member States.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

19

N1
N1
N1
N1
N1

United Nations
Other international organization(s)
Private sector
Member's fees
Other (please specify):

N/A
N/A
N/A

N1
N2
N2
N2
N2
N2
N2
N2
N2

Total
EU Commission
EU Member States Public Bodies
Third Countries16 Public Bodies
United Nations
Other international organization(s)
Private sector
Members' fees
Other (please specify):

100%

N2

Total

100%

N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A

Furthermore, where the grant requested exceeds EUR 500.000, please provide the references of the
external audit report established by an approved auditor for the last financial year available. This
obligation does not apply to international organizations or to public bodies.
Year14

Name of approved auditor

Period of validity
(from dd/mm/yyyy to
dd/mm/yyyy)

N
N1
N2

3.3.3. Number of staff (full-time equivalent)

Please tick one option for each type of staff.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

20

Type of staff

Paid

HQ Staff: recruited and based in < 10

headquarters (located in developed
> 10 and < 50
country)
> 50 and < 100

< 10
> 10 and < 50
> 50 and < 100

> 100

> 100

N/A

N/A

Expat Staff: recruited in headquarters < 10

(located in developed country) and
> 10 and < 50
based in developing country
> 50 and < 100

< 10
> 10 and < 50
> 50 and < 100

> 100

> 100

N/A

N/A

Local staff: recruited and based in < 10

developing country
> 10 and < 50

4.

Unpaid

< 10
> 10 and < 50

> 50 and < 100

> 50 and < 100

> 100

> 100

N/A

N/A

LIST OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD/COMMITTEE OF YOUR

ORGANIZATION
Name

Profession

Function

Country of
nationality

On the board
since

Ms
Mr

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

21

III. PARTNERS OF THE APPLICANT

PARTICIPATING IN THE ACTION
1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTNERS

This section must be completed for each partner organization within the meaning of Section 2.1.2 of
the guidelines for grant applicants. Any associates as defined in the same section need not be
mentioned.
You must make as many copies of this table as necessary to create entries for more partners, and insert
these documents directly hereafter.

Partner 1
EuropeAid ID number:

17

Full legal name

Partners that are registered in PADOR do not need to fill in the rest of this section which is marked
in grey.

Date of registration
Legal status

18

Official address of
19
registration
Country of registration

Contact person
Telephone number: country
code + city code + number
Fax number: country code +
city code + number
E-mail address
Website of the organization

17
18
19

This number is available to an organization which registers its data in PADOR. For more information and to
register, please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/onlineservices/pador.
E.g., non-profit making, governmental body, international organization.
If not in one of the countries listed in Section 2.1.1 of the guidelines for grant applicants, please justify its
location.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

22

Number of employees
Other relevant resources
Experience of similar
actions, in relation to the
role in the implementation
of the proposed action
History of cooperation with
the applicant
Role and involvement in
preparing the proposed
action
Role and involvement in
implementing the proposed
action

Important:

2.

This grant application form must be accompanied by a signed and dated

Partnership Statement from each partner, in accordance with the model
provided below (paragraph 2).

PARTNERSHIP STATEMENT

A partnership is a relationship of substance between two or more organizations involving shared

responsibilities in undertaking the action funded by the ACP Secretariat. To ensure that the Action
runs smoothly, the ACP Secretariat requires all partners to acknowledge this by agreeing to the
principles of good partnership practice set out below.

Please make as many copies of this page as necessary to create entries for more partners, and
insert these directly hereafter.

20

1.

All partners must have read the grant application form and understood what their role in
the Action will be before the application is submitted to the ACP Secretariat.

2.

All partners must have read the standard grant contract and understood what their
respective obligations under the contract will be if the grant is awarded. They authorize
the lead applicant to sign the contract with the ACP Secretariat and represent them in all
dealings with the ACP Secretariat in the context of the Action's implementation.

3.

The applicant must consult with his partners regularly and keep them fully informed of the
progress of the action.

4.

All partners must receive copies of the reports narrative and financial submitted to
the ACP Secretariat.

5.

Proposals for substantial changes to the action (e.g., activities, partners, etc.) should be
agreed by the partners before being submitted to the ACP Secretariat. Where no such

20

The contractual conditions are laid down in the standard contract annexed to the guidelines for grant
applicants (annex F).

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

23

agreement can be reached, the applicant must indicate this when submitting changes for
approval to the ACP Secretariat.
6.

21

Where the Beneficiary does not have his headquarters in the country where the action is
implemented, the partners must agree before the end of the action, on an equitable
distribution of equipment, vehicles and supplies for the Action purchased with the EU
grant among local partners or the final beneficiaries of the action.

I have read and approved the contents of the proposal submitted to the ACP Secretariat. I undertake to
comply with the principles of good partnership practice.
Name:
Organization:
Position:
Signature:
Date and place:

21

The Beneficiary is the recipient of a grant.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

24

IV. ASSOCIATES OF THE APPLICANT

PARTICIPATING IN THE ACTION

This section must be completed for each associated organization within the meaning of Section 2.1.2
of the guidelines for grant applicants.
You must make as many copies of this table as necessary to create entries for more associates and
insert these directly hereafter.
Associate no. 1
Full legal name
EuropeAid ID number

22

Country of registration
Legal status

23

Official address
Contact person
Telephone number: country code + city code + number
Fax number: country code + city code + number
E-mail address
Number of employees
Other relevant resources
Experience of similar actions, in relation to the role in
the implementation of the proposed Action
History of cooperation with the applicant
Role and involvement in preparing the proposed action
Role and involvement in implementing the proposed
Action

22
23

This number is available to an organization which registers its data in PADOR. For more information and to
register, please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/onlineservices/pador.
E.g., non profit making, governmental body, international organization.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

25

V. CHECKLIST
ACP SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM, OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS
9TH EDF
EC BUDGET LINE 21.031700

<please tick the appropriate box depending upon which lot this application refers to>
REFERENCE:
NB: You must add as many rows to this table as necessary to create entries for more partners.
ADMINISTRATIVE DATA

To be filled in by the applicant

Name of the applicant

EuropeAid ID number
Country

24

and date of registration

Legal entity file number25

Legal status26
Partner no. 1

Name/EuropeAid ID number:
Nationality/Country of registration:
Legal status:

Partner no. 2

Name/EuropeAid ID number:
Nationality/Country of registration:
Legal status:

24
25
26

For organizations.
If the Applicant has already signed a contract with the European Commission.
E.g., non profit making, governmental body, international organization.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Open Call for Proposals 2008

28

BEFORE SENDING YOUR PROPOSAL, PLEASE CHECK THAT EACH OF THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS IS
COMPLETE AND RESPECTS THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA
Title of the proposal:

To be filled in by
the Applicant
Yes

1.

The correct grant application form, published for this call for proposals, has been used.

2.

The proposal is typed and is in English or French.

3.

One original and one copy are included.

4.

An electronic version of the proposal (CD-Rom) is enclosed.

5.

Each partner has completed and signed a partnership statement and these statements are included.

6.

The budget is presented in the format requested, is expressed in and is enclosed.

7.

The logical framework has been completed and is enclosed.

8.

The duration of the action is equal to or lower than 36 months (the maximum allowed).

9.

The duration of the action is equal to or higher than 12 months (the minimum allowed).

No

10. The requested contribution is equal to or higher than 350.000 EURO (the minimum allowed).
27

11. The requested contribution is equal to or lower than 3.000.000 EURO (the maximum allowed) .
12. The requested contribution is equal to or lower than 85 % of the total eligible costs (maximum percentage allowed).
13. The declaration by the applicant has been filled in and has been signed.

27

Please check the Guidelines for Grant Applicants, Section 1.3 for information on the maximum amount of the grants.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

29

VI. DECLARATION BY THE APPLICANT

The applicant, represented by the undersigned, being the authorized signatory of the applicant,
including every partner, hereby declares that:

the applicant and each partner of the partnership have the sources of financing and the
professional competence and qualifications specified in Section 2 of the guidelines for
grant applicants;
the applicant undertakes to comply with the obligations foreseen in the partnership
statement of the grant application form and with the principles of good partnership
practice;
the applicant is directly responsible for the preparation, management and implementation
of the Action with his partners and is not acting as an intermediary;

the applicant and his partners are not in any of the situations excluding them from
participating in contracts which are listed in Section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide to
Contract procedures for EC external actions available at the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/practical_guide/document
s/new_prag_final_en.pdf. Furthermore, it is recognized and accepted that if we participate
in spite of being in any of these situations, we may be excluded from other procedures in
accordance with Section 2.3.5 of the practical guide;

if selected, the applicant is in a position to deliver immediately, upon request, the

supporting documents stipulated under Section 2.4 of the guidelines for grant applicants;
the applicant and each partner are eligible in accordance with the criteria set out under
sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 of the guidelines for applicants;
if recommended to be awarded a grant, the Applicant accepts the contractual conditions
as laid down in the standard contract annexed to the guidelines for grant applicants
(annex F);

the applicant and his partners are aware that, for the purposes of safeguarding the
financial interests of the European Communities, their personal data may be transferred to
internal audit services, to the European Court of Auditors, to the Financial Irregularities
Panel or to the European Anti-Fraud Office.

The following grant applications have been submitted (or are about to be submitted) to the
European Institutions, the European Development Fund and the EU Member States in the
current year:

<list only Actions in the same field as this proposal>

The applicant is fully aware of the obligation to inform without delay the ACP Secretariat to
which this application is submitted if the same application for funding made to European
Commission departments or community institutions or any other institution has been
approved by them after the submission of this grant application.
Signed on behalf of the applicant:
Name
Signature
Position
Date

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

30

VII. ASSESSMENT GRID

(to be used by the ACP Secretariat)
YES

NO

STEP 1: OPENING SESSION AND ADMINISTRATIVE CHECK

1.
2.

The deadline has been respected.

The grant application form satisfied all the criteria mentioned in the checklist (Section
V of Part B of the grant application form).
The administrative verification has been conducted by:
Date:
DECISION 1:
The evaluation committee has recommended the concept note for Evaluation after having
passed the administrative check.

STEP 2 : EVALUATION OF THE CONCEPT NOTE

2:
The evaluation committee has approved the concept note and decided to proceed with the
evaluation of the full application form after having pre-selected the best concept notes.
The evaluation of the concept note has been conducted by:
Date:
DECISION

STEP 3: EVALUATION OF THE FULL APPLICATION FORM

3:
A. The evaluation committee has recommended the proposal for eligibility verification
after having been provisionally selected within the top-ranked scored proposals within
the available financial envelope.
B. The evaluation committee has recommended the proposal for eligibility verification
after having been put on the reserve list according to the top-ranked scored proposals.
The verification of the proposal has been conducted by:
Date:
DECISION

STEP 4: ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION

3.

The supporting documents listed hereunder, submitted according to the guidelines for
grant applicants (Section 2.4), satisfied all the eligibility criteria of the applicant and
his partner(s).
a. The applicant's statutes.
b. The statutes or articles of association of all partners is attached and duly signed.
c. The applicant's external audit report (if applicable).
d. The Legal Entity File (see annex D of the Guidelines for Applicants) is duly
completed and signed by the applicant and is accompanied by the justifying
documents requested.
e. A Financial Identification Form (see annex E of the guidelines for grant applicants)
is duly completed, signed and stamped by the applicant and his bank.
f Copy of the applicants latest accounts.

The assessment of the eligibility has been conducted by:

Date:
DECISION 4:
The evaluation committee has selected the proposal for funding after having verified its
eligibility according to the criteria stipulated in the guidelines for grant applicants.

ACP Science and Technology Program

Application Form Call for Proposals 2008

31

12.5: Grant Contract - External Actions of the European Community

GRANT CONTRACT
- EXTERNAL ACTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY <Grant contract identification number>

African, Caribbean and Pacific

Group of States (ACP Secretariat)
Avenue George Henri 451
1200 Brussels
Belgium,
("the Contracting Authority")

of the one part,

and
<Full official name of the beneficiary, as mentioned in the LEF>
<Legal status (organization) /title (individual)>
<Organization official registration number / Passport or ID number >
<Full official address>
[VAT number, for VAT registered beneficiaries]
("the Beneficiary")
of the other part,
have agreed as follows:

Special conditions
Article 1 - Purpose
1.1

The purpose of this contract is the award of a grant by the contracting authority for the implementation
of the Action entitled: <title of the Action> ("the Action") described in Annex I.

1.2

The beneficiary will be awarded the grant on the terms and conditions set out in this contract, which
consists of these special conditions ("Special Conditions") and the annexes, which the beneficiary
hereby declares it has noted and accepted.

1.3

The beneficiary accepts the grant and undertakes to carry out the Action under its own responsibility.

Article 2 - Implementation period of the Action

2.1

This contract shall enter into force on the date when the last of the two parties signs.

2.2

Implementation of the Action shall begin on:

choose one of the following:
- [the day following that on which the last of the two parties signs]
- [the first day of the month following the date on which the first instalment of pre-financing is paid
by the contracting authority]

2007

1/4

- [a later date],
- [exceptionally, a date preceding the signature of the contract but not preceding the beneficiary's
request for a grant or the signature of any relevant financing agreement between the European
Commission and the recipient country].
2.3

The Action's implementation period, as laid down in Annex I, is <number of months>.

Article 3 - Financing the Action

3.1

The total cost of the Action eligible for financing by the contracting authority is estimated at
<... ........EURO >, as set out in Annex III.

3.2

The Contracting Authority undertakes to finance a maximum of <... .....EURO >, equivalent to <...>%
of the estimated total eligible cost specified in paragraph 1; the final amount shall be established in
accordance with Articles 14 and 17 of Annex II.

3.3

Pursuant to Article 14.4 of the Annex II, <>% (maximum 7% )of the final amount of direct eligible
costs of the Action established in accordance with Articles 14 and 17 of the Annex II, may be claimed
by the beneficiary as indirect costs.

Article 4 - Narrative and financial reporting and payment arrangements

4.1

Narrative and financial reports shall be produced in support of payment requests, in compliance with
Articles 2 and 15.1 of Annex II.

4.2

Payment will be made in accordance with Article 15 of Annex II. Of the options referred to in Article
15.1, the following will apply:
[Option 1
Amount of first instalment of pre-financing: <... ........EURO >
Forecast final payment
(subject to the provisions of Annex II):

<... ........EURO >

[Option 2
First instalment of pre-financing (80% of the part of the
forecast budget for the first 12 months of implementation
financed by the contracting authority):
<... ........EURO >

4.3

Further instalment(s) of pre-financing:

<... ........EURO >

Forecast final payment

(subject to the provisions of Annex II):

<... ........EURO >]

In case where the pre-financing instalments are to be paid by the contracting authority, the first
instalment of pre-financing will be paid to the beneficiary within 45 days, as from the date of reception
by the contracting authority of signed contract accompanied by the financial guarantee if required in
accordance with article 15.7 of the general conditions.

Article 5 - Contact addresses

2007

2/4

5.1

Any communication relating to this contract must be in writing, state the number and title of the
Action and be sent to the following addresses:
For the contracting authority
African, Caribbean and Pacific
Group of States (ACP Group)
Department Political Affairs and Human Development
For the attention of Mr. Andrew Bradley
Avenue George Henri 451
1200 Brussels
Belgium

[A copy of the reports referred to in Article 4.1 must be sent to the European Commission Delegation
in charge of monitoring the Action, at the following address: <address of the Delegation>]
For the beneficiary
<address of the beneficiary for correspondence>
[5.2

The audit firm which will carry out the verification(s) referred to in Article 15.6 of Annex II is <name,
address, telephone and fax numbers>].

Article 6 - Annexes
6.1

The following documents are annexed to these special conditions and form an integral part of the
contract:

Annex I:

Description of the action

Annex II:

General conditions applicable to European Community-financed grant contracts for external

Actions

Annex III:

Budget for the action

Annex IV:

Contract-award procedures

Annex V:

Standard request for payment and financial identification form

Annex VI:

Model narrative and financial report

Annex VII:

Model report of factual findings and terms of reference for an expenditure verification of an
EC financed grant contract for external actions

Annex VIII:

Model financial guarantee

6.2

In the event of conflict between the provisions of the Annexes and those of the special conditions, the
provisions of the special conditions shall take precedence. In the event of conflict between the
provisions of Annex II and those of the other annexes, those of Annex II shall take precedence.

Article 7 - Other specific conditions applying to the action

7.1

2007

The general conditions are supplemented by the following:

3/4

7.1.1

The contingency reserve may only be used under duly justified circumstances and upon prior
written approval of the contracting authority.

7.1.2

The logo of the European Union and the ACP Group of States must always appear together
and shall include the following statement: "ACP Science and Technology Program. A
programme of the ACP Group of States, with the financial assistance of the European
Union".

Done at <.........> in three originals in the English language, two of them for the contracting authority and one
for the beneficiary.

For the beneficiary

For the contracting Authority

Name

Name

Title

Title

Signature

Signature

Date

Date

Endorsed for financing by the European Community

Name
Title
Signature
Date

2007

4/4

12.6: Livestock Calls for Proposals

The NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION (NARO)

is calling for submission of concept notes
a) Background
The National Agricultural Research Organisation Council (NAROC) operates a Competitive Grant Scheme for the National
Agricultural Research System (NARS) in Uganda in line with the new National Agricultural Research (NAR) Policy 2003, which
is guided by the principles of the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture. The vision which guides the NAR Policy is based on a
market-responsive, client-oriented and demand-driven national agricultural research system comprising of public and private
institutions working in tandem for the sustainable economic growth of Uganda. The agricultural research policy recognizes that
opening up provision of agricultural research services to competition may increase the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural
research, and therefore explicitly recognizes pluralism in the provision of services. This requires separating public funding from
the delivery of research services.
This Research Call is an invitation by the National Agricultural Research Council (NARC) for the submission of concept notes
(CNs) towards the competitive award of research grants for undertaking research projects to be funded under the Agricultural
Sector Program Support phase II. The call focuses on three priority intervention areas that address priority constraints and
opportunities identified through a widespread stakeholder consultation process involving Zonal Agricultural Research Institutes,
NAADS enterprise groups, scientists and policymakers. It takes into account previous and ongoing livestock research programs
in the country.
It premises on ruminant livestock, poultry and pigs as the priority enterprises that farmers identified to be important in the
poverty reduction program in Uganda. The key intervention points respond to the priority challenges of the farmers, namely the
need to increase productivity, create incentives for compliance to policies and regulation, and enhance access to market and
sustainability of the environment; while addressing gender and other livelihood concerns.
b) Research themes
Implementation of research has been re-organized into five
new research themes namely:

A. Overview
Agricultural research is a key pillar of the Plan for
Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) in Uganda. In order to
realize the PMA objectives, the Government of Uganda
deemed it imperative to reform the research system, to
enhance client focus and intensify market orientation. The
signing of the National Agricultural Research Bill in
September, 2005, signalled the inception of a paradigm shift
from research as a predominantly public service in
technology and knowledge generation to an institution that
attracts participants from the public, private and civil sectors
in research service delivery. Therefore the new National
Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) is designed to
be an institution that harnesses competencies from all
organizations into an innovation system that can effectively
and efficiently transform technologies and knowledge into
marketable products and services based on the principles of
pluralism and competition in the technology and knowledge
market. It is driven by and focused on demands of clients,
whose proactive participation sets the research agenda, and
provides governance of the research process. It recognizes
the democratic rights of communities to access services
irrespective of social strata, and geopolitical boundaries.
Hence pro-poor interventions have been instituted as an
innate right of communities wherever they happen to live.
However issues that affect livelihood across the country
should attain a national agenda for efficient use of scarce
human, financial, physical, social and political capitals.

1. Understanding people, their livelihood systems , demands

and impacts of innovations
2. Enhancing innovation process and partnerships
3. Developing technological options responding to demands
and opportunities
4. Enhancing integrated management of natural resources
5. Linking producers, market opportunities and policies
Hence 5 National (NARIs) and 7 Zonal Agricultural
Research and Development Institutes (ZARIs) of equal status
have been established. The latter address concerns and
develop interventions to respond to the issues specific to the
respective agro-ecological zones and production systems.
The new NARO will therefore be guided by the national and
zonal priorities of the country.
This call for concept notes respond to the quest by farmers
countrywide for technology options, methods and approaches
for increasing productivity, enhancing market access and
creating incentives for policies compliance. In meeting these
demands there is need for protection of the natural
environment and enhancing equity in the distribution of
livelihood assets and benefits among gender groups.

B. Calls for concept notes

Needs assessment showed that farmers concerns could be
summarized as the needs to increase productivity, market
access/enterprise profitability and improve the social
harmony and environmental sustainability. The topmost
challenge was livestock diseases and pests. Notable pests and
diseases were ticks, tsetse and respective diseases that affect
ruminant livestock. Worms were important in goats and pigs
and Napier Stunt Disease in fodder fields. The national
export promotion strategy and role of market in poverty
eradication strategies put significant and justifiable emphasis
on Notifiable diseases: namely Foot and Mouth Disease
(FMD), Contagious Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), and African
Swine Fever (ASF). NCD diseases and Fowl Pox is a
prevalent problem. Increasing competition for land for crop
and livestock production varied across agroecological zones
and the need to develop strategies to offset dry season feed
and water shortages was` expressed in both intensive and
pastoral systems. In the pastoral areas the problem was
confounded by undesirable plant species notably weeds and
shrubs. Farmers expressed overwhelming demand for
improved livestock breeds particularly, goats, pigs and
poultry. The need to ensure quality and sustainable supply of

stock called for institutional and informed policies to address

the market.
Consistent with PMA objectives and NARS principle the
IAR4D approach was adopted as a strategy will guide the
implementation process. Hence the following calls were
developed.
c) Call for proposals
Result Area 1: Institutional capacity for cost effective
surveillance and innovative
methods of pests
disease control in livestock and forage crops developed and
promoted
Result Area 2: Innovations for rational land and water
resource use in food and feed production in intensive,
semi-intensive and rangeland production systems developed
and promoted
Result Area 3: Utilization of plant and animal biodiversity
for food production and
income generation enhanced
Details on each of the above areas are provided in the call
profiles available on the NARO website:
http://www.naro.go.ug or can be obtained from: The National
Coordinator: Agricultural Research Component (see contacts
below)

(d) Available resources

In this particular round/call, the total funds available for awards will not exceed US $ 30,000 per year for a maximum of three
years (3 years). The cheaper and more realistic the project have preferential advantage.
(e) Eligible institutions
The scheme gives preference to client oriented market focused CNs, with clear indications of multi-stakeholder (including
farmers and ferments organizations) interaction in solving problems in an environment that foster institutionalization of
knowledge generation, dissemination and utilization and promotes application of cutting edge technologies in poverty reduction
programs.
i.

Resident in Uganda (at least the principal investigator should be resident in Uganda);

ii. Consortia involving non-national organization must have lead scientist and institutions registered in Uganda
iii. Qualified to undertake the proposed research and development activity. For research, the applicant should demonstrate
capacity to conduct research and deliver the stated results in the proposal, and post-graduate students, should be closely
supervised by an adequately qualified scientist. In the case of development activities, indication of competence should be
provided.
iv. Registered with the competent authority as an agricultural research service provider.
(f) Concept notes
Approval of CNs are not an indication of guaranteed support. The formats for pre-proposals (concept notes) are found in the
guidelines and procedures for the National Competitive Agricultural Research and Development Fund, which can be obtained
from the NARO Council Secretariat - Entebbe
Closing date of grant applications: 5.00 pm of April 24th 2006.
The applications and all the supporting documents can be sent or hand delivered to:
A. The Director Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation;
Mr. Sylvester Dickson Baguma, NARO Secretariat,
P.O.Box 295, Entebbe, Tel: 0772504827; E-mail:
sdbaguma@naro.go.ug

B. The Coordinator LSRP-ARC Dr. Cyprian Ebong,

NAARI, P.O.Box 7084, Kampala, Tel: 0772200342; Email: cyprian.ebong@naro-ug.org

12.7: Step-By-Step Instructions for Filling out the Online Proposal Form
2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition
Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING OUT THE ONLINE PROPOSAL FORM

GENERAL NOTES
1. PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT MARKETPLACE
WEBSITE. Before filling out the online proposal form, carefully review the DM2009
Competition Guidelines for sub-themes and other eligibility criteria available at
www.developmentmarketplace.org.
2. The online form allows applicants to save a draft of their proposal in the system while they
work on it. Please save your work regularly! You will be automatically logged out of the
system after 60 minutes of inactivity and any unsaved information you entered will be lost.
3. Any proposal in draft form after the submission deadline will be automatically deleted and
ineligible for the competition.
4. To be considered for this competition you must complete all required fields (see #8 below)
and click the Submit button on your application by the submission deadline of 6:00
p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) / 22:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) May 18, 2009.
The Development Marketplace Team MUST receive your submitted and complete proposal
by this deadline. Late applications will not be accepted.
If you are experiencing technical difficulties in accessing our website, please contact the DM team
at +1 (202) 676-0959 by fax or send an e-mail to: DMinfo@worldbank.org. The DM Team cannot
guarantee that it will be able to respond to inquiries received after 15:00 EST / 19:00 GMT
May 15, 2009.
5. If selected to be a winner of the competition, the applicant organization will enter into a
Grant Agreement with the World Bank to receive the grant funds. As such, the applicant
organization must be legally registered in the World Bank member country it lists as its
address in the proposal form. In the case of subtheme #1 in which an Indigenous Peoples
community or group that is not legally registered is delegating an eligible organization to
apply on its behalf, this organization (not the Indigenous Peoples community or group) is
the applicant. The delegated organization should provide information regarding their
partner Indigenous Peoples community or group in project questions 1, 2, and 6a of the
online proposal form.

6. Consistent with past World Bank small grant programs for Indigenous Peoples, proposals
for Sub-theme 1 may be submitted in English, Spanish or French. For Subthemes 2 and
3, proposals must be submitted in English.
Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
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2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation

7. The proposal form consists of 5 sections covering the following areas:

o

Applicant Contact Information background information about the applicant

organization submitting the proposal

Project Profile basic information about the proposed project title, sub-theme,
country of implementation, duration of activities, etc.

Primary Partner background information about the main partner of the applicant
organization for the proposed project

Project Details description of main activities and project design elements including
problem definition, project objective, innovation, and sustainability

Project Costs breakdown of budget by major expenditure categories, overall cost

of project, funding requested from the DM, and funding from other sources

8. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. Submitted proposals will be rejected if
mandatory fields are not complete.
9. Please note that a number of questions have character count limits (a character is any
letter, space or symbol). If your answers exceed the given character count, the online
application cannot accept your entry (on average a word consists of 7 characters, including
spaces and punctuation).
TIP: We encourage you to draft the Project Details section in a word processor (Microsoft
Word, WordPerfect, etc.) to ensure the correct character count. You can then directly cut
and paste the answers into the online application form.

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
-2-

2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
*Primary Contact Email:

Applicant Contact Information

Provide the most reliable e-mail address available. The DM team
will correspond with applicants primarily via e-mail. Failure to
provide a working address may prevent you from receiving our
notifications.

*Password:

Create your own password with a minimum of 6 characters.

*Last Name:

Enter last name (surname) of the person who will be the primary
contact with the Development Marketplace (DM) team.

*First Name:

Enter first name of primary contact.

Secondary Contact Email:

Indicate a secondary e-mail address if available. This address will

only be used if we are unable to reach you via the primary e-mail.

Position at Organization:

Identify primary contacts position or role within the applicant

organization.

Unit Within Organization:

If the applicant organization belongs to a large corporation, a

bilateral or multilateral development agency, or another large
organization, please specify in which division, department or unit
the applicant organization is located. Otherwise leave blank.

*Organization Name:

Enter full name of the legally registered applicant organization. Do

not use acronyms or initials.

Organization Website:

If the applicant organization has an active website, enter the

address.

*Organization Type:

Identify the applicant organization type from the drop-down list.

Note: The range of organization-type options differs according to
the sub-theme selected
Organization Type options: Sub-theme 1

Registered local Indigenous Peoples not-for-profit

organization
Registered local Indigenous Peoples research center or
university
Registered local Indigenous Peoples community
Unregistered local Indigenous Peoples community
designatee (SEE GUIDELINES)

Organization Type options: Sub-themes 2 & 3

Academia or Research Organization

Development Agency (bilateral or multilateral) or
Foundation

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
-3-

2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation

Government
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) or other civil
society organization
Private Business

Consult the DM2009 Competition Guidelines for eligibility criteria.

*Telephone:

Enter most reliable telephone number. Include country code, area

code and extensions as necessary.

Fax:

Enter most reliable fax number. Include country code and area
code.

*Address:

Provide a mailing address. If the applicant organization has both a

street address and a postal box, include both.

*City:

Enter city here.

State / Province:

List state or province here. Leave this blank if the applicant

organization does not have a state / province.

Postal Code:

Enter postal code here. Leave this blank if the applicant

organization address does not have a postal code.

*Country:

Enter country where the applicant organization or office is based.

*Organization Description:
(character limit 350)

Briefly describe the applicant organizations mission and main

services or products it provides and to whom.

*Year established:
(character limit 4)

Enter the year the applicant organization was established, using 4

characters (e.g. 1995).

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
-4-

2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
*Title of Proposal:
(character limit 105)

Page 1: Overview
Provide a brief title for your proposed project. The project title should be an
indication of the objective you hope to achieve. Avoid using general titles (such
as Climate Adaptation Project) that do not describe your specific project.
Avoid using the name of the country of implementation in the title.

*Project Duration Using

DM Funds (Number of
months; 24 month
maximum):
*Country of
Implementation:

Indicate how many months it will take you to implement this project. Only
numbers can be entered in this field. Please note that the maximum
implementation timeframe is 24 months.

*Sub-theme:

Identify the sub-theme you selected on the DM2009 website.

*Proposal Language:

Select the language in which you will submit this proposal.

1. English
2. French
3. Spanish

Select the country where this project will be implemented from the drop-down
list. If the project covers more than one country, or is global in scope, please
select multi-country.

1. Resilience of Indigenous Peoples Communities to Climate Risks

2. Climate Risk Management with Multiple Benefits
3. Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management

NOTE: Options 2 and 3 are only available if applying to Sub-theme 1.

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
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2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
Page 2: Partner Information
IMPORTANT NOTE: If according to eligibility criteria set forth in the DM2009 Competition Guidelines,
Important NOTE: If, (according to the eligibility criteria set forth in the DM2009 Competition
Guidelines), the applicant organization is not required to and does not have a partner, please: (i)
enter "N/A" in all fields marked with an asterisk; (ii) select "No Partner Required" in the organization
type drop-down list; and (iii) enter the applicant organization e-mail address in the required field for
the partner e-mail address.
tner, please insert not applicable in all required (*) fields in this section.
Enter last name (surname) of the primary contact in your partner
*Last Name:
organization.
*First Name:

Enter first name of partner contact.

*Partner Primary Email:

Provide the most reliable partner e-mail address.

Partner Secondary Email:

Indicate a secondary e-mail address if available.

*Partner Organization Name: List full name of partner organization.

Partner Position at
Organization:
*Partner Organization Type
(Please select one):

Enter position of primary contact person within partnering organization.

Identify your partner organization type from the drop-down list.

Academia or Research Organization

Development Agency (bilateral or multilateral) or Foundation
Government
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) or other civil society
organization
Private Business
No Partner Required

Consult the DM2009 Competition Guidelines for eligibility criteria.

Partner Organization
Website:

If your partner organization has an active website, please enter the

address.

*Partner Telephone:

Enter most reliable telephone number for your partner organization. Include
country code, area code and extensions as necessary.

Partner Fax:

Enter most reliable fax number for your partner organization. Include
country code and area code.

*Partner Address:

Provide a mailing address for your partner organization. If possible, use

street number and names in place of postal boxes.

*Partner City:

Enter city here.

Partner Postal Code:

Enter postal code here. Leave this blank if the partner organization address

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
-6-

2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
does not have a postal code.
Partner State / Province:

List state or province here. Leave this blank if the partner organization
address does not have a state / province.

*Partner Country:

List the country of your partner organization.

*Describe Partner
Organization:
(character limit 350)
*Year Partner Organization
Established:

Briefly describe your partner organizations mission and the main services
or products it provides and to whom.

*Partnership Duration
(number of years):

Enter the number of years the applicant organization and partner have
worked together
(Note: There is no minimum requirement to be eligible. Enter 0 if the
partnership is brand new. Enter 1 if the partners have been working
together for one year or less).

Enter the year your partner organization was established, using 4

characters. (e.g. 1995)

Page 3: Project Questions

*Question 1. Problem Definition (900 characters)
Clearly describe the specific problem your project is trying to address. Identify the group of people directly
affected by the problem in the geographic area(s) in which you plan to work. Explain why solving / alleviating
this problem is important for this group of people. In other words, this section should answer the question:,
Immediately after the close of the project, what problem has been addressed / solved for this targeted
group?

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
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2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
*Question 2. Project Objective / Results (1050 characters)
State the project objective. It should be clearly linked to the sub-theme selected. It should focus on the
expected results for the primary targeted beneficiary group for which the project reasonably can be held
accountable, given the projects duration (24 months or less) and project resources. Explain what the target
group will be doing differently after the project that should make the group better off. The project objective
should NOT encompass objectives that depend on other efforts outside the scope of the proposed project.
For example: The objective for a project from a past DM competition was to increase farmer income by
enabling small farmers to negotiate better prices for their produce with middlemen and intermediaries by
providing them with real-time information about commodity prices via SMS text messages on their cell
phones.
Consult the DM2009 Competition Guidelines to ensure that your idea is clearly linked to the sub-theme that
you selected for this project.
*Question 3. Measuring Results (750 characters)
To the extent possible, provide quantitative information / estimates of the expected results (e.g. 500
beneficiaries, 10% change in incomes, etc.).
Note: Indicators can either be quantitative, (usually referring to a numerical amount, answering questions
such as, How much? or How many?) or qualitative (information regarding how people feel about an
experience or what opinions they hold). In either case, indicators should be clear, discrete and measurable.
For example: 1,000 farmers from three farmer cooperatives will increase their income by at least 10% as a
result of improved negotiations on prices for their crops.
*Question 4a. Project Description (1,500 characters)
What is your project idea to address the stated problem (Question 1)? Describe / list the major components
(the concrete steps or major activities) that the project will undertake to meet your objective within a two-year
span. Indicate the scope of each major activity. Provide an estimate of the number of people belonging to the
targeted beneficiary group that you plan to reach during project implementation.
*Question 4b. Site Description (700 characters)
If the project covers more than one country (multi-country project) please list all of the countries where
project activities will be conducted.
If known, identify the location of the site(s) project activities will be conducted in the country or countries.
Provide a brief geographic description of the site(s). Identify who owns the land, or if landownership is not
known, or is in dispute.
If the project site(s) have not yet been selected / identified, explain the criteria and process that will be used
to identify the site(s).

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
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2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
*Question 5a. Innovation (1,500 characters)
What specific characteristics of your idea demonstrate that your project is innovative? If other organizations
are addressing the same problem using a different approach, how is your proposed idea different? If your
idea includes a novel technology or process, please describe how it would work in simple terms.
For types of innovation and illustrative examples the DM considers innovative, please refer to Annex 1 of the
DM2009 Competition Guidelines.
*Question 5b: Type of Innovation
Choose which type best describes the main innovative element of your project
New technology
New product or service
New process, including new mechanism to deliver an existing product or service
*Question 5c: Stage of Innovation
In the drop down menu below, choose which stage describes the current state of development of the main
innovative element of your project
New untested idea (Idea has yet to be tested; in the case of a new technology, no prototype exists)
Early testing stage (Idea has evolved beyond an untested concept / blueprint. For example, a
prototype has been developed but not field-tested on a sufficient scale to indicate feasibility of the idea)
Proof of concept stage (Idea has been validated in the field, demonstrating its feasibility, but more
small scale testing is required under a variety of conditions to test its robustness)
Note: An idea that has been successfully validated on a small scale and under several conditions that is
ready to be replicated in other geographic areas or to be scaled-up is not considered innovative by the DM.
*Question 6a. Implementation Capacity of the Organization(s) (900 characters)
Describe the strengths of the applicant organization (and if relevant, the partner organization) that it brings to
the project, including relevant implementation experience with similar initiatives in the country of
implementation or with climate adaptation.
If the applicant is applying with a partner organization, briefly describe in this section the respective roles that
you and your partner will have during project implementation. What elements of the partnership contribute to
the two organizations capacities to implement the project? For example, describe the extent to which you
and your partner have together already built relevant relationship(s) with the local community and other
relevant stakeholder groups.
Note for Sub-theme 1 only: If an Indigenous Peoples community has designated the applicant to act on its
behalf with regard to this proposal, also describe here the relationship between the IP community or group
and the applicant organization.

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
-9-

2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
*Question 6b. Answer yes or no to the following questions:
(i)

The applicant organization has project implementation experience in the geographic area(s)
impacted by the project [ ] Yes [ ] No

(ii)

The applicant organization has prior experience working directly with the projects targeted
beneficiary group [ ] Yes [ ] No

(iii)

The applicant organizations primary mission is focused on issues of climate adaptation.

[ ] Yes [ ] No

*Question 6c. Answer Yes, No or Not applicable to the following questions:

(i)

The partner organization has project implementation experience in the geographic area(s) impacted
by the project [ ] Yes [ ] No

(ii)

The partner organization has prior experience working directly with the projects targeted beneficiary
group [ ] Yes [ ] No

(iii)

The partner organizations primary mission is focused on issues of climate adaptation. [ ] Yes [ ] No

*Question 7. Sustainability (900 characters)

What actions do you plan to take to help project results continue beyond the phase funded by Development
Marketplace? What characteristics of your project will help ensure that its results and development impact
are sustainable? Describe any major challenges that your project faces to sustain its results. Depending on
the nature of the project design, you may want to address financial / economic sustainability and/or
organizational sustainability.
See DM2009 Competition Guidelines for details.
*Question 8. Growth Potential (900 characters)
Describe the potential development impact of the project five years after DM funding ends. Include the
potential number of beneficiaries if possible. Describe how your project idea may be replicable elsewhere
and/or can be scaled up from a local to a regional / national / global level; the characteristics of your project
idea that would make it replicable or scalable; and/or possible constraints to scaling up / replicating as well
as the opportunities.
See DM2009 Competition Guidelines for definitions of replicability and scalability.

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
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2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
*Question 9a. Challenges for Implementation (750 characters)
Please note that the information you provide for this question is NOT part of the DM assessment criteria
used to select the finalists. It is merely a tool for the DM to identify possible environmental and social
safeguard issues with World Bank policies, procedures and practices. In the case that you are selected to
be a finalist in the competition and the DM identifies possible safeguard issues based on the information you
provide here, the DM would inform you of World Bank good practices for safeguard risk mitigation and
management. This would help you ensure that the full proposal you submit as a finalist conforms to World
Bank safeguard policies.
Describe any anticipated issues, challenges and/or risks that your project may face during implementation to
include both environmental and social issues, challenge/risks. For the social context, identify which, if any,
stakeholder groups may feel that their interests are threatened by the project. Examples include, but are not
limited to, organizational, structural, project design, conflict area, and climate conditions, etc. Note:
Stakeholders are any groups or individuals who have an interest in or can influence the outcome of the
project; it always includes targeted beneficiaries, but there can be other stakeholders as well. For the
environmental context, this would include any short-term or permanent impacts to the environment.
*Question 9b.
Will the project include / involve any of the following potential activities, issues and/or impacts?
(i)

Activity has impact on forests, natural habitats and/or protected areas

[ ] Yes [ ] No

(ii)

Activities that could cause potential damage to historic building(s) or archaeological sites[ ] Yes [ ] No

(iii)

Activities that include building rehabilitation and/or new construction

[ ] Yes [ ] No

(iv)

Building activities that include use and/or removal of hazardous or toxic materials

[ ] Yes [ ] No

(v)

Agricultural activities that include the use and/or disposal of pesticides

[ ] Yes [ ] No

(vi)

Activities that will include retrofitting and/or building hydro infrastructure / dams

[ ] Yes [ ] No

(vii) Production activities will could have effluent and / or discharges into receiving waters; [ ] Yes [ ] No
(viii) Activities which include health care clinic that may handle / manage medical waste [ ] Yes [ ] No
(ix)

Acquisition of land that poses potentially adverse impacts on livelihood incomes, including
encroachment on private property, relocation of project affected persons or involuntary resettlement
[ ] Yes [ ] No

(x)

Activities that will include and /or impact Indigenous Peoples

[ ] Yes [ ] No

(xi)

Activities that may potentially take place in disputed areas

[ ] Yes [ ] No

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
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2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
Page 4: Project Budget
General Notes:

ENTER EXPENSES IN US DOLLARS (US$).

Enter whole numbers only; please do not use commas, decimal points or other symbols. For
example, US$50,000 should be entered as 50000.

Major works, goods and services (exceeding $20,000 per unit) must be detailed in the notes section.

In the relevant category (works, goods, services, etc.), include the costs of any relevant customs or
other taxes incurred exclusively for the project.

In the appropriate category under Services, please include any translation costs you may need in
order to provide, in English, two progress and one final completion report to the World Bank. Each
report ranges from 8 10 pages.

Be sure to include the costs of project evaluation and information dissemination activities. These
refer to the costs of assessing the impact of the project and sharing the information with the
development community.

1. Works

*Expenses

*Amount (US$)
This amount includes the cost of construction of buildings,
infrastructure, etc.

2. Goods (Materials and

Equipment)

This amount includes the supplies (materials and equipment) needed

to carry out activities.

3. Services
a. Personnel

b. Consultant Fees
c. Consultant Travel
d. Personnel Travel
e. Other Services

This amount includes the overall cost of wages, salaries, and benefits
of Project staff. (Project staff is defined as current personnel of the
applicant organization that will work exclusively for the Project).
This amount includes consultant costs, excluding travel.
This amount includes in-country and international travel required by
consultants for the activities of this project.
This amount includes in-country and international travel required by
Project staff for the activities of this project.
This amount includes the cost of all other services, including renting
training or workshop facilities.

4. Operating Costs

This is the total incremental expenditures that are directly related to

the management and monitoring of the Project. These expenses
would not incur absent the Project. For example, it could include
project-related expenditures for office supplies, maintenance of office
equipment, communication charges, operation and maintenance of
vehicles, bank charges.

5a. Other Expenses

All items must be detailed in 5b.

Describe the nature of any Other Expenses you accounted for above
5b. If applicable, please describe
Other Expenses (175 characters) in line item 5a.
The total sum of items #1-5. Calculated automatically.
6. TOTAL EXPENSES

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
- 12 -

2009 Development Marketplace Global Competition

Innovations for Climate Change Adaptation
7a. Amount of Co-financing

If your project costs exceed your funding request to the Development

Marketplace, indicate the amount of planned co-financing in this
section. If you expect that your project will generate income (e.g.,
sale of goods and services, user fees, etc.) during project
implementation, include this amount. Note: Co-financing is welcomed,
but not a required feature for a DM-funded project.

7b. Sources of Co-financing (175

characters)

Identify the sources of co-financing and indicate whether the

commitments have been confirmed. If you expect that the project will
generate income, specify the source of self-generating income.
Indicate the assumptions behind the estimated project-generated
income (volume / price) and indicate if marketing research has been
conducted or other evidence that supports this estimate.

8a. Total DM Funding Requested

IMPORTANT This figure identifies the exact amount you plan to

request from the DM. It should be equivalent to the difference
between line #7a and line #6. It is calculated automatically. The total
amount cannot exceed US$200,000.

8b. Please enter comments or

explanations regarding project
costs (750 characters)

Enter descriptive information for works or goods whose cost exceeds

US$20,000 per unit. Enter N/A if not applicable.

Step-by-step Instructions for completing DM2009 Proposal Form. Actual proposals must
be submitted through our online application at www.developmentmarketplace.org.
- 13 -

12.8: Call for Proposals - Kachwekano Profiles

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

CALL PROFILES
Southwestern Agro-ecological Zone (Kachwekano) ZCARDF Research Call Round
01 for 2006
Call Ref: Kachwekano ZARDF 06/01/01
Research area 1: Comparative analysis of major agro-enterprises for development of
commercially oriented agriculture in the Southwestern Agro-ecological Zone

Background
One of the fundamental principles of the National Agricultural Research Policy 2003 ensures
generation and promotion of strategic technologies, information and services that will enable
producers make rational decisions in order to exploit market opportunities that abound locally,
nationally, regionally and internationally and enhance commercialization of agricultural activities
in the country. Smallholder farmers in Uganda and particularly in the Southwestern Zone
(Kachwekano) have not used the production potential of the zone to respond to opportunities
made available by the expanding markets and the new technologies. This is mainly due to poor
understanding of the existing opportunities, inadequate knowledge on the use of the new
technologies coupled with poor decision-making in the choice of enterprises. Due to the poor
marketing systems and poor market access, farmers have made losses either through direct loss of
produce/products due to spoilage in storage or through selling at throw away prices. In order to
enhance competitiveness and develop commercially oriented agriculture in the zone, there is need
to improve on the productivity and market access to benefit the smallholder producers. To this
end therefore, it is necessary to carry out comparative analysis of major agro-enterprises in the
zone as a first step towards achieving this. Although NAADS is carrying out enterprise selection
with farmer groups, hard data for informed decision-making is often not available.
Research and development assignment of call
In this call for concept notes, comparative analysis of major agro-enterprises for development of
commercially oriented agriculture in the Southwestern Agro-ecological Zone will be the main
focus of the study geared towards assisting the smallholders respond to local, national and
regional markets for their agricultural products thus enhancing competitiveness in the
Southwestern Agro-ecological Zone. Smallholders often lack adequate capacity for collective
action for massive production and marketing of their products. The underlying hypothesis is that
provision of information from comparative analysis of the predominant agro-enterprises in the
zone will lead to increased access to markets and consequently stimulate increased productivity
and commercialization, through the right choice of enterprises and use of improved technologies.
This is expected to be achieved through analysis and understanding of: farm level productivity,
cost of production, transaction costs, demand and marketing chains for the various identified
priority commodities and coming up with concrete recommendations for the zone. The study
should also integrate the most effective market information system into the production system.

NARO

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

Research design features
The concept note MUST indicate a multidisciplinary approach involving multiple
stakeholders/collaborators in the investigating team (minimum 2 collaborators). It should indicate
the multiple objectives addressing all the aspects of the problem running from production to
processing and marketing. The concept note should also reflect a system-based approach focused
on the multiple objectives. The research questions/hypothesis to be answered have to be clearly
defined and methods and approaches to answer each question have to be described, stating how
the beneficiaries will be involved, who they are and how the research will benefit them. The
experimental/study design, methods of data collection, analysis and interpretation should be
clearly outlined. The concept note should point out the challenges the team is likely to encounter
in the implementation of the proposed activities and how they will address these challenges.
The concept note should outline the method for scaling-up and include a monitoring and
evaluation strategy and plan to be used. Consider innovative M&E methods that engage
stakeholders in the process as well as use of clear indicators and milestones. The means of
disseminating the results from the research should be described and should be as innovative as
possible. A brief time frame for implementation specifying persons/institutions responsible for
each activity should be included in the concept note.
Budget requirements
It may not be necessary to provide a detailed budget at this stage but the total cost of the project
should be provided. Please note that:
1. The total cost of each project should not exceed US $ 50,000 or its equivalent in Uganda
shillings for a period not exceeding 3 years.
2. The scheme covers only direct research costs and can cover professional fees for time
bound activities. Stipend for post-graduate students and per diem for the student
supervision are permissible
3. The scheme does not cover salaries, wages and allowances such as medical, house,
mileage, etc.
4. An overhead allowance of 8 and 15% of the total budget is payable to grantees
institutions for field or laboratory based research respectively.
Other issues related to the call
Concept notes with innovations in the following areas will earn more merit:
Critical identification of stakeholders in the research
Strategy to address social equity and particularly gender concerns and other crosscutting
issues of concern to the study
Clear indicators and milestones for monitoring the specified outputs
Innovative approaches to the problem and clear description of stakeholder participation

CALL PROFILES
Southwestern Agro-ecological Zone (Kachwekano) ZCARDF Research Call Round
01 for 2006

NARO

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

Call Ref: Kachwekano ZARDF 06/01/02.
Research area 2: Development of innovative approaches for improved technology packaging
and dissemination in the Southwestern Zone
Background
The research system has developed and released many technologies for improving agricultural
production at various levels and particularly focussing on smallholder producers. It is assumed
that use of these technologies will increase productivity with increased incomes at household
levels thus reducing levels of poverty and improving the livelihoods of the producers. For various
reasons, most smallholder farmers in the zone have not been able to adopt and use these
technologies. Farmers have either not been able to afford the technologies or if they are available
to them they are not able to apply them properly because information on the use of these
technologies is not available. Proper technology delivery mechanisms which offer incentives to
the users are necessary to accompany any technology if it is to be successfully adopted. A lot of
technologies developed by NARO and other research entities have thus remained on shelf for lack
of accompanying information materials. For the clients to benefit from these technologies, there
is need to develop innovative approaches and mechanisms for developing these information
materials and disseminate these to the various target clients/uptake pathways.
Research and development assignment of call
This call targets proposals which aim at development of innovative approaches/mechanisms for
improved packaging and dissemination of available technologies on priority agro-enterprises and
their products being promoted in the zone for use by the clients as a major step towards increased
productivity and competitiveness of the Southwestern agro-ecological zone. The concept note
should therefore consider making an inventory of the available technologies for the different
priority enterprises being promoted in the zone together with their products and the type of clients
likely to engage in these technologies. The concept note should further identify the best ways to
develop suitable information materials on these technologies for the various types of clients
identified and make them reach these clients. To this effect, the potential uptakepathways/institutions and the type of partnership linkages envisaged should be clearly established
for each technology packaged. The pre-tested information materials from this endeavour should
form the basis for recommendation for dissemination for different types of technologies to be
used by agricultural advisory services in the zone.
Research design features
The concept note MUST indicate a multidisciplinary approach involving multiple
stakeholders/collaborators in the investigating team (minimum 2 collaborators). It should indicate
the multiple objectives addressing all the aspects of the problem running from production to
processing and marketing. The concept note should also reflect a system-based approach focused
on the multiple objectives. The research questions/hypothesis to be answered must be clearly
defined and methods and approaches to answer each question have to be described, stating how
the beneficiaries will be involved, who they are and how the research will benefit them. The

NARO

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

experimental/study design, methods of data collection, analysis and interpretation should be
clearly outlined. The concept note should point out the challenges the team is likely to encounter
in the implementation of the proposed activities and how they will address these challenges.
The concept note should outline the method for scaling-up and include a monitoring and
evaluation strategy and plan to be used. Consider innovative M&E methods that engage
stakeholders in the process as well as use of clear indicators and milestones. The means of
disseminating the results from the research should be described and should be as innovative as
possible. A brief time frame for implementation specifying persons/institutions responsible for
each activity should be included in the concept note.
Budget requirements
It may not be necessary to provide a detailed budget at this stage but the total cost of the project
should be provided. Please note that:
1. The total cost of each project should not exceed US $50,000 or its equivalent in Uganda
shillings for a period not exceeding 3 years.
2. The scheme covers only direct research costs and can cover professional fees for time
bound activities. Stipend for post-graduate students and per diem for the student
supervision are permissible
3. The scheme does not cover salaries, wages and allowances such as medical, house,
mileage, etc.
4. An overhead allowance of 8 and 15% of the total budget is payable to grantees
institutions for field or laboratory based research respectively.
Other issues related to the call
Concept notes with innovations in the following areas will earn more merit:
Critical identification of stakeholders in the research
Strategy to address social equity and particularly gender concerns and other crosscutting
issues of concern to the study
Clear indicators and milestones for monitoring the specified outputs
Innovative approaches to the problem and clear description of stakeholder participation

CALL PROFILES
Southwestern Agro-ecological Zone (Kachwekano) ZCARDF Research Call Round
01 for 2006
Call Ref: Kachwekano ZARDF 06/01/03
Research area 3: Post harvest handling, processing and product development
Background
Lack of technologies/innovations for value-adding, post-harvest conservation and handling and
processing, and the limited diversification of agricultural products in general, have hampered the

NARO

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

full realization of opportunities which are potentially available for the farmers in the
Southwestern zone to improve their livelihoods. Limited processing technologies therefore limit
the marketability of commodity enterprises in the zone. Utilization of the existing value-adding
technologies/innovations and their commercialization through various market channels will
enhance productivity and competitiveness of the agricultural system in the zone. However, weak
farmer institutions in the areas of production, processing and marketing do not allow for this to be
fully attained.
In Kachwekano zone, a lot of potatoes for example are grown by smallholders. Due to the narrow
utilization base for crops in general, liquidity and cash flow problems experienced soon after the
harvest, farmers are forced to sell their produce at low prices for lack of technologies to add value
or even extend shelf life until prices improve. Farmers are often not organized into marketing
groups so as to have a bargaining power for higher prices since they do individual marketing. The
narrow utilization base of the potato does not give the farmers enough incentives to specialize in
planting certain varieties in large quantities for a definite use so as to create a good condition for
collective bargaining.
Research and development assignment of call
In this call for concept notes, post-harvest handling, processing and product development for the
market will be the main focus of the study through identifying/developing and promoting
technologies/innovations for value addition, post-harvest handling and processing and utilization
of various available market channels (both conventional and niche markets) for the diversified
value-added potato products. The study should look into ways to store and preserve potatoes for
gradual release to the market to avoid a glut in the market and devise the best marketing strategies
for potato. In this regard, innovations in processing potatoes into non-perishable products should
be looked into. Innovations which give the farmers better incentives in the growing of potato in
the zone would increase the benefits derived from the crop. The study will also be expected to
identify farmer institutions and relevant stakeholders for production, marketing and processing
and value addition of potato in the zone and identify appropriate ways to link the producers and
processors to the market. In this regard, the concept note should attempt to identify and
recommend certain varieties for particular uses for growing by the farmers.
Research design features
The concept note MUST indicate a multidisciplinary approach involving multiple
stakeholders/collaborators in the investigating team (minimum 2 collaborators). It should indicate
the multiple objectives addressing all the aspects of the problem running from production to
processing and marketing. The concept note should also reflect a system-based approach focused
on the multiple objectives. The research questions/hypothesis to be answered have to be clearly
defined and methods and approaches to answer each question have to be described, stating how
the beneficiaries will be involved, who they are and how the research will benefit them. The
experimental/study design, methods of data collection, analysis and interpretation should be
clearly outlined. The concept note should point out the challenges the team is likely to encounter
in the implementation of the proposed activities and how they will meet these challenges.
The concept note should outline the method for scaling-up and the monitoring and evaluation
strategy and plan to be used. Consider innovative M&E methods that engage stakeholders in the

NARO

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION

process as well as use of clear indicators and milestones. The means of disseminating the results
from the research should be described and should be as innovative as possible. A brief time frame
for implementation specifying persons/institutions responsible for each activity should be
included in the concept note.
Budget requirements
It may not be necessary to provide a detailed budget at this stage but the total cost of the project
should be provided. Please note that:
1. The total cost of each project should not exceed US $50,000 or its equivalent in Uganda
shillings for a period not exceeding 3 years.
2. The scheme covers only direct research costs and can cover professional fees for time
bound activities. Stipend for post-graduate students and per diem for the student
supervision are permissible
3. The scheme does not cover salaries, wages and allowances such as medical, housing,
mileage, etc.
4. An overhead allowance of 8 and 15% of the total budget is payable to grantees
institutions for field or laboratory based research respectively.
Other issues related to the call
Concept notes with innovations in the following areas will earn more merit:
Critical identification of stakeholders in the research
Strategy to address social equity and particularly gender concerns and other crosscutting
issues of concern to the study
Clear indicators and milestones for monitoring the specified outputs
Innovative approaches to the problem and clear description of stakeholder participation

NARO

12.9: CAPRI Request for Proposals - Sponsoring Empirical Research on

Securing Access to Natural Resources
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Sponsoring Empirical Research on
Securing Access to Natural Resources

The CGIAR Systemwide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi) invites
participating CGIAR centres to respond to this Request for Proposals (RFP), in collaboration with
partner institutions in the countries of the research.
About the CAPRi Program
CAPRi aims to promote comparative research on the role played by collective action and
property rights institutions for poverty reduction with particular reference to the management of
natural resource systems in developing countries. The program builds on CGIAR research on
these topics in the CGIAR centres and in Systemwide Programs. The Collective Action and
Property Rights Program is not intended to replace or redefine the numerous current existing
projects in these areas, but rather to complement and extend ongoing efforts, promote new
research where gaps are identified, and forge new linkages between Centres and non-CGIAR
partners.
CAPRi-funded research is intended to contribute to policies and practices that reduce rural
poverty by analyzing and disseminating knowledge on the ways that collective action and property
rights institutions influence the livelihood of the rural poor as well as the efficiency, equity and
sustainability of natural resource use.
Ensuring that the poor have access to the natural resources vital for their livelihoods is
important to CAPRis overall goal of contributing to poverty reduction. The topic of securing access
cross cuts several of the past research projects sponsored by CAPRi and provides a potential to
provide further insight into each of CAPRis priority research themes.
Rationale
Several major global and local dynamics, such as climate change, trends in global economy,
and demographic shifts, are affecting the livelihoods of the poor in the developing world. These
and other changes present new challenges to the resource-dependent communities. In 2008,
CAPRi became involved in several initiatives to explore the effects of climate change on the rights
to resources of the poor (see http://www.capri.cgiar.org/wks_0508.asp and
http://www.capri.cgiar.org/wks_1008.asp). However, since the overall goal of CAPRi calls for a
broader focus on natural resources and the institutions of collective action and property rights, the
topic of Securing Access to Resources fits with most of CAPRis core themes and explores the
effects of other challenges besides climate change on the livelihoods of the poor.
In this call for proposals, we are interested in new research that explores both the threats
that the poor face in accessing and benefitting from natural resources and the approaches
used to counter these threats that are based on the institutions of collective action and
property rights.
Under threats, CAPRi understands the following issues as representative of the current major
challenges (other major threats can also be considered):
High-value uses of resources such as biofuel crop production, mining, large plantations for
cash crops;
Formalization of property rights that disregard customary rights held by the poor;
Conflicts, both resource-related and geopolitical;

 Demographic shifts;
Global climate change;
Gender inequality in access to and benefits from resources.
There are various mechanisms that can be used to counter these threats. The following
responses are based on changes in the institutions of property rights:
Alternative forms of recognition of property rights;
Developing a framework for free, prior, informed consent (FPIC) and strengthening of the
negotiating capacity of the poor, including indigenous groups;
Promoting equitable access for women and other disadvantaged groups (ethnic minorities,
etc).
On the collective action side, approaches may include:
Strengthening local institutions;
Collective enterprise development;
Institutions of collective action as a basis for local resilience.
Further research on these threats and resolution mechanisms would show how the
institutions of collective action and property rights can be used to deal with current challenges
experienced by the resource-dependent communities and provide alternative policy approaches to
deal with these challenges. Through this call, we invite proposals to further investigate these
issues.

Objectives
The objectives of sponsoring empirical research through the CAPRi program are to:
1. Demonstrate the importance of collective action and property rights issues for the CGIAR's
mandate, and mobilize attention and resources for collective action and property rights
research within the CGIAR, partner institutions in developing countries, and policymakers at all
levels;
2. Build or strengthen capacity to do such research in the CGIAR and partner institutions in
developing countries.
The main objective of this call for proposals is to develop policy-relevant findings on the threats
that the poor face in accessing resources vital for their livelihoods and the approaches they
currently use or can potentially use to secure access to these resources based on the institutions
of collective action and property rights. The proposed research should aim to develop and
disseminate best practices for methodologies to investigate the challenges to access to natural
resources and how these challenges can be countered with mechanisms based on the institutions
of collective action and property rights.
Proposals should address at least one of the following topics:

Threats that the poor face in accessing vital natural resources, which have implications for
collective action and property rights: Many challenges rising out of new global trends are
limiting or preventing the poor from accessing and benefitting from natural resources. As
outlined above, these threats range from climatic distresses to demographic changes to
emerging economic trends. Research proposals could investigate the nature of these
challenges and their effect on the institutions that are important for the livelihoods of the
poor, such as the rights to access and benefit from resources, and the ability to organize

and the effectiveness of groups and networks in fulfilling their objectives.

Approaches to counter threats to resource access that are based on property rights
institutions: As outlined above, the institutions of property rights can be used in various
ways to ensure that the poor have a secure access to natural resources. While the threats
to access may undermine the rights to resources, there are new and innovative ways that
are being used by organizations working to help the poor to overcome these threats.
Research on this topic could investigate these new mechanisms adopted to secure the
property rights of the poor as well as investigate alternative forms of recognition of rights
that would enable the poor to effectively deal with emerging resource-related challenges. In
this context, property rights may become both the objective (i.e. secure access) and the
means to achieving the objective (innovative ways to re-define property rights). Special
attention could be given to the examination of how these approaches can be applied to
women, and whether new policy and programmatic instruments could be developed to
secure access to resources for women.

Approaches to secure access to resources that are rooted in collective action:

Similarly to the institutions of property rights, collective action institutions of the poor offer
numerous innovative and creative solutions to the increasing threats on their resources.
CAPRis previous work has shown that groups and networks of the poor play a vital role in
supporting and enhancing their livelihoods. Research under this topic could investigate the
applicability of collective action to securing access to resources in the face of new
challenges and how the groups and networks adapt to their new roles and functions to fulfill
these new objectives. As with property rights, the role of collective action in securing access
to resources for women can be examined under this topic. Another possible research
question applicable both to this topic and the one above is the link between collective action
and property rights in the context of new global challenges and the adaptability of both
institutions to deal with the emerging resource-related threats.

Research sponsored under this RFP is expected to build on current research in the CGIAR,
such as either a) projects that already address the issues of collective action or property rights
issues in natural resources or b) other ongoing research that has identified the relevance of
collective action and property rights in the face of emerging threats to resource access, but has not
yet been able to devote research to the topic of this RFP.
CAPRi would provide up to $150,000 per project. It is expected that funds from CAPRi would
be supplemented from another source (Center core or another donor). Individual projects can last
for one to 2.5 years, but would receive a maximum of $150,000 from CAPRi over the duration of
the project. Any CGIAR center, in partnership with national research institutions, may submit
proposals for these funds.
Selected projects would be required to submit at least one paper to the CAPRi Working Paper
series, and to contribute actively in the discussions on overcoming threats and securing access to
resources, through email exchanges, and by participating in an international workshop.1 All
projects will be required to submit two financial and narrative progress reports annually: a short
summary report on the first 6 months of the year in August each year, and a more detailed annual
report in February of the following year. The final narrative and financial report is due no later than
two months after the grant period. Three copies of all publications and papers from the project
should be provided to the CAPRi Coordinator.
Support for this research and the overall CAPRi program is provided by the governments of
1

Expensesforparticipationintheworkshopshouldbefactoredintotheprojectcosts.

Norway and Italy, and the World Bank.

Criteria for grant selection
1. Investigates the threats that the poor face in accessing resources and approaches used to
secure this access as outlined in this RFP.
2. Proposes the application of appropriate research methodology, which might include a mix of
quantitative and qualitative methods ensuring overall quality of proposed research;
3. Includes strong involvement of national research partners (including a letter of intent to
participate from at least one research institution and/or NGO in the country of research);
4. Addresses critical policy issue, potential importance of findings for CGIAR mandate;
5. Outlines explicit plans for outreach and fostering broad impact (e.g. fostering cooperation with
critical actors in the policy arena, including government, NGOs and civil society);
6. Links to other research of the CGIAR center (e.g. brings collective action and/or property rights
issues into other studies that the center has in its Medium Term Plan);
7. Aims to build or strengthen capacity to do social science research in the CGIAR and partner
institutions in developing countries.
Proposals will be reviewed according to these criteria by an independent Proposal Review
Panel. The review panel will give its recommendations on the proposals to the CAPRi Executive
Committee, which will make the final selection, based on the review panels recommendations. In
case proposals are of similar quality, preference will be given to those centres that have not
received a previous CAPRi research grant.
Who may apply
Any CGIAR center who is a member of the CAPRi Program may apply, in collaboration with at
least one partner organization (research institute or NGO) in the country or countries of research.
Other collaborating partners based in industrialized countries may also be included. Collaborative
proposals from more than one CGIAR center are encouraged, but collaboration with other CGIAR
centres is not a substitute for national partners in the countries of research. National institutes in
developing countries may initiate the research project, but substantial involvement of a CGIAR
center is required, and the proposal must be submitted by the CGIAR center. Funds will be
remitted to the CGIAR institution, and they are responsible for accounting and deliverables. A draft
contract can be shared with applying CGIAR centres upon request.
Applying research teams are requested to keep the liaison from the submitting center
informed,2 to allow centres to coordinate their submissions. A CGIAR center can submit more than
one proposal, provided that all submissions are endorsed by that center.
Process and timetable
Complete proposals should be sent by mail and must be received by, not postmarked
by, the due date.
Faxed proposals will be accepted, provided a cover note indicates that the original is being sent
by express mail before the deadline. All submissions will receive notification upon receipt of their
application.

E-mail submissions are acceptable under the following conditions:

2 For a list of liaisons, see http://www.capri.cgiar.org/member.asp#steerexec

1) E-mail submissions should be sent to capri-proposals@cgiar.org. Please indicate in the

subject line: grant application.
2) Signed letters of support need to be either sent by fax3 or attached as pdf files (pdf files
need to include the relevant letterhead and signature); AND
3) The hardcopies that include ALL the original documents should be sent by express mail
before the deadline.
Please note that emails over 10 MB cannot be accepted; if the attachments are too large,
they should be split and sent in separate emails.
Only complete applications will be accepted. The applicants should ensure the
completeness of the application packet since the electronic and mailed submissions will
not be opened until the day after the submission deadline.
April 15, 2009

Proposals due.

April 16, 2009

Opening of proposals, forwarding to external review panel.

May 11, 2009

Executive Committee awards the grants.

May 15, 2009 Announcement of research awards.

How to apply
Two copies of your proposal, including application form and all requested supplementary material,
should be mailed to:
German Gavino
Chief Accountant
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
2033 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006 USA
Late proposals or proposal components cannot be accepted.
Questions
Any questions regarding this RFP should be directed to:
Ruth Meinzen-Dick
r.meinzen-dick@cgiar.org

or

Helen Markelova
h.markelova@cgiar.org
phone: 1-202-862-5664

Potential applicants are encouraged to contact Ruth or Helen to indicate their interest, and ask any
questions, in order to make sure the proposals submitted are as strong as possible.
Appeals
Applicants can appeal to the decision of the Executive Committee by May 29, 2009 by contacting
one of following Executive Committee members indicating the reason for the appeal:
Juan-Camilo Cardenas, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia: jccarden@uniandes.edu.co

Faxes should be addressed to German Gavino (IFPRI), +1-202-467-4439.

Nontokozo Nemarundwe, University of Zimbabwe and PhytoTrade Africa, Zimbabwe:

nonto@phytotradeafrica.com

CGIAR Systemwide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights

2009 Grant Application
(max 15 pages)
Please note:

All CGIAR Centres submitting proposals must provide all of the information requested to be
considered for funding.

Proposals do not need to be submitted on original forms--word processed versions using this
format are acceptable.

Submit two copies of all material, including all requested attachments.

Submit the completed checklist along with your grant application.

Name of CGIAR Center: _____________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________________

Lead researcher: _______________________________________

(include title)
Telephone: ____________________ Fax: _____________________
Email of lead researcher:

______________________

Mailing address of lead researcher:_________________________________

(if different from Center address)

Amount requested: US$ ____________Total project budget: US$ ______________

Collaborating organization(s): ________________________________________________

Countries of project: ______________________________________________

Proposed project period: from _______________ to ______________________
Proposed project title and a 12 sentence description of this project:

CAPRi Grant Application, 2009

1.

Purpose for which funds are requested [approx. 10 pages for questions under item 1]

1.1. Project Description: Identify goals, objectives, background and key concepts.
1.2. Research methods: Describe the methods to be used.
1.3. Contributions to the understanding of the role of collective action and property rights in
securing access to resources for the poor.
1.4. Policy relevance: Indicate the main policy questions that this research addresses and why
these are important for poverty reduction.
1.5. Capacity strengthening: Indicate how the proposed research will contribute to strengthening
capacity to undertake further work on collective action or property rights for poverty reduction.
1.6. Work plan: Describe plans for implementing the research project, including the dates for
launching and ending different phases of the project and noting specifically how the requested
funds will be used.
2.

Outputs
What are the intended outcomes and deliverables that will arise from the research project?
Include dates of expected outputs.

3. Outreach, dissemination and impact

3.1. What impacts are envisaged for this project? Who are the critical actors, who have to be
involved to achieve these impacts? How will these actors be integrated into the project?
3.2. What plan is there for dissemination of research results? Specify target audience(s) and
means of dissemination (e.g. workshops, publications, extension, etc.), including expected
dates.
4.

Staffing
Note who will lead the research project and be the primary point of contact regarding progress
and outcomes of the project. Attach the CVs of the project leader and staff with primary
responsibility for Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPR) research. (If a collaborating
institution is a major source of CAPR research capacity, include experts from that
organization.)

5.

Collaboration
List all major collaborators (individuals and their organizational affiliation) in the research
project and specifically describe their proposed participation in the project. A letter of intent to
collaborate from each partner institution, including the lead CGIAR center, should be attached,
or forwarded by the collaborating organization prior to the proposal deadline.

6.

Bibliography
Materials relating to the proposed research, including key theoretical and applied research on
the topic.

7.

Background/capacity of your Center to do work on collective action and property rights

Briefly describe how CAPRi relates to your organization's overall mission, goals, and
objectives; current programs and activities.

8. Other funding sources

List which other donor(s) have been approached and/or committed funds to this research project
and how much.
Source

$ Committed

$ Pending Expected Decision Date

________________

___________

____________

_______________

________________

___________

___________

_______________

________________

___________

___________

_______________

________________

___________

___________

_______________

________________

___________

___________

_______________

9.

Project budget (a detailed budget in your institutes budget format may be attached, in
addition to this summary form)
Proposed project period (month/year - month/year):______/____-____/______
_______________________________________________________________
Revenues: CAPRi
Other donors (specify)

US$___________
US$___________

______________________________________________________
Expenditures (by institute)

CGIAR
center

partner
institute 1

partner
institute 2

Salaries and benefits4

Consultants and hired
field staff
Data collection
Conferences/meetings
Training and extension
Printing/publications
Travel5
Communication costs
Other expenses
(specify)
Subtotal
Administrative overhead
(___%)6
TOTAL

GRAND TOTAL
US$

US$

US$

US$

Checklist of attachments
Please submit two copies of each of the following:
____

this checklist, on the cover of the proposal

____

cover letter of support from host CGIAR center

____

completed grant application form (Maximum length 15 pages)

____

letters from main collaborating organizations relevant to this proposal

____

CVs of project leader and researchers primarily responsible for work on CAPRi issues

____

any supplemental materials regarding your center or collaborating institute's work on

collective action and property rights (please list)

Specify on a separate page for each participating institute: Name of each researcher, daily rate in US$, and
number of days on the project.
5
Not data collection related, but meetings, or training/extension.
6
Note that, according to the CGIAR Center Directors Agreement on Systemwide Programs, the convening
center (in this case IFPRI) charges a 2% administrative fee on all pass-through funds such as this, and the
recipient CGIAR center can charge up to their regular overhead rate minus 2%. The ceiling of $150,000 per
project available through CAPRi includes any overhead charges.

12.10: ACP Science and Technology Programme

Guidelines for Grant Applicants

The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific

Group of States (ACP Secretariat)

ACP Science and Technology Programme1

Guidelines for Grant Applicants

Open Call for Proposals - 2008

9th European Development Fund

and
Budget line 21.031700
Reference: EuropeAid/127860/D/ACT/ACP
Deadline for submission of applications: 27 February 2009

(formerly called Programme for Science and Technology Innovations and Capacity Building PSTICB)

NOTICE
Please read these Guidelines for Grant Applicants with all due care in order to complete the
Grant Application Form (see Annex A).

Please note that an evaluation of your Full Application Form (Part B of the Grant
Application Form) will only be performed if your Concept Note (Part A of the Grant
Application Form) is provisionally selected. Hereafter, the eligibility conformity check will
only be performed for those proposals that have been provisionally selected according to the
score obtained after the complete evaluation, on the basis of: (a) the supporting documents
requested by the ACP Secretariat and (b) the Declaration by the Applicant (Section VI of Part
B of the Grant Application Form) signed and sent together with the application.

Table of contents
DEFINITIONS ....................................................................................................... 4
1.

2.

ACP SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMME ............................. 6

1.1

Background .................................................................................................................... 6

1.2

Objectives of the programme and priority issues........................................................ 7

1.3

Financial allocation provided by the ACP Secretariat ............................................... 8

RULES FOR THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS .......................................... 10

2.1

2.3

Eligibility criteria ......................................................................................................... 10

2.1.1
Eligibility of Applicants: who may apply ? ..................................................... 10
2.1.2
Partnerships and eligibility of partners ............................................................ 14
2.1.3
Eligible Actions: Actions for which an application may be made ................... 16
2.1.4
Eligibility of costs: costs which may be taken into consideration for the grant18
How to apply and the procedures to follow ............................................................... 21
2.2.1
Application form.............................................................................................. 21
2.2.2
Where and how to send the applications.......................................................... 21
2.2.3
Deadline for submission of applications .......................................................... 24
2.2.4
Acknowledgement of receipt ........................................................................... 24
2.2.5
Further information.......................................................................................... 24
Evaluation and selection of applications .................................................................... 25

2.4

Submission of supporting documents for provisionally selected proposals ............ 30

2.5

Notification of the ACP Secretariats decision .......................................................... 32

2.5.1 Content of the decision ......................................................................................... 32
2.5.2 Indicative time table.............................................................................................. 32
Conditions applicable to implementation of the Action following the ACP
Secretariat's decision to award a grant ...................................................................... 33

2.2

2.6

3.

LIST OF ANNEXES..................................................................................... 34

DEFINITIONS

ACP
Action or Project
Applicant
Associate

AU
Beneficiary
BUDGET
EC
EDCTP
EDF contribution

EDF
EEA
EFTA
Established ACP Science
and Technology network

EU
FP7
INCO
NEPAD
OCT
Own contribution

Partner
Partnership

S&T
SADC

African, Caribbean and Pacific.

The set of activities the partnership proposes to carry out.
The lead institution within the partnership that submits the proposal
and, if the proposal is selected, signs the grant contract.
Organisation that has a real role in the Action but cannot receive
funding from this Programme, with the exception of per diem or travel
costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to
in Section 2.1.1. The associates have to be mentioned in Part B Section
IV of the Grant Application Form (Associates of the Applicant
participating in the Action).
African Union.
The Applicant as the contracting party with whom a grant contract will
be signed, if the proposal is selected.
The European Communities general budget.
European Community.
The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership.
The amount of EDF grant the partnership requests. It cannot exceed
85% of the total eligible costs and must be comprised within the
minimum and maximum amounts specified in Section 1.3.
European Development Fund.
European Economic Area.
European Free Trade Association.
A consortium of organisations existing prior to submitting an
application and fulfilling the following criteria:
- all network members and the network headquarters are located in
eligible countries;
- the network has a legal status;
- the network is applying in its own right; and
- the network has been registered for a minimum of two years
European Union.
Seventh Framework Programme for research and technology
development.
International Cooperation.
New Partnership for Africas Development.
Overseas Countries and Territories.
The part of the total eligible costs funded from the Applicant's or
partners' own resources, or from sources other than the budget of the
European Community or the European Development Fund, subject to
the specifications of Section 2.1.4.
The institution - other than the Applicant that is a member of the
partnership.
The grouping of institutions, i.e., the Applicant and its partners,
constituted for the purpose of submitting an application and, if
successful, for implementing the Action. It does not have to exist
previously, and its constitution has to be demonstrated by the signed
Partnership Statements required under Section III of the Grant
Application Form.
Science and Technology
Southern African Development Community.

Subcontractors

Total eligible costs

UNESCO

The grant beneficiaries have the possibility to award contracts to

subcontractors for necessary limited parts of the Action they cannot
execute themselves, e.g., the supply of products, execution of works, or
provision of services. They are neither partners nor associates, and are
subject to the General Conditions and the Procurement Rules set out in
the Annexes II and IV to the standard Grant Contract (see Annex F of
these Guidelines).
The sum of the EDF (and/or Budget) contribution and own
contribution, subject to the specifications of Section 2.1.4.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Other terms used in the present Guidelines are defined in the glossary to the Practical Guide
to Contract procedures for EC external actions which is available at the following Internet
address:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/documents/execution/edf_general/edf_
a1glossary_en.doc

1.

ACP SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMME

1.1

BACKGROUND

The ACP Science and Technology Programme2 originates from the need of a joint and
systematic ACP-EU (African Caribbean and Pacific European Union) approach in the field
of research and innovations and responds to the conclusions of the 2002 Cape Town ACP
Ministerial Forum on Research and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD). Developed in the context of the EC's Strategy for Sustainable
Development, it will contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals 1, 7 and 8
by targeting poverty eradication, focusing on building and enhancing strong scientific and
technological capacity to support research, development and innovation in the ACP region,
and enabling the identification and formulation of activities or policies that are critical to
sustainable development.
To be successful, the Programme has to facilitate the creation or strengthening of frameworks
for regional and sub-regional co-operation and of inter-institutional co-operation in the ACP
region in the field of science and technology. As such, it is linked to the Education and
Training and Poverty Reduction initiatives of the European Parliament and Council (July
2001 and March 2002), and the Development Council resolution of 30 May 2002. The ACP
Science and Technology Programme is also consistent with The European Consensus on
Development (2005) and the Africa-EU Strategy Partnership. In the context of this latter
partnership (endorsed at the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon, December 2007), a Joint EUAfrica Strategy has been adopted, on the basis of which a First Action Plan 2008-2010 for
the implementation of the Africa-EU strategic partnership has been developed. It identifies 8
Africa-EU Partnerships, of which one is on science, information society and space. It
addresses a number of priority actions: a) Support the development of an inclusive
information society in Africa; b) Support Science and Technology Capacity Building in
Africa and Implement Africa's Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action; and c)
Enhance co-operation on space applications and technology.
Furthermore, the Programme is complemented by other EC (European Community) funded
initiatives, such as the Erasmus Mundus, and by the EC research programmes International
Cooperation (INCO) and The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials
Partnership (EDCTP).
The Programme has also been developed in the context of other initiatives with similar
objectives, such as EDULINK, European initiatives in Water and Energy, the Seventh
Framework Programme for research and technology development (FP7), the Africas
Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action of the African Union / New Partnership
for Africas Development - AU/NEPAD - (August 2005), the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) supported Action Plan on Higher Education
in Africa and SADC bilateral co-operation programmes.
The origin of this Programme is based on the conviction that one of the requirements for an
effective fight against poverty in the ACP countries is the application of knowledge gained
from Science and Technology (S&T), both on a local as on a regional level. Any systematic
approach to an improved science and technology capacity and towards applying its results and
recommendations is a national and regional task. Therefore, any framework for action needs
to be defined by appropriate S&T policies which more than likely differ from country to
country. Nevertheless, in order for S&T policies to be successful in contributing to a fight
against poverty, their identification, formulation, implementation and evaluation should
involve a rather broad group of concerned actors: government and policy makers, academic
2

The name formerly used was Programme for Science and Technology Innovations and Capacity Building
PSTICB.

institutions, centres of excellence, private sector and civil society. Here is where the ACP
Science and Technology Programme comes in. Whereas the national governments are
obviously responsible for the S&T policies, the ACP Science and Technology Programme
provides an opportunity for the above mentioned actors (governmental institutions and
agencies, policy makers, academia, centres of excellence, private sector and civil society) to
strengthen their capacity to play their distinctive roles in this process: to be able to address
development needs, to design appropriate instruments for collaborative research and to
manage the research capacity in the country concerned. This is why the focus of the
Programme is on the ACP countries, their institutions and actors (different from, yet
complementary to programmes, such as FP7) and the strengthening of the networking of
ACP institutions in a given country and in a region as a whole to benefit from a
complementation of the different points of views, capacities and experiences. The ACP
Science and Technology Programme is, therefore, not limited to a particular kind of
institution like for instance Higher Education Institutions (as is the case of EDULINK). It has
a very practical approach to the most urgent development needs as defined in previous
policy documents, such as the Cape Town Declaration on Research for Sustainable
Development. This is why the ACP Science and Technology Programme expects to receive
proposals in the fields of quality health care, environmental research activities, energy,
transport, agriculture and agro-industry, as well as sustainable trade. The ACP Science and
Technology Programme is not limited to one area, but encompassing all 79 ACP Member
States and the modalities of its execution reflect the partnership for development that
marks the new relationship between the European Union and the ACP Member States.
One concrete expression of this EU-ACP partnership is the fact that different from (and
complementary to) other sectoral EU initiatives in similar fields, this Programme is being
implemented by the ACP Secretariat directly in a decentralized ex ante management mode.

1.2

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME AND PRIORITY ISSUES

The overall objective of the ACP Science and Technology Programme is to support ACP
countries in formulating and implementing science and technology policies that can lead to
sustainable development and to poverty reduction through economic growth and progressive
integration in the world economy.
The purpose of the Programme is to strengthen the internal science and technology capacity
of ACP countries at three levels:

Institutional, administrative and policy making levels.

Academic research and technology.

Business and civil society.

The Programme emphasizes the promotion of interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable

development along three main axes, to achieve five results:

Co-ordination and networking in applied research (Axis 1).

Result 1: Networks established or consolidated at intra ACP-level with linkages to
international networks.
Result 2: Increased capacity to assess research needs to facilitate the formulation
and implementation of research policies.

Instruments for collaborative research (Axis 2).

Result 3: Increased capacity and incentives to research network partners to prepare

and submit project proposals to funding

Management of research activities and reinforcement of research quality (Axis 3).

Result 4: Research results better capitalized and disseminated.
Result 5: Quality of research results improved.

In order to facilitate the monitoring of the Programmes impact, Applicants should clearly
specify in Part B Section I.1.6 of the Grant Application Form for which axis or combination
of axes they are applying.
The Programme will fund projects which primarily focus on quality health care,
environmental research activities, energy, transport, agriculture and agro-industry, and
sustainable trade. More details of these focus areas are given in Section 2.1.3 of these
Guidelines.

1.3

FINANCIAL ALLOCATION PROVIDED BY THE ACP SECRETARIAT

Indicative allocation of funds by lot

For this Call for Proposals, an indicative amount of EUR 28.000.000 is made available from
the 9th EDF and an indicative amount of EUR 5.000.000 is made available from budget line
21.03.17 European Programme for Reconstruction and Development. The overall indicative
amount made available under this Call for Proposals is, therefore, EUR 33.000.000. The ACP
Secretariat reserves the right not to award all available funds.
This Call for Proposals is divided into 2 Lots, one for each of the above mentioned funding
sources, with different eligibility criteria for the applicants and partners, but identical
objectives, results and activities:

Lot 1 EDF concerns the EUR 28.000.000 EDF (European Development Fund)
contribution.

Lot 2 BUDGET concerns the EUR 5.000.000 EC budget line 21.03.17 contribution.

Information on the eligibility of applicants, their partners, types of actions and costs, is
provided in Section 2.1.
Applicants have to clearly specify in the first page of the Grant Application Form for which
lot they are applying. Each proposal may be submitted under only one lot.
In the case where the financial allocation foreseen for one of the lots cannot be fully used due
to insufficient quality or number of proposals received, the ACP Secretariat reserves the right
to transfer proposals from one lot to the other under the condition that all eligibility criteria
are met.
Size of grants (for both lots)
A grant awarded under this Programme must fall between the following minimum and
maximum amounts:

minimum amount: EUR 350.000

maximum amount: EUR 1.000.000

In exceptional cases, the maximum amount for project grants can reach up to EUR 3.000.000.
Applications are considered exceptional cases whenever the Action proposed for financing
concerns at least four of the six ACP regions3 and contributes to the formulation and
implementation of regional, interregional or intraregional science and technology policies, or
whenever the Applicant is a regional or inter-state body as defined in Section 2.1.1.1 for Lot 1
EDF under heading (1) (d) and Section 2.1.1.2 for Lot 2 BUGDET under heading (1) (d).
Grants may be awarded up to the maximum of 85 % of the total eligible costs of the Action
(see also Section 2.1.4). The balance must be financed from the Applicant's or partners' own
resources, or from sources other than the European Community budget or the European
Development Fund.

Eastern Africa, Central Africa, Western Africa, Southern Africa, Caribbean and Pacific. The composition of
these regions is further detailed in Section 2.1 of these Guidelines.

2.

RULES FOR THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS

These Guidelines set out the rules for the submission, selection and implementation of
Actions financed under this Call for Proposals, in conformity with the provisions of the
Practical Guide to Contract procedures for EC external actions, which is applicable to the
present call (available on the Internet at this address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/practical_guide/documents/ne
w_prag_final_en.pdf.

2.1

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:

Applicants - which may request a grant (Section 2.1.1), and their partners (Section
2.1.2),

Actions - for which a grant may be awarded (Section 2.1.3),

Types of cost - which may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant
(Section 2.1.4).

2.1.1

Eligibility of Applicants: who may apply?

Eligibility of Applicants under Lot 1 EDF respects the rules applicable for EDF funding,
while eligibility of Applicants under Lot 2 Budget respects the rules applicable for budget
line 21.03.17.
2.1.1.1

Lot 1 EDF

(1) In order to be eligible for a grant under Lot 1 - EDF, Applicants must meet all of the
following criteria:

be legal persons and

have at least a three-year record of activities in the formulation and/or implementation

of activities in research and science and technology, for which they will have to provide
the relevant legal documents and

be directly responsible for the implementation of the Action with their partners, not
acting as an intermediary and

be able to demonstrate their experience and capacity to manage activities corresponding

in scale and complexity to those for which a grant has been requested and

have stable and sufficient sources of finance to ensure the continuity of their
organisation throughout the Action and

belong to one of the following categories:

(a) ACP national or regional science and technology organizations, research
institutions, universities, government ministries or public institutions dealing with

10

research policies, ACP national research networks, relevant civil society or private
sector actors4 or similar EU actors working in partnership with ACP counterparts;
or
(b) Regional science and technology institutions, with separate legal status, not
belonging to any national system but formally recognised by one of the eligible
countries; or
(c) Established ACP science and technology networks5 provided that: all network
members and the network headquarters are located in eligible countries; the
network has a legal status; the network is applying in its own right; and the
network has been registered for a minimum of two years.6
(d) The Commission of the African Union and regional or inter-State bodies7 to which
one or more ACP States belong, including bodies with non-ACP State members,
which are authorised by those ACP States; and

be nationals8 of one of the 79 ACP States or one of the 27 Member States of the
European Union. This obligation does not apply to international organisations

Institutions from Cuba and the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) may only
participate in projects as associates, and cannot be final beneficiaries of the project from EDF
funds.
(2) Applicants will not be awarded grants if:

they are in any of the situations which are listed in Section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide
to Contract procedures for EC external actions available from the following Internet
address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/practical_guide/docume
nts/new_prag_final_en.pdf

In Part B Section VI of the Grant Application Form (Declaration by the Applicant),

Applicants must declare that they do not fall into any of these situations.

The Applicant accepts that the grant can under no circumstances result in a profit for himself and/ or the
partners and that the grant must be limited to the amount required to balance income and expenditure for the
action. Profit shall be defined as a surplus of receipts over the costs of the Action in question. Eligibility of
private sector actors/ profit making institution will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and will be only
accepted if fully justified by the Applicant. In case a profit-making institution is accepted as a partner within a
selected proposal, the members of the partnership will have to sign a memorandum of understanding, clearly
stating that funds awarded by the Programme shall not be used for profit-making activities.
This section should be read in conjunction with Section 2.1.2 Composition of Partnerships, especially the
first bullet point.
Where a network acts as an Applicant, it must be able to enter into contractual and financial obligations with
the ACP Secretariat.
This section should be read in conjunction with Section 2.1.2 Composition of Partnerships, especially the
first bullet point.
Such nationality being determined on the basis of the organisation's statutes which should demonstrate that it
has been established by an instrument governed by the internal law of the country concerned. In this respect,
any legal entity whose statutes have been established in another country cannot be considered an eligible local
organisation, even if they are registered locally or accompanied by a Memorandum of Understanding.

11

2.1.1.2

Lot 2 BUDGET

(1) In order to be eligible for a grant under Lot 2 Budget, Applicants must meet all of
the following criteria:

be legal persons and

have at least a three-year record in the formulation and/or implementation of activities

in research and science and technology development, for which they will have to
provide the relevant legal documents and

be directly responsible for the implementation of the Action with their partners, not
acting as an intermediary and

be able to demonstrate their experience and capacity to manage activities corresponding

in scale and complexity to those for which a grant has been requested and

have stable and sufficient sources of finance to ensure the continuity of their
organisation throughout the Action and

belong to one of the following categories:

(a) ACP national or regional science and technology organizations, research
institutions, universities, government ministries or public institutions dealing with
research policies, ACP national research networks, relevant civil society or private
sector actors9 or similar EU actors working in partnership with ACP counterparts;
or
(b) Regional science and technology institutions, with separate legal status, not
belonging to any national system but formally recognised by one of the eligible
countries; or
(c) Established ACP science and technology networks10 provided that: all network
members and the network headquarters are located in eligible countries; the
network has a legal status; the network is applying in its own right; and the
network has been registered for a minimum of two years.11
(d) The Commission of the African Union and regional or inter-State bodies12 to
which one or more ACP States belong, including bodies with non-ACP State
members, which are authorised by those ACP States; and

10

11

12

13

be nationals13 of one of the 79 ACP States, one of the 27 Member States of the
European Union, one of the 3 European Economic Area (EEA) / European Free Trade

The Applicant accepts that the grant can under no circumstances result in a profit for himself and/ or the
partners and that the grant must be limited to the amount required to balance income and expenditure for the
action. Profit shall be defined as a surplus of receipts over the costs of the Action in question. Eligibility of
private sector actors/ profit making institution will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and will be only
accepted if fully justified by the Applicant. In case a profit-making institution is accepted as a partner within a
selected proposal, the members of the partnership will have to sign a memorandum of understanding, clearly
stating that funds awarded by the Programme shall not be used for profit-making activities.
This section should be read in conjunction with Section 2.1.2 Composition of Partnerships, especially the
first bullet point.
Where a network acts as an Applicant, it must be able to enter into contractual and financial obligations with
the ACP Secretariat.
This section should be read in conjunction with Section 2.1.2 Composition of Partnerships, especially the
first bullet point.
Such nationality being determined on the basis of the organisation's statutes which should demonstrate that it
has been established by an instrument governed by the internal law of the country concerned. In this respect,
any legal entity whose statutes have been established in another country cannot be considered an eligible local
organisation, even if they are registered locally or accompanied by a Memorandum of Understanding.

12

Agreement (EFTA) Member States or one of the official EU candidate countries. This
obligation does not apply to international organisations.
Institutions from Cuba and the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) may only
participate in projects as associates, and cannot be final beneficiaries of the project from the
Budget funds.
(2) Applicants will not be awarded grants if:

they are in any of the situations which are listed in Section 2.3.3 of the Practical Guide
to Contract procedures for EC external actions available from the following Internet
address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/practical_guide/docume
nts/new_prag_final_en.pdf

In Part B Section VI of the Grant Application Form (Declaration by the Applicant),

Applicants must declare that they do not fall into any of these situations.
2.1.1.3

Overview of Differences between Lot 1 EDF and Lot 2 Budget and List of
eligible countries and composition of regions

Eligible nationality14 for Applicants and partners

Lot 1 EDF (28 M)
Lot 2 Budget (5 M)




79 ACP States (Table A)




27 EU Member States (Table B)


EEA / EFTA countries (Table C)


Official EU Candidate countries
(Table D)
Applicants must operate with a partnership that must
involve at least three organisations from at least two
different ACP Member States. The number of non-ACP
partners in a partnership cannot be greater than the
number of ACP partners.
Table A:

The 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific Member States divided into the six
regions eligible under Lot 1 and 2
Central Africa
Western Africa
Eastern Africa
Burundi
Cameroon
Benin
Central African Rep.
Burkina-Faso
Comoros
Djibouti
Chad
Cape Verde
Eritrea
Congo
Cte d'Ivoire
Ethiopia
Democratic Rep. of Congo
Gambia
Kenya
Equatorial Guinea
Ghana
Madagascar
Gabon
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Mauritius
Sao Tome & Principe
Rwanda
Liberia
Mali
Seychelles
Somalia
Mauritania
Niger
Sudan
Tanzania
Nigeria
Senegal
Uganda
Sierra Leone
Togo

14

Other eligibility criteria apply. Refer to Section 2.1.1 of the Guidelines for Grant Applicants.

13

Southern Africa
Angola
Botswana
Lesotho
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
South Africa
Swaziland
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Cuba15
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Guyana
Haiti
Jamaica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint
Vincent
Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago

Pacific
Cook Islands
Fiji
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Nauru
Niue
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Timor Leste
Tonga
and Tuvalu
Vanuatu

Table B: 27 EU Member states eligible under Lots 1 and 2

Austria
Germany
Poland
Belgium
Greece
Portugal
Bulgaria
Hungary
Romania
Cyprus
Ireland
Netherlands
Czech Republic
Italy
Slovakia
Denmark
Latvia
Slovenia
Estonia
Lithuania
Spain
Finland
Luxembourg
Sweden
France
Malta
United Kingdom
Table C:
Iceland

3 EEA EFTA states eligible under "Lot 2 Budget" only

Liechtenstein
Norway

Table D:
Croatia

3 official EU candidate countries eligible under "Lot 2 Budget" only

Former Yugoslav Rep. of Turkey
Macedonia

2.1.2

Partnerships and eligibility of partners

Partnerships
The Applicant will act as the lead organisation in a partnership and, if selected, as the
Beneficiary.
Applicants must operate within a partnership and act with partner organisations as specified
hereafter.

15

Institutions from Cuba may only participate in projects as associates, and cannot be final beneficiaries of the
project.

14

Composition of partnerships
Partnerships must involve at least three organisations from at least two different ACP
Member States. The number of non-ACP partners in a partnership cannot be greater than the
number of ACP partners. There is no upper limit on the number of members in a partnership.
However, a partnership should be composed in such a way as to allow for the achievement of
project objectives in the most efficient manner.
Please note that for both lots the following applies:

Established ACP science and technology networks and regional or inter-state bodies
organisations mentioned under Section 2.1.1.1 (lot 1 - EDF) under (1) (c) and (d) and
Section 2.1.1.2 (lot 2 - Budget) under (1) (c) and (d) are considered partnerships in
themselves and, therefore, do not have to form alliances with other organisations for the
purpose of this Programme. However, in the case of networks they have to be
multinational.

Applications submitted by partnerships where the lead institution is an ACP Member

State or by partnerships composed exclusively of ACP partners will be given preference
over partnerships not fulfilling these criteria if at a certain stage of the evaluation
process they receive the same scores.

Partners
Applicants partners participate in designing and implementing the Action. Each member of a
partnership must have a precise and clearly identified role in the planning and execution of
the project activities. The role of each partnership member institution must be clearly
explained in the proposal. Even though the ACP Secretariat will conclude the contract with
the Applicant only, all partners should actively participate and contribute at different stages of
the implementation of the project. The Applicant and its partners should draw up an
agreement defining the technical and financial rights and obligations of each partnership
member. A clear written allocation of tasks and responsibilities and a balanced distribution of
costs will contribute to the partnerships success. Such an agreement will be an internal
document of the partnership and not part of the application.
The costs the partners incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the Beneficiary
of the grant referred to in Section 2.1.4 below.
The partners must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as Applicants referred to in Section 2.1.1
(2.1.1.1 for Lot 1 EDF and Section 2.1.1.2 for Lot 2 Budget) above. Proposals, which fail
to comply with these principles, will be rejected by the Evaluation Committee.
Institutions from Cuba and the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) may only
participate in projects as associates, and cannot be final beneficiaries of the project.
The following institutions are not considered partners and, therefore, do not have to sign the
Partnership Statement (Part B Section III.2 of the Grant Application Form):

Associates

Other organisations may be involved in the action. Such associates play a real role in the
action but may not receive funding from the grant with the exception of per diem or travel
costs. Associates do not have to meet the eligibility criteria referred to in Section 2.1.1. The
associates have to be mentioned in Part B Section IV - Associates of the Applicant
participating in the Action of the Grant Application Form.

15

Subcontractors

The grant beneficiaries have the possibility to award contracts to subcontractors.

Subcontractors are neither partners nor associates, and are subject to the procurement rules set
out in Annex IV to the standard grant contract.
The applicant will act as the lead organisation and, if selected, as the contracting party (the
"Beneficiary").
2.1.3

Eligible Actions: Actions for which an application may be made

Duration
The planned duration of an Action may not be less than 12 months nor exceed 36 months.
Only eligible costs incurred during this period will be recognized for funding. All Actions
have to be completed by the deadline of 31 December 2012.
Sectors or themes
The ACP Science and Technology Programme will fund projects which primarily focus on:

Quality health care: with special attention both to traditional and biodiversity
dependent community medicines and to the developments taking place in
biotechnology.

Environmental research activities: addressing climatic variability, loss of

biodiversity, deforestation, desertification and rising sea levels, as well as issues
associated with upgrading and mainstreaming appropriate indigenous technology and
establishing efficient mechanisms for access to and the adaptation of appropriate foreign
technology.

Energy: with special attention to renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind,
hydro and biomass energy.

Transport: addressing transport congestion, air pollution and accidents.

Agriculture and agro-industry: addressing food productivity and security, adding

value to agro-products and encouraging a stronger participation by farmers in
production and post-harvest management.

Sustainable trade: in order to increase investments, encourage development in the

private sector and improve the trading capacity of ACP countries. Attention will be
given to the socio-economic impact of international trade agreements and protocols on
sustainable development in ACP countries.

Location
Lot 1 - EDF
Actions should mainly take place in one or more of the 79 ACP Member States mentioned in
Section 2.1.1. If part of the Action takes place in the 27 EU Member States, Cuba or the
Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), the final beneficiaries must still be the ACP
Member State/s (with the exception of Cuba).

16

Lot 2 - Budget
Actions should mainly take place in one or more of the 79 ACP Member States mentioned in
Annex I. If part of the Action takes place in the 27 EU Member States , the 3 EEA EFTA
States or the 3 EU Candidate countries, Cuba or the Overseas Countries and Territories
(OCTs), the final beneficiaries must still be the ACP Member State/s (with the exception
of Cuba).
Types of Action
The three types of Action referred to as Axes under this Programme which may be
financed under this Call for Proposals must relate to the Programmes overall objectives,
purpose and expected results specified in Section 1.2. It is possible to select either one type or
a combination of types of Action, but they should always address one or more of the
corresponding project activities outlined hereafter. This listing is not exhaustive, but intends
to give an indication of the types of activities that partnerships can undertake:
1.

Support to Co-ordination and networking in applied research (Axis 1):

Promotion and strengthening of networks inter-linking research institutes, researchers,

civil society, business sectors and policy makers as well as Centres of Excellence,
science and technology consortia.

Establishment of research frameworks with the aim of achieving a greater and more
market-oriented use of ACP research resources.

Multi-stakeholder in-depth assessments of research and innovation needs in science

and technology at regional and sub-regional levels and the design of dynamic databases
indicating available expertise.

Organisation of public debates and consultations on research needs in relation with

indigenous knowledge and interests (surveys, focus groups, citizens' debates, etc.), incl.
capacity building for civil society groups on research issues.

2.

Support to Instruments for collaborative research (Axis 2):

Establishment or consolidation of intra ACP advisory or observatory bodies on

research and innovation for sustainable development in order to collect, share and
analyze information on the latest developments in science and technology and their
potential applications and provide advice to the policy makers and relevant science and
technology non-state actors.

Definition and implementation of technical instruments: designing tax incentives for

firms engaged with universities and research institutions, review and strengthening of
legislation relating to property rights, etc.

Benchmarking good practices and designing 'models of research instruments' in order to

promote the best modalities of industry-academia links and co-operation.

3.

Support to Management of research activities and reinforcement of research

quality (Axis 3):
Definition and promotion of peer review and evaluation procedures and indicators in
order to increase quality and efficiency in regional and national science and technology
programmes.

17

Implementation of multi-stakeholder activities (publications, database building, ICT

development, information management, consulting, seminars, short-term training, etc.)
in order to capitalize, disseminate and implement knowledge and innovations (the
results of research), incl. targeted communication and debates with civil society groups
concerned.

Organisation of short-term training sessions at regional, sub-regional and country levels

in order to strengthen and upgrade the competences of the scientific community in the
following areas: research methods, research fund management, research managerial
capacities, etc.

In the description of the project activities, the choice of the activities, the role of each partner,
and the related costs must be clearly justified.
In addition, visibility actions (budget line 5.8 of Annex B.1, Budget for the Action) must be
detailed in the application form, comply with Article 6 of the Standard Contract General
Conditions, as well as with the Communication and Visibility Manual for EU External
Actions (http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/visibility/index_en.htm), and be kept at a
reasonable level, in line with the principle of proportionality.
The following types of Action are not eligible:

Actions that conflict, either directly or indirectly, with the policies of the European
Union or which may be linked with a prejudicial image.

Actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in

workshops, seminars, conferences, congresses, etc.

Actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training
courses.

Research and Development activities.

Number of proposals and grants per Applicant

In order to provide an equal opportunity to the widest number of eligible applicants to
participate in this Call for Proposals, an applicant may submit up to three proposals with the
same partner institution(s). In addition, where appropriate, an applicant may submit only one
application for a requested grant amount which is more than EUR 1.000.000 (available under
exceptional cases as defined under Section 1.3 Size of grants).
An Applicant cannot submit the same application under different lots.
However, an Applicant may submit proposals of a different nature under different lots.
An Applicant may be awarded more than one grant under this Call for Proposals, provided
that it has the required managerial and financial capacity (please refer to the selection criteria
indicated in Section 2.3).

2.1.4

Eligibility of costs: costs which may be taken into consideration for the grant

Only eligible costs can be taken into account for a grant. These are detailed below. The
budget is, therefore, both a cost estimate and a ceiling for eligible costs. Note that the

18

eligible costs must be based on real costs based on supporting documents (except for
subsistence costs and indirect costs where flat-rate funding applies).
Recommendations to award a grant are always subject to the condition that the checking
process which precedes the signing of the contract does not reveal problems requiring
changes to the budget (for instance, arithmetical errors, inaccuracies or unrealistic costs and
other ineligible costs). The checks may give rise to requests for clarification and may lead the
ACP Secretariat to impose modifications or reductions to address such mistakes or
inaccuracies. The amount of the grant and the percentage of co-financing as a result of these
corrections may not be increased in any case.
It is, therefore, in the Applicant's interest to provide a realistic and cost-effective budget.
Eligible direct costs
To be eligible under this Call for Proposals, costs must respect the provisions of Article 14 of
the General Conditions to the standard Grant Contract (see Annex F).
Staff costs
Staff costs shall mean any payment made to a person attached to a member of the partnership
or working on a regular or recurrent basis for the project.
Staff costs shall be calculated on the basis of the actual salary/fee of the employee/service
provider, multiplied by the number of months/days to be spent on the project. This calculation
shall include all the normal charges paid by the employer, such as social security
contributions and related costs, but shall exclude any bonus, incentive and profit-sharing
arrangements or running costs.
Subcontracted costs
Overall project management, for which the Applicant will be responsible, cannot be
subcontracted. It is suggested that the involvement of subcontractors only take place if
necessary for the implementation of the project and for services which cannot be secured
through the project partners. No projects should be controlled by subcontractors or be driven
by commercial purposes.
The costs for subcontracted services including consultancy services must be listed in the
table Budget for the Action (see Annex B). In addition, financial details concerning the
subcontracted activities (rates, number of days/months, outputs, etc.) must be developed as
necessary in the budget justification (Section II.2 of the Grant Application Form).
Proposals, which fail to comply with these principles, will be rejected by the Evaluation
Committee.
Contingency reserve
A contingency reserve not exceeding 5% of the eligible direct costs may be included in the
Budget of the Action. It can only be used with the prior written authorisation of the ACP
Secretariat.
Participation in stakeholder meetings
For stakeholder meetings organised by the ACP Secretariat, an amount of EUR 5,000
must be entered in budget line 2.3 in the table Budget for the Action (see Annex B).

19

Eligible indirect costs (overheads)

The indirect costs incurred in carrying out the Action may be eligible for flat-rate funding
fixed at not more than 7% of the total eligible direct costs.
If the applicant is in receipt of an operating grant financed from the European Community
budget or the EDF, no indirect costs may be claimed within the proposed budget for the
action.
Contributions in kind
Contributions in kind, which must be listed separately in the Grant Application Form (Part B
Section I.3), do not represent actual expenditure and are not eligible costs. They refer to
contributions given to the project that have a monetary value, but are not charged for, e.g., in
the form of material or resource. The contributions in kind may not be treated as co-financing.
The cost of staff assigned to the Action is not a contribution in kind and may be considered as
co-financing in the Budget of the Action when paid by the Beneficiary or his partners.
Notwithstanding the above, if the description of the Action as proposed foresees the
contributions in kind, such contributions have to be provided.
Ineligible costs
The following costs are not eligible:

debts and provisions for losses or debts;

interest owed;

items already financed in another framework;

purchases of land or buildings, except where necessary for the direct implementation of
the Action, in which case ownership must be transferred to the final beneficiaries and/or
local partners, at the latest by the end of the Action;

currency exchange losses;

taxes, including VAT, unless the Beneficiary (or the Beneficiarys partners) cannot
reclaim them and the applicable regulations do not forbid coverage of taxes;

credits to third parties.

20

2.2
2.2.1

HOW TO APPLY AND THE PROCEDURES TO FOLLOW

Application form

Applications must be submitted using the Grant Application Form annexed to these
Guidelines (see Annex A) that includes the Concept Note (Part A) and the Full Application
Form (Part B). Both parts must be completed. Guidance notes on how to complete these
forms are included.
Applicants must apply in either English or French.
Please complete the application form carefully and as clearly as possible so that it can be
assessed properly.
Any error related to the points listed in the Checklist (Part B Section V of the Grant
Application Form) or any major inconsistency in the application form (e.g. the amounts
mentioned in the budget are inconsistent with those mentioned in the application form) may
lead to the rejection of the proposal.
Clarifications will only be requested when information provided is unclear, thus preventing
the ACP Secretariat from conducting an objective assessment.
Please note that:

Only the completed Grant Application Form and the annexes (Budget, Logical
Framework) that are attached to these Guidelines will be considered valid and will
be transmitted to the evaluators and assessors. It is, therefore, of utmost importance that
these documents contain all relevant information concerning the Action. No
supplementary annexes should be sent.

Applicants must keep strictly to the format of the application and fill in the paragraphs
and the pages in order.

The information provided must explain the proposed Action in a concise and complete
manner.

Applicants must provide the budget with round figures.

No additional and unrequested information must be included.

Hand-written applications will not be accepted.

2.2.2

Where and how to send the applications

Where to send:
Applications must be submitted in a sealed envelope by registered mail, courier service or by
hand-delivery (a signed and dated certificate of receipt will be given to the deliverer) at the
address below:
Postal address (this is the same address for hand delivery or delivery by courier
service)

21

ACP Science and Technology Programme

Programme Management Unit
c/o GOPA-Cartermill
Rue de Trves 45
B-1040 Brussels
BELGIUM
TEL: 0032 (0)2 280.1737
Applications sent by any other means (e.g., by fax or e-mail) or delivered to other addresses
will be rejected.
How to send:
Applications must be completed in both a paper and an electronic version in a standard text
(Microsoft Word) and calculation (Microsoft Excel) format:

Paper version
One (1) original and one (1) copy in A4 or letter size, each separately bound and
inserted together in one envelope, must contain the following completed documents,
for which the Annexes A-C of these Guidelines must be used:

Grant Application Form (Part A: Concept Note, and Part B: Full

Application Form), and

Budget (worksheet 1 Budget, and worksheet 2 Sources of

funding), and

Logical Framework.

The Checklist and the Declaration by the Applicant (Part B Section V respectively
Section VI of the Grant Application Form) must be stapled and enclosed separately
in the same envelope.

Electronic version
A copy of the above-mentioned documents, containing exactly the same information,
must also be provided in electronic format (CD-Rom or floppy disc) and enclosed in a
separate envelope.
Each of the three components of the application (Grant Application Form, Budget and
Logical Framework) must be submitted in a separate electronic file. Please do not split
the Grant Application Form into several different files.
To facilitate the processing of applications, the electronic version must be provided in
Word and Excel formats.

22

The envelopes containing the paper version and the electronic version of the application must
be inserted in one outer envelope that must bear the following 2 labels:

in the middle
TO : ACP Science and Technology Programme
Programme Management Unit
c/o GOPA-Cartermill
Rue de Trves 45
B-1040 Brussels
BELGIUM

in the top left

(insert the Title of the Call for Proposals)
(insert the Reference number of the Call for
Proposals)
(insert the Number of the lot)
FROM:
Applicant)

(insert the full name and address of the

"Not to be opened before the opening session"

Please note that:

Applicants must verify that their application is complete by filling in the Checklist and
signing the Declaration by the Applicant (Part B Section V respectively Section VI of
the Full Application Form). Incomplete applications may be rejected.

The Declaration by the Applicant must bear original signatures and stamps. The
person to sign this should be authorised to act on behalf of the partnership submitting
the proposal. At the same time, the sheet The Applicant (Part B Section II.1 of the
Grant Application Form) must identify the contact person to whom any requests for
clarification or further information could be addressed.

The Description of Partners (Part B Section III.1 of the Grant Application Form) has
to be filled in either by the partners themselves or by the Applicant on the basis of
the information provided by the partners.

All partners, with the exception of the Applicant, have to sign a Partnership Statement
(Part B Section III. 2 of the Grant Application Form). The person to sign this should be
the person legally authorised to represent the partner institution.

Faxed or scanned copies of signed Partnership Statements will be accepted, but

Applicants may be subsequently asked to replace them with originals.

Applicants who belong to the categories of organisations c and d as mentioned in

Section 2.1.1 and who act as partnerships in themselves do not have to complete the
above Description of Partners and Partnership Statement.

23

Please also note that:

2.2.3

Where an Applicant sends several different proposals, each one has to be sent
separately.

Deadline for submission of applications

The deadline for the submission of applications to the address stated in Section 2.2.2 is 27
February 2009, as evidenced by the date of dispatch, the postmark or the date and the hour of
the disposal slip (16:00 hrs. Brussel time at the latest in case of hand-deliveries). Any
application submitted after this deadline will be automatically rejected.

2.2.4

Acknowledgement of receipt

Following the proposal opening session, the ACP Secretariat will send an Acknowledgement
of receipt to all Applicants (see Section 2.3 below) by electronic mail. This is why it is
important to provide a contact e-mail address in the Declaration of the Applicant.

2.2.5

Further information

Questions related to the completion of the Grant Application Form may be sent by e-mail,
post or fax no later than 21 days before the deadline for the submission of proposals to one of
the address(es) listed below:
E-mail address:

info@acp-st.eu

Postal address:

ACP Science and Technology Programme

Programme Management Unit
c/o GOPA-Cartermill
Rue de Trves 45
B-1040 Brussels
BELGIUM

Fax number:

0032-2-280.1406

Replies will be given no later than 11 days before the deadline for the submission of
proposals.
In the interest of equal treatment of Applicants, the ACP Secretariat cannot give a prior
opinion on the eligibility of an Applicant, a partner or an Action.
Questions that may be relevant to other Applicants, together with the answers, will be
published on the ACP Science and Technology Programmes website: http://www.acp-st.eu.

24

2.3

EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF APPLICATIONS

Applications will be examined and evaluated by an Evaluation Committee composed of

members of the ACP Secretariat. This Committee will be assisted by external assessors and
by the Programme Management Unit. All Actions submitted by Applicants will be assessed
according to the following steps and criteria:
STEP 1 OPENING SESSION AND ADMINISTRATIVE CHECK
The following will be assessed:

Has
the
deadline
for
submission
of
proposals
been
respected?
If the deadline has not been respected, the proposal will automatically be rejected.

Does the Grant Application Form satisfy all the criteria mentioned in the Checklist (Part
B Section V of the Grant Application Form)? If any of the requested information is
missing or is incorrect, the proposal may be rejected on that sole basis and the proposal
will not be evaluated further.

Following the opening session and the administrative check, the ACP Secretariat will send an
Acknowledgement of receipt to all Applicants, indicating whether their application was
submitted prior to the deadline, informing them of the reference number they have been
allocated, whether they have satisfied all the criteria mentioned in the Checklist and whether
their Concept Note has been recommended for evaluation (Step 2).
STEP 2 EVALUATION OF THE CONCEPT NOTE
The evaluation of the Concept Notes that have passed the first administrative check will cover
the relevance of the Action, its merits and effectiveness, its viability and sustainability. The
ACP Secretariat reserves the right to skip the evaluation of the Concept Notes whenever
considered justified (for example when a less than expected number of proposals are
received) and to go straight to the evaluation of the corresponding Full Application Forms.
The Concept Note will be given an overall score out of a maximum of 50 points in
accordance with the breakdown provided in the Evaluation Grid below. The evaluation shall
also verify the compliance with the instructions provided in the guidance for the drafting of
the Concept Note (Part A of the Grant Application Form).
If the examination of the Concept Note reveals that the proposed Action does not meet the
eligibility criteria stated in Section 2.1.3 of these Guidelines, the proposal shall be rejected on
this sole basis.
The evaluation criteria are divided into headings and subheadings. Each subheading will be
given a score between 1 and 5 in accordance with the following assessment categories: 1 =
very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = adequate; 4 = good; 5 = very good.

25

Evaluation Grid
Heading / subheading
1. Relevance of the Action
1.1 Relevance of the problems to needs and constraints of the
country/region to be addressed in general, and to those of the target
groups and final beneficiaries in particular.
1.2 Relevance to the priorities and objectives mentioned in the Guidelines.
2. Effectiveness and Feasibility of the Action
2.1 Assessment of the problem identification and analysis.
2.2 Assessment of the proposed activities (practicality and consistency in
relation to the objectives, purpose and expected results).
2.3 Assessment of the role and involvement of all stakeholders and
proposed partners.
3. Sustainability of the Action
3.1 Assessment of the identification of the main assumptions and risks,
before the start-up and throughout the implementation period.
3.2 Assessment of the identification of long-term sustainable impact on the
target groups and final beneficiaries.
Maximum total score

Maximum
Score
15
5

5 (x2)*
25
5
5 (x2)*
5 (x2)*
10
5
5
50

* these scores are multiplied by 2 because of their importance

Once all Concept Notes have been assessed, a list will be established with the proposed
Actions ranked according to their total score:

Firstly, only the Concept Notes which have been given a score of a minimum of 12
points in the heading Relevance as well as a minimum total score of 30 points will
be considered for pre-selection.

Secondly, the list of Concept Notes will be reduced in accordance to the ranking to
those whose sum of requested contributions amounts to no more than EUR 56 million
for lot 1 and EUR 10 million for lot 2 (two times the available budget for each lot). The
Evaluation Committee will subsequently proceed with the evaluation of the Full
Application Form of the pre-selected Applicants (Step 3).

Please note that:

The scores awarded to the Concept Note are completely independent from those given
to the Full Application Form.

A note will be sent (normally by e-mail) to the Applicants whose Concept Note has
been evaluated, including the assessment results and indicating whether their full
Application Form will be evaluated.

STEP 3 EVALUATION OF THE FULL APPLICATION FORM

An evaluation of the quality of the proposals, including the proposed budget, and of the
capacity of the Applicant and its partners, will be carried out in accordance with the
evaluation criteria set out in the Evaluation Grid included below. There are two types of
evaluation criteria: selection and award criteria.

26

The selection criteria are intended to help evaluate the Applicants' financial and operational
capacity to ensure that they:

have stable and sufficient sources of finance to maintain their activity throughout the
period during which the Action is being carried out and, where appropriate, to
participate in its funding;

have the management capacity, professional competencies and qualifications required to

successfully complete the proposed Action. This also applies to any partners of the
Applicant.

The award criteria allow the quality of the proposals submitted to be evaluated in relation to
the set objectives and activities, and grants to be awarded to Actions which maximise the
overall effectiveness of the Call for Proposals. They enable the selection of proposals which
the ACP Secretariat can be confident will comply with its objectives and priorities and
guarantee the visibility of the EDF and EC general budget financing. These criteria cover
such aspects as the relevance of the Action, its consistency with the objectives of the Call for
Proposals, quality, expected impact, sustainability and cost-effectiveness.
If the examination of the proposal reveals that the proposed Action does not meet the
eligibility criteria stated in Section 2.1.3 of these Guidelines, the proposal shall be rejected on
this sole basis.
The evaluation criteria are divided into sections and subsections. Each subsection will be
given a score between 1 and 5 in accordance with the following assessment categories: 1 =
very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = adequate; 4 = good; 5 = very good.
Evaluation Grid
Section / subsection
1. Financial and operational capacity
1.1 Do the Applicant and partners have sufficient experience of project
management?
1.2 Do the Applicant and partners have sufficient technical expertise?
(notably knowledge of the issues to be addressed.)
1.3 Do the Applicant and partners have sufficient management capacity?
(including staff, equipment and ability to handle the budget for the
Action)?
1.4 Does the Applicant have stable and sufficient sources of finance?
2. Relevance
2.1 How relevant is the proposal to the objectives and one or more of the
priorities of the Call for Proposals?
Note: A score of 5 (very good) will only be allocated if the proposal
specifically addresses at least one priority.
Note: A score of 5 (very good) will only be allocated if the proposal
contains specific added-value elements, such as promotion of gender
equality, equal opportunities,
2.2 How relevant to the particular needs and constraints of the target
country/countries or region(s) is the proposal? (including synergy with
other EC initiatives and avoidance of duplication.)
2.3 How clearly defined and strategically chosen are those involved (final
beneficiaries, target groups)? Have their needs been clearly defined
and does the proposal address them appropriately?

27

Maximum
Score
20
5
5
5

5
25
5x2

5x2

3. Methodology
3.1 Are the activities proposed appropriate, practical, and consistent with
the objectives and expected results?
3.2 How coherent is the overall design of the Action?
(in particular, does it reflect the analysis of the problems involved, take
into account external factors and anticipate an evaluation?)
3.3 Is the partners' level of involvement and participation in the Action
satisfactory?
3.4 Is the Action plan clear and feasible?
3.5 Does the proposal contain objectively verifiable indicators for the
outcome of the Action?
4. Sustainability
4.1 Is the Action likely to have a tangible impact on its target groups?
4.2 Is the proposal likely to have multiplier effects? (including scope for
replication and extension of the outcome of the Action and
dissemination of information.)
4.3 Are the expected results of the proposed Action sustainable:
- financially (how will the activities be financed after the funding ends?)
- institutionally (will structures allowing the activities to continue be in
place at the end of the Action? Will there be local ownership of the
results of the Action?)
- at policy level (where applicable) (what will be the structural impact
of the Action e.g., will it lead to improved legislation, codes of
conduct, methods, etc?)
5. Budget and cost-effectiveness
5.1 Is the ratio between the estimated costs and the expected results
satisfactory?
5.2 Is the proposed expenditure necessary for the implementation of the
Action?
Maximum total score

25
5
5

5
5
5
15
5
5

15
5
5x2
100

Note on Section 1. Financial and operational capacity

If the total score is less than 12 points for section 1, the Evaluation Committee will
reject the proposal.
Note on Section 2. Relevance
If the total score is less than 20 points for section 2, the Evaluation Committee will
reject the proposal.
Provisional selection
Following the evaluation, a table listing the proposals ranked according to their score and
within the available financial envelope (EUR 28 million for Lot 1- EDF and EUR 5 million
for Lot 2 - Budget) will be established as well as a reserve list following the same criteria.
Please note that:

If, in addition to the partnership preference stated in Section 2.1.2 of these Guidelines,
two applications attain the same score, the one with the higher score on the Relevance
criteria will be given a higher ranking.

28

The scores awarded in this phase are completely independent from those given to the
Concept Note of the same application.

STEP 4 VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY OF THE APPLICANT AND

PARTNERS
The eligibility verification will only be performed for the proposals that have been
provisionally selected according to their score and within the available financial envelope.
This verification will be based on the supporting documents requested by the ACP Secretariat
(see Section 2.4 below).

The Declaration by the Applicant (Part B Section VI of the Grant Application Form)
will be cross-checked with the supporting documents provided by the Applicant. Any
missing supporting document or any incoherence between this Declaration and the
supporting documents may lead to the rejection of the proposal on that sole basis.

The eligibility of the Applicant, the partners, and the Action will be verified according
to the criteria set out in Sections 2.1.1, 2.1.2 and 2.1.3 of these Guidelines.

Following the above analysis, any rejected proposal will be replaced by the next best placed
proposal in the reserve list that falls within the available financial envelope. This proposal
will then be examined for the eligibility of its Applicant and partners.

29

2.4

SUBMISSION

OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS FOR PROVISIONALLY SELECTED

PROPOSALS

Applicants who have been provisionally selected or are listed under the reserve list will be
informed so in writing by the ACP Secretariat. They will be requested to supply the following
documents in order to allow the ACP Secretariat to verify the eligibility of the Applicants and
its partners:
1. The statutes or articles of association of the Applicant organisation and of each
16
partner organisation . Where the ACP Secretariat has recognized the Applicants
eligibility for another Call for Proposals under the same budget line within 2 years
before the deadline for submission of applications, the Applicant may submit, instead
of its statutes, a copy of the document proving the eligibility of the Applicant in a
former Call (e.g., a copy of the special conditions of a grant contract received during
the reference period), unless a change in its legal status has occurred in the meantime.
This obligation does not apply to international organisations which have signed a
framework agreement with the European Commission. A list of the relevant
framework agreements is available at the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/international_organisa
tions/index_en.htm.
2. A copy of the Applicants latest accounts (the profit and loss account and the balance
sheet for the previous financial year for which the accounts have been closed).17
3. A Legal Entity Sheet (see Annex D) duly completed, signed and stamped by the
Applicant, accompanied by the justifying documents which are requested therein. If
the Applicant has already signed a contract with the ACP Secretariat, instead of the
legal entity sheet and its supporting documents, the legal entity number previously
assigned may be provided, unless a change in its legal status occurred in the
meantime.
4. A Financial Identification Form conforming to the model attached at Annex E, signed
and stamped by the Applicant and certified (signed and stamped) by the bank to
which the payments will be made. The bank must be located in the country where the
Applicant is registered. If the Applicant has already signed a contract with the
European Commission or where the European Commission has been in charge of the
payments of a contract, a copy of the previous Financial Identification Form may be
provided instead, unless a change in the indicated bank account occurred in the
meantime.
5. The name, complete address and contact details of the audit firm that will carry out
the verification referred to in Article 15.6 of the General Conditions to the standard
Grant Contract (see Annex F). Please note that the selected audit firm must be a
member of an internationally recognised supervisory body for statutory auditing.
The supporting documents requested must be supplied in the form of originals or photocopies
of the said originals. However, the Legal Entity Sheet and the Financial Identification Form
must always be submitted in original.

16

17

Where the Applicant and/or (a) partner(s) is/are a public body created by a law, a copy of the said law must be
provided.
This obligation does not apply to public bodies or to international organisations.

30

Where such documents are not in one of the official languages of the Programme (English,
French, and Portuguese), a translation into English or French must be provided by the
Applicant and/or partner(s).
If the supporting documents are not provided before the set deadline (15 calendar days
from the receipt of the notice sent by the ACP Secretariat), the application may be
rejected.
Based on the verification of the supporting documents, the Evaluation Committee will make a
final recommendation to the ACP Secretariat, which will decide on the award of grants.

31

2.5

NOTIFICATION OF THE ACP SECRETARIATS DECISION

2.5.1 Content of the decision

Applicants will be informed in writing (normally by e-mail) of the ACP Secretariats decision
concerning their application and the reasons for the decision.
Applicants believing that they have been harmed by an error or irregularity during the award
process may petition to the ACP Secretariat directly. The ACP Secretariat must reply within
90 days of receipt of the complaint.
Where the European Commission is informed of such a complaint, it must communicate its
opinion to the ACP Secretariat and do all it can to facilitate an amicable solution between the
complainant (Applicant) and the ACP Secretariat. If this procedure fails, the Applicant may
have recourse to procedures established under the recipients national legislation.

2.5.2 Indicative time table

COMPONENT

DATE

TIME **

Deadline for request for any clarifications from

the ACP Secretariat

21 days before the

deadline for
submission of
applications

18:00 hrs.

Last date on which clarifications are issued by

the ACP Secretariat

11 days before the

deadline for
submission of
applications

18:00 hrs

Deadline for submission of the application

27 February 2009

16:00 hrs
(if hand
delivered)

Information to Applicants on the opening &

administrative check

March 2009*

n/a

Information to Applicants on the evaluation of

the Concept Notes

March 2009*

n/a

Information to Applicants on the evaluation of

the Full Application Form

May 2009*

n/a

Notification of award (after the eligibility

check)

June 2009*

n/a

Contract signature

July 2009*

n/a

* Provisional date.
** Brussels Time (time of the ACP Secretariat)

32

2.6

CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACTION FOLLOWING

THE ACP SECRETARIAT'S DECISION TO AWARD A GRANT

Following the decision to award a grant, the Beneficiary will be offered a contract based on
the ACP Secretariat's standard Grant Contract (see Annex F). By signing the Grant
Application Form (see Annex A), the Applicant declares accepting, in case where it is
awarded a grant, the Contractual conditions as laid down in the standard Grant Contract.
If the successful Applicant is an international organisation, the model Contribution
Agreement with an international organisation or any other contract template agreed between
the international organisation concerned and the ACP Secretariat will be used instead of the
standard Grant Contract provided that the international organisation in question offers the
guarantees provided for in Article 53d (1) of the Financial Regulation, as described in Chapter
7 of the Practical Guide to Contract procedures for EC external Actions.
Implementation contracts
Where implementation of the Action requires the Beneficiary to award procurement contracts,
it must award the contract to the tenderer offering the best value for money, that is to say, the
best price-quality ratio, in compliance with the principles of transparency and equal treatment
for potential contractors, care being taken to avoid any conflict of interests. To this end, the
Beneficiary must follow the procedures set out in Annex IV to the standard Grant Contract.

33

3.

LIST OF ANNEXES

DOCUMENTS TO FILL IN
ANNEX A: GRANT APPLICATION FORM (WORD FORMAT)
ANNEX B: BUDGET (EXCEL FORMAT)
ANNEX C: LOGICAL FRAMEWORK (EXCEL FORMAT)
ANNEX D: LEGAL ENTITY SHEET (EXCEL FORMAT)
Public Entities:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/documents/execution/grants/e3e_lef
public_en.pdf
Private Companies:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/documents/execution/grants/e3e_lefcompa
ny_en.pdf
ANNEX E: FINANCIAL IDENTIFICATION FORM
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/documents/execution/grants/e3f_fif_en.pdf

DOCUMENTS FOR INFORMATION

ANNEX F: STANDARD GRANT CONTRACT, available at the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/documents/execution/grants/e3h_1speccond_e
n.doc
ANNEX G: DAILY ALLOWANCE RATES (PER DIEM), available at the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/per_diems/index_en.htm
ANNEX H: STANDARD CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT, applicable in case where the beneficiary
is an International organisation; available at the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/international_organisations/an
nexes_standard_documents/index_en.htm
ANNEX I: OVERVIEW OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LOT 1 EDF AND LOT 2 BUDGET AND
LIST OF ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES AND COMPOSITION OF REGIONS

34

ACP Science and Technology Programme

Annex I to the Guidelines for Grant Applicants
Overview of Differences between Lot 1 EDF and Lot 2 Budget and List of eligible
countries and composition of regions
Eligible nationality18 for Applicants and partners
Lot 1 EDF (28 M)
Lot 2 Budget (5 M)
79 ACP States (Table A)




27 EU Member States (Table B)




European
Economic
Area


Member States (Table C)
Official EU Candidate countries


(Table D)
Applicants must operate with a partnership that must
involve at least three organisations from at least two
different ACP Member States. The number of non-ACP
partners in a partnership cannot be greater than the
number of ACP partners.
Table A: The 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific Member States divided into the six regions
eligible under Lot 1 and 2
Eastern Africa
Central Africa
Western Africa
Burundi
Cameroon
Benin
Comoros
Central African Rep.
Burkina-Faso
Djibouti
Chad
Cape Verde
Eritrea
Congo
Cte d'Ivoire
Ethiopia
Democratic Rep. of Congo
Gambia
Kenya
Equatorial Guinea
Ghana
Madagascar
Gabon
Guinea
Mauritius
Sao Tome & Principe
Guinea Bissau
Rwanda
Liberia
Seychelles
Mali
Somalia
Mauritania
Sudan
Niger
Tanzania
Nigeria
Uganda
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo
Southern Africa
Caribbean
Pacific
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Cook Islands
Botswana
Bahamas
Fiji
Lesotho
Barbados
Kiribati
Malawi
Belize
Marshall Islands
Mozambique
Dominica
Micronesia
18

Other eligibility criteria apply. Refer to Section 2.1.1 of the Guidelines for Grant Applicants.
35

Namibia
South Africa
Swaziland
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Cuba19
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Guyana
Haiti
Jamaica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago

Table B: 27 EU Member states eligible under lots 1 and 2

Austria
Greece
Belgium
Hungary
Bulgaria
Ireland
Cyprus
Italy
Czech Republic
Latvia
Denmark
Lithuania
Estonia
Luxembourg
Finland
Malta
France
Poland
Germany
Portugal

Nauru
Niue
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Timor Leste
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu

Romania
Netherlands
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom

Table C: 3 EEA EFTA states eligible under "lot 2 Budget" only

Iceland
Liechtenstein
Norway
Table D: 3 official EU candidate countries eligible under "lot 2 Budget" only
Croatia
Former Yugoslav Rep. of Turkey
Macedonia

19

Institutions from Cuba may only participate in projects as associates, and cannot be final beneficiaries of the project.
36

12.11: Guidelines for Grant Applicants - Annex B - Budget for the Action
Annex B.1 - Budget for the Action1
Expenses
1. Human resources
1.1 Salaries (gross amounts, local staff) 4
1.1.1 Technical
1.1.2 Administrative / support staff
1.2 Salaries (gross amounts, expat/international staff)
1.3 Per diems for missions/travel 5
1.3.1 Abroad (staff assigned to the Action)
1.3.2 Local (staff assigned to the Action)
1.3.3 Seminar/conference participants
Subtotal Human Resources
2. Travel6
2.1 International travel
2.2 Local transportation
2.3 Participation in stakeholders' meeting organised by ACP Secretariat
Subtotal Travel
3. Equipment and supplies 7
3.1 Purchase or rent of vehicles
3.2 Furniture, computer equipment
3.3 Machines, tools, etc.
3.4 Spare parts/equipment for machines, tools
3.5 Other (please specify)
Subtotal Equipment and supplies
4. Local office
4.1 Vehicle costs
4.2 Office rent
4.3 Consumables - office supplies
4.4 Other services (tel/fax, electricity/heating, maintenance)
Subtotal Local office
5. Other costs, services8
5.1 Publications9
5.2 Studies, research9
5.3 Auditing costs
5.4 Evaluation costs
5.5 Translation, interpreters
5.6 Financial services (bank guarantee costs, etc.)
5.7 Costs of conferences/seminars 9
5.8 Visibility actions
Subtotal Other costs, services

ACP Science and Technology Programme, 2008

Unit

All Years
# of units
Unit rate
(in EUR)

Costs
(in EUR)3

Unit

Year 12
# of units
Unit rate
(in EUR)

Costs
(in EUR)3

Per month
Per month
Per month

0.00
0.00
0.00

Per month
Per month
Per month

0.00
0.00
0.00

Per diem
Per diem
Per diem

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

Per diem
Per diem
Per diem

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

Per flight
Per month
Per meeting

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

Per flight
Per month
Per meeting

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

Per vehicle

0.00
0.00

Per vehicle

0.00
0.00

0.00
0.00
0.00
Per month
Per month
Per month
Per month

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

0.00
0.00
0.00
Per month
Per month
Per month
Per month

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

0.00

0.00

All Years

ACP Science and Technology Programme, 2008

Year 12

Expenses

Unit

# of units

Unit rate
(in EUR)

Costs
(in EUR)3

Unit

# of units

Unit rate
(in EUR)

Costs
(in EUR)3

6. Other
Subtotal Other

0.00
0.00

0.00
0.00

7. Subtotal eligible direct costs of the Action (1-6)

0.00

0.00

8. Provision for contingency reserve (maximum 5% of item 7

"Subtotal eligible direct costs of the Action")
9. Total eligible direct costs of the Action (7+8)

0.00

0.00

10. Administrative costs (maximum 7% of item 9 "Total

eligible direct costs of the Action")
11. Total eligible costs (9+10)

0.00

0.00

1. The Budget must cover all eligible costs of the Action, not just the ACP Secretariat's contribution. The description of items must be sufficiently detailed and all items broken down
into their main components. The number of units and unit rate must be specified for each component depending on the indications provided.
2. This section must be completed if the Action is to be implemented over a period of more than 12 months.
3. Please note that the cost of the Action and the contribution requested have to be expressed in EURO. Costs and unit rates are rounded to the nearest euro cent. The official
exchange rates can be consulted at: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro/index.cfm?Language=en
4. If staff are not working full time on the Action, the percentage should be indicated alongside the description of the item and reflected in the number of units (not the unit rate).
5. Indicate the country where the per diems are incurred and the applicable rates (which must not exceed the scales published by the EC at the time of contract signature). The
current per diems can be consulted at: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/implementation/per_diems/index_en.htm
Per diems cover accommodation, meals and local travel within the place of the mission and sundry expenses.
6. Indicate the place of departure and the destination.
7. Costs of purchase or rental. Expenditure should represent no more than 15% of the eligible direct costs.
8. Specify. Lump sums will not be accepted.
9. Only indicate here when fully subcontracted.
NOTA BENE: The Beneficiary alone is responsible for the correctness of the financial information provided in these tables

ACP Science and Technology Programme, 2008

Annex B.2 - Expected sources of funding

Amount
(in EUR)

Applicant's financial contribution

EDF or EC Budget Line contribution sought in this application
Contribution(s) from other European Institutions or EU Member States
Contributions from other organisations:
Name
Conditions

TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Direct revenue from the Action
OVERALL TOTAL

ACP Science and Technology Programme, 2008

Percentage
of total
(in %)

12.12: Guidelines-for-Grant-Applicants-Annex-C-Logical-Framework
Annex C - Logical Framework for the project
Intervention
logic
What are the overall broader
objectives to which the Action
will contribute?

Objectively verifiable
Sources and means of
indicators of achievement
verification
What are the key indicators related What are the sources of
to the overall objectives?
information for these indicators?

Specific
objective

What specific objective is the

Action intended to achieve to
contribute to the overall objectives?

Which indicators clearly show

that the objective of the
Action has been achieved?

Expected
results

The results are the outputs envisaged to

achieve the specific objective.
What are the expected results?
(enumerate them)

What are the indicators to measure What are the sources of

whether and to what extent the
information for these indicators?
Action achieves the expected
results?

What external conditions must be met

to obtain the expected results
on schedule?

Activities

What are the key activities to be carried out

and in what sequence in order to produce
the expected results?
(group the activities by result)

Means:
What are the means required to
implement these activities, e.g.,
personnel, equipment, training,
studies, supplies, operational
facilities, etc.

What pre-conditions are required before

the action starts?
What conditions outside the Beneficiary's
direct control have to be met
for the implementation of the planned
activities?

Overall
objectives

ACP Science and Technology Programme, 2008

What are the sources of

information that exist or can be
collected? What are the methods
required to get this information?

What are the sources of

information about action
progress?
Costs
What are the action costs?
How are they classified?
(breakdown in the Budget
for the Action)

Assumptions

Which factors and conditions outside

the Beneficiary's responsibility
are necessary to achieve that
objective? (external conditions)
Which risks should be taken
into consideration?

12.13: Project Proposal Call: NRM and biodiversity conservation in the

Drylands of Eastern and Central Africa
Project proposal c all: NRM and biodiversity conservation in the drylands of
eastern and central Africa
1. Background
The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is a nonpolitical association of agricultural research institutes in: Burundi, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. ASARECA serves as a platform for promoting regional
research and in the sharing of benets and spillovers that derive from such research. The mission of
ASARECA is to "Enhance regional collective action in agricultural research for development, extension and
agricultural training and education, to promote economic growth, ght poverty, eradicate hunger and
enhance sustainable use of resources in Eastern and Central Africa (ECA). ASARECA delivers its research
through seven research programs: Staple Crops; Non Staple Crops; Agro-biotechnology and biodiversity;
Livestock and Fisheries; Natural Resource Management and Forestry; Policy Analysis and Advocacy; and
Up-scaling and Knowledge Management.
The Policy Analysis and Advocacy Programme (PAAP) is the key agency for achievement of the ASARECA
Result on Policy options for enhancing the performance of the agricultural sector in the ECA subregion
facilitated. PAAP evolved from the Eastern and Central Africa Programme for Agricultural Policy Analysis
(ECAPAPA). PAAP employs the policy cycle as the conceptual framework for achieving policy change. The
policy change process is divided into four stages to: identify related policy constraints and opportunities;
collect and analyse data on possible policy options; facilitate dialogue and advocacy for implementation at
national and regional fora.
Drylands, Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs) and pastoral areas are encompassed in the ASARECA'S
strategic priority recommendation domains of low agricultural potential, low market access and low
population density. In the dryland areas, rainfall is sparse and variable, soils are poor, vegetation sparse
and pastoral mobility is the most eective strategy for enhancing biological diversity and maintaining
ecosystem integrity and resilience.
Pastoralism plays a key role in the conservation of dryland natural resources biodiversity including
maintenance of palatable forage species for domesticated and wildlife and animal genetic diversity
through local knowledge and breeding skills. Although mobile pastoralism has been blamed for land
degradation in rangelands, and consequent loss of biodiversity, research evidence shows the contrary.
Where mobility continues unhampered, it has resulted in biodiversity conservation and sustainable land
management. Where it is constrained, it has led to serious over grazing and land degradation. A longer
term desired impact is sustainable management of ecosystems as a whole. For this to happen,
sustainability must be explicitly considered. What practices would be most sustainable? How would new
knowledge about sustainable actions be incorporated into policy?
The study will examine the assertion that dryland biodiversity may be best conserved by supporting the
livelihoods of the pastoralists who manage this diversity. This could entail removal of policy disincentives
derived from the existing misconceptions of pastoralism as an undesirable way of life, appropriate social
service delivery, good governance, rights to resources, investment and infrastructure; such support can be
regulatory, market-based (e.g., carbon trading in rangelands), or involving a complementary balance of
customary and state governance at the national and regional level.
ASARECA is developing a project to address natural resource management and biodiversity in dryland and
pastoral areas. This project ts within PAAP's strategic thematic area: Policy issues for natural resource
management. This project will augment ongoing initiatives such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP) Pillars I on land and water management and III on food security. It will
build on CAADP's early action on Regional Enhanced Livelihoods in Pastoral Areas (RELPA)[i]. The project

will be implemented in close collaboration with ASARECA's Programmes on Natural Resources

ManagementandForestry,AgrobiodiversityandBiotechnology,andLivestockandFisheries.

2.Projectgoal
Makeasignificantcontributiontounderstandinghighpriorityregionalpolicyissuesandpotentialreforms
that will favour improved and sustainable biodiversity conservation, while enhancing livelihoods in
pastoralareasoftheEasternandCentralAfricanregion

3.Objectives
1. Inform policy harmonization in sustainable management of dryland and pastoral areas
biodiversity.
2. Developtoolsthatwillguidesustainableinvestmentoptionsindrylandandpastoralareas.
3. Promotearegionalapproachtodrylandsandpastoralareasconservationanduse.

4.Scopeofthiscall
TheprojectwillcontributetoASARECA'sStrategicPlan,andwillbeimplementedwithinthescopeofthe
approvedOperationalPlan[ii].ItwillcomplementactivitiesofASARECA'sNaturalResourceManagement
Programme, and will liaise with and complement other projects active in pastoral areas. These should
include components of the Regional Enhanced Livelihoods in Pastoral Areas (RELPA)[iii], and the
PastoralistLivelihoodInitiative(PLI)inEthiopia[iv].Theprojectwillcover35countriesinECA.Theextent
ofworkcoveragewillincludepolicyanalysis(internationalprotocols/conventions/agreements);national;
andcommunitymechanismsbothcustomaryandformal;andbiodiversityatthespeciesandecosystem
levels.

5.Keyactivitiesandoutputs

The successful proposal will show how it will generate outputs within the period available for
implementationthatwillcontributetoclearlydefinedresultsineachofthefollowingareas:

(a)
Mapping of biodiversity characteristics of (hotspots in) dryland areas of ECA. Layers will
include human population densities, livestock unit population densities, vegetation, land
use, infrastructure, aridity index (mean annual precipitation over potential evapo
transpiration), etc. These maps should show trends over the last 30 or more years, and
should add value to available spatial analysis, including development domains, poverty
maps[v], PACAPS work on livelihoods zoning harmonization [vi], livestock forage early
warningsystems[vii].

The key output will be a map to guide investment and policy interventions for the
developmentofdrylandareas,whilebothpreservingandenhancingbiodiversity.

(b)
Economic and social analysis of dryland resources and services. This analysis should take
intoaccountvaluesattachedtoresourcesandservicesinthedrylandareas.Thiswillinvolve
atradeoffanalysisofdifferentscenariossuchasecotourism,fragmentation,etc.

Thekeyoutputwillbedocumentationofthecontributionofdrylandandpastoralareasin
nationalandregionaleconomiesandaframeworkofvariousinvestmentanddevelopment
options for enhancing livelihoods in dryland areas, while both preserving and enhancing
biodiversity.

(c)
Situationalandcomparativeanalysesofbiodiversityconservationpoliciesinkeybiodiversity
hotspotsinpastoralareasinECA.Thiswillencompassadetailedanalysisofpoliciesaffecting
dryland areas (land, water, wildlife, livestock, people and biodiversity) including national

legislation,bylawsandcustomary/traditionalnormsonaccess,useandcontrolofdryland
resources.

The key output will be a documentation of options for policy harmonisation that support
biodiversityconservationandsustainableuseindrylandareasofECA.

6.Projectdurationandbudget
ThiscallinvitesproposalsonprojectsthatwilldeliverthethreeoutputsbetweenJuly2009andDecember
2010 for a maximum of US$ 300,000. Presentation of these outputs at regional and national fora for
policychangewillbefacilitatedbyPAAPin2011andwillrequiretheinvolvementofthewinningteam.

7.Expertiserequired

Theleadinstitutionshallputtogetherateamcomposingofthisexpertise:

(a)
Policyanalyst,economistandsocialanalyst
(b)
Sociologist/Anthropologistwithdemonstratedinsightinpastoralareas
(c)
Expertindrylandareas,biodiversityconservation
(d)
Naturalresourcemanagementspecialist/environmentaleconomist
(e)
GIS/EISexpert
(f)
Landuseexpert

The lead institution must be one of the NARES in the ECA region. Collaborating team members can be
drawn from other institutions e.g. NGOs. The lead institution should have demonstrated experience in
working on pastoral areas development and biodiversity conservation issues. The team should have
experienceworkinginECA.

8.Proposaloutline
1. Interpretationoftheresearchcall
2. Introduction
3. Justification(valuedaddedtotheregionandpotentialspilloverstoothercountries)
4. Methodologyasperactivities
5. Geographicscope
6. Expectedoutputsandoutcomes
7. Projectlogframe,workplanandtimeline
8. Detailedandsummarybudget
9. Institutionalprofile
10. CVsofteammembers

9.Proceduresforsubmissionofproposals
The lead institution should submit their proposal and curriculum vitae of the team members. The
proposalshouldfollowtheoutlineprovidedinsection8

The deadline for submission of proposals (electronically) is Monday May 11th 2009 at 17:00 hours,
Entebbetime.

Submissionshouldbeto:
TheManager
PolicyAnalysisandAdvocacyProgramme
Plot13JohnBabiihaRoad

P.O.Box765
Entebbe,Uganda
Fax:256414321777
email:paap@asareca.org

Anyclarificationshouldbesoughtinwriting(post,emailorfax)fromtheaboveaddress.

For further information on ASARECA and its research programmes and units visit the website
www.asareca.org

[i] Includingthe(1)COMESA/CAADPSupport,(2)EnhancedLivelihoodsintheManderaTriangle(ELMT),
(3)PastoralAreasCoordination,AnalysisandPolicySupport(PACAPS)activities,and(4)theRegional
ConflictPreventionandMitigationTaskOrder.Seehttp://eastafrica.usaid.gov/en/Article.1072.aspx;
[ii]ForallASARECArelateddocumentspleasesendanemailrequesttopaap@asareca.org
[iii]Foradditionalinformation,PACAPScontact:FrancisChabari(fchabari@pacaps.org).ELMTcontactis
FionaFlintan,NRMTechnicalWorkingGroupAdvisor:fionaflintan@yahoo.co.uk,or
Fionaf@savechildren.org.et.,
[iv]PLIcontact:AndrewCatley,Andrew.Catley@tufts.edu
[v] E.g., Nature's Benefits in Kenya: An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being," by WRI, Gov of
Kenya, and ILRI, 2007. See also the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System
(ReSAKSS), www.resakss.org.
[vi] Contact Alexandra Crosskey ,
[vii] http://glcrsp.ucdavis.edu/projects/#LINKS