Project

3.1 What is a Project Profile?

A project profile is a simplified description of an eventual project. In addition to defining the purpose and ownership of the project, it presents a first estimate of the activities involved and the total investment that will be required, as well as the annual operating costs and, in the case of income generating projects, the annual income.

It is simplified in a number of senses; costs may still not be well defined, minor items may be excluded, and assumptions as to the demand for the output of the investment, whether it be a childcare facility, a bridge, or canned vegetables, are probably just that - assumptions.

3.2 What is the Purpose of the Profile?

The project profile serves a number of important purposes. These are discussed briefly below.

a) It helps to ensure that the members of the community or group involved understand the probable implications of their proposal in terms of investment and operating costs, labour requirements, scale of operations and other factors. It is often not until the proposed project is debated publicly and written down in front of everyone that these elements really emerge. Up to this point, group members may just have felt that it would be 'good' to have a new access road to the village, without really understanding what that might entail - both for the village as a whole and for them personally.

b) It helps eliminate wasted effort in preparing detailed projects that are incoherent, lacking support among the applicants, or which fail to meet basic tests of viability. If human and financial resources to support project formulation are limited - which is usually the case - this aspect of the profile in acting as a 'filter' is very important. If the community can only receive funds to support one full project preparation per year, it is best not to waste those resources on a project that has no chance of success.

c) The participation of group members in the preparation and assessment of the profile is...