Programme & project design
Our project design work focuses on the practicality of interventions and sustainability of potential economic impacts
Our experience ranges from complex multi-year programmes to targeted, single focus initiatives across the infrastructure, food security, ICT and organisational development subject matter areas.
We believe detailed investigations set the foundation for good design.
Our approach is pragmatic, market-driven and informed by strong economic and financial analysis, as well as consideration of capacity, capability and risk management issues.
We adhere to well-established Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) principles in all our project design work – Relevance, Coherence, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Impact and Sustainability, with a particularly strong emphasis on sustainability.
Our design process is consultative, inclusive, iterative and evidence based.
We carefully balance political, economic, social, technical, environmental and legal aspects to achieve targeted outcomes.
We believe the following elements are crucial to any project’s success:
♦ A clear understanding of objectives
♦ An analysis of design options based on desktop research and substantial field research
♦ A solid understanding of the market systems approach to development
♦ Comprehensive knowledge of the project area and challenges relating to the operating environment
♦ The ability to deploy personnel to the field safely and effectively, and in a way that establishes good working relationships with stakeholder
♦ A working knowledge of the sector in question, so that innovative technical solutions can be understood within a local context
♦ A participatory approach to encourage stakeholders to ‘buy in’ to the project design
♦ Appropriate cultural sensitivity by team members and in final project design
♦ Experience engaging with the private sector
♦ Rigorous adherence to international best practice standards
Past work includes:
♦ Designing and delivering the Afghanistan Agricultural Support Programme (ASP) in Bamyan Province between 2011 and 2017, which improved agricultural practices to achieve sustainable economic returns for farmers/communities in four districts of Bamyan.
♦ Designing and delivering the US$54 million Afghanistan Value Chains – Livestock (AVC-L) programme in conjunction with Development Alternatives Inc between 2018 and 2021, which is working with ‘anchor firms’ in five key livestock product value chains to build their capacity and assist them to expand their businesses.
♦ Designing and delivering the New Zealand-funded Zambia Dairy Transformation Programme between 2016 and 2021, which is working with smallholder farmers and their dairy cooperative associations to increase milk supply, improve farm profitability and increase household incomes.
♦ Designing and delivering the Fiji Dairy Industry Development Initiative, with the implementation of a programme of activities drawing on knowledge and experience of New Zealand dairy farming systems, complemented by Fijian knowledge and expertise.
♦ Preparing the Arghandab Integrated Water Resources Project in partnership with FCG ANZDEC between 2017 and 2019, which aims to contribute to a more reliable and sustainable water supply and electricity service for Kandahar City’s 500,000 residents and 230,000 rural residents.
♦ Redesigning the business plan for Phase II of the Comprehensive Agriculture and Rural Development-Facility (CARD-F), a GB£56 million programme delivered in Afghanistan, in partnership with Atos Consulting between 2014 and 2017.
♦ Designing and delivering a water management programme incorporating small check dams in rural Afghanistan between 2011 and 2014 to address acute water shortages in four districts of Bamyan Province.
