1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 What is a Village Action Plan (VAP) A Village Action Plan is a collection of projects identified by the Village Development Committee (VDC) through the Village Action Participatory Planning process. It contains detailed description of projects and their corresponding budgets. The Village Action Plan is prepared for the duration of three years in line with the District Development Plan (DDP). It is revised annually during its life span to feed into the Annual Investment Plans of the Assemblies. 1.2 Why a Village Action Planning Handbook (VAPH) The Village Action Planning Handbook is intended to guide the Area Executive Committee (AEC) members (extension workers or frontline staff) in the process of facilitating the production of village action plans with the involvement and active participation of the villagers. 1.3 Who Participates in the Village Action Planning Process? The Area Executive Committee members are responsible for facilitating and managing the Village Action Planning Process. Since the VDC is composed of a number of villages, it is important that each village be represented at the VDC during the VAP process. The Village Development Committee is composed of: One elected person from each village; Four elected woman from all the villages Two representatives of the youth (both sexes) selected from all villages 1
1.4 Purpose of the Village Action Planning Process The purpose of the Village Action Planning process is to provide a guide for the VDC to identify and prioritise development issues, formulate development objectives, identify strategies and generate projects. It offers an opportunity for the communities to contribute effectively to the process of developing the assembly District Development Plan (DDP) The objectives of the VAP process may be summarised as follows: Problem identification and analysis Identification of projects with the community Writing project proposal with community inputs Creating an understanding of the relationship between the VAP process and the District Development Planning System. The Village Action Planning process takes four days (see Annex four). The following are the steps that lead to the production of the VAP: 2
2.0 THE VAP PROCESS 2.1 Step One 2.1.1 Climate Setting This is an essential part of the exercise for preparing the participants for the activities to follow. During this session the participants are made to understand fully the objective of the Village Action Planning Exercise. The climate setting starts with welcoming remarks by the facilitators and participants introducing themselves. 2.2 Step Two 2.2.1 Problem Identification and Analysis Baseline information is important to give a better understanding of the situation prevailing within the V DC to both facilitators and the participants. This information is obtained by using a questionnaire and selected participatory tools. This information also feeds into the District Databank. At this stage the facilitator guides the participants to analyse and identify the major issues under each subject area. 2.2.1.1 Baseline Data See Annex One for the baseline data questionnaire and Annex Two for the selected participatory tools. 2.2.1.2 Screening for Duplications The session lists all issues identified through the questionnaire and participatory tools to eliminate duplication. 3
Take each issue and compare it with the rest in the list. The result will be a consolidated list of issues. 2.2.1.3 Prioritisation of Issues Table 1: An example of Pair-wise ranking School Roads Foods H/Centre Water Score Rank School Xxx Roads Food H/Centre Water 0 5 Roads Xxx xxx Food H/Centre Water 1 4 Foods Xxx xxx xxx Food Water 3 2 H/Centre Xxx xxx xxx xxx Water 2 3 Water Xxx xxx xxx xxx Xxx 4 1 This session ranks the issues in order to identify the most pressing ones. Pair wise ranking allows participants to determine the main problem or main preferences of community members. 2.3 Development Of Village Planning Framework (VPF) The Village Planning Framework is a guide for development within the VDC. It contains issues, their causes, long and medium term objectives and development strategies. 4
Table 2: An Example of a Village Planning Framework Issue Cause Objective Strategies Long Term Medium Term High Illiteracy Bad cultural practices Long distance to schools To reduce illiteracy To reduce illiteracy rate by 2% by 2008 Eliminate bad cultural practices Provide schools within 5 km walking distance Food insecurity Grow high yielding varieties Child labour Promotion of civic education campaigns 2.4 Step Three 2.4.1 Identification of Projects To identify projects, the participants are asked about what should be done to turn strategies in the VPF into actions. In the above VPF example, the strategy for reducing long distance to schools is to provide schools within a radius of 5 Km. This means that construction of schools within 5Km radius of the villages will be the project. This must be done for all the strategies. 5
2.5 Step Four 2.5.1 Selection of Projects The selection of projects follows project identification. This is done in order to have a manageable list of projects within the VDC. 6
2.6 Step Five 2.6.1 Project Formulation Project formulation describes the projects and provides the corresponding budgets as illustrated in Table 3. Table 3: Format for Project Formulation Name of VDC :. TA :. Project Description Project Budget No. Name of Project Project Objectives Sector Location Beneficiaries Project start Date Project Completion Date Total Cost Own Resources External Resources 7
2.6.2 VAP and DDP Linkage Once the VAP has been finalised, the facilitator should let the participants understand how it is linked to the DDP. It should be understood that the VAP is a participatory tool for allowing the communities to contribute towards projects for the entire Area Development Committee (ADC). At the ADC level, the AEC consolidates all the projects submitted by the VDCs in its area of jurisdiction to eliminate duplication and prioritise the projects. The consolidated list of projects is submitted to the District Executive Committee (DEC) for further review and inclusion in the Assembly s Development Plan. 2.7 Step Six 2.7.1 Format for Project Proposal There is need for the facilitator to guide the community in writing a project proposal for funding. Some donors have particular types of project proposal formats. It is therefore necessary that participants be familiar with all relevant formats. Where appropriate, a general project proposal format may be used as shown in Annex three. 8
Annex One: Questionnaire for the Collection of Baseline Data Name of VDC: Traditional Authority: Name of villages in the VDC area (list all villages) 1. Population (it is not easy to give exact figures, approximations may be used) 1.1 Number of Households Total Male Headed Female Headed Child Headed 1.2 Settlements Pattern (mark the applicable) Nucleated ( ) Scattered ( ) Linear ( ) 9
1.3 Migration Pattern (Provide an indication whether more people went for permanent residence outside the VDC or came in to take permanent residence in the villages within the VDC for the last 5 years) Migration Net gain ( ) Net Loss ( ) 1.4 List population related issues: Let members discuss and list all issues that are brought about due to changes in population. 2.0 Social Facilities and Physical Infrastructure 2.1 Education 2.1.1 Pre-schools 2.1.1.1 Name of pre-school (within VDC) 2.1.1.2 Enrolment Boys: Girls: 2.1.1.3 Number of Classrooms Permanent: Temporary: 10
2.1.1.4 Number of Care givers Trained: Untrained: 2.1.1.5 If not within VDC indicate: (a) Name of nearest pre-school (b) Travel time and estimated distance (Min ) (Km ) 2.1.2 Primary Schools 2.1.2.1 Names of primary schools (within VDC) 2.1.2.2 Enrolment Boys: Girls: 2.1.2.3 Number of classrooms Permanent: Temporally: 2.1.2.4 Number of Teachers Trained: Untrained: 11
2.1.2.5 If not within VDC indicate: (a) Name of nearest primary school (b) Average travel time and average estimated distance (Min ) (Km ) 2.1.3 Community Day and Private Secondary Schools (CDSS) 2.1.3.1 Name of CDSS (within VDC) 2.1.3.2 Enrolment Boys: Girls: 2.1.3.3 Number of Classrooms Permanent: Temporally: 2.1.3.4 Number of Teachers Trained: Untrained: 12
2.1.3.5 If not within VDC indicate: (a) Name of nearest CDSS (b) Average travel time and average estimated distance (Min ) (Km ) 2.1.3.6 List education related issues: Let members discuss and list all issues related to education. 3.0 Health 3.1 Name and Type of Health Facility 3.2 Staff Cadre: Clinical Officer: Medical Assistant: Nurse: HSA: Other (Specify cadre) 3.3 Number of Beds : General: Maternity: 13
3.4 If not within VDC indicate: (a) Name of nearest health facility (b) Average travel time and average estimated distance (Min ) (Km ) 1.4 List health related issues: Let members discuss and list all issues that are related to health. 4.0 Water 4.1 No. of water points by type Name of village Number of facilities Borehole Shallow wells Type Community stand pipe Total VDC Total 14
4.2 Travel time and estimated distance (Min ) (Km ) to the nearest water point. 4.3 List water related issues: Let members discuss and list all issues that are related to water. 5.0 Road Network 5.1 Classification: Main (Km ) Secondary (Km ) Tertiary (Km ) District (Km ) 5.2 List road network related issues: Let members discuss and list all issues that are related to condition of roads. 15
6.0 Markets 6.1 Name of market (within VDC) 6.2 If not within VDC indicate: (a) Name of nearest market (b) Travel time and estimated distance (Min ) (Km ) 6.3 List related issues to markets: Let members discuss and list all issues that are to markets. 7.0 Post Offices 7.1 Name of post office ( within VDC) 7.2 If not within VDC indicate: (a) Name of nearest post office (b) Travel time and estimated distance (Min ) (Km ) 7.3 List postal services related issues: Let members discuss and list all issues that are related to postal service. 16
8.0 Police Service 8.1 Name and type of police service (within VDC) If not within VDC indicate: (a) Name of nearest police service (b) Travel time and estimated distance (Min ) (Km ) 8.2 List issues related to postal services: Let members discuss and list all issues that are related to the availability and type of police service in the VDC. 9.0 Agriculture 9.1 Cash crop Let members discuss the types of cash crops and their production level for the previous growing season. 9.2 Food crops Let members discuss the types of food crops and their production level for the previous growing season. 9.3 Average land holding sizes (ha ) 9.4 Accessibility to agricultural loans (specify) 9.5 Access to other loans (Specify) 17
9.6 List issues related to agricultural services issues: Let members discuss and list all issues that are related to agricultural services in the VDC. 10.0 Availability of extension services 10.1 No. of agriculture extension workers ( ) 10.2 No. of veterinary extension workers ( ) 10.3 No. of HSA ( ) 10.4 No. of forestry extension workers ( ) 10.5 No. of water extension workers ( ) 10.6 No. of fisheries extension workers ( ) 10.7 Others (Specify) ( ) 10.8 List issues related to provision of extension services: Let members discuss and list all issues that are related to the availability and type of extension service in the VDC. 18
11.0 Occupation (by households) 11.1 Farming 11.2 Business 11.3 Tradesman/skills Watch repairers Builders Carpenters Radio repairers Bicycle repairers Vehicle mechanics 11.4 Formal employment 11.5 List issues related to occupations of households Let members discuss and list all issues that are related to the availability and type of occupation available for the households. 12.0 Common diseases (in descending order) Let members discuss common diseases and list them down starting with the commonest. 19
Annex Two: Selected Participatory Tools 1.0 Trend Diagram /Historical Transects 1.1 Description: Methodology for visual representation of time series data. Members are requested not to give absolute figures but use symbols to indicate an upward or downward trend. 1.2 Type of Data: 1.2.1 Population Item 1989 1994 1999 2004 Issues Population growth Mortality Life expectancy Fertility 1.2.2 Migration Item 2001 2002 2003 2004 Issues Migration trend 20
1.2.3 Education Item 2001 2002 2003 2004 Issues Enrolment boys Enrolment girls Dropout boys Dropout girls rate rate Pupil/classroom ratio Teacher ratio pupil 1.2.4 Health Cadre 2001 2002 2003 2004 Issues Medical assistant Nurse Health assistant HSA Item 2001 2002 2003 2004 Issues Bed population ratio 21
Common diseases 1989 1994 1999 2004 Issues Malaria Diarrhoea Bilharzia TB Pneumonia HIV/AIDS 1.2.5 Environment Item 2001 2002 2003 2004 Issues Rainfall pattern Item 1989 1994 1999 2004 Issues Deforestation Soil erosion Siltation Bio-diversity 22
1.2.6 Economy Item 1974 1984 1994 2004 Issues Availability of jobs Levels income of Availability of credit facilities 1.2.7 Water Item 2001 2002 2003 2004 Issues Boreholes Shallow wells Protected wells Taps 23
1.2.8 Agriculture Item 1974 1984 1994 2004 Issues Land holding size Item 2001 2002 2003 2004 Issues Crop yield Food security 2.0 SOCIAL MAPPING 2.1 Description: Village Map showing households, social facilities, land use and drainage. 24
Annex Three: Project Proposal Format 3.0 Cover page Project Proposal Name of the Project Submitted by: Name of contact person and project implementation committee Name of VDC Date of submission 3.1 Summary Address of committee Name of project Duration of project Project start date Total project budget Donor contribution Community contribution 3.2 Detailed project description Project area Location Project beneficiaries Problem definition Needs assessment 25
Annex four: Activity Schedule Item Day 1 1 Climate setting 1 hour 2 Baseline data collection - Questionnaire 2 hours Day 2 1 Baseline data collection Participatory tools 3 hours 2 Screening for duplications 1 hour 3 Prioritisation of issues 1 hour Day 3 1 Development of VPF 3 hours 2 Identification and selection of projects 3 hours Day 4 1 Project formulation 2 hours 2 Project proposals 1 hour Time 26