Project Sustainability

Implementation

Research needs:

Review past projects: which have had a sustainable impact and which have not? How can the differences be explained?
How can farmers’ independence of the project be promoted?
How will the interventions be funded after project funding is phased out? What are sustainable financing mechanisms?
Which organisations can continue the project after it has finished officially? What capacity building is needed?

Project sustainability is a very important topic that is not always considered enough during the design phase (Anon., personal communication). Sustainability of the project is especially important when there is a high initial investment but short term funding and the aim of a long term impact (Anon., personal communication). This project can learn from past projects: Which have been sustainable, which haven’t and why? What did they do right and wrong? (Anon., personal communication). Though the topic of project sustainability might seem obvious, there is little research on effective mechanisms to ensure it and this knowledge has the potential to greatly increase project effectiveness.

Project sustainability depends on how the project and the exit strategy are set up and it is important to factor this into the project design. If it is planned well, the farmers should be able to continue the project (Anon., personal communication). However, farmers often do not see these projects as stepping stones to move on. At the initial stages farmers should therefore be informed that the project is a stepping stone to achieve their aim and that it is not going to be there forever. There is also a need to assess when the farmers are ready to continue with the activities without support from the project (Anon., personal communication).

For the project to be economically sustainable, revenue streams after the project funding has finished need to be identified (Anon., personal communication). This relates to market access for the value that is created by the project such as certified cocoa, timber and the products and services from potential additional livelihoods (Anon., personal communication). Also interventions such as access to chemicals need to be set up in such a way that they can provide their own funding in the future (Anon., personal communication).

On a social level, project sustainability can be enhanced by increasing farmer motivation and focusing on capacity building so they can continue the project (Anon., personal communication). Moreover, local governments supporting the project interventions can further enhance sustainability (Anon., personal communication). By rolling out interventions through existing organisations, the chance of the project continuing on the long term increases. However, these organisation will also have their own challenges (access to funding for example) and it is important to work on capacity building so they can carry on after the project finishes (Anon., personal communication).