but can broadly be grouped into four approaches:
(i) Humanitarian approach – beneficiary communities usually receive handouts without any further support. The reciprocal benefits of humanitarian projects are short term, not self-sustaining and lack impact on most indicators of development.
(ii) Development institutions (such as Agricultural Development Co-operations) – these run agricultural projects to generate income for themselves. Institutions hope that some benefits will trickle through to participants and the local rural communities.
(iii) Commercial agricultural projects – these offer one or several possibilities to participants, including the orientation of project members to the world of capitalism. They enjoy decision making, if not restricted by project outlay, project leader‟s financial control measures, etc. Teaching and training develop them to become fully-fledged commercial project farmers on commercial projects, although the project members normally retain decision-making responsibilities.
(iv) Farmer Support Programme (FSP) – This is the fourth approach, which will probably gain in popularity because of an increasing decline in funding and the pressure of humanistic development theory. In a typical FSP situation, goods and services are brought within the reach of the rural population.
(v) Poor (subsistence) farmers approach – this is where they are organised into small “cooperatives” and other forms of infrastructure in the rural communities.
(vi) The PROPEL Management Approach.
The PROPEL Management Approach (University of Pretoria, 2010) is a new approach for the successful management of projects. This approach ensures participation and involvement of all stakeholders in agricultural projects. The PROPEL (People, Requirements, Objectives, Planning, Execution, and Learning) approach is divided into four phases and six specific actions, as described below.
Phase 1:The conceptual or consideration phase.
1. People
Owner, stakeholder, third parties
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Project leader, team members, participants
User (involve to ensure quality and buy in) 2. Requirements
Execute a feasibility study: scope, deliverables, specifications
Expectations/needs/constraints 3. Objectives
Format: results must be clear, specific and measurable. Specific means the people involved desired change and time frames
Completion criteria
Phase 2: The planning phase 4. The plan
Work breakdown structure
Estimates
Schedule (milestone, check points, critical path analysis, resources, user training, and involvement)
Plans (financial, communication, manpower, resources)
Risk and contingency, change and conflict
Presentation to stake holders, get commitment and check
Phase 3: Implementation phase 5. Execution
Start/initiate the project (is the team ready?)
Performance management and motivation
Manage the change and requests
Manage progress (milestone, check, anticipate, re-plan, monitor and evaluate)
Quality assurance (measure, contingency management)
Communication at all times (meetings, feedback)
Manage expectations
Phase 4: Monitoring and evaluation 6. Learning and termination
Status report review, learn from experience
Check delivery, measure, review standards and procedures
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Recognise performance, realise benefits
2.3.6 Project success
2.3.6.1 Defining project success
The expressions of different authors are:
a) Project success means satisfying the customer‟s requirements on specification, on schedule, and on budget (Sparrius, 2000:267-293). A successful project satisfies the expectations of all its stakeholders.
b) A project is generally deemed successful if it meets pre-determined targets set by clients, performs the job it was intended to do, or solves an identified problem within the predetermined time, cost and quality constraints. To meet these targets, the project manager uses project management systems to effectively plan and control the project (Burke, 2003:2-4, 48-59).
c) According to Bruce and Langdon (2007:76), the essential ingredients for success in project management include defined and agreed-upon goals, a committed team, and a viable and flexible plan of action. To achieve the goals, it should be ensured that these essentials are in place.
d) Project success can be defined as the achievement of project purpose within the allocated time, budget and defined quality and performance standards or goals (Shenbur et al., 1997; and Atkinson, 1999:337-342), so as to:
(i) Satisfy stakeholder groups;
(ii) Meet requirements;
(iii) Meet quality expectations/requirements;
(iv) Deliver within cost;
(v) Deliver within deadline;
(vi) Deliver sustained and actual benefits; and
(vii) Provide the team with professional satisfaction and learning.
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e) To achieve the desired outcome, according to Ali et al. (2001:658), a project musthave the following essentials to be successful:
(i) Defined and approved goals;
(ii) A committed team;
(iii) A viable plan of action that can be altered to accommodate change;
(iv) The capacity to learn to accept the inevitability of change;
(v) An outlook to hope for the best, but always plan for the worst;
(vi) The capacity for planning and communicating for a project to run smoothly, for which the resources must be available at the time they are needed;
(vii) The capacity to revise and enhance the project at least several times; and (viii) The capacity to be prepared to change plans in a flexible and responsive
way.
2.3.6.2 Project management process
The project management process should identify all stakeholders, determine their objectives and expectations, and incorporate these into the project plan as far as it is reasonably possible to do. The identification of stakeholders and their expectation should be one of the major activities during the project‟s concept phase (Sparrius, 2000:267-293).
Ali et al. (2001:658) have listed the following questions that one can ask himself or herself:
(i) Could I respond to a customer‟s demand by initiating a project?
(ii) Whom should I approach to get the project under way?
(iii) Am I confident that the key people will lend their support to make this project successful? and
(iv) Do the overall aims of the project seem achievable?