BMPM5002 Responsible Project Management Assignment 2 | De Montfort University

This assignment is an individual assignment. 

You are expected to write a 4000-word project report by considering the success of the below presented project. You are expected to initiate a “One Village One Product” project in your country by selecting an agricultural product (not coffee) that can be grown in your country. You are asked to prepare a sustainability management plan (a report) about your proposed project to convince your stakeholders. As a Responsible Project Manager tell us about how you will take responsibility for this sustainable development project.  

Coffee Intensification Project in Rwanda

“The One Village One Product approach (OVOP), was initiated to uncover synergies between land, agriculture and housing reforms through respectively consolidation of land use, agriculture transformation and living in village settlement. In this context, coffee is selected as a suitable product for Nyamagabe District, Rwanda. This district is selected since the climate and soil conditions are suitable for growing coffee. Its contribution for the last 50 years as the main source of foreign currency for the country and recent efforts by the government to reform the coffee sector in order to become more competitive and generate more income for primary producers in the cooperative.

The implementation of activities of the coffee intensification project for poverty reduction in Nyamagabe district, Gasaka sector has had various positive impacts such as the cultivation of coffee on 90.9 hectar(ha), exploitation of spaces/hills which were abandoned/shrubs, reinforcing soil conservation measures on cultivated land (terraces and erosion control contours), fruits, and agroforestry trees; forages, fixing plants, organization of local population into cooperative, the introduction of the land use consolidation approach, market-oriented production, emergence of entrepreneurial spirit, increasing incomes and enabling the beneficiaries to participate/contribute in different development and social programs (9 years based education, health insurance, Girinka, saving and access to loans).

 The project also supported the capacity reinforcement of the beneficiaries’ organizational body (KOKA cooperative); the financial support in terms of monthly subsidy to ensure food security of involved households; and diversification through the development of small income-generating projects associated or complementary to coffee growing to increase their incomes. 104 households got support for livestock (cows, rabbits, and pigs). With the 175009 new coffee trees ready for production in 2012 and the 32926 old coffee trees with a current capacity of 112T; it is expected that the consolidated land will produce around 300T of coffee cherries thus a need for a washing station

Being in its 3rd year, the achievements of the project had so far reached some of its objectives such as changing positively the rural livelihoods, increasing their annual income from 100US$ up to 778 US$. The project covers 253 households with 219 qualifying for the monthly subsidy with 1121 members out of which 586 are women and 535 men.”

Initial Reading:
Bananeza, E. O. (2011). Socio economic and environmental impact assessment of the Coffee Intensification project for poverty reduction in Gasaka sector of Nyamagabe District (Doctoral dissertation, National University of Rwanda).

Assessment Details

You (individually) are expected to prepare an individual report of 4000 words. This report should present a Sustainability Management Plan for the One Village One product (OVOP) project that you will prepare for your country in the context of Responsible Project Management. 

We already introduced the Coffee Intensification Project above. This project is an example of OVOP movement. The application of this project in Rwanda was a success. Assume that you would like to apply this project (by supporting the farming of an agricultural product) in your country to enhance regional development.  Please prepare a Sustainability Management Plan to convince your Project Sponsor. Within the Sustainability Management Plan you are expected to assess the proposed project in the context of Responsible Project Management. 
Your Sustainability Management Plan should include the following sections;

1. Introduction

Briefly describe the project, its objectives, and its impact on the environment, society, and economy.

2. Stakeholders Analysis for the proposed project 

In this section you should present an analysis of stakeholders. Pig model should be used as a tool to present the stakeholders perspective about the project.

3. Environmental impact of the proposed project

• Discuss the strategies for minimizing the project's environmental impact of the project.
• Offer actions to minimize environmental impact if possible. This could include waste management plans, energy efficiency measures, and strategies for reducing emissions, etc.

4. Sustainability Goals for the proposed project

This section should outline the high-level sustainability goals and objectives of the project considering the stakeholders perspective. These objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) to provide a clear direction for the project.

• Define sustainability goals for your project. For example, reducing energy consumption, improving waste management, etc.

5. Qualitative and quantitative performance indicators

Performance indicators help assess the project's sustainability progress. Qualitative indicators can include descriptions of the intended environmental and social benefits, while quantitative indicators involve specific metrics like energy consumption reductions, waste reduction percentages, or greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Provide a brief summary of sustainability indicators metrics that could be used for this project. Select some indicators/metrics considering the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. These metrics should be related to your sustainability goals. For example,

• Goal: Reducing energy consumption of food processing processes
• Target: Reducing energy consumption by 10%
• KPI: Energy consumption measured in Watts

6. An assessment of the project from the perspective of RPM

• As a Responsible Project Manager evaluate your project from the perspective of 10 driving principles of RPM.

7. An assessment of suitable monitoring and reporting tools for sustainability

• Describe a methodology and a tool that could be used to assess and track sustainability performance. Please tell why this tool is suitable for this project.
• This can include recognized standards and guidelines, such as ISO 14001 for environmental management or the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for sustainability reporting.

8. Design a process that enables continuous improvement for the project's sustainability

• This process should help you review the project's sustainability performance and making improvements. This could include regular review meetings, feedback loops, and continuous improvement initiatives, etc.
• Plan- Do- Check- Act cycle can be used.

9. Determine project success criteria for your project. 

• Describe the project success criteria for your project. Detail each criterion.

10. Conclusion
Summarize the key points of the plan and reaffirm the project's commitment to sustainability.