[PDF] Community Development Toolkit - CommDev

Development Opportunity Ranking9continuedPLANNING TOOLSSTEP 4Development opportunity rankingAt the conclusion of step 3 the communitywill have a list of projects or opportunitiesthey would like to pursue, possiblyaddressing the same development topic, or avaried group. Not all of these opportunitieswill be able to be addressed by you, or thecommunity themselves, in the short,medium or long term. To inform the rankingof these opportunities, it is best to develop aset of agreed criteria to use to assess theopportunities for each development theme.Commonly used criteria for rankingopportunities are:• Sustainability – can the community keepthe project running by itself, after outsideassistance has gone?• Productivity – will the project substantiallyincrease the availability of neededresources?• Equitability – will the project benefit abroad cross-section of the community?• Cost – will large amounts of externalfunding be needed?• Community contribution – will thecommunity be able and willing tocontribute to the project (normallythrough an in-kind contribution)?• Technical feasibility – does the projectrequire specialized expertise both to startand maintain?• Social/cultural acceptability – does theproject fit within the community’s norms?• Time needed – will it take a long time forthe community to reap the benefits of theproject?Considering each development projectagainst these criteria can help you work withthe community to develop a communitydevelopment plan. In Table 11, communitymembers have identified a significantdevelopment opportunity (improved accessto water), defined an objective (increasedwater availability) and assessed four options(boreholes, roof catchment, shallow wellsand surface dams) for achieving theobjective. In this instance, the action planwould focus on roof catchment options forthe community, as that was assessed as thenumber one option.104 Community Development Toolkit