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SANBio hosts Project Management Training and Proposal Development workshops

13 July 2011

The Southern Africa Network for Biosciences (SANBio) hosted two workshops in Maputo, Mozambique from 27th June to 4th July 2011. The two workshops were held back-to-back with support from the Finland-South Africa Partnership Programme to Strengthen SANBio (BioFISA). The first session was a project cycle management (PCM) training workshop from 27-30 June. The second activity was a proposal development workshop from 2-4 July. In total 22 and 28 participants from Malawi, Namibia, Mauritius, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe attended the training and proposal development workshops, respectively. Participants were welcomed by the Director in the Mozambican Ministry of Fisheries, Dr. Isabel Omar. Prof Luke Mumba, SANBio Network Director, officially opened the workshops while the Programme Manager; Dr. Tichaona Mangwende gave a brief overview of the expectations.

The PCM training workshop from 27-30 June was facilitated by Mr. Karl Von Buddenbrock with the occasional assistance from the SANBio Secretariat on the use of project specific examples. The objective of the training workshop was to address identified shortcomings in the abilities of the Hub, Nodes and the rest of the member states of SANBio Network to develop and implement programmes and projects. The syllabus was based on the Project Management Institute (PMI) Manual and included the following topics: Applying Project Management Processes; Developing Project Management Plan; Work Breakdown Structures; Creating Activity List; Estimating Activity Resources, Estimating Activity Duration; Developing Project Schedule; Estimating Project Costs & Establishing a Cost Baseline; Creating a Communication Plan; Risk Analysis and Risk Management; Gantt Charts; Scheduling Manually and Using MS Office Project 2010 Tool; Monitoring and Controlling Project Work; Generating Activity sequences. Each participant was given a copy of the PMI Manual, the MS Office Project 2010 Manual and the supporting software for use during and after the workshop.

Participants to the PCM concluded the course by visiting the Maputo Fisheries Port and Eduardo Mondlane University-Faculty of Agronomy and Forestry. At the Fisheries Port, visitors were briefed on work undertaken at the Quality Assurance section, EU Fisheries Export Section and Transportation. At the university, the Dean of Faculty, Prof Emilio Tostao briefed visitors on the work, staff compliment, student population, areas of study and interests. Visitors were also shown the Mushroom laboratories where work on culturing indigenous species of mushroom, in collaboration with the SANBio Mushroom Node, is underway.

The second activity was a proposal development workshop from 2-4 July to finalise four project proposals that the various project teams had been developing in preparation for Phase II of BioFISA (2012-2016). The current Phase of BioFISA comes to an end in December this year. The workshop emphasis was on hands-on using MS Project 2010. Project groups dealt mostly with generating a detailed activity list that was used to define relationships and approximate duration for each activity. Each of the four projects generated a detailed Gantt chart suitable for extracting schedules that speak to the three project constraints; time, cost, and scope. Participants had dealt with the narrative aspects of the proposals prior to this workshop. At the end of the session each proposal team produced a draft of the full proposal with schedules that addressed what needed to be monitored and evaluated. The four projects are as follows: (1) Integrated Bioprospecting Platform, (2) Control and Management of Livestock Diseases, (3) Crop Improvement, and (4) Fish production-Biodiversity and Aquaculture.

Lessons leant from these two workshops are that there is need for continued learning on the part of researchers to fully appreciate the knowledge areas critical for effective project management. Skills training workshops such as PCM should be an integral component of the capacity building programme of the SANBio network as they offer opportunities for continuous skills development. Although the BioFISA Programme had conducted three PCM courses so far, the application of new skills in managing projects is still very low. The participatory project proposal development sessions are critical in building stakeholder commitment from start to finish. Project proposals that are developed in a participatory way with critical stakeholders are more likely to address relevant problems or needs of the communities and to generate the necessary buy-in and ownership by the regional players. Different stakeholders have varied perceptions of both the problems and likely solutions. Stakeholders' workshops can help establish a shared position on the priorities for the region.

The level of interest generated through these activities both from Mozambique and other participating countries was very high as highlighted by the following excerpts from participants:

"Indeed it was rewarding being in both sessions, I can feel that I have added something to the medulla oblongata (is it where things go?? not sure), and thanks to the organizers and the whole crew, the environment was just nice". Dr. David Kassam, Bunda College of Agriculture, Malawi

"Once again I say thank you to SANBio for having invited me to participate in the workshop. It was such a wonderful experience that I would repeat over and over". Mr. Emmanuel Mkusa, University of Namibia

"For me it was breaking down the activities or was it tasks as well. I am looking forward to learning more about MS Project 2010. Thank you to the SANBio Secretariat, well done, again. Thanks also to all the colleagues who made the workshop worthwhile and interesting and a nice learning experience". Dr. Nomusa Dlamini, CSIR, South Africa

"Let me also thank the secretariat for putting a good course for all of us. Certainly, I, for one, am now a better lion! And the training city was also cool". Dr. Percy Chimwamurombe, University of Namibia

"I should thank you, Prof Mumba and the whole Secretariat, for once again, a professionally organized training workshop. The venue was superb, and congratulations on the same. The Fish team intends to immediately embark on improving the document and I think Karl will be pleased to note that we are getting into the Gantt chart head-on". Prof. Emmanuel Kaunda, Bunda College of Agriculture, Malawi

"Thanks for a wonderful course and time together with all of you. I can't help but think of the Gantt chart over and over again. Hope to hear more from all of you". Dr. Syakalima Michelo, University of Zambia

Thank you for the great organization of the two meetings last week and for your support. We all enjoyed our stay in Maputo. As Tich mentioned, the spirit was there and the will to get this huge task done. Let's hope all goes well for the next phase". Dr. Yasmina Fakim, University of Mauritius