A participatory approach to identifying and
preparing small scale rural investments
MODULE 2

PREPARING AND USING
PROJECT PROFILES

RURALINVEST

Investment Centre Division
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations

Agriculture and Rural Development Department
The World Bank
 

Table of Contents

Rome, Italy December 2005

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© FAO 2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO RURALINVEST

1.1 The Purpose of RuralInvest
1.2 The Special Nature of Rural Investments
1.3 Type and Scale of Projects Appropriate for RuralInvest
1.4 The RuralInvest Modules

1.4.1 Module 1 - Assessing Local Investment Needs and Priorities
1.4.2 Module 2 - Identifying and Preparing Project Profiles
1.4.3 Module 3 - Detailed Project Formulation and Analysis
1.4.4 Module 4 - Monitoring and Evaluation of RuralInvest Proposals and Projects

1.5 RuralInvest Users

CHAPTER 2. THE ROLE AND APPLICATION OF INVESTMENT PROJECT PROFILES

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Defining a Project
2.3 Principle Stages in the Preparation and Use of Project Profiles

2.3.1 Identification of Possible Rural Investment Projects
2.3.2 Definition and Preparation of Project Profiles
2.3.3 Undertaking the Preliminary Assessment

CHAPTER 3. THE PROJECT PROFILE

3.1 What is a Project Profile?
3.2 What is the Purpose of the Profile?
3.3 What is the Difference between a Profile and a Detailed Project Design?
3.4 The Principal Elements of a Project Profile

CHAPTER 4. KEY ASPECTS TO CONSIDER IN PREPARING A PROJECT PROFILE

4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Importance of Demand

4.2.1 Income Generating Projects
4.2.2 Non Income Generating Projects

4.3 Supply as an Influencing Factor
4.4 Describing Project Operations

4.4.1 Project Beneficiaries
4.4.2 The Units of Production
4.4.3 The Production Cycle
4.4.4 Sales Units

4.5 Categorizing Costs

4.5.1 Investment Costs
4.5.2 Production or Operating Costs
4.5.3 General and Maintenance Costs

4.6 Environmental Sustainability

CHAPTER 5. COMPLETING AND INTERPRETING THE PROFILE

5.1 Introduction
5.2 Background Information
5.3 The Investment
5.4 Operating Costs and Income per Activity

5.4.1 Operating Costs by Activity
5.4.2 Income per Activity

5.5 General and Maintenance Costs
5.6 Preliminary Estimate of Viability (Income Generating Projects Only)

5.6.1 Project Net Income per Year
5.6.2 Number of Years Required to Repay the Investment
5.6.3 Net Income after Allowing for Investment Replacement

5.7 Preliminary Beneficiary Estimates (Non Income Generating Projects Only)

CHAPTER 6. NEXT STEPS

ANNEX 1: Project Profile Formats

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