How can a large complex project be adaptive, flexible, inclusive and responsive? This document provides an overview of the Concept Note system, the benefits and lessons learned.
Operating in three regions in Ethiopia through ten consortium partners that co-locate in eight offices under five technical areas, PRIME is structured to respond to complex and dynamic realities on the ground in its efforts to build resilience in pastoralist areas using a facilitative market systems approach.
To operationalise adaptive management, PRIME project leaders decided to use an innovative Concept Note system, whereby all project activities are initiated by writing a mini business-case (the concept note). The template includes sections on background, objectives, expected linkages, description of action/approach, identifying the target beneficiaries, responsibilities and roles of co-implementers, budget (including any cost-sharing) and a description of follow-ups on the activity beneficiaries (monitoring and evaluation).