Standard 11:Sustainability
Our Commitment:
We are committed to seeing that
projects have a lasting benefit,
being built on local ownership and
using local skills and resources, as
appropriate to the situation.
A community grain bank in Niger; a project designed to
be entirely sustainable in order that food is available to
community members in times of crisis, every year.
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Standard 11:Sustainability
The issues
The concepts of sustainability, local ownership and participation are central
to good development, in wishing to see positive, lasting change that is not
dependent on outside help. Whilst it is clear that in development work,
plans that are based on a community’s own resources and capacities will be
more sustainable, emergency situations often require a higher level of
outside help. The basic needs of disaster-affected people must be provided
for, if they are no longer in a position to meet those needs themselves.
In development projects, long-term sustainability is usually considered in the
design phase, so that benefits continue after the project budget is finished.
In emergency projects, sustainability is often neglected, but the potential
for long-lasting benefits is often still present. We need to consider how to
provide outside help in a way which can be built on local ownership, using
local capacities. By nature, relief projects often have a short life, but there
is an opportunity to provide new skills, to build new community organisations
or to set up new supply chains that will be continued long after the project
has ended.
If the principle of sustainability is not fully considered in a project, the
design may be poor, with benefits ending as soon as the project finishes.
Resources may be wasted and communities left in a disappointed or
frustrated state. At worst, they may become long-term dependent upon
outside help and future attempts to work with them using local resources
will become much more difficult.
Biblical foundations
The concept of sustainability is consistent with the biblical message of
seeing lasting change in people’s lives. Sustainability is a continuing process
of positive personal and community change, not simply financial
independence or the continuation of the physical products of development.
Reconciliation with God makes possible this on-going change, breaking the
power of harmful traditions, setting us free for service and creating an
openness to further change.
Good Practice commitments
Sustainability in development work may be difficult but not impossible to
achieve, if strong community participation and ownership are built in to the
project design. The six factors below will need to be considered.
Emergency situations vary tremendously. There is a big difference between
a project that is providing basic services for newly displaced people, and a
project which is supporting permanent resettlement in villages at the end of
a conflict. We need to think carefully about the meaning of sustainability in
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each situation, helping us to decide which approaches are appropriate and
realistic for that particular context.
Similarly, different types of projects bring different considerations in
relation to sustainability – for example, a supplementary feeding project is
not intended by design to be long-term and sustainable, as it will be closed
once the nutrition crisis is over. On the other hand, a hand-dug well in a
settled village is intended to provide long-term water provision, and a
community grain bank is intended to provide service to a community year
after year: in both cases, sustainability should be a central consideration in
all aspects of project design. Even in the first example of supplementary
feeding, there may be learning for mothers about child-care and nutrition
which will bring improved health into the future.
The importance of government services should not be overlooked and our
aim must be to strengthen long-term government services wherever possible
and appropriate.
There are a range of factors to look at when considering sustainability:
Knowledge and skills – what knowledge and skills will be needed to maintain
the benefits, e.g. healthier behaviour or water-pump repair skills?
Community organisation – what sort of organisation, committee or
community structure will be needed?
Government – what type of ongoing support is required from government or
other indigenous bodies such as banks or co-operatives?
Finances – are there recurring costs or future expenditures that need to be
covered? What sort of funding arrangement will be needed?
Materials – are there materials or equipment that will be needed on an
ongoing basis? Are these things readily available and affordable?
Environment – can the local natural environment sustain the project over
the long-term (e.g. water supply, tree cover, soil fertility, etc)?
Alongside sustainability, another important principle is replicability, which
means the ability of a community to copy or repeat something which the
project has provided. For example, a latrine project may wish to see nonbeneficiaries building their own latrines. Similarly, an improved agricultural
technique may be introduced, hoping to see the new methods taken up by
increasing numbers of farmers as a result of their own initiative.
Replicability is an important aspect of wider impact; our project may only be
able to reach a limited number of people but we want to see the benefits
extend throughout the community. Spontaneous uptake by others is
sometimes called the ‘multiplier effect’ of a project. Some projects adopt a
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demand-led approach, relying upon demand from within a community to
ensure its uptake and replication by a larger number of families.
Close links to other Quality Standards
Our commitment to sustainability has close links to:
 Disaster Risk, as a project will not be sustainable if wiped out by
disaster;
 Technical Quality, as projects need to be demand led and include
appropriate technical quality if they are to be sustainable; and
 Environment, with the need to ensure that the environment can
sustain the demands of the project.
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Standard 11:Sustainability
Practical Steps for carrying out our Sustainability commitment
Identification
Step 1: Carefully consider
the context and the
requirements for
sustainability & replicability
Design
Step 2: Identify the
knowledge and skills
required for the long term
Step 3: Identify the type of
community organisation
required for the long term
Step 4: Identify the type of
relationship required with
government or other
service providers for the
long term
Step 5: Identify the
financial input required for
the long term
Step 6: Identify the
materials and supplies
required for the long term
Step 7: Identify the
environmental
requirements for the long
term
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Standard 11:Sustainability
Step 1: Carefully consider
the context and the
requirements for
sustainability & replicability
 Expectations
will
be
different
depending on the context – whether a
relief
project
or
longer-term
development. Sustainability is harder
to achieve in emergency interventions,
but our approach will still influence
community attitudes. We can build
capacity (leading to sustainability), or
control and provide everything, sowing
the seeds of dependency.
 Is the ownership of the project remaining with the implementing
organisation (for example, an emergency water supply in a refugee
camp), or is ownership by the community absolutely central to the
project, (e.g. a village well)?
 Consider the time frames of the project and programme – how much time
is available to carry out effective mobilisation and to encourage local
ownership?
 Consider the size and breadth of the project – it is usually better to plan
a smaller project which will be sustainable, rather than a large scale
project that will not be sustainable once the funding ends.
 Consider the need for demand and replicability – this will have a direct
influence on the project design as the priority will be on low cost and
acceptance.
 Consider what approaches other NGOs and organisations in the area are
taking, for example with paying incentives to volunteers, or providing
payment for community labour. It is more challenging to adopt one
approach when others are taking a totally different approach. Decisions
made on such policies will also have implications for the long term – i.e.
once a precedent has been set, it will be hard to change later.
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Standard 11:Sustainability
Step 2: Identify the
knowledge and skills
required for the long term
 Ensure the knowledge and skill
requirements are realistic.
 Build on local knowledge and skills wherever possible
 Agree the messages that need to be delivered in support of the project
and make them as clear as possible. It is better to have a small number of
clear messages that will be remembered, rather than a comprehensive
list of messages that will be forgotten. For example, develop a set of
short, clear messages on health topics or agricultural techniques.
 In a health promotion project the required health knowledge will need to
be effectively shared with Community Health Volunteers (or Promoters)
who can then pass these messages on to community members in an
accurate and confident way over the long-term.
 In a water project, key skills need to be transferred to pump mechanics
so that they can carry out future maintenance work.
Step 3: Identify the type of
community organisation
required for the long term
 Is a committee required to oversee the
project? If so, it is usually better to work
with an existing traditional committee, rather
than creating something new for this project
 Don’t try to form a committee in haste – time is
needed to have proper consultation, to select
the right people and to ensure clarity on the purpose & responsibilities of
the committee. The formation of multiple committees should be avoided,
because it often leads to confusion and even conflict within the
community.
 Where there are local churches within target communities, identify how
best to work with the local church in supporting the project over the long
term in appropriate ways.
 Where there are no local churches, work with existing community-based
organisations to deliver the project & support sustainability longer-term.
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Standard 11:Sustainability
Step 4: Identify the type of
relationship required with
government or other
service providers for the
long term
 Ensure that the level of on-going
support required from government or others is appropriate and realistic.
 If long-term support is expected by a community from a government line
ministry, then this should be discussed and agreed at the start of the
project. Examples might include the Ministry of Education providing books
and supplies to a school, or the Ministry of Health providing drugs to a
clinic. These needs should be clearly identified from the start and
meetings held with the relevant authorities to agree realistic levels of
support. This will help to avoid disappointment later.
 Wherever appropriate, build up relationships with government authorities
at the local, district and national level in order to influence their policies
or implementation of existing policies. Strengthening of government
services might reduce the need for future projects.
Step 5: Identify the
financial input required for
the long term
 Ensure the level of on-going financial input
required is realistic. Many projects cease to function when this has not
been done.
 If income is needed on an on-going basis, how will this income be
obtained? In some types of project, a cost-recovery system may be
appropriate. For example, in a water project, community members may
be willing to contribute a sum of money for the use of the water supply,
perhaps once a year or every time they collect water. In a health project,
a charge could be made for medicines, etc.
 In emergency settings, it will usually be totally inappropriate to expect
such a cost recovery system. It is often more appropriate to provide
water, or other services for free and recognise that the project is not
financially sustainable over the long-term.
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Standard 11:Sustainability
Step 6: Identify the
materials and supplies
required for the long term
 Use local materials and supplies wherever
possible. Replicability of a project will be
impossible without this. Projects which depend
upon external, imported goods will not be sustainable.
 Key questions to ask include: Is equipment needed in the future, or spare
parts? Are these available locally? If not, is it possible to set up a
sustainable local business to supply equipment or parts? If the project
uses imported equipment, is it possible to find locally made alternatives?
 In construction or engineering, always seek the local equipment – e.g.
bicycle parts!
Step 7: Identify the
environmental
requirements for the long
term
 Projects need to be designed in such a
way that they can be sustained by the
environment in which they are located,
including water use, land use, wood use, soil fertility etc.
 For all water projects, this will include understanding how plentiful the
water supply is (recharge of water table, spring yield etc.) to ensure
water is not over extracted.
 For sanitation projects, it will include ensuring the water source is not
contaminated by situating latrines in the wrong places. Provision is made
for emptying latrines in the future or for filling them in and building new
ones.
 For food security projects, it will include considering soil fertility,
erosion risks, etc.
 For projects involving construction and replication of buildings (e.g.
homes, latrines) it will include considering the use of local materials for
construction: sand, wood, wood for burnt bricks etc.
For further information refer to Standard 10: Environment.
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Project examples:
In Liberia a water project included helping to establish a pump parts dealer
in the local town, in order to help ensure a local, ongoing supply of spare
parts.
In Zimbabwe a partner working with orphans and the households that care
for them, chose as their main strategy to mobilise local churches to take
responsibility for orphans in their community. This recognises the role that
churches have in caring for the vulnerable, and supports sustainability since
the churches are a long-term presence in the community.
In Indonesia, a partner supported the re-establishment of rice farming
groups, and networked with other service providers until it was possible to
re-establish large scale rice production on land that had been damaged by
the tsunami.
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