Formulation of an operational plan for implementation

Abstract

Once the adaptation options have been selected and prioritized, it is time to develop an operational plan for validating and/or implementing them. Your team should make initial decisions for field trials, demo plots, etc. only after the preparatory steps have been taken.

Method

Planning workshop with extension staff, stakeholders and farmers (optional)

Expected Results

Operational plan and M&E system for validation and/or implementation of selected adaptation options

Theory

An operational plan should always correspond to the requirements and conditions of adaptation measures. Generally, it should contain clear objectives and an easy-to-follow procedure for validating or implementing each option. It should also include quality standards, desired outcomes, staff and other resource requirements, an implementation timeline and a process for monitoring progress (see operational plan in Table 12).

By contributing their experience, know-how and understanding of local circumstances, stakeholders can help refine the implementation process.

Combine different adaptation options in order to demonstrate their effectiveness in reducing issues linked to a specific climate hazard. This can include capacity building by training, efficient local pest monitoring systems, crop integration, sustainable soil management techniques, etc. It is rare that one technical solution will address all climate change challenges alone.

A key component of the operational plan is an M&E system, which allows you to track changes in the adaptive capacity of coffee production systems or livelihoods of farmers that are a result of chosen adaptation options. Detailed guidance on M&E can be found in Step 5.

Table 12: Operational plan for one selected adaptation option (exemplary)

Hazard	Increasing temperature
Impact (problem)	Increased susceptibility of coffee plants to diseases, specifically coffee rust
Adaptation option	Promote resistant varieties below 1300 m.a.s.l. and, above this altitude, apply good agricultural practices such as coffee pruning, shade management, preventive spraying and lime sulphur application
Objective	Implement preventive measures against coffee rust attack
Activities	Identify nursery for production of seedlings of the variety Catimor or Sarchimor, support initial investments Develop three Farmer Field Schools (FFS) for 75 producers Establish FFS on selected farms (schools should show a combination of good coffee pruning, shade management and preventive spraying) Define training curriculum and agree on a training plan with participants Establish demonstration plot in cooperation with nursery to compare Catimors or Sarchimors with currently applied varieties Train 75 producers on how to spot early signs of coffee rust and how to prepare and apply lime sulphur Train them on good pruning, good shade management and efficient preventive spraying Monitor and discuss the results of FFS (meet once a month on FFS plot) Evaluate effectiveness, affordability, acceptability and timing of rust management with producers Based on these results, plan for further roll-out of rust management training Organize the distribution of Catimor or Sarchimor seedling varieties (seedlings will be subsidized in an initial period) Organize the production and distribution of lime sulphur by the farmer organization
Indicators of success	Three FFS have been established and meet regularly 75 producers trained in rust management and have sound understanding of it One nursery producing Catimors or Sarchimors 75,000 seedlings distributed after 24 months One farmer organization producing and distributing lime sulphur to affiliated farmers 75 farmers have a rust management plan and follow it All farmers below 1,300 m.a.s.l. have planted rust resistant varieties on their plot
Responsible person	Extension staff (1)
Time	One month after coffee flowering, for 24 months
Resources	Extension staff for FFS Funds for FFS materials Funds for nursery set-up Funds for subsidizing seedling distribution
Indicators for on-farm effectiveness of adaptation option	For farmers adopting preventive rust management : Incidence and severity of coffee rust (compared to non-adopters) Productivity per ha (compared to non-adopters) Production cost per ha (compared to non-adopters) Gross-margin per ha (compared to non-adopters) For rust-resistant varieties (below 1,300 m.a.s.l): Plant mortality rate (12 months after planting) Cost per seedling without subsidy (compared to non-resistant variety)

Practical Guidance

An operational plan is a detailed strategy used to provide a clear picture of how the team will contribute to validating and/or implementing the selected adaptation options in the field.

Objectives

To elaborate an operational plan for the validation and implementation of the selected adaptations options.
To include and engage local stakeholders.

In general, an operational plan addresses six main questions:

Where are we now?
What do we want to achieve?
What kind of steps do we need to take in order to achieve these goals?
What resources are required to meet these goals?
How much time do we need?
How do we measure our progress?

Procedure

The operational plan should be prepared by the people who will be involved in implementation (project coordinator, extension staff, selected stakeholders, etc.).
Although there are no strict rules for the format of an operational plan, they normally contain the following information:
- Clear objectives (goals)
- Activities required for achieving these objectives
- Desired output (deliverable product)
- Indicators (quality standards)
- Staffing (human resources) and resource requirements
- Implementation timetables
- A process for monitoring progress
If you include the validation or testing of new adaptation options within a local context in your operational plan, an extra work plan for the test plots should be elaborated. A description of the main issues you must consider for design, work plan and measurements of these test plots can be found under Step 4, “Validation of new adaptation options on local context”.

Table 29: Guiding questions and examples for the creation of an operational plan for selected adaptation options

Hazards	What are the main climate hazards that local coffee production systems and farmers are exposed to? What are the main challenges? E.g.: Increasing temperature, heavy rainfall, drought or strong winds. Refer to results from Step 2 (the prioritization of the main climate hazards and the selection of the most suitable adaptation options).
Impact/problem	What are the main climate-related problems for local coffee production? What are the main challenges we want to address? E.g.: Flower abortion, increasing attacks by CBB or rust, soil erosion.
Adaption options or tools	What adaptation options are we looking for in response to climate change? What adaptation options were selected in Step 2 to make coffee production systems more resilient? E.g.: Cover crops for soil conservation, traps as part of integrated pest management, new rust resistant variety.
Objectives	What are the concrete goals we want to achieve with the selected adaptation options? E.g.: To test rust-resistant variety on-site in order to reduce vulnerability under wet weather conditions. To experiment with cover crops in order to improve drought resistance of coffee plots. To promote the use of traps in order to improve CBB control on farms.
Indicators of success	Which product(s) or result(s) do we want to achieve? Defining the outcomes is key, as this will determine our activities and working methodology. E.g.: Three FFS (75 farmers) testing cover crops for soil moisture conservation and a final case study. Fifty producers trained in CBB monitoring and trap management and implementing in farm level. Four trials on farms with rust-resistant variety and final case study. These should relate to the project pathway. Please list here the direct outputs of your intervention as well as the outcomes you expect to see. The indicators should be formulated in a way that clearly indicates when the intervention was successful. They should be specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, and time bound (SMART).
Activities	Define the activities that will be necessary to achieve goals. Keep in mind which extension methodology is most suitable to validate or implement adaptation measures. Aside from promoting suitable adaptation measures by training activities, it is im-portant, primarily for new adaptations options, to validate these on a small scale, through test plots on individual farms or through an FFS. Training activities (workshops, field days, exchanges) are developed, usually for adaptation options already validated or known locally, and of which positive results are known. E.g.: Activities Develop three FFS with 75 producers for testing cover crops to improve soil moisture on coffee plots. Sub-activities: Establish FFS on selected farms (three farms with more evidence of drought). Define training curriculum and agree on a training plan with participants. Acquire seed for cover crops. Develop curriculum. Monitor effectiveness of cover crops for coffee plots with coffee farmers. Take soil sample before establishing cover crops and after two years to analyze possible changes. Define measures and record observation on soil and plants. Record activities related to cover crop establishment and management (costs). Evaluate effectiveness, affordability, timing and costs of the adaptation option with producers. Develop a case study for cover crops. For additional guidance for the elaboration of a detailed work plan for specific trial and demo plots for new adaptation options, please see Section 2 Step 4 “Field validation of candidate adaptation options”.
Responsible person	Clearly define who is responsible for each activity.
Time	Define the date each activity started and when it is supposed to be finished. E.g.: One month after coffee flowering, for five months.
Resources	What resources (extension staff, financial resources, stakeholder participation, etc.) are required to achieve the goals? Be as realistic as possible. Trials and demo plots need a lot of human resources for follow-up, and availability may be a major bottleneck in terms of goals.
Indicators for on-farm effectiveness of adaptation option	The indicators here shall help in answering the question whether the adaptation option is effective in the field. This can be tested on test plots or evaluated together with farmers adopting a technique (see Step 4). Key questions: What are the expected benefits of the adaptation options? How can we measure if those benefits occur? Measures (examples): Incidence and severity of coffee rust (compared to non-adopters) Gross-margin per ha (compared to non-adopters) Plant mortality rate (12 months after planting) These indicators form the basis of a validation on test plots and for the assessment of effectiveness in the case study.

Table 31: Operational plan (example)

Hazard	Changing rainfall patterns, drought
Main challenges	Improve coffee resistance to increasing drought
Adaptation options	Training about climate change and coffee	Cover crops	Inoculation of coffee seedlings with myccorhiza	Use of Gypsum unknown practices = need to be validated
Objectives	Deliver sensitization workshops (Climate Witness Workshop) to raise awareness about climate change	Promote native cover crops to protect soil against drought	Establish community coffee nursery with mycorrhiza	Validate Gypsum to improve drought resistance
Activities	Identification of community One exchange visit to demo plots with adaptation options (shade, cover crops) Four workshops (sensitization)	Establish four FFS Identify useful native cover crops for coffee Establish demo plots on FFS level and do follow-up	Define number of coffee plants per group Select coffee variety and mycorrhiza Establish coffee nursery and do follow-up Promote planting of inoculated coffee plants on farms	Design of test plots uu Establish three test plots on three different farms (FFS) Monitor test plots and keep records Evaluate results uu Develop case study
Indicators of success	100 farmers trained	100 farmers trained Four demo plots established 80 farmers apply native cover crops well	Four community coffee nurseries established 100,000 coffee plants distributed 95,000 coffee planets planted by participants	Three test plots to study the use of Gypsum on coffee (two different doses and comparison)
Responsible person	Extensionist	Farmers and extensionist	Community and extensionist	Extensionist and farmers (FFS)
Time	Three months	Twelve months	Twelve months	Two years
Resources needed	Low	Low	Middle (seeds, nursery structure, Mycorrhiza, man power)	Middle
Indicators for on-farm effectiveness of adaptation option	N/A	oil moisture Production costs per ha Gross-margin per ha	Root development Production costs per ha