INTRODUCTION TO PLANNING 1. WHAT IS PLANNING? Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them. “Take hold of the future or the future will take hold of you." Patrick Dixon, author of Futurewise A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within which it must operate. For management seeking external support, the plan is the most important document and key to growth. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure. 2. WHY IS PLANNING SUCH AN ESSENTIAL FUNCTION? A plan can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden opportunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan of the organization is essential. The planning process enables management to understand more clearly what they want to achieve, and how and when they can do it. A well-prepared business plan demonstrates that the managers know the business and that they have thought through its development in terms of products, management, finances, and most importantly, markets and competition. Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead. 3. WHY IS PLANNING SO NEEDED IN LEBANON? 1. What were the consequences of the absence of a PLAN, from 1995 to date? In our opinion, most of the ills that have befallen the Lebanese economy during that period: the horrendous escalation of our public debt, the low growth of our economy, the poor quality of our social services, and the degradation of our environment are, in many cases, the direct result of an absence of vision and forward looking policy that a well conceived and carefully implemented NATIONAL ECONOMIC PLAN would have generated instead. 2. What will happen if we continue without a PLAN? In our opinion, most probably the overall economic situation will grow worse. That condition may lead eventually to some serious civil disorders unless the introduction of a National Plan brings an end to the anarchy by diverting all the energies toward finding some appropriate and comprehensive solution to the country’s economic problems. 4. CAN THE STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN THE PLANNING PROCESS? The answer is yes, because, through the education and the training that they have received, they can readily understand the nature of the problems that our Nation faces. With the help that will be provided by the experts, they will be able to evaluate the solutions that are proposed. 5. HOW WILL THE STUDENTS PARTICIPATE? Working groups will be formed and a group coordinator will provide the materials for study and answer the queries that will be raised. In the first few weeks the students will be requested to just read through the materials and write up a one page summary. With time they will become familiar with the issues that are involved and they will be in a position to assess the solutions that are proposed. Ultimately they will compare between the different Plans that are offered and seek to combine them into a single comprehensive document. During all this time they will be assisted and guided by their group coordinator and by the experts who will volunteer to comment upon their achievement.
with some selected agricultural experts,farmers, landowners, economists, bankers, and some members of the Economic and Social Council representing Civil Society. The purpose of these meetings will be to discuss the Agricultural Plan with each one and seek the interviewee's opinions, suggestions and recommendations. The Agricultural Plan will be redrafted following these interviews and will be ready for presentation to the Authorities. |
LIST OF DOCUMENTS FOR USE IN THE STUDY OF THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL PLAN
D1 Strategie Agricole de la FAO pour le Liban – 2004 69 pages 66 proposals D2 Monitoring of Agricultural initiatives 7 pages D3 Summary of Agricultural Plan 8 pages CDR - The Council for Development and Reconstruction D4 Planned Agricultural Program – HORIZON 2001 4 pages 75 projects MINAGRI - The Ministry of Agriculture D5 Agricultural Strategy 2006 – Arabic 59 pages D6 Agricultural Plan 2006 – Arabic 137 pages D7 A Summary of the MINAGRI PLAN (by chapter heads) 2 pages D8 MINAGRI Plan – English (part one) 13 pages 270 programs D9 MINAGRI Plan – English (part two) 8 pages 155 programs |
STUDY SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEKS ONE TO SIX FROM 8/12/2008 to 18/1/2009 WEEK ONE AND TWO (8/12 to 21/12) • FAO Strategy 2004 (Document D1) o Study, summarize and comment upon Note: The entire document includes sixty nine pages in French. It will be distributed over seven students, so that each student will read ten pages, summarize them in half a page and comment upon them in the other half page. The student should also compare the summary published on the web site (FAO Strategy) with the actual document and compare it with his/her own summary. WEEKS THREE AND FOUR (22/12 to 4/1/09) • The Minagri Strategy and Plan 2006 (Documents D5 and D6) o Study, summarize and comment upon Note: The entire two documents include one hundred and ninety six pages in Arabic. It will be distributed over seven students, so that each student will read twenty eight pages, summarize them in one a page and comment upon them in one other page. The student should also compare the summary that will be emailed to them with the actual document and compare it with his/her own summary. o Compare the Minagri Strategy and Plan with the FAO Strategy and comment: in what ways are they similar and in what ways do they differ? Please note that I have been told that the FAO guided the Ministry of Agriculture (Minagri) in preparing their Plan 2006, so the two documents should be similar. But are they? That is what we should find out. WEEK FIVE AND SIX (5/1 to 18/1/09) • THE CDR Plan 2000 (subsequently updated in 2005 and 2008)(Document D4 and more to come) o Study, summarize and comment upon Note: The document that is presently in our possession dates back to 2000 and was obtained unofficially. We are still waiting to get official authorization from the President of the CDR to release it to us officially together with the updates introduced in 2005 and 2008. Meanwhile the students should study the four pages document that will be emailed to them and compare them with the previous two Plans and provide their comments in one page. |
| NDU WEB SITE INTRODUCTION TO PLANNING |
| 1/1/2009 A Lebanese National Agricultural Plan Challenges and Solutions To our knowledge, at least four strategic plans were established since the year 2000 for the sector of the Agriculture in Lebanon. They are: 1. The FAO Agricultural Development Strategy published in January 2004 2. The Lebanon State of the Environmental Report (LEDO ) on Agriculture. 3. The CDR Five Years Plan drawn up in the year 2000 and updated in 2005 and 2008 4. The Ministry of Agriculture Strategy and Five Year Plan drawn up in 2006 None of these plans were implemented in a proper way and none was formally approved by the government and voted by Parliament. In our opinion, the implementation of any National Plan in Lebanon is, at the present time, hindered by a number of obstacles, among which: 1. There is a very high shortage of qualified civil service personnel within the Public Administration: a. All the Ministries are shorthanded in personnel, particularly the qualified category b. These Ministries are prevented from hiring additional staff and have to resort to “contractual hiring” that is mostly ineffectual and unbalanced in its composition. c. The restrictions imposed by the confessional representation in the Civil Service add another complication. d. The low salary level imposed upon the Civil Administration makes it difficult to find the right person for the job. e. The meager budgets allowed to the ministries do not include any such initiatives. 2. The political pressures and rampant nepotism deter the adoption of any earnest comprehensive planning program 3. The deputies and the ministers do not understand properly the serious economic and environmental problems that threaten the country, nor do they realize the urgency of the situation. 4. The ministers refuse to collaborate with each other toward the realization of a common goal. 5. The corruption exists at all the levels of the Civil Administration. 6. For the next six months all our politicians will have no other thoughts in their mind than the upcoming parliamentary elections. So, under such circumstances, what is the solution, in the case of the Ministry of Agriculture? 1. First a choice must be made among the different proposed plans. The Plan that should be ultimately adopted should include the good features of all the four plans. 2. The selected Plan must be studied and approved by Civil Society. Then, it must be presented to the Authorities for approval. 3. The funding of that Plan must come from sources other than the government. We suggest that international organizations, some foreign countries, and the Lebanese Diaspora should jointly fund the Plan. In addition, some local stakeholders may find an interest in privately financing certain specific projects. 4. The execution of some of the projects may be outsourced to third parties recommended by Civil Society and/or the international organizations. The members of the Lebanese Diaspora should also be encouraged to offer some management advices and some sponsoring to these projects.. 5. The monitoring (follow-up) of the execution must be jointly done by the Authorities and by Civil Society and the monthly reports regularly published for all to see. |
By George from Miami Beach, FL 2 seconds ago (Updated 2 seconds ago) My name is George Sabat. I am a Lebanese American. Though in the past I voted Republican, I decided this time to support Barack Obama. I have read with enthusiasm many of his speeches and his book "the audacity of hope". I share all of President Obama's ideals and convictions and I wish him success in the daunting task that he is about to assume. Here, in Lebanon, we are faced with a similar situation, though on a much smaller scale. If we do not adopt in Lebanon the same attitude as President Obama in the US, our economy, the unity of our people and even the independence of our country will be at grave risks. Economic troubles leading to a renewal of the civil war may not only affect our small country but will inevitably spill over the entire Middle East. "Patience coupled with a sense of fierce urgency" should also dictate our own reform program. Let us hope that the citizens of Lebanon will be encouraged to follow your example and decide to "put some order inside their kitchen," as the French are fond of saying. George Sabat (director and founder of "CPI, the Lebanese Center for public information" an NGO operating in Lebanon since 2006 for the dissemination of public information and the launching of a national campaign to create and subsequently adopt a National five year plan.) |
| "SHOW PATIENCE EVEN AS WE ACT WITH FIERCE URGENCY", President Barack Obama |
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