Document(s) 16 of 27

Flowchart: Steps in the development of a health systems research proposal

NB: Development of a research process is a cyclical process. The double-headed arrows indicate that the process is never linear.

Module 16: BUDGET

Why do we need to design a budget?

• A detailed budget will help you to identify which resources are already locally available and which additional resources may be required.
• The process of budget design will encourage you to consider aspects of the work plan you have not thought about before and will serve as a useful reminder of activities planned, as your research gets underway.

When should budget preparation begin?

A complete budget is not prepared until the final stage of project planning. However, cost is usually a major limiting factor and therefore must always be kept in mind during planning so that your proposals will not have an unrealistically high budget. (See Module 4: Analysis and statement of the problem.) Remember that both ministries and donor agencies usually set limits for research project budgets.

The use of locally available resources increases the feasibility of the project from a financial point of view.

How should a budget be prepared?

It is necessary to use the work plan (Module 15) as a starting point. Specify, for each activity in the work plan, what resources are required. Determine for each resource needed. the unit cost and the total cost.

Example:

In the work plan of a study to determine factors affecting maternal mortality in the Mongu District, Western Province, Zambia, it is specified that 5 research team members will each visit 20 households, one per working day, as 100 households of deceased mothers will need to be visited. With two drivers this amounts to 50 working days per driver. Each research team member will be accompanied by one of the research assistants.

The budget for the fieldwork component of the work plan will include funds for personnel, transport and supplies.

EXAMPLE OF A BUDGET: Costs involved in fieldwork for a maternal mortality study

The Ministry of Health will make available the necessary manpower to conduct the study, as well
as vehicles. The total budget required from external sources amount to Kwacha (Kw) 27,480. At
an exchange rate of 2,75 to US$ 1, this is equivalent to US$9,990.
If more than one budget source will be used (e.g., the Ministry of Health and a donor), it would be

* NB: If team members do not write the report themselves on computers, one secretary will be required for 10 days during the actual writing of the report.

useful to indicate in the budget which source will pay for each cost. Usually a separate column is used for each funding source. The Ministry of Health may, for example, provide salary costs and operational costs for vehicles, whereas the donor agency is asked to provide per diem (according to local regulations), petrol/public transport expenditures and stationary.

Advice on budget format

The type of budget format to be used may vary depending upon whether the budget will be supported by your own organisation or submitted to the Ministry of Health or a donor organisation for funding. Most donor organisations have their own special project forms, which include a budget format. If you intend to seek donor support it is advisable to write to the potential funding organisation as early as possible during the period of project development.

Advice on budget preparation

• Keep in mind the tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete project tasks in ‘the real world’. Include a 5% contingency fund if you fear that you might have budgeted for the activities rather conservatively. (If inclusion of a contingency fund is not allowed, an alternative is to slightly over-budget in major categories.)
• Do not box yourself in too tightly with very detailed categories and amounts, especially if regulations do not allow adjustments afterwards. Ask the supervising agency to agree that, if necessary there may be some transfer between ‘line items’ in the budget.
• If your government or department has agreed to contribute a certain amount for the project, try to arrange that the contribution be administered separately, so that the administrators remain aware of the commitment. This may also ensure easier access to the funds.
• If the budget is for a period longer than a year, build in allowances for inflation before the project begins and in subsequent years by increasing costs by a set percentage. (If inflation is high in the local economy, you may have to build in allowances for even shorter projects.)

Budget justification

It is not sufficient to present a budget without explanation.

The budget justification follows the budget as an explanatory note justifying briefly, in the context of the proposal, why the various items in the budget are required. Make sure you give clear explanations concerning why items that may seem questionable or that are particularly costly are needed and discuss how complicated expenses have been calculated. If a strong budget justification has been prepared, it is less likely that essential items will be cut during proposal review.

How can budgets be reduced?

• Explore whether other health-related institutions are willing to temporarily assign or second personnel to the project.
• When possible, use local rather than outside personnel. If consultants are needed at the beginning, train local personnel as soon as possible to take over their work.
• Explore the use of students or community volunteers, where appropriate.
• Plan for strict control of project expenditures, such as those for vehicle use, supplies, etc.

Obtaining funding for projects

To conduct research, it is usually necessary to obtain funding for the research project. Such funding may be available from local, national or international agencies. In addition to preparing a good research proposal, the following strategies are useful for researchers who need to obtain their own funding:

1. Familiarise yourself with the policies and priorities of funding agencies. Such policies and priorities may be:
   • Explicit, i.e., available from policy documents issued by the agency.
   • Implicit, i.e., known to officials in the agency and to other local researchers who have previously been funded by that agency.

   Obtain the names of such persons and make direct contact with them.

   The funding policies of many agencies may emphasise:

   • a priority given to research aimed at strengthening a particular program (e.g. MCH, PHC)
   • institution building (i.e., building the capacity of an institution to do research)
   • research credibility

   Annex 16.1 gives a list of some prominent research funding agencies.

2. Identify the procedures, deadlines and formats that are relevant to each agency.
3. Obtain written approval and support from relevant local and national health authorities and submit this together with your proposal.
4. If you are a beginning researcher, associate yourself with an established researcher. Host agencies scrutinise the ‘credibility’ of the researcher to whom funds are allocated. Such credibility is based on previous projects that have been successfully completed.
5. Build up your own list of successfully completed projects (i.e., your own reports, publications, etc.).

Annex 16.1: INTERNATIONAL SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR RESEARCH

1. International Multi-Lateral Agencies

WHO and Associated Special Programmes:

IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses)
MCH, Reproductive Health, Adolescent Health, etc.
RBM/AIM (Roll Back Malaria/African Initiative on Malaria)
TDR (Tropical Disease Research)
UNAIDS
WHO Headquarters
WHO Regional Offices

African Development Bank
Asian Development Bank
IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer)
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)
UNFPA
World Bank etc.

2. Bilateral Agencies

ADAB (The Australian Development Assistance Board)
BOSTID (Board on Science and Technology for International Development)
CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency)
DFID (Department for International Development), United Kingdom
DGIS (Directorate for International Co-operation), The Netherlands
GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, Germany)
IDRC (International Development Research Centre), Canada
JICA (Japanese International Co-operation Agency)
SAREC (Swedish Agency for Research Co-operation with Developing Countries)
SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency)
USAID (United States Agency for International Development) etc.

3. Private Foundations

Carnegie Corporation of New York
Ford Foundation (Child Health) (USA)
International Health Policy Program (USA)
Kellogg Foundation (Health Services; primary interest in Latin America)
Rockefeller Foundation (USA)
Welcome Trust (UK) etc.

4. National Sources

This will vary from country to country.

NB: You can find addresses through Internet or through the Embassies of the respective countries.

Trainer’s Notes

Module 16: BUDGET

Introduction and discussion

• Introduce and discuss important issues related to project budgeting.
• Invite input from those participants who have experience in making budgets.
• Explain the concepts of UNIT COST (e.g., 50 kwachas/km) and MULTIPLYING FACTOR (e.g., 1500 km as the total distance), and make sure that everyone understands them.
• Refer to the budget example in the text.
• Emphasise the importance of a budget justification.
• Discuss useful strategies for reducing a budget that is too high.

Before asking participants to work on the budgets for their own projects, it is important to announce STANDARD unit costs both for transport (distance or fuel) and for allowances. These should conform to Ministry of Health regulations. If there are limits to budgets, these should be agreed upon beforehand as well.

Group work

Ask the participants to meet in their groups and prepare the budgets for their own projects, based on the work plan (Module 15). Ask them to specify what the contribution of their own institution/ministry will be to the project and what the external donor is requested to contribute.

Plenary

Ask each group to present its budget proposal in plenary. Allow sufficient time for discussion after each presentation.

Document(s) 16 of 27