3. Notes on how to do a stakeholder analysis

There are various methods and ways to do a stakeholder analysis. The following guidelines are based on participatory approaches and adapted from methodologies used in Guidelines on impact monitoring (1999) and Guidance Note on How to do stakeholder analysis, developed by Overseas Development Administration (1995).

Where applicable, reference has been made to commonage projects and the project cycle. Examples 1 & 2 have been based on the Brakpan Commonage project.

The minimum requirements and steps of a stakeholder analysis are the following:

1. A list of all possible stakeholders and their interests – draw up a ‘stakeholder table – stakeholder identification;’

2. An assessment of stakeholders’ relative power and influence, importance to the project, their possible contributions to the success of its activities, and

3.

Possible risks that might affect the project’s successful implementation: positive relations between stakeholders can be used as an entry point for project activities, conflicts of interests between stakeholders might hinder progress if they are ignored.

1. Stakeholder identification

a) Identifying the stakeholders and their interests

Stakeholders can be listed and categorised in various ways. One starting point is to divide a list into primary and secondary stakeholders. Box 1 provides a quick checklist to help draw up a list.

Primary stakeholders are those people and groups ultimately affected by the project. This includes intended users of the commonage or those negatively affected (for example, farm workers involuntarily resettled/removed). In most projects primary stakeholders will be categorised according to socio-economic assessment. Thus, primary stakeholders should often be divided by gender, social or income classes, occupational or service user groups. In many projects, categories of primary stakeholders may overlap (e.g. women and non-income groups; or minor commonage users and ethnic minorities).

Secondary stakeholders are intermediaries in the process of delivering aid to primary stakeholders. They can be divided into funding, implementing, monitoring and advocacy organisations, or simply governmental, NGO and private sector organisations. In commonage projects it will also be necessary to consider key individuals as specific stakeholders (e.g. Extension officer) other agencies, who have personal interests at stake as well as formal institutional objectives. Also note that there may be some informal groups of people who will act as intermediaries. For example, politicians, local leaders, respected persons with social or religious influence.

Within some organisations there may be sub-groups, which should be considered

as stakeholders. For example, farmer unions, women employees, civics.

Box 1: Checklist for identifying stakeholders

· have all primary and secondary stakeholders been listed?

· have all potential supporters and opponents of the project been identified?

· has gender analysis been used to identify different types of female stakeholders (at both primary and secondary levels)?

· have primary stakeholders been divided into user/occupational groups, or income groups?

· have the interests of vulnerable groups (especially the poor) been identified?

· are there any new primary or secondary stakeholders that are likely to emerge as a result of the project?

b) Drawing out stakeholders' interests in relation to the project

The resulting list of stakeholders forms the basis of a tabulation of each stakeholder’s interests in the project, and the project's likely impact on them.

Box 2 provides another checklist to help think about the possible interests which a stakeholder has. By going through this checklist, interests for each stakeholder in the initial list can be drawn out.

Box 2: Checklist for drawing out interests

Interests of all types of stakeholders may be difficult to define, especially if they are "hidden", or in contradiction with the openly stated aims of the organisations or groups involved. A rule of thumb is to relate each stakeholder to either the problems which the project is seeking to address (if at an early stage of the project), or the established objectives of the project (if the project is already under way). Interests may be drawn out by asking:

· what are the stakeholders’ expectations of the project?

· What benefits are there likely to be for the stakeholders?

· What resources will the stakeholder wish to commit (or avoid committing) to the project?

· What other interests does the stakeholder have which may conflict with the project?

· How does the stakeholder regard others in the list?

Information on secondary stakeholders should be available from institutional appraisals; information on primary stakeholders should be available from social analyses. Especially in the case of primary stakeholders, many of the interests will have to be defined by the persons with the best "on-the-ground" experience. Double-check the interests being ascribed to primary groups, to confirm that they are plausible.

Example 1: Stakeholder table for the Brakpan Commonage project, Gauteng Province
Secondary Stakeholders	Interests	Potential project impact	Relative priorities of interest
DLA	Provides funding	+	High
PDA	Assist with land use management plan Provide extension services	+	High
Farm owner	Provide project management support	+	High
Primary Stakeholders
Community from Brakpan	Access to land for production purposes	+	High
Farm workers	Currently on land – would like to be part of project	_	Medium
"External" stakeholders
Deputy Mayor	Creating job opportunities	+	Medium

2. Assessing the Influence and "Importance" of Stakeholders

Key stakeholders are those which can significantly influence, or are important to the success of the project. Influence refers to how powerful a stakeholder is; "importance" refers to those stakeholders whose problems, needs and interests are the priority for the success of the project - if these "important" stakeholders are not assisted effectively then the project cannot be deemed a "success".

By combining influence and importance using a matrix diagram (see example 2), stakeholders can be classified into different groups, which will help identify assumptions and the risks which need to be managed through project design. Before outlining this matrix, ways of assessing influence and importance are suggested.

a) Assessing influence

Influence is the power, which stakeholders have over a project - to control what decisions are made, facilitate its implementation, or exert influence, which affects the project negatively. Influence is perhaps best understood as the extent to which people, groups or organisations (i.e. stakeholders) are able to persuade or coerce others into making decisions, and following certain courses of action.

Power may derive from the nature of a stakeholder's organisation, or their position in relation to other stakeholders (for example, DLA that controls the budget). Other forms of influence may be more informal (for example, personal connections to TLC councilors). It may also be necessary to consider stakeholders whose power, and therefore influence, will increase because of resources introduced by the project.

Assessing influence is often difficult and involves interpretation of a range of factors. By way of example, some of the factors that may be involved are illustrated in box 3 below.

Box 3: Variables affecting stakeholders' relative power and influence
	Within and between formal organisations	For informal interest groups and primary stakeholders
	Legal hierarchy (command and control, budget holders)	Social, economic and political status
	Authority of leadership (formal and informal, charisma, political)	Degree of organisation, consensus and leadership in the group
	Control of strategic resources for the project (e.g. suppliers of water and electricity)	Degree of control of strategic resources significant for the project
	Possession of specialist knowledge (e.g. Agricultural staff)	Informal influence through links with other stakeholders
	Negotiating position (strength in relation to other stakeholders in the project)	Degree of dependence on other stakeholders Assessing importance to project success

b) Assessing importance

Importance indicates the priority given to satisfying stakeholders' needs and interests through the project. Importance is likely to be most obvious when stakeholder interests in a project converge closely with the objectives of commonage.

Importance is distinct from influence. There will often be stakeholders, especially unorganised primary stakeholders, upon which the project places great priority (e.g. women, resource poor users etc). These stakeholders may have weak capacity to participate in the project, and limited power to influence key decisions. A checklist for assessing "importance" to the project is provided in box 4.

Box 4: Checklist for assessing which stakeholders are important for project success

When assessing importance to project success, use these "checklist" questions, the answers to which may already be suggested by the information existing in stakeholder tables:

· Which problems, affecting which stakeholders, does the project seek to address or alleviate?

· For which stakeholders does the project place a priority on meeting their needs, interests and expectations?

· Which stakeholder interests converge most closely with policy and project objectives?

3. Drawing out Assumptions and Risks Affecting Project Design and Participation

a) Identifying assumptions and risks about stakeholders

The success of a project depends partly on the validity of the assumptions made about its various stakeholders, and the risks facing the project. Some of these risks will derive from conflicting interests.

For example: Risks in commonage projects may derive from conflict between TLC and users with regard to ownership of the land.

Box 5: Checklist for drawing out assumptions about (and risks deriving from) stakeholders

· What is the role or response of the key stakeholder that must be assumed if the project is to be successful?

· Are these roles plausible and realistic?

· Are there negative responses, which can be expected, given the interests of the stakeholder?

· If such responses occur what impact would they have on the project?

· How probable are these negative responses, and are they major risks?

· In summary, which plausible assumptions about stakeholders support or threaten the project?

.

b) Identifying appropriate stakeholder participation

Defining who should participate, in what ways, at what stage of the project cycle, contributes to a well-designed project.

Although the Project cycle defines the responsibilities of the project team, the use of a matrix to clarify the roles to be played Ito inform, consult, partnership and control is still necessary for each project, because of the difference in dynamics and human aspects of each project. Stakeholder Participation recommends the use of a matrix to clarify the roles to be played, at each stage of the project cycle, by all key stakeholders.

Example 2: Draft "summary participation matrix" for the Brakpan Commonage Project, Gauteng Province
	Type of participation	Inform	Consult	Partnership	Control
	Stage in cycle
	Identification	Deputy Mayor	Facilitators	TLC & users	TLC
	Planning	Deputy Mayor	Land use planners	TLC, users, DLA, PDA	TLC
	Appraisal & Transfer	TLC	Provincial Director	None	DLA
	Development	TLC	PDA	Users, Farm owner	PDA, TLC

4. Using the Findings of a Stakeholder Analysis

Findings from a stakeholder analysis are already recorded in the tables and matrix diagrams, and the risks and assumptions arising from the analysis should be included in the log frame. In addition, the analysis should have contributed to a participation matrix that is used to explain project design. These records of the analysis are the basis for revision later on in the life of the project.

The findings of a stakeholder analysis need to be included (with different amounts of detail) into the project plan. Such a summary can be brief, depending on the nature of the plan, and the analysis will probably be revised as the project plan develops, interests change, and more information becomes available.