Implementation challenges of a donor funded development project: Lessons learned through a deep-end strategy while implementing a development program in Zambia

Several authors have noted that despite the huge volume of international aid supporting development projects, there is a chronic litany of challenges threatening the effectiveness of development projects.  Most donor funded projects require project teams to produce and disseminate monitoring and evaluation reports for purposes of informing stakeholders of project achievements and challenges. Unfortunately, such project reports do not include some of the experiences from which lessons could be learned to inform decisions for effective implementation of future projects. There is, therefore, need for project teams to find and use other ways of sharing their experiences. This article is a case study in form of an emic account of the challenges of implementing a donor funded development program in an African country. The case study is given as a summary of lessons learned through the experience of coordinating a $60 million program from inception to closure.   Key words: Policy, development, programme management, donor aid.