In the article ‘Stop Trying to Save the World: Big Ideas are Destroying International Development,’ focus is put on the sums of $’s when addressing development goals such as;

The donations gushed in. In 2006, the U.S. government and two major foundations pledged $16.4 million in a public ceremony emceed by Bill Clinton and Laura Bush. The technology was touted by the World Bank and made a cameo in America’s 2007 Water for the Poor Act. Jay-Z personally pledged $400,000. PlayPump set the goal of installing 4,000 pumps in Africa by 2010. “That would mean clean drinking water for some ten million people,”

This form of development is budget focused rather than need focused in economic terms we are talking about the difference between a supply side or demand side driven solution. In my opinion, this is the greatest flaw that is undermining all development projects. “X” non-profit company, raises “Y” amounts of $, so they must spend “Z” where ever they can, regardless of need. So what could be done?

The article provides another clue into how the model is broken. “By 2007, less than two years after the grants came in, it was already clear these aspirations weren’t going to be met. A UNICEF report found pumps abandoned, broken, unmaintained.”

In the water pump example, evaluation of the demand for water pumps was limited strictly to physical capital. Physical capital is defined as things that are material, and their costs. 
Proper assessment needs to take account of other forms of capital such as human capital (labor), knowledge capital (how to maintain the pumps), and social capital (trust, integrity, business acumen). Financial capital is but one form of assistance, one tool in the toolbox. To put it in simple terms: It’s no use having a hammer if you don’t have nails, doesn’t matter how badly or desperately you need a home.

The design stage in international development projects is often too oversimplified as an exercise in logistical coordination. Greater efforts need to be put into pre-hoc (before) evaluation, that is site/location specific and take into account a broad base of various forms of capital assets.

As I mentioned earlier international development is a toolbox full of hammers with no nails, that’s if you can even find someone to swing the hammers.