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RE: Do Big Projects Deliver Effective Solutions in a Complex World?

Ram Khanal

Nepal

Ram Khanal

Advisor

Community of Evaluator (COE) Nepal

Posted on 13/04/2025

Dear Serdar

Thank you for your rich and well-articulated reflections. Your example, particularly the FAO irrigation program in Afghanistan, illustrates how well-resourced, large-scale initiatives can deliver systemic outcomes—from infrastructure development to capacity building and environmental gains—offering important lessons for the community.

At the same time, as you also noted, large-scale projects can face challenges. In my experience, expansive geographic and thematic scopes, combined with bureaucratic layers, frequently dilute meaningful community engagement. In many cases, consultations are limited to the project inception phase only, leaving little space for co-design or early feedback on the project design.

The key takeaway is the need to balance scale with participation—recognizing both the opportunities and inherent limitations of large projects to ensure long-term effectiveness and local ownership.

Best regards,