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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 Eddah,

Thank you for your insightful contribution. I truly appreciate how clearly you've distinguished the contextual effectiveness of large versus small projects, supported by relevant sectoral examples. Your reflection reinforces a key learning from our ongoing discussion: the effectiveness of a project—whether large or small—must align with its purpose, context, and implementation approach.

Indeed, large-scale interventions have proven highly impactful in infrastructure and emergency response due to their need for rapid, coordinated, and resource-intensive actions. Yet, as you’ve rightly pointed out, in areas like health, agriculture, and social development, small, locally anchored projects often outperform in terms of sustainability, relevance, and community ownership.

This highlights an important takeaway: the question isn’t whether big or small is better, but rather what fits best for the objective and context at hand. Balancing scale with local adaptability, and complementing large projects with locally driven initiatives, could offer a more holistic pathway to long-lasting change. Looking forward to hearing more from your rich experience.