Before the Money Is Spent: Who Decides What Tunisia’s Development Projects Really Need?
An Investigative Report on Needs Assessments, Feasibility Studies and the Decisions Behind Development Investment
A development project usually begins long before construction starts, before a procurement notice is published, and before the first payment is made.
It begins with a decision.
Someone identifies a problem.
Someone defines a need.
Someone proposes a solution.
Someone estimates the required budget.
Someone determines who should benefit.
Someone prepares the technical or feasibility study.
And eventually, public or development financing is committed.
Yet this initial stage often receives less public attention than the implementation phase.
The central investigative question is therefore:
Before Tunisia spends money on a development project, how is it determined that this is the project that people actually need?
This question is particularly important because a project can be implemented correctly while still failing to address the most important local problem.
1. Every Project Begins With a Diagnosis
Before designing an intervention, institutions normally need to understand the problem they are trying to address.
For example, a project concerning employment should establish the nature of the employment problem.
A water project should identify the actual water-access problem.
An agricultural project should understand production constraints, market access and the needs of producers.
A social programme should identify the population experiencing vulnerability and the barriers preventing access to services.
The investigation should therefore begin with the original diagnosis.
What problem did the project claim to solve?
Then comes a second question:
What evidence was used to establish that problem?
2. Needs Assessment: Evidence or Assumption?
A needs assessment can take many forms:
- statistical data;
- household surveys;
- administrative records;
- field visits;
- interviews;
- consultations;
- technical studies;
- economic analysis;
- environmental assessments;
- previous evaluations.
But not all assessments provide the same level of evidence.
An investigation should determine whether the project relied on recent and geographically relevant information or on general assumptions.
A national statistic may describe a broad problem while saying little about conditions in a particular delegation or rural community.
This creates a basic investigative principle:
The closer the project is to a specific community, the more important locally relevant evidence becomes.
3. Who Defined the Problem?
The next question concerns decision-making.
Who originally identified the project?
Was it:
- a ministry;
- a regional administration;
- a municipality;
- a development agency;
- an international financing institution;
- a technical department;
- an external consultant;
- a local community;
- a combination of several actors?
The identity of the institution that defined the problem matters because different actors may have different priorities.
A central administration may see a national infrastructure gap.
A local authority may see an urgent service problem.
Residents may identify a completely different priority.
An investigation should document these differences rather than assume that the official project description automatically represents every local need.
4. The Feasibility Study
Many development projects require technical, economic, environmental or financial analysis before implementation.
These studies can answer questions such as:
- Is the project technically possible?
- What will it cost?
- How long will implementation take?
- What risks exist?
- Who will benefit?
- What alternatives were considered?
- What resources will be required?
- What will operation and maintenance cost?
For journalists, the feasibility study can be one of the most valuable documents in the entire project file.
It represents the assumptions made before money was committed.
5. Compare the Forecast With Reality
An especially powerful investigation can compare the original feasibility study with what happened afterward.
For example:
| Original assumption | Later evidence |
|---|---|
| Estimated cost | Actual cost |
| Estimated duration | Actual duration |
| Expected beneficiaries | Actual users |
| Expected demand | Documented demand |
| Planned capacity | Actual capacity |
| Expected operating costs | Actual costs |
| Expected results | Documented results |
The objective is not to assume that differences indicate wrongdoing.
Projects can legitimately change because of inflation, market conditions, technical problems, environmental events or changes in demand.
The investigative question is:
Were major changes anticipated, explained and documented?
6. The Alternatives That Were Rejected
A development project is not only about the solution selected.
It is also about the alternatives that were considered and rejected.
Suppose a project proposes building new infrastructure.
Were alternatives such as rehabilitation, decentralization, digital services, mobile services or expansion of existing facilities examined?
The answer can reveal whether the selected solution was based on comparative analysis or simply became the preferred institutional option.
An investigation should therefore ask:
What other solutions were considered before this one was chosen?
7. The Cost of Choosing the Wrong Priority
Public resources are limited.
When money is committed to one project, it may not be available for another.
This does not mean every project must be judged solely by financial return.
Social, environmental and regional objectives can also be legitimate.
But decision-makers should still be able to explain the relationship between:
identified need → proposed intervention → expected result → allocated resources.
The investigation can examine whether that chain is clearly documented.
8. Who Was Consulted?
Community participation can be particularly important for local development.
The investigation should examine whether beneficiaries were consulted during project preparation.
Possible evidence includes:
- consultation records;
- meeting minutes;
- surveys;
- stakeholder interviews;
- local development plans;
- community proposals;
- municipal documents;
- beneficiary feedback.
But participation should not be measured only by the existence of a meeting.
A more useful question is:
Did the consultation influence the final design of the project?
If residents requested one type of intervention while the final project delivered something different, the reason should be documented.
9. The Geographic Question
A project can be technically appropriate but poorly located.
Location affects:
- accessibility;
- transportation;
- operating costs;
- beneficiary coverage;
- environmental impact;
- connections to existing infrastructure;
- access for women, young people and vulnerable groups.
For this reason, journalists should examine the geographic assumptions behind project design.
Useful questions include:
Why was this location selected?
Which population was expected to benefit?
How far do beneficiaries have to travel?
Were alternative locations considered?
10. The Beneficiary Calculation
One of the most important numbers in a project document can be the estimated number of beneficiaries.
But journalists should investigate how that number was calculated.
A project might forecast:
- 10,000 beneficiaries;
- 20,000 users;
- 5,000 households;
- 1,000 enterprises;
- 500 trainees.
The important question is:
What methodology produced the estimate?
Is the number based on a survey?
Administrative data?
Historical usage?
Population projections?
A theoretical service capacity?
These are not equivalent.
11. The Denominator Problem
Development reporting can sometimes present large beneficiary numbers without explaining the population against which they should be understood.
For example, reaching 5,000 people means something different if the target population is 6,000 rather than 60,000.
The investigation should therefore seek:
Numerator + denominator + geographic area + time period.
Instead of reporting only:
5,000 people benefited.
The journalist should try to establish:
5,000 people out of an identified target population, in a defined geographic area, during a defined period.
This produces a much more meaningful measure of coverage.
12. The Baseline Problem
A project cannot easily demonstrate change without knowing the starting point.
If a programme claims to increase employment, what was the employment situation before intervention?
If it claims to improve income, what was the baseline income?
If it claims to improve access to water, what was the previous level of access?
If it claims to reduce vulnerability, how was vulnerability measured before the project?
The investigation should therefore search for baseline indicators.
Without a baseline, it becomes harder to determine how much change can reasonably be attributed to the project.
13. The Consultant Question
Development projects frequently involve experts, engineering firms, researchers or consulting companies.
Their work may include:
- feasibility studies;
- technical design;
- environmental assessment;
- economic analysis;
- monitoring;
- evaluation;
- institutional support.
An investigation should examine the role of consultants without automatically assuming that their involvement represents a problem.
Useful questions include:
- What was the assignment?
- What methodology was required?
- What deliverables were produced?
- Who reviewed the work?
- Were recommendations adopted?
- Were major assumptions later changed?
- Was the study updated when circumstances changed?
The goal is to understand how expert analysis influenced the final decision.
14. When Old Data Drives New Decisions
A study can be technically sophisticated but still become outdated.
Economic conditions change.
Population patterns change.
Technology changes.
Climate risks change.
Migration changes local demographics.
Prices and construction costs change.
Employment markets evolve.
Therefore, the investigation should establish the date of the evidence used to design the project.
A particularly useful question is:
Was the original needs assessment updated before implementation when there was a significant delay between project design and execution?
15. The Financing Decision
Once the need has been identified and the project designed, financing becomes the next major decision.
The investigation should trace:
Need → Study → Project design → Financing decision → Procurement → Implementation.
This allows journalists to determine whether the original rationale remained intact throughout the process.
A project may begin with one objective and gradually change because of financing conditions, institutional priorities or technical constraints.
Those changes should be documented.
16. The Risk Register
Good project preparation should consider risks.
Possible risks include:
- cost increases;
- procurement delays;
- land problems;
- environmental constraints;
- insufficient staffing;
- weak institutional capacity;
- changes in demand;
- climate events;
- political or administrative changes;
- currency or financing risks.
The investigation should ask whether such risks were identified before implementation.
More importantly:
Were the identified risks later realized?
If they were, how did the project respond?
17. The Difference Between Predictable and Unpredictable Problems
Not every project problem can be predicted.
Unexpected events happen.
But some risks may be visible before implementation.
This creates an important distinction.
If a problem was genuinely unforeseeable, the investigation should document the event and response.
If a major risk was identified in the original study, the investigation can examine whether sufficient mitigation measures were established.
This approach produces a more evidence-based investigation than simply listing project problems.
18. The Decision Trail
Every major development project should leave a documentary trail.
The journalist's task is to reconstruct it.
A useful sequence is:
Problem identified
↓
Needs assessment
↓
Feasibility study
↓
Alternatives considered
↓
Project selected
↓
Budget approved
↓
Financing secured
↓
Procurement launched
↓
Contract awarded
↓
Implementation
↓
Results
This is the Decision Trail.
Following it allows journalists to examine not only what happened during implementation, but why the project existed in the first place.
19. Building a Pre-Project Investigation File
For future investigations, ATEP MED can develop a standardized Pre-Project Evidence File.
Section A — The problem
- What problem exists?
- Where?
- Who is affected?
- How many people are affected?
- What evidence demonstrates the problem?
Section B — The proposed solution
- What intervention was proposed?
- Why was it selected?
- What alternatives existed?
Section C — The evidence
- Baseline data
- Needs assessment
- Feasibility study
- Technical analysis
- Environmental analysis
Section D — Decision-making
- Who proposed the project?
- Who approved it?
- Who financed it?
- Who was consulted?
Section E — Forecast
- Expected cost
- Expected duration
- Expected beneficiaries
- Expected results
- Expected risks
Section F — Later verification
- Actual cost
- Actual duration
- Actual beneficiaries
- Actual services
- Actual results
- Documented deviations
This structure creates a direct bridge between investigative journalism and development research.
20. The Right of Reply
As with any serious investigation, institutions and organizations whose decisions are examined should have an opportunity to respond.
Questions can be addressed to:
- ministries;
- public agencies;
- municipalities;
- development institutions;
- financing organizations;
- consultants;
- project management units.
They can be asked to explain:
- why the project was selected;
- what evidence supported the decision;
- what alternatives were considered;
- whether the needs assessment was updated;
- why major assumptions changed;
- how deviations were handled.
Responses should be accurately represented.
Conclusion: The Investigation Should Start Before the First Payment
Development accountability does not begin when a contract is signed.
It begins when someone decides that a particular problem requires a particular intervention.
That decision deserves scrutiny.
Before public or development money is committed, there should be an understandable chain connecting:
Need → Evidence → Choice → Budget → Expected Result.
After implementation, journalists can then compare that original chain with reality.
Was the need correctly identified?
Was the evidence sufficiently strong?
Were beneficiaries consulted?
Were alternatives considered?
Were the assumptions realistic?
Did circumstances change?
Was the project adapted when necessary?
And ultimately:
Did the money go toward the problem that people actually needed solved?
For investigative journalism, examining the period before the project begins provides a powerful way to understand development decisions.
It moves reporting beyond the question of whether a project was completed and toward a deeper question:
Why was this project chosen in the first place—and what evidence supported that choice?
That is where the development story begins.
A document-, data- and evidence-based investigative report
Prepared and published by: Mohamed Chaieb Barhoumi
ATEP MED – Arabic Digital Center for Media & Development
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