The Why and How of Foreign Aid

Foreign aid has become a melting pot of motivations and policies, where differently-motivated actors often converge on recommended policies while the similarly-motivated diverge. Breaking down the “why” and the “how” can illuminate real tensions and reveal false ones. The “why” asks which problems to tackle and who benefits: the recipient, the donor through economic, political, or soft-power returns, or everyone through global public goods. The “how” asks which strategy most cost-effectively addresses a chosen problem. Evidence is central to the “how”: use it where it exists, produce it where it does not. In particular, approaches which improve state capacity to use and generate evidence can satisfy multiple objectives: strengthen recipient countries, benefit donors, and provide a global public good of knowledge. Ultimately, the “how” is not a linear process, but rather an iterative one of learning, adopting, adapting, repeating, and then sharing so others can learn as well.