Richard Ough, Deep Biswas and Favour Ogbadu

There is an old story, part joke, part parable, about the American space programme.¹ Faced with the problem of writing in zero gravity, NASA reportedly spent millions developing a pen that could write upside down. The Soviets? They used a pencil.

It is a tale told and retold to illustrate a singular truth: more expensive does not always mean better. But in international development, the lesson is not about cutting costs, it is about asking better questions.

What do we really need here? What is useful? What creates the most meaningful, lasting impact for the people we serve?

These are the questions at the heart of Value for Money (VfM), and they matter now more than ever.

The Wrong Frame – Understanding Value for Money

Mention “value for money” in a development workshop, and you will get a mix of sighs, furrowed brows, and the occasional glance at someone from finance. Too often, the phrase conjures up images of red pens and spreadsheets, of consultants counting photocopies and querying travel classes.

That is a framing problem.

Because Value for Money is not about penny-pinching, it is about making smart, ethical, and strategic choices in a world of finite resources. It is about doing what works, and knowing why it works. And, more often than not, it is about recognising that what works in Lagos might not work in Lahore. A programme raising the incomes of 1,000 women in northern Nigeria, where cultural and economic barriers are high, may represent a greater achievement than raising 5,000 in the south.

This is where equity enters the frame. Not all results are equal. Not all challenges are the same. And if we do not account for that, we risk missing the point entirely. Development programmes have multiple layers of nuance, and while this is by no means a “get out of jail free card,” the argument remains: equity is a sufficient reason to pursue projects, even if they are harder.

The Art, and Science, of Judgement

It is tempting to seek clarity in a clean, linear formula: input becomes output, output becomes outcome. That is the logic behind the results framework. But development does not happen in a laboratory. It happens in noisy marketplaces, shifting alliances, rural schools, and crowded clinics.

That is why VfM is not just a science. It is an art.

Frameworks give us the canvas. But how we use them, the brushstrokes, the tone, the choices, that is where it gets interesting. The goal is not a high-resolution snapshot of a project. It is something more impressionistic, a picture that captures what matters without freezing it in artificial perfection. And importantly, it is a picture created with programme teams, not just about them.

Culture Eats Frameworks for Breakfast

Some of the best VfM practices do not come from the most elaborate systems. Instead, they emerge from teams that have made VfM part of their mindset. It will never be enough to have VfM dashboards and trackers if they are only viewed as a box-ticking exercise.

In Nigeria, for instance, one portfolio-level VfM assessment grouped programmes by theme—governance, economic development, health. It brought teams together to compare notes. They did not just share data. They shared challenges. And they learned from each other.

Programmes with weaker methodologies adopted better ones. Ideas moved sideways. No one forced anything. And yet, standards rose.

This is what happens when VfM becomes culture, not compliance.

Conversely, when VfM feels like an audit, when it becomes about control rather than support, things shut down. People stick to the safe. And the safe is not always the smart.

Value in the Eye of the Beholder

There is also a political layer. Take the Trump administration’s decision to cut foreign aid. The rationale? Efficiency. Taxpayer value. A leaner government.

But slashing aid without context is like switching off the engine while speeding down the motorway. You do not solve the problem. You create a crash.

The issue was not the desire for better performance. That part was valid. The issue was the manner, the lack of strategy, the absence of adaptation, the loss of institutional memory.

Efficiency, without empathy, can do real damage.

The Takeaway That Changes Everything

So what is the big takeaway?

Take Value for Money seriously, and take it personally.

Not because donors demand it. But because it makes your programme stronger. It sharpens your decisions. It helps you know where your impact is coming from. It helps you tell your story, and shape it too.

VfM is not just about scrutiny. It is about insight.

And that insight is what helps good programmes become great. It helps struggling initiatives adapt, evolve, and deliver.

In a time when expectations are rising and budgets are falling, that makes all the difference.

Because in the end, good aid does not just cost less. It achieves more. And that, undoubtedly, is worth every penny.

To discover how Flywheel Economics can help your programmes achieve better VfM, email us at info@flywheeleconomics.com for more information on our specialised services as value for money consultants.

1. And entirely pure fiction but helps to illustrate an important lesson! ↩︎