Diagnosis and feasibility studies

Iram’s long experience in implementing and evaluating projects and programmes enables it to provide pragmatic and professional services and specific expertise in defining and planning development actions.

The initial diagnosis is key to successful development actions and political reforms

The extent to which development actions achieve their desired outcomes and impacts largely depends on the quality of their design. The reason some interventions fail is not because they were poorly implemented, but because the initial diagnosis was flawed, partial or incomplete and the issues were not properly analysed. The quality of the initial analysis directly affects the ability of the actors concerned to set relevant objectives and identify appropriate activities to achieve them.

Other key elements in the initial diagnosis and feasibility study are stakeholder participation and consultation, along with careful consideration of the technical and financial feasibility of the actions, ex-ante evaluation of their impacts, and assessments of their social and political acceptability.

Expertise

Iram prepares diagnostic and feasibility studies based on market studies and agronomic, economic, financial and social analyses of the field or sector in question.

The institute also uses participatory processes in surveys and consultations with the different target groups concerned.

Proposals are backed up by financial and economic evaluations of the collective benefits likely to be generated by a development investment or action, and an examination of the institutional aspects to identify the most appropriate type of setup for the proposed intervention.

The institute uses similar methods when working on sectoral policy reforms. Here, the objective is to formulate proposals that reflect social compromise and are based on impact assessments so that actors and decision-makers can determine whether the proposed instruments and expected outcomes are consistent with the objectives of the political reform.