One of the criticisms often levelled at the bureaucracy is their inability to measure success and failure properly. They might set targets, but these are usually later found to be unsatisfactory measures or susceptible to corruption.

According to this article on the Nature Newsblog, a similar problem exists in the development world. Reporting on an (unidentified) conference, Emma Marris tells us

[Ghanaian conservationist, Yaa] Ntiamoa-Baidu looked at 50 random World Wildlife Fund programs in Africa. While 92% of project managers felt that their projects were helping develop the community, very few of these projects had built in any way to measure or show this. There is no data. And, according to Ntiamoa-Baidu, to convince politicians, donors and local people, you need the data.

Of course people find others measuring their success or failure a profoundly uncomfortable experience. The absence of data is therefore probably more by design than by accident. Which is why the free trade route to development is far more likely to be successful than hand outs or development projects run by well-meaning westerners.