Find out what people need before you design the solution.
A needs assessment establishes what is actually missing, for whom, where, and in what priority order — so the intervention you design addresses a real gap.
The most expensive programmes are the ones nobody needed
Interventions get designed in capital cities from assumptions about what communities want. Sometimes those assumptions are right. When they are wrong, the money is already spent.
A needs assessment asks the people affected, checks what provision already exists, identifies the barriers stopping people using it, and ranks the gaps. Frequently the finding is that the service exists but nobody can reach it — which is a much cheaper problem to solve.
How we run it
Scope & secondary review
Census data, sector reports, administrative records and prior studies analysed before any fieldwork.
Consult the affected
Household survey, focus groups and key informant interviews across every relevant group.
Map existing provision
What services already exist, who runs them, who they reach and who they miss.
Prioritise & recommend
Needs ranked by severity, scale and feasibility, with design recommendations attached.
What you receive
Prioritised needs register
Every identified need scored by severity, number affected and feasibility of addressing it.
Gap and coverage map
Geographic and demographic mapping of who is served, who is underserved and who is missed entirely.
Stakeholder analysis
Who is affected, who has influence, who must be involved for anything to work.
Barrier analysis
Why people do not access what already exists — cost, distance, information, culture or trust.
Design recommendations
What to build, for whom, where, and what to deliberately leave alone.
Evidence base
Full dataset, transcripts and secondary sources, ready to attach to a funding proposal.
Everyone with a stake in the answer
Affected communities
Households and individuals living the problem, sampled to represent the whole population.
Local leadership
Traditional, religious and civic leaders who shape whether an intervention is accepted.
Service providers
Clinics, schools, extension officers and NGOs already operating in the space.
Government & regulators
Line ministries and local authorities whose mandate and data you need.
Often commissioned alongside this
Baseline Evaluations
Establish a defensible benchmark before implementation
OpenMidline Evaluations
Course-correct while there is still time to act
OpenEndline Evaluations
Prove outcomes, effectiveness and value for money
OpenProcess Evaluations
Diagnose delivery quality and operational efficiency
OpenImpact Assessments
Measure long-term social and economic change
OpenQuestions we get asked
Send us the terms of reference.
You will get a method, a named team, a timeline and a fixed price — and an honest opinion on whether this is the right evaluation for your question.
No obligation · Response within one business day · NDA on request