Part of the response of many development cooperation agencies to the challenges of globalisation, ICTs and the knowledge economy is to emphasise the importance of knowledge for development. This paper looks at the discourses and practices of ''knowledge-based aid'' through an exploration of four agencies: the World Bank, DFID, Sida and JICA. It seeks to analyse whether knowledge-based aid leads to greater focus on agencies' own needs rather than those of Southern partners. It also questions whether it makes them better at learning from these partners or more intent on a one-way, North-South transfer of knowledge.