Promoting country ownership and inclusive growth? An assessment of Feed the Future

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the level of country ownership and inclusivity in Feed the Future (FtF) projects in Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania. It finds that though interventions largely align with country-defined priorities and plans, other aspects of country ownership – consultation and provision of aid through local systems – are weaker than expected. Regarding inclusion, FtF is to some extent exclusive, perhaps as an unintended consequence of alignment with national development plans that do not reasonably promote equity. Focus is mostly on productive areas and ‘market-ready’ smallholders. The article suggests policy actions needed to better achieve expected results.

Cet article examine le niveau d’appropriation nationale et d’inclusion des pays dans les projets de l’Initiative alimentaire pour l’avenir en Éthiopie, au Ghana, à Haïti, au Sénégal et en Tanzanie. Il révèle que si les interventions sont en grande partie conformes aux priorités et aux plans définis par ces pays, d’autres aspects de l’appropriation par les pays – consultation et fourniture de l’aide à travers des systèmes locaux – sont plus modestes que prévu. Concernant l’inclusion, l’Initiative alimentaire pour l’avenir est, dans une certaine mesure, exclusive, et peut-être s’agit-il là d’une conséquence imprévue de sa mise en conformité avec les plans de développement nationaux qui ne favorisent pas raisonnablement l’équité. Le focus porte principalement sur les secteurs productifs et les petits exploitants « commercialisables ». L’article suggère l’adoption de mesures politiques dans le but de mieux atteindre les objectifs prévus.

El presente artículo examina el nivel de apropiación nacional y el grado de inclusión en los proyectos realizados por Feed the Future (FtF) en Etiopía, Ghana, Haití, Senegal y Tanzania. En este sentido se comprobó que si bien en general las intervenciones de FtF se alinean con las prioridades y los planes establecidos al interior del país, existen aspectos vinculados a la apropiación nacional —por ejemplo, consultas y prestación de ayuda a través de sistemas locales— que resultan menos adecuados de lo que se esperaba. Así, en términos de la inclusión, y tal vez como resultado no intencionado de su alineación con los planes nacionales de desarrollo que no promueven razonablemente la equidad, FtF es hasta cierto punto excluyente. Por otra parte, su actividad se centra sobre todo en áreas productivas y en pequeños productores “preparados para el mercado”. Al respecto, el artículo sugiere que, para lograr los resultados previstos, deben ser implementadas ciertas acciones de política.

KEYWORDS:

• Aid – Aid effectiveness, Development policies
• Civil society – Participation
• Environment (built and natural) – Agriculture, Food security
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Edmund Matotay, Henri Mathew Lo, Danielle Fuller-Wimbush, Cardyn Fils-Aimé, Dawit Alemu, and Michael Poku-Boansi for their involvement in collecting data and facilitating fieldwork in-country. We also acknowledge and thank Eric Munoz and Stephanie Burgos at Oxfam America, Washington, DC for their various support and involvement in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Emmanuel Tumusiime is a researcher on economic justice and agriculture at the Policy and Research Department, Oxfam America, Washington, DC, USA.

Marc J. Cohen is Senior Researcher at Oxfam America, Washington, DC, currently working on humanitarian policy and climate change, as well as evaluations of humanitarian advocacy and Oxfam International’s Rights in Crisis campaign. His academic training is in political science and development studies, and he is also a part-time faculty member at Johns Hopkins University.

Notes

1. Information on funding for GAFSP is from GAFSP (2015).

2. See USAID (2016) for estimates on “strengthening local capacity”.

3. See USAID (2016) estimates on “strengthening local capacity”.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for fieldwork was provided by Oxfam America. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Oxfam’s policy or perceptions.