As Development in Practice enters its thirtieth year, it is legitimate to wonder if and how much change there has been in international cooperation over the past 30 years. Revisiting our first few issues from 1991, we carried articles on violence, gender, relationships between southern and northern NGOs, reviews of problematic health and agricultural projects, and experiments with microcredit. In other words, many themes that remain the same in the world of international aid and cooperation. We know that large numbers of people have moved out of poverty, with certain economies in particular accounting for much of the success. There have also been some technological changes and economic support that have improved health and education. These bigger trends can exhibit many positive impacts, as claimed regularly by large aid agencies and governments wishing to showcase their achievements.
However, despite these positives, there are still many issues confronting the global aid business, local governments, civil society and, of course, ordinary citizens. Some issues have their origins in poor governance and political manipulation on behalf of oligarchic elites increasingly accustomed to a global lifestyle not otherwise supported by ordinary hard work. Corruption is endemic in many countries as politicians and civil servants use the power of the state not for the good of all citizens, but for the enrichment of themselves and their families. In addition to the negative but unfortunately global trends, we are still struggling with the best ways to improve the wealth and health of the poorest in a sustainable manner. The sustainability issue is an even greater challenge given the damage being caused by our promiscuous use of the world’s resources, leading to climate change, species extinction and other forms of long-term environmental damage. Despite those who regularly claim that the end of aid or development are close at hand, 30 years on there are still many challenges confronting those of us engaged in development.
In this issue, Maumita Das and Soumyadip Chattopadhyay look at how devolution of power in India has played out in the urban areas of Kolkata, West Bengal. They conclude that elite members of the community tended to capture local ward committees and councillor positions, thereby undermining the concept of participation.
As a reaction against many microfinance organisations which find it difficult to empower poor women and build a sustainable capital basis for the poor, John Marsden, Kate Marsden, Mizanur Rahman, Tim Danz, Andrea Danz and Paul Wilson have reviewed an alternative model. This programme, based in Bangladesh, took a longer term view of building capital through savings, training and community wide capital formation to lead to a more sustainable result for the poor.
Chikosa Ngwira and Susannah Mayhew look at the payment of per diems and other expenses to participants in local development activities. These payments have always been controversial, especially where it means that government officers are paid to do work they already receive a salary for. The study looks at what happened in Malawi when a standardised procedure was introduced by most official donors, which constrained these payments. The procedure had several unintended effects, including in some cases an increase in costs, and reduced participation by many stakeholders.
Monica Addison, Gaudiose Mujawamariya and Ralph Bam consider gender differences in research and technical innovation, focusing on rice. They demonstrate differences in requirements from their rice seed between men and women, and conclude that research activities seem to be unable to understand or deal with gendered differences in needs and opinions on the most useful way to develop agricultural technologies.
Md Al-Amin and Md Nazrul Islam review the strict disciplinary approach to microcredit by Grammen Bank and BRAC. They argue that such discipline and insistence on repayments means that slightly less-poor women with regular incomes are better able to benefit from these programmes as they can meet the regular repayments. Meanwhile the poorest women are excluded by the strict approach as they do not have sufficient resources to ensure they can comply with the loan conditions.
Willem Fourie provides a challenging review of religious motivation, roles and theology in regards to the role of faith groups in international financial cooperation. The author distinguishes three main roles for religious organisations in foreign aid, which they describe as guests, servants, and prophets.
Zaldy C. Collado studies internally displaced people in Philippines who were driven out by violence and their attitudes to returning back to their home city, exploring motives pointing the way back “home” compared to a minority who feel they are better remaining “displaced”.
David Masua, Chris Mowles and Nicholas Sarra provide a perspective on leadership training for small businesses, held in the post-conflict environment of South Sudan where there has been almost a generation of conflict and displacement. The article describes and analyses an experimental and experiential approach to leadership training aimed at adapting and responding to the difficult past and present encountered by the participants.
Tom Hare, Laura E. Miller-Graff and Juan Carlos Guzman have studied the violence which is endemic in parts of Central America, and tried to understand the causes and factors around both violence and being a victim in Honduras, through interviews with the general population as well as men and women prisoners. Given the large investments by international agencies in violence prevention and reduction, the authors found less correlation than expected with issues of resilience and other protective factors compared to the major influence of early life events.
Improved cooking stoves are important for both environmental and health reasons, and many programmes have been initiated in east Africa. Lucy Stevens, Edoardo Santangelo, Kennedy Muzee, Mike Clifford and Sarah Jewitt. map the markets for stoves, identifying constraints and positive elements in the market place.
Terry Leahy and Amira Mahmoud’s viewpoint takes issue with the disconnect between views of poverty and how to deal with it. They identify three major approaches: one which stresses a global resolution to globalisation and its impact on the poor, compared to a Marxist view that it is capitalism which creates poverty; and finally what so many development programmes claim to do, namely try and isolate the poor from global forces through small-scale standalone projects.