Emerging African development thinking (4)

Continued from Part Three

To Read Part One

SPECIAL INTERVIEW (Final Part)
Development/Africa
Emerging African development thinking


After independence, most African states did not go back and build upon their own indigenous systems. Only Botswana did, which is why it is doing very well. The rest of the African leaders went abroad and copied all sorts of foreign systems. Obviously what is needed to turn Africa around is reform of its abominable political and economic systems. But the leadership is simply not interested, period.

• Ask them to cut bloated state bureaucracies or government spending and they will set up a “Ministry of Less Government Spending.” Then there is the “Ministry of Good Governance” (Tanzania).
• Ask them to curb corruption and they will set up “Anti-Corruption Commissions” with no teeth and then sack the Commissioner if he gets too close to the fat cats (Kenya), issue a Government White Paper to exonerate corrupt ministers (Ghana in 1996), or sned the anti-corruption czar off to the U.K. for graduate studies (Nigeria in 2007).
• Ask them to establish democracy and they will empanel a coterie of fawning sycophants to write the electoral rules, toss opposition leaders into jail, hold fraudulent elections and return themselves to power (Ivory Coast, Rwanda).

The reform process has stalled by vexatious chicanery, strong-arm tactics, willful deception, and vaunted acrobatics. Only 16 out of the 54 African countries are democratic and fewer than 8 African countries are “economic success stories.” Intellectual freedom remains in the Stalinist era: only 8 African countries have a free and independent media. But without genuine reform, more African countries will implode. Africa is stuck in a veritable conundrum.

Q. Yes, Africa is stuck in a veritable conundrum. But Ghana is showing some ways, as had been Botswana. But the difference between the Ghanaian case and that of Botswana is that Ghana is tackling certain inhibitions within its culture that have been blocking progress, such as using human rights values to refine witchcraft victimization. From its emergent democratic process to its on-going decentralization exercises, it appears Ghana is becoming a laboratory for the operationalization of the Internalist development doctrine. There was a workshop some weeks ago in Kumasi on culture and policy planning as a way of balancing the imbalances within the policies running Ghana that do not give adequate consideration to traditional Ghanaian values. Does this fit into the Internalist thinking?

A. You are confusing three concepts: social progress, economic development and internalist thinking. They are different things. All cultures undergo a process of transformation or modernization. Certain cultural practices become obsolete and are shed. Old ones are adapted, etc. Economic development deals with issues of poverty alleviation, raising income per capita, etc. The internalist doctrine deals with the internal causes of Africa’s crises. Many of these internal causes are such factors as bad leadership, political repression, economic mismanagement, corruption, capital flight, senseless civil wars, etc. They have nothing to do with African culture.

Q. In the Internalist School, has Africa finally come out with a development philosophy that it can claim originated from its cultural values, experiences, history and the global prosperity ideals?

A. No, the internalist school has not come up with their own development paradigm yet. I tried to develop one in my book, Africa Unchained in Chapter 10. I call it “The Atinga Development Model.” Atinga is a pseudonym for an African peasant.

An African economy consists of three sectors: the traditional, informal, and the modern sector. The vast majority of the African people who produce Africa’s real wealth – cash crops, diamonds, gold and other minerals – live in the traditional and informal sectors. Meaningful development and poverty reduction cannot occur by ignoring these two sectors. But in the 1960s and 1970s, much Western development aid was channeled into the modern sector or the urban area, the abode of the parasitic elite minority. Industrialization was the rage and the two other sectors – especially agriculture – were neglected. Huge foreign loans were contracted to set up a dizzying array of state enterprises, which became towering edifices of gross inefficiency, waste and graft. Economic crises emerged in the 1980s and billions in foreign aid money were spent in an attempt to reform the dysfunctional modern sector. Between 1981 and 1994, for example, the World Bank spent more than $25 billion in Structural Adjustment loans to reform Africa’s dilapidated statist economic system. Only 6 out of the 29 “adjusting” African countries were adjudged to be “economic success stories” in 1994.

Real development must start at the grassroots level – the village level or in the informal sector. It assumes that there is peace, order and economic freedom - that is, the country is not wracked by conflict and the Atingas are free to produce what they want, sell wherever they want, at whatever prices they choose to charge. It takes what is there and attempts to build upon it to improve its efficiency. In most cases, this would entail a mere reorganization of the existing ways of doing things. If Atinga produces 300 bushels of corn a year, the object is to raise his productivity to, say, 1,200 bushels a year, using whatever technology that is locally available. This technology must be simple and inexpensive.

The ingredients and strategies of this Village Development Model involve three basic steps:

1. Setting up a Village development committee or council (VDC) under a traditional ruler, say a chief, who still commands authority and respect. The chiefs constitute Africa’s most important human resource. They are closer to the people, understand their needs, and command their respect. It defies common sense to exclude them in any rural development strategy.

The functions of the Village development council would be to provide some basic infrastructure and the following services on a 50-50 cost-sharing basis with either a district or a regional administration:

• Education by building simple schools for elementary education,
• Clean water through the provision of bore wells for common usage,
• Health care by building a simple clinic, encouraging the interaction between traditional and modern medicine,
• A civic center or hall,
• A market, a market, a market, and
• Feeder roads.

2. The second step is to mobilize capital for investment. Capital can be raised through participation in and modernization of existing revolving credit schemes (microfinance).

3. The third step is investment in cottage industries by young African graduates. The state or government should be left out of this.

I have emphasized peace because economic activity cannot take place in an atmosphere of conflict, violence, and chaos. But a peaceful environment has eluded Africa and must be established as a first order of priority.

Once peace and order are established, then development can proceed under the traditional chief.

It is indisputable that chiefs play a crucial role in the development of any given country. Being the closest to their subjects, traditional rulers are expected to spearhead and successfully execute developmental projects in their areas; like building schools and clinics, sinking boreholes and other ventures to uplift the living standards of their people. And the Zambian Government knows that very well. That is why it has, from time immemorial, sought a closer working relationship with traditional rulers. Without their involvement, nothing tangible would be achieved.

Our traditional leaders are people who command a hearing and therefore, whatever they say, the general public heeds their advice and counsel.

-- Editorial, The Times of Zambia (Ndola), Feb 4, 2004.

Under the direction of a chief or a traditional ruler, schools, clinics, civic centers and markets can be built with “communal labor.” The chief, with the concurrence of the council of elders, may set a day or two aside and summon able-bodied men to contribute free labor for the construction of schools and markets. Consider these cases taken from Ghana:

• “Inhabitants of the 62 towns and villages in the Mamprong area in the central region have contributed $250,000 for the establishment of a rural bank. Disclosing this to the "Graphic" at Mamprong, Nana Abedu said he had already offered his own building to house the bank. He said his people were prepared to offer communal labor (free) and are collecting a levy of $50 per head as their contribution towards the government's efforts to provide them with electricity and good drinking water. (Daily Graphic, Sept 15, 1982; p.8).

• At the swearing-in ceremony presided over by the Ashantehene, Nana Bosu Brako, the newly-installed chief of Achiase, assured the Asanthene that he would lead his people to establish a large community farm, proceeds from which would be used for development projects in the area. (Daily Graphic, Oct 14, 1982; p.4)

• A 5-year Development Plan estimated at $4 million has been drawn up by the Akrodie Traditional Council to improve the area.
Projects envisaged under the plan include the construction of a secondary school, renovation of elementary school buildings, tarring of streets and extension to the local health care.

Launching the plan at Akrodie, the Omhahene, Nana Dankwa fanin Ababie, said all the projects would be undertaken through communal labor.

Voluntary contributions of $300 per elder, $200 by young men and $100 per woman have been levied. Nana Ababio said proceeds from the sale of foodstuffs from 27-hectare farm near Akrodie would be used to meet part of the projects cost. (Daily Graphic, Jan 6, 1983; p.8).

• The people of Bibiani District are sponsoring the facelift, project of the Bibiani’s Government Hospital at a cost of more than $200,000 through voluntary contributions. (Daily Graphic, Dec 3, 1982; p.8)

• The present chief of Akim Abuakwa Juaso, Barima Kofi Osei, has set up a development committee, which initiated a bee-keeping course to teach bee-keeping to farmers in the village. The chief hopes to make Akim Abuakwa Juaso, the leading honey producer in Ghana. Courses in snail farming and mushroom production are to follow . . . The development committee also has plans to set up a community farm shop. They intend to utilize cocoa waste products as raw material in a planned agro-processing micro enterprise. The village is also setting up a consortium consisting of the people of the village, who will provide community labor or sweat capital; the family who are the single biggest landowners in Akim Abuakwa Juaso, who will provide the land as their capital contribution; and a sustainable development NGO that will provide management and advice. They will team up and establish an 88-acre oil palm plantation, which they hope will feed the planned oil palm factory at Kade. (Insight, Nov 10, 2005; p.6).

• The rural locality of Tonka, in northern Mali, is an example of the endeavors that villagers in Africa are already making, despite extremely adverse conditions. By digging simple irrigation canals from a local river and lake, Tonka's 4,500 producers, organized in village cooperatives, have been able to increase their output of rice, millet, sorghum, potatoes, cassava, beans, and other foods. Tonka's marketplaces now attract buyers from other regions in Mali, and even from across the border in neighboring Mauritania. Thanks to the additional incomes they have earned, Tonka's residents have been able, during the past four years, to help finance the construction of nine primary schools, four health clinics, several wells, two livestock markets, a warehouse and several sanitation facilities” (Africa Recovery, Jan 2004; p.13).

Of especial importance is the building of a market and the providing of roads or access to the market:

• In Sikorola, a village in western Burkina Faso, farmers generally benefit from adequate rains and more fertile soils. But their efforts to expand output are hampered by the area's very poor physical infrastructure. AWe are ready to produce more maize and potatoes,” says one member of the Siguizani family, Abut there is no road to transport the crop.

Sikorola is not unusual. Across Africa, paved rural roads scarcely exist. Much produce is taken to market by cart or bicycle over unpaved roads or by foot along narrow paths cut through the brush. Africa has the lowest density of paved roads of any world region. Out of 1.8 mn kilometers of roads in sub-Saharan Africa, only 16 per cent are paved.
Moreover, many of Africa's paved roads have deteriorated badly from overuse and inadequate maintenance. Because of poor road quality, lorry drivers in rural Cameroon may charge an extra CFA1,000-CFA2,000 ($1.70-$3.40) for just a short trip of 6 kilometers. Higher transport costs raise the prices farmers must charge, reducing their competitiveness in both domestic and international markets.” (Africa Recovery, Jan 2004; p.14).

This only a sketch of the Atinga development model and obviously it can be improved. But the essential elements are that:
1. It is focused on agriculture, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of the GDP of most African countries. Agriculture is also the occupation of the majority of Africans.
2. The model involves the participation of chiefs.
3. It is centered on the village level.


The End

Interview conducted by:

Kofi Akisah-Sarpong, Canada. September 27, 2009