EXPERIENCE IN ACTION POINT OF VIEW Development: Reconciling Separate Systems T he way we use words has a strong bearing on how we think. Some words have more weight on our perceptions than others. “Development” is definitely one of these words. “Third World” and “developing world” are often heard synonyms, but countries—and their citizens—deserve better. Third World has the connotation that there is somewhere a second (and better) world and a first (and best) world. The whole world is indeed developing, yet this is not what people mean when they talk about the developing world. Development implies changes, but the nature of changes in Africa is different from that in Europe or North America. My thoughts on the role of a research institute in the development of a country are coloured by experiences in Nigeria, where I worked prior to joining the Naliendele Agricultural Research Institute in Tanzania in 1995. Separated Economic Systems Oye is one of the four days of the traditional Igbo week. In Oba, a small village five kilometres north of Nsukka in south-eastern Nigeria, there is a big market on every Oye day. It is an “insignificant” village deprived of any major road. Yet, it offers more goods than the market in the university town of Nsukka. Many of the goods come from distant places. I have always been puzzled by the size of the market compared to the village. As Igbo people have a tradition as traders, it must have a long history. The village must have been a key position on ancient trading routes. If it were not for the lorries and the plastic buckets, one would think to be in an “unaltered” part of Africa. Seventy kilometres south, in the state’s capital Enugu, there is a Leventis store. In this air-conditioned supermarket, everything from cutlery, ironing tables to prawns and cornflakes is available. Oba market and Leventis store are two exponents of more or less separated economic systems. Oba market has its roots in pre-colonial times. Farmers in many parts of Africa live and work in similar systems. Oba market symbolises the reality of Africa’s farmers, while the Leventis store stands for the industrial economic system. Obviously, This market is the symbol of the reality of the African farmer. Research institutions introducing new technologies help bridge the gap between this economic system and the “developed” one. AgriForumNo 6 14 January1999 EXPERIENCE IN ACTION they do not merely coexist. The lorries and plastic buckets in Oba market suggest that there are bridges between these two systems. The bridges go with a transfer of goods and money. Belgians fry chips in oil extracted from groundnuts grown in Senegal, and farmers in southern Tanzania earn money from cashew nut exported to India. But the fact that milk and butter from Europe are available in Leventis store and none produced by local herdsmen shows how little these two systems are integrated. Much More Complex It would be odd to say that “Leventis store” is dominating the world economy, as actually more people may be living in the “Oba market” system. Yet, it is undeniable that the “Leventis store” system is much more influential. The Gross National Product (GNP) is one handy tool devised by “Leventis store” people to prove how superior their system is. As one economist stated, the total GNP of Africa being less than 1% of the world’s total, the whole continent could be wiped off without anyone noticing it. The colonial era was not helpful in improving on these relations, but at least one of the consequences has been the introduction of “Leventis store”. Aid is often seen as a process by which a donor delivers a package to beneficiaries. This can be the transfer of technology or knowledge. The underlying idea is that “Oba market” can just be improved by bringing in things from “Leventis store”. With development aid, donors include indicators in the framework of the project to assess its success. The many failures of such projects show that the development process is much more complex. The following example may illustrate this. A project in West Africa aimed at reducing labour bottlenecks in rural communities by introducing oxen. As the local cattle were judged to be weak, an exotic breed January1999 was introduced. It all seemed a great success. Many farmers had both oxen and ploughs. They had fully mastered the techniques and blacksmiths had been trained to make and repair ploughs. Some years after the closure of the project, its impact was assessed. Farmers had done away with the ploughs. They felt it was all too cumbersome, and found it easier to till the land with their traditional hoes. However, they kept the oxen for the meat. The project failed in the end, but one has to recognise that farmers had appropriated themselves a new useful technology. The introduction of personal computers in Europe is just an example of successful development resulting from research. They are now used for such ordinary things as sending mail or getting money from the bank. In countries where there is no “Oba market-Leventis store” situation, computers have had their impact on the society. Build Bridges As all societies heavily borrow technologies and knowledge developed elsewhere, it is an illusion to hope that “Oba market” can catch up on its own. A station like Naliendele, which belongs to the “Leventis store” system, has thus a role of keeping the country connected to developments in other parts of the world. If there is no “Leventis store”, there is little hope for a reconciliation with “Oba market”. Both systems have to evolve towards each other. For a research station, the implication is that, at least, part of its work attempts to build bridges between “Oba market” and “Leventis store”. For further information: Stephane Dondeyne Naliendele Agricultural Research Institute P.O. Box 509 Mtwara Tanzania E-mail: rips.pso@twiga.com n 15 Book Shelf Financing agricultural research: a sourcebook, edited by Steven R. Tabor, Willem Janssen, Hilarion Bruneau, The Hague, The Netherlands, International Service for National Agricultural Research, 1998, xxiv + 363 p. ISBN 92-911-035-1. This book presents an assessment of the current situation on financing agricultural research, together with a review of available policy options, strategies for improving resource mobilisation and means of enhancing financial management. It is targeted towards leaders of national agricultural research systems, directors of research centres, heads of research coordinating bodies, as well as those responsible for approving and assigning resources to agricultural research. Research leaders from other sectors may also find insights into the financing problems that they may be facing. The book is divided into four sections. They examine key policy options available in today’s competitive financing environment, review strategies for improving resource mobilisation, analyse financial management practices in public research institutes and review public agricultural research finance in the developing world. Single copies of this publication are available free of charge, at ISNAR’s discretion, to individuals and institutions working in developing countries in agricultural research or in related areas of policy, organisation and management (ISNAR, P.O. Box 93375, 2509 AJ The Hague, The Netherlands. Fax: 31-70-381-9677). The book can also be downloaded free of charge from ISNAR’s web site at http:/ /www.cgiar.org/isnar. Famine in Africa: causes, responses and prevention, by Joachim von Braun, Tesfaye Teklu, Patrick Webb, Baltimore, USA, IFPRI and the Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, 218 p. ISBN 0-8018-6121-7. Extreme poverty, armed conflicts, economic and political turmoil, and climate shocks, the conditions that cause famine are now most prevalent in Africa. Broadening current theories and models of development for conquering famine, the conclusions in this book come from longterm research, especially on the impact of famine on households and markets. With a particular focus on Botswana, Ethiopia, Niger, Rwanda, Sudan and Zimbabwe, the authors present the results of field work from many parts of AgriForum No 6