Supplementary Material U213/TU871 PfD2 U213 International Development: Challenges for a World in Transition TU871 Development: Context and Practice U213/TU871 Preparing for Development Adapted by Ann LeMare from original material prepared by Gordon Wilson
Preparing for Development A vast number of people have helped, either wittingly or unwittingly, with this project. For the subject content, we thank the authors of the seven chapters of Poverty and Development into the 21st Century. For the general approach and the study skills content, we have drawn on the huge amount of expertise and experience that resides in the Open University. We have not tried to re-invent any wheels but to use the ideas and techniques that already exist in the particular context of development studies. For these, we are particularly indebted to: The Good Study Guide, by Andy Northedge The Manager s Good Study Guide, by Ken Giles and Nicki Hedge Living in a changing society study modules T102 Living with technology (especially the section in Block 3 on writing a report) The Study Guide for Classroom text and discourse, by John Pettit Open teaching toolkits on Reading and note-taking and on Writing skills. Gordon Wilson and Ann LeMare 2 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT
Contents Part 1: Poverty and development 4 Introduction 4 The context of poverty 9 What is poverty and where does it occur? 10 What is development? 15 How can development be achieved? 16 Summary of Part 1 18 Part 2: Food and hunger 19 Food supply and food distribution 19 Food, poverty and livelihoods 26 Food security and gender 30 Improving food security 31 Summary of Part 2 36 Part 3: Health and disease 37 What do we mean by health? 37 Patterns of disease: looking at the evidence 41 Disease variations depending on where you live 42 Disease and gender 45 Disease and education 47 Disease and poverty 49 Improving health 52 Summary of Part 3 60 Part 4: Making a living 61 Ways of working 61 Technical, social and sexual divisions of labour 65 People, production and reproduction 67 Making a living in circumstances not of our choosing 69 Summary of Part 4 83 Part 5: Too many people? 84 Three views on population 84 Fertility, mortality and migration: patterns of population growth 87 Health, wealth, education and population 90 Kerala: female autonomy in action? 95 Summary of Part 5 99 Part 6: Environment 100 Using up the earth s resources or not sharing them out? 100 Making a living, resources and survival 102 Different concerns in the North and the South 104 Introducing sustainable development 112 Summary of Part 6 121 Part 7: Action for development 122 How does development occur? 122 What s been left out? 125 A new consensus for development action? 126 Summary of Part 7 128 References 129 Acknowledgements 131 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 3
Part 1: Poverty and development After studying Part 1 you should be able to: 1 analyse the term poverty and consider its various definitions; 2 analyse the term development and explain opposing views on how to achieve development. You will also have practice in the following study skills: using your own knowledge constructively reading actively making notes analysing a table of data. Introduction Preparing for Development is an introduction to some of the key challenges facing societies in the world today, particularly to issues surrounding poverty, such as where it occurs, how it is measured, and the attempts being made to reduce and alleviate it. Addressing poverty is one popular notion of what is termed development but, as we will see, there are many different views on what development is and how improvements can be achieved. Some of the challenges of development have been present throughout human history how to secure enough food, how to live healthy lives, how to make a living. Others are comparatively recent concerns, for example population growth and environmental degradation. But, whichever way we view development, it is usually seen as a broadly positive term that is associated with progress. The ways in which societies identify these issues and seek to address them are at the core of the study of development. Poverty always occurs within a society, but what is society? We talk of French society, or Kenyan society, as the nation state is a common sense equivalent of a society since it incorporates the idea of political responsibility. Societies are a way of identifying ourselves as part of a particular group of people. We must remember though, that there are always divisions within a society, particularly if considered in national terms, between different ethnic groups, or between the rich and the poor. Poverty and development are issues that are relevant to all societies every country, whether rich and industrialized, or largely agriculturally based, have problems that relate to poorer and more marginalized groups. Problems associated with environmental degradation, the use of resources and pollution, and the balance between economic growth and quality of life are a concern of all states. Still, the majority of poor, and very poor, people live in what was termed The Third World, and it is here that environmental problems are also at their worst, and where development issues are most extreme. It has always been a matter of debate as to which term should be used for this group of countries. The Third World initially meant a group of countries that was seeking an alternative way to development, distinct from either the capitalist West or the socialist path, a view shaped by the Cold War era with less relevance today. The terms developing countries and developed countries are also used. These terms suggest different stages in the size of the economy. However, they should not imply that any country ever finishes developing, or suggest ideas of catching up that do not reflect the diversity or needs of different cultures. The term the South is increasingly popular, and can encapsulate the common experience of many countries and their similar position relative to global Cold War: the period between the early 1950s and the end of the 1980s that was characterized by the division of the world into two ideological camps the socialist camp that was dominated by the Soviet Union and the capitalist camp dominated by the United States. 4 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT
capitalism. As geographic terms the South and the North are not completely correct, as there are some southern nations (New Zealand, Australia) which would not be included in the South. The North is not uniform either, as in the case of China which is north of Japan and much of Europe. In general, I will use the South to denote the group of countries previously referred to as the Third World, though other terms might be used if more appropriate in the context of a specific discussion. Preparing for Development will concentrate on the South, but you should bear in mind that the analysis is also relevant to those who are excluded from living satisfactory lives in richer Northern countries. Activity 1.1 What do you understand by the word poverty? What is its relationship to development? Examine the photographs in Figures 1.1 1.7 and make notes on each one, based on your answers to the following questions. How is poverty represented in the picture? In your opinion do you think any development activity is taking place? Can you get a sense of the history behind the image? I am not going to provide any answers of my own to this activity because I want you to draw on your own knowledge and experience of the subject. As your knowledge of the subject increases, through studying Preparing for Development, please return to your answers here and reflect on whether you want to change or revise them. Figure 1.1 Schooling for children in rural Uganda PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 5
Figure 1.2 Labourers working in gold mines in northern Brazil Figure 1.3 Circuit board training in India 6 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT
Figure 1.4 Samburu warrior with mobile phone in northern Kenya Figure 1.5 High-rise buildings and shacks co-exist in all Brazilian cities PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 7
Figure 1.6 Refugee mother and child, Kosovo Figure 1.7 Deprivation in Britain Study skills review: reading actively It may seem odd to think that within the first few pages of Preparing for Development you have already practised an important study skill. But you have. When you read in order to study you should take little for granted. You should always ask yourself the general question: What is going on here?. The same question applies whether you are reading the printed word or whether you are reading images such as photographs. It is called reading actively and this is exactly what you have done in relation to photographs 1.1 1.7 in Activity 1.1. This sets it apart from casual reading which is more passive and for pleasure, although I would argue that being active actually increases one s enjoyment of what is being read. 8 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT
The other thing you did in Activity 1.1 was draw on your own background knowledge of poverty and of development. An important aspect of learning is to be able to recognize your own knowledge and experience, to be able to evaluate it and to be able to use it in an informed and more powerful way. You will again practise using your own knowledge constructively in the next activity, when you are asked to reflect on the situation in your own country. Markets: The word market conjures up an image of people selling fruit, clothes, etc. on stalls in a street. I am using the term more widely to mean any system that brings buyers and sellers of goods and services together in conditions of competition, whatever the nature of the goods and services. The context of poverty Poverty has social, political and economic aspects. It takes place within a country with a particular political system and way of governing; the economy will be organized along certain lines, involving a mixture of paid and unpaid work, with agricultural, manufacturing, and service sectors. There will be responsibilities and accepted roles between men and women, between generations, and between different classes. We call these relations between different groups of people, social relations, and specifically those between men and women as gender relations. Although there were some early policies directed towards the relief of severe poverty, as in the Poor Laws and public health initiatives, it was not until the middle of the last century that state governments in industrialized countries saw poverty as a major cause for concern, and sought to tackle inequality in order to promote stable societies. In many of these countries there were moves towards socially inclusive policies in education, housing, and welfare. Countries that had recently gained independence after periods of colonialism were also concerned to develop their economies and improve the material conditions of their populations, often through state directed development plans. It was during this period that aid from industrialized countries, in the form of loans and technical assistance, grew and became a part of many development programmes. Given the struggle for influence between the West (North America and Europe) and the East (Russia and China), much of this aid was politically motivated and had strings attached. In the 1980s there was a move away from state-led activities to strategies which emphasized private enterprise in both the United States and Europe. It was felt that an approach that allowed markets to work well, without the interference of state governments, would lead to an increase in global trade, and thus increasing wealth for all nations. In 1989 the Soviet bloc the Second World collapsed. Since them, most countries, including much of the South or Third World have to some extent embraced the First World or capitalist view of development. The socialist path to development was associated with state management of the economy, and many criticized this approach, arguing that the role of government should be reduced in both economic and social affairs. Those on the right of the political spectrum saw state interference as hindering the dynamic of private enterprise, and argued that politicians and civil servants were not competent to direct economic growth. Those on the left felt that many governments were unresponsive to the needs of their citizens, and operated in favour of particular powerful groups. Also, development in the South was being financed mainly by international loans and the 1980s saw a mounting debt problem that turned into crisis when some countries defaulted on their repayments. As a response many countries of the South have had to implement structural adjustment packages, designed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), as a condition of receiving further aid. These packages are also based on market theory and a reduction in state activity. PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 9
Activity 1.2 Think about the country in which you live. In the past few years has the government done any of the following? Allowed private industry to take over industry that the state owns or has a large share in (known as privatization)? Introduced or increased charges for basic social services like health? Reduced or removed subsidies on basic goods like food? Allowed the currency to devalue so that it buys less of an international currency such as the US dollar? Cut back generally on public services? Allowed an increased role for non-governmental organizations (NGOs)? Encouraged joint planning and provision of services between the public and private sectors? The actions listed in Activity 1.2 represent the sorts of actions which governments, in both the North and the South, have taken in order to reduce state public expenditure, encourage private enterprise, and increase exports. With the collapse of the socialist model, capitalism has become the dominant ideology in the world today. The increasing integration of world markets where all countries trade and compete with each other, known as the globalization of capitalism, is the political and economic context in which poverty and development activity occurs today. What is poverty and where does it occur? What then are some of the definitions of poverty, and how are they related to economic and social development? We distinguish between three different approaches in the following text. Approach 1 One common approach to poverty is to base it on the amount of income that an individual or household has. This is an economic measure and largely sees poverty as an economic condition. Poverty in this sense can be measured by establishing an income level, a poverty line below which a person is considered to be in poverty. Internationally, this is currently US$1 per day (approximately US$370 per year). Another means to measure wealth is the Gross National Product (GNP) per capita of a country. This is the total wealth or income the residents of a country can claim in a year, divided by the national population, thus giving an average income per head. This indicates the relative wealth of a country in relation to other countries, and the higher the GNP, the higher the possible prosperity or economic well-being of its citizens. 10 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT
Table 1.1 Poverty indicators for selected countries Sources: Human Development Index from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2000; all other indicators from World Bank, 2000. PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 11
Activity 1.3 Look at Table 1.1 and consider the income measures: GNP per capita and Percentage living below the international poverty line. What does the GNP per capita tell you about: (a) the wealth of the individual countries in relation to one another? (b) the individual wealth of each country s citizens? In what ways does the poverty line information add to your picture of the country? Are there some surprises? Compare the figures for Peru and Jamaica. What does this tell you about poverty? As you probably reflected in your answers to Activity 1.3, although with GNP you can rank a country according to national wealth and thereby compare it with other countries, it is not a particularly good criterion for judging individual poverty, because it only measures average wealth, and says nothing about distribution of wealth. A few might be very wealthy while many live in terrible poverty. It also leaves out all goods and activities that do not have monetary worth, such as subsistence production (growing food for direct consumption by yourself or family) and collective goods such as air quality. The poverty line tells us that there are people who are poor, and the proportion whose income is far below the average as measured by GNP per capita, but it seems a very arbitrary figure. What of people who have $1.50 a day to spend? Are they not also living in poverty? Approach 2 To capture the experience of poverty there is a need for more than an economic definition. In this view one considers the various dimensions of poverty and the problems which poor people face that go beyond low income. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has developed a composite measure, the Human Development Index (HDI) to cover this wider view of poverty. This measure gives attention to material well-being, and to services such as education and health that are important both to the quality of life, and as a means of getting out of poverty. Activity 1.4 Now consider the figures for the HDI in Table 1.1. The scale is from 1.0 to 0, with the best HDI being close to 1 (those of 0.9 and higher). List the countries according to their HDI, from highest to lowest. Is the list in the same order as the one for GNP per capita? 12 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT
What are some of the main discrepancies? It seems reasonable to assume that the higher the income of a country, the better life will be for its citizens, but the relationship is not always consistent. Sri Lanka and Vietnam have relatively high HDIs even though their GNPs per capita are low, suggesting that other factors, such as government policies, are also important to the level of development. Brazil has a higher GNP per capita than Poland, but does less well on HDI. It is also possible to look at a range of indicators to try and see how poorer people are affected by development. In the final columns of Table 1.1 I have chosen indicators that look at access to health, education, and provision of a public service (clean water). In which countries do you think development activity is reaching the most people? Are there general patterns in the data? Again, Sri Lanka seems to be doing very well, with low figures for under-5 mortality rates, and illiteracy. Vietnam has low illiteracy rates, despite its low GNP, suggesting that the population has access at least to education. India has done better in providing improved water supplies than many other lower income countries in the table. In general, the higher the income for the country, the better are the services, but there are many exceptions and the relationship is not even. Study skills review: tables It is quite common to summarize information in tables. This is what you did in Activities 1.3 and 1.4. Also, you made a start at interpreting the data in the table, by comparing the numbers in the table on a simple basis high and low numbers. To make sense of numbers you have to make these kinds of comparison. You also compared the different indicators with each other to see if they formed patterns or had a consistent relationship. This is a skill you will be developing in later parts of Preparing for Development, notably in Parts 3 and 5. Approach 3 Poverty is also an issue in rich countries, and in middle-income countries such as Brazil, where considerable wealth has been created in recent years. Here, poverty is seen as relative to the lives of other people who live in the country and in the ways poorer groups can be excluded from active participation in the society. Families that live on large housing estates at the edge of cities in Britain often have poor housing, few shops or access to services such as government offices, leisure or training facilities, and high transport costs to get to their work if they have a job. Unemployment rates are usually higher than the average, people generally have a poor education with fewer opportunities, and consequently have little confidence. All of these factors restrict their ability to live active, full lives in the Britain of today. PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 13
Activity 1.5 Think of your own country and of poorer groups within that society. What type, and what quality, of services do they have? How are they excluded from taking an active part in society? How are their choices restricted? So, there are three ways of viewing poverty income based, wider dimensions of poverty, and relative or social exclusion. Because poverty is so widespread, and often so intractable, it is also seen as a global issue where individuals and nations need to work together to overcome the problems underlying world-wide deprivation. David Korten, a well known writer on development, calls for concerted action to deal with the: global threefold human crisis of deepening poverty, social disintegration, and environmental destruction. Activity 1.6 (Thomas, 2000, p.6) Give examples of worsening poverty, war and conflict, and/or environmental problems that you are aware of. List some of the actions that have been taken to address them. Problem Action I thought of the wars in the Balkans, or in central Africa, which have caused terrible hardship for people living there and created large numbers of refugees. In these regions there are many agencies dealing with emergency aid, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The European Union provides aid for longer-term development projects, and the new governments are also involved in restoring services, housing, and providing some security. These are examples of complex situations that have contributed to both deepening and widening poverty, and where there are many active agents of development activity. References Whenever you quote or use directly the ideas of another person, you should provide a reference. This is partly because it is important to acknowledge that which comes from others and is not your own. It is also to enable readers to check, if they want, that you are using the original words and ideas accurately and in context. Sometimes they might want to follow up the source because the subject matter interests them. In Preparing for Development we will provide a summary reference in the text as above. You will be able to find the full reference by looking up the author s name and year at the back of the book. 14 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT
What is development? In Activity 1.6, the actions that you listed could be seen as planned activities to reduce what you considered to be problems. This leads to one sense of development as intentional action for a particular purpose. State development plans or the actions of NGOs and community groups would fall into this view of development. Another way to view development is as an historical process, in which societies are transformed over long periods in an apparently unplanned way. Economic development and accompanying social and political transformations occur as a result of the continuing development of societies. Activity 1.7 Think of an event in history that led to social change and/or development. Make notes of the event and some of the changes that took place. For example, colonialization was an imposed political and economic arrangement for countries in the South, which resulted in a complete change in the lives of those who were colonized. The industrial revolution is another example of unplanned historical change that led to profound social change and the development of many new institutions. Study skills review: making notes Making notes is an extension of active reading. It focuses attention on what you are reading and forces you to pause and reflect on what the piece of writing is saying. Notes also help you to concentrate on key themes of a course and enable you to make links between different topics. Your notes will help you remain aware of this and give the course an overall coherence. There is a more immediate, practical side to notes too. In your later studies, they will form core material for any assignments that you have to write and will help you revise for examinations. The short-hand way of making notes is to underline with pencil or pen key words and phrases in the text you are reading; or you can use a fluorescent highlighter pen if you prefer. Deeper understanding and learning comes, however, when you write down in your own words what a text is about. This involves summarizing the general argument it is making, plus the supporting points to that argument. Once you do this, you will be amazed by how much you can recall of the topic at a later date. You started this process of making your own notes in Activity 1.7 and you will practise further in later activities. In a sense, however, you have been practising making notes in all of the activities so far often by relating what you read to what you already know. Notes are usually for your own, personal use. So, the exact form they take depends entirely on their usefulness to you. It is important, however, for you to go back over your notes from time to time. Can you follow them and understand them? Are they making the important points? In other words, are they doing the job you want them to do? PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 15
How can development be achieved? Activity 1.8 Select a country you know well. Read through the list of statements and decide which you think are ways of achieving development in your chosen country. You may select more than one answer. general economic growth developing industry that is very efficient redistribution of wealth so that the poor have more resources improving education and skills improving the health of the people improving the position of women providing the conditions so people can become self-reliant ensuring that government is accountable and well managed other (please state) The goals of development can range from encouraging economic growth, to alleviation of the worst effects of poverty, to actions to change the economic and social structures that contribute to inequality and lack of opportunity for the poorest. All of the above strategies could be part of deliberate development initiatives but, depending on one s values and point of view some are given more priority than others, or are thought to just happen once modernization occurs. How to create the right conditions for development is hotly debated. An influential view at present is the neoliberal view, a modern variation of the original ideas of capitalism that can be traced back to Adam Smith who wrote over 200 years ago. This approach sees the action of free markets, the unfettered activity of buying and selling, as the best means of providing development. Competition within markets, carried out mainly by private individuals and companies, will bring about the most efficient and effective goods and services. As a total economy grows as a result of this efficiency, the new wealth generated will benefit everyone and will eventually trickle down even to the poorest. Thus, neoliberals stress development initiatives that help markets function well. They would emphasize the following actions: general economic growth; developing industry that is very efficient; and perhaps also providing the conditions so people can become self-reliant. This follows from the importance they place on individual responsibility and the value of competition. However, others argue that markets alone cannot bring development because their workings are rarely fair. They are invariably heavily influenced by those who are already rich and powerful, and who wish to maintain this position. In this view markets only bring economic growth, and in order to ensure development you have to look at economic and social structures who has power and who owns what. These structures greatly affect one s ability to enter and survive in markets. In this view state governments and international agencies need to control markets, to make sure that competition is fair and to distribute the benefits of wealth. This view is known as structuralism, and includes many perspectives from Marxism to socialism, to more limited state action. Structuralists would certainly agree with redistribution of wealth so that the poor have more resources and, while implementing general economic growth, would want equal attention paid to improving education and skills, and improving the health of the people. 16 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT
After several decades of structuralist policies in the South, especially among countries that had just gained independence from colonial rule (1950 1970), and then a period when neoliberal strategies were applied (1980 1990), it has become increasing clear that, in practice, a combination of policies are often necessary. The debate now focuses on the extent and form of intervention. This approach, referred to as interventionism, argues that both markets and states are important to development and that both need to operate well in order to create the right conditions for development. In this view it is recognized that there are many different agents of development states and markets, international agencies, nongovernmental organizations and groups of local people. The extent to which these agents can (or can be enabled to) act together, while recognizing their own interests, is a current major issue for development. In this view all the statements would be important, including government that is accountable and well managed, often referred to as the need for good governance. Another approach, called the people-centred approach to development, is highly critical of all economic approaches, since they give too much attention to growth and not enough to improving the lives of poor people. They would emphasize: redistribution of wealth so that the poor have more resources; improving education and skills; improving the health of the people; providing the conditions so people can become self-reliant, and ensuring that government is accountable and well managed. Economic growth would be developed only to the extent that it could be tied to the satisfaction of human needs, such as providing for housing and services, leading to sufficient livelihoods, and to improving the quality of life. Improving the position of women, consideration of the environmental impact of development activity (did you suggest environmental concerns in your answer to Activity 1.8?), and attention to human rights, are increasingly seen as crucial to development, but how they are implemented will vary depending on the underlying philosophy of development. In this section we have looked briefly at the two main economic theories, neoliberalism and structuralism, that have formed much of development theory and practice. They have led to structuralist and neoliberal approaches to development. However, there are also approaches which combine aspects of each, such as interventionism, and approaches such as the people-centred approach, which are highly critical of both structuralism and neoliberalism. PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT 17
Summary of Part 1 1 Development concerns the ability of millions of people in the world to fulfil their lives. It is, perhaps, the major issue facing the world. 2 Poverty can be viewed in many different ways, including an income-based view, as the many dimensions of the lived experience of poverty, and as being relative to other groups, leading to social exclusion. 3 Poverty is an issue which affects all societies to some extent, and has global as well as local characteristics. 4 The term South is useful as it distinguishes countries with a distinctive set of concerns. They are poorer countries and are at a disadvantage compared with the richer more powerful countries. 5 Development is a positive term associated with progress, and can be viewed as an historical process, or an intentional action for a particular purpose. What constitutes development and how it is achieved is contested. 6 A neoliberal economic view suggests that development can best be achieved through the actions of markets, with individuals and firms competing. There is only a limited role seen for the state. 7 A structuralist view sees a strong role for the state, to control markets and to deal with unequal structures within societies in order that all people have a chance to improve their lives. 8 Interventionists use both neoliberal and structuralist approaches, arguing that well-functioning markets and state action are necessary for good development to happen. 9 People-centred development is critical of all economic approaches to development, having instead the satisfaction of the needs of poorer people as its focus. 18 U213/TU871 PREPARING FOR DEVELOPMENT