Transcript Inst & Lib

Centre for Development, Environment & Policy.
CeDEP
School of Oriental
& African Studies
Integrating contested aspirations,
processes & policy: development as
hanging in, stepping up & stepping out
Andrew Dorward
http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff37115.php
Reading, 30 January 2009
1
Integrating contested aspirations, processes &
policy: development as hanging in, stepping up &
stepping out
 Introduction
 Agreements & Disagreements in Development Analysis
& Practice
 Conceptualising development as hanging in, stepping
up & stepping out
 Promoting development dialogue
 Conclusions
2
Agreements & Disagreements in Development
Kanbur (2001):
Group A: ‘Finance Ministry’ perspective
Group B: ‘Civil Society’ perspective
Convergence: importance of health & education, economic
growth, externalities & public goods, institutions, more
nuanced understandings of complementary roles of state
& markets
Divergence:
empirical evidence on changes in welfare & poverty
(‘aggregation’ problems)
time horizons,
basic market structures,
‘pro-’ & ‘anti-’ growth positions.
Polarised negotiations, retreat to simplistic statements
Need dialogue, more nuanced but still relatively simple
messages & policy prescriptions.
3
Agreements & Disagreements in Development
But ……
 Fundamental differences in underlying understandings of
the goals of, constraints to, & processes for
development?
 How can dialogue around relatively simple messages be
constructed when development & differences in
perspectives of development are nuanced & complex?
 Fundamental ‘civil society’ challenges to neo-liberal
views?
constraints to growth,
processes of global & local change,
interpretations of history,
goals of development
4
Sustainability
 Limits to growth? mineral & energy stocks, biodiversity
& climate change; globalisation of growth & consumer
life styles unsustainable ….
 …..but technical & institutional innovation have
addressed similar problems in the past & will again …
 …..but scale & externalities too large, consumer &
multinational interests too entrenched, costs of
environmental change too heavily borne by poor radical rethink needed on growth & development itself.
5
Globalisation
 Opens up poorer countries & people to exploitation by
TNCs & developed countries, exploitation of natural
resources for low prices, destruction of local industry
from dumping……
 …..but trade & liberalised markets allow specialisation &
gains from competitive efficiency outweighing losses,
trade a key driver of growth, globalisation inevitable &
desirable…..
 ……but gains from specialisation depend on competition
& balanced power & property rights absent from
developing country markets; developing countries have
gained from trade if also pursuing protectionist policies:
many aspects of globalisation not inevitable or desirable.
6
Development

Neo-liberals: consistent use of theory & evidence on
main historical economic growth & poverty reduction –
civil society views ignore these, with inconsistent
theories that never yield lasting gain.
 Civil society: local success stories with wider uptake
limited by neo-liberal domination of political economy –
neo-liberals use inconsistent theory & evidence on
historical processes of unsustainable economic
growth & material benefit for the few & destitution
for the many
Each side
selective learning & generalisations
ignores evidence against own arguments
ignores difficulties in scaling up or out of success.
7
Second European Forum on Sustainable Rural
Development, Berlin, June 2007
WDR presentation
 Three worlds: (a) poor agriculture based economies, rural poverty,
(b) transforming economies, low agric GDP, rural poverty (c)
urbanised economies, more urban poverty.
 evolutionary path: intensification & commercialisation of initially
smallholder agriculture driving & sustaining non-farm growth.
 similar processes needed today
 removal of agricultural trade distortions & protection
 making local product, factor & service markets work better;
 promotion & empowerment of producer organisations;
 greater quantity & quality of investment in public goods;
 very selective, market smart, temporary subsidies & food staple
protection sometimes
 new thinking & investment in GMO & conventional research
 new investments in carbon trading & climate change adaptation
& more efficient & agric/ food friendly biofuel systems
 fundamentals of market development, good governance, sound
macro-economic management.
8
Second European Forum on Sustainable Rural Development,
Civil society: neo-imperialist experience & interests in WDR
 overly simplistic, gross reductionism, conflation/ selective analysis of
historical states & processes with desirable states & processes.
 marginalisation of rural poor through globalisation & privatisation
 call for genuine new thinking, aid & policies that ‘do not harm those living
their lives autonomously as peasant food producers’.
 neo-liberal simplifications’ reliance on industrialised agriculture, privatised
resources, & world markets for feeding people.
 African Green Revolution doubly discredited:
 past African implementation failures
 past pro-rich (not pro-poor) outcomes in Asia.
 Alternative vision:
 complex sets of sovereign trade & investment policies
 rights based approach to land, food sovereignty, small family farms,
local production systems & markets
 sustainable ecological & multi-functional agriculture, local resources &
processing in vibrant rural based national economies.
 participation & representation by rural people, not donor driven
agendas.
9
Second European Forum on Sustainable Rural Development,
Donors’ response: partial & biased analysis
 overlooking of the pro-poor benefits of the Asian Green revolution
through raising wages & lowering real food prices?
 challenges of population growth & falling land holdings / soil fertility?
 limited scope for organic soil fertility measures?
 Growing urban food demands ?
 younger populations’ urban aspirations & agricultural alienation ?
 economic benefits of concentrations of economic activities in large
cities.?
 legitimacy of emerging smallholders organisations claiming to speak
for poor rural people buying food& ignoring poor urban people’s
interests?
 romantic view of peasant agriculture – ignoring limited incomes &
mass movements out of peasant agriculture in developed economies.
 alternative vision doubly discredited:
 past failures with similar approaches
 past failures in scaling up success
10
Resolutions?


validity in many aspects of each side’s critiques of the other’s historical
analysis & future vision?....
– but if both critiques are valid then neither vision is valid….
Four related ways to move forward
1. more nuanced analysis of historical successes & failures in
development;
2. recognition of the sustainable development paradox & state
coordination development dilemma
 development leads to rising wages & labour costs which inhibit
labour intensive repairs & recycling & encourage replacement of
human energy by mechanical or electrical energy
 market failures & the need for government coordination are
greatest in the poorest countries where government capacity to
provide such coordination is most limited,
3. a framework that promotes dialogue between & integration of neoliberal & alternative development paradigms.
4. A radical rethink and ‘new way’
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A framework for dialogue
Neo-liberal & alternative conceptualisations of development disagree
about processes but agree focus on:
 people’s production & consumption activities & assets,
micro economic foundations of neoclassical economics
capabilities & multiple livelihood activities & assets



decreasing livelihood vulnerability,
increasing livelihood productivity (and incomes),
changes in livelihood activities (increasing importance of non-farm
activities).
Conceptualisation of peoples’ livelihood aspirations
 maintain & protect their current wealth & welfare against threats of
stresses & shocks hanging in
 advance their wealth & welfare.
 expanding their existing activities stepping up
 moving into new activities –
stepping out
12
Development as Hanging in, Stepping up & Stepping Out
Technical &
institutional
innovation
Capitals / Assets
Social Human Natural Physical Financial
Commercialisation
Diversification
……….
Hanging Stepping
out
in
Provincial
Municipality
Community
Household
Individual
Structural
transformations
Economic, social, demographic,
institutional, political, ……
Spatial, sectoral, distributional
Food, environmental services
Stepping
up
National
Technology, skills, health
Differentiation
Accumulation
Specialisation
Institutions, relations, politics
Regional
Convertible assets/ savings
cash
Livelihood strategies
& transformations
Infrastructure, equipment, etc
Global
Promoting development dialogue?



Valid model of development (successes & failures)?
 Scope & breadth, theoretical, logical, empirical consistency
Builds on areas of agreement between the different paradigms?
 micro- foundations; decreasing livelihood vulnerability &
increasing livelihood productivity; changing livelihood activities.
 different types & roles of capital; accumulation, differentiation,
diversity, specialisation, commercialisation & trade; trade-offs
between security & growth; multi-scale processes & linkages;
structural change; critical interplay with technical & institutional
innovation & political economy.
 disagreements in emphasis on different processes, outcomes &
interactions, & normative values
 ‘bottom up’, from poor people’s aspirations, strategies,
successes & failures - for themselves & their children; context
of wider processes of change (often over-ride local decisions &
planning)
Clear, accessible & opens up space for discussion?
14
Promoting development dialogue? (2)
Simple (!) not simplistic; flexible, transferable across scales of
analysis, disciplines, dimensions & sectors; accommodates diversity;
inclusive, encouraging engagement from different perspectives.
 Strong experiential foundation
 Terminology describes processes, outcomes, and/or aspirations but
more concrete & less value laden than ‘growth’ or ‘development’.
 Diversity of origins (in microeconomics, sustainable livelihoods, new
institutional economics, political economy, economic geography)
 Practical uses in analysis & communication promote dialogue
 Development of indicators & methods for assessing contributions
of small livestock keeping to poor peoples’ livelihoods
 Methodological development in assessing poverty impacts of
agricultural research & other interventions on poverty
 Conceptualisation of development policies & priorities for LFA
 Social protection policies & interventions
 Making markets work for the poor
 Climate change; sequencing development investments; health,
education & other service policy analysis & design; organisational
strategies; input subsidy, food security, trade etc policies

15
Low % farm
income
Wealthy, thick
markets, low risk,
good
rural-urban
rural-rural
Market
Access
D
F
stepping out
E
poor
X
hanging in?
Poor, thin markets,
high risk
A: Staples
B: Trad. cash crops
C: Trad. hortic.
D: Modern hortic.
E: Trad. L/stock
F: Modern L/stock
X: L.F.A.
C
stepping up
B
A
High % farm
income
low
high
Agricultural Productivity Potential
16
Social Protection Policy
Agriculture Policy
AGRICULTURE & LIVELIHOODS
Phase 1.
Establishing
the basics
Phase 2.
Kick starting
markets
Roads / Irrigation
Systems
/ Research /
Extension / (Land
Reform)
Reliable
finance, input
& output
markets
Extensive, low
productivity
agriculture.
Hanging in
Profitable intensive
technology. inhibited
by lack of input,
finance & output
markets
Stepping up
Effective
private
markets
SP from agriculture?
SP for agriculture?
Sectoral market
instruments
Effective farmer
input demand &
surplus production.
Stepping out
Phase 3.
Withdrawal
(non-agric ?)
Non market
instruments
Increased finance &
input demand &
produce supply. Nonagric. linkages.
SP independent of
agriculture?
Micro market
instruments
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Livelihood strategies & asset/ market/ activity
functions
Livelihood
strategy
‘Maintenance’
or ‘Hanging
in’
‘Stepping up’
‘Stepping out’
Asset/ market / activity functions
Consumption
Production / income:
Seasonal buffering
Insurance
Accumulation
Production / income
Accumulation
Changing aspirations, strategies & opportunities
Importance of markets & of wider development
processes
18
Market & alternative exchange roles in livelihoods –
changing aspirations, strategies & opportunities
Livelihood
strategy
Asset/ market /
activity
functions
Relevant assets/ markets &
asset/market based activities
Possible alternatives
‘Maintenance’
or ‘Hanging
in’
Consumption
Food & other purchases (including
household services)
Wage employment; sales from petty
trading, services, farming or NR
based activities; input purchases.
Financial savings/ lending,
borrowing; asset sales; labour
sales
Insurance; borrowing; asset sales;
labour sales
Asset sales & purchases
Subsistence production, domestic
labour; social relations
Subsistence; transfers/
remittances
Production /
income:
Seasonal
buffering
Insurance
‘Stepping up’ Accumulation
Production /
income
Stepping out
Accumulation
Asset stores; social relations
Asset stores; social relations
Skills, livestock, tree or household
growth; social relations; power
Wage employment; sales from petty Transfers/ remittances
trading, services, farming or NR
based activities; input purchases.
Asset sales & purchases
Social relations
19
Promoting development dialogue? (2)
Simple (!) not simplistic; flexible, transferable across scales of
analysis, disciplines, dimensions & sectors; accommodates diversity;
inclusive, encouraging engagement from different perspectives.
 Strong experiential foundation
 Terminology describes processes, outcomes, and/or aspirations but
more concrete & less value laden than ‘growth’ or ‘development’.
 Diversity of origins (in microeconomics, sustainable livelihoods, new
institutional economics, political economy, economic geography)
 Practical uses in analysis & communication promote dialogue
 Development of indicators & methods for assessing contributions
of small livestock keeping to poor peoples’ livelihoods
 Methodological development in assessing poverty impacts of
agricultural research & other interventions on poverty
 Conceptualisation of development policies & priorities for LFA
 Social protection policies & interventions
 Making markets work for the poor
 Climate change; sequencing development investments; health,
education & other service policy analysis & design; organisational
strategies; input subsidy, food security, trade etc policies

20
Using the framework for the Berlin problem?




Start with hanging in, stepping up & stepping out strategies
 Validity as historical & current aspirations in rural societies?
 Empirical evidence of achievement (and lack of achievement)?
 Processes, drivers & impediments of different changes?
 Impacts on different types of people - rural, urban & transitioning?
Multi-level structural transformations, technical & institutional
innovations, & changes in capitals or assets in farm & non-farm activities.
 Changing consumer & producer interests,
 Sustainability of different processes in terms of their impacts on
different kinds of capital needed at different scales of aggregation.
 Questions about ‘livelihood’ strategies & trajectories at different
scales of analysis (& associated changes in capitals, processes of
innovation & structural transformation)
 Examine WDR ‘three worlds’, agric. industrialisation & intensification,
local versus global markets, diversification & specialisation,
trajectories of rural & urban change & relations, climate change
Different paradigms’ strengths, insights & weaknesses
Cannot overcome entrenched narrow self interest (expose them?) or
fundamentally different value systems - help identify common interests?
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Conclusions
Development as hanging in, stepping up & stepping out - can it
integrate contested aspirations, processes & policy?




Simple but sophisticated framework
Can provide space for dialogue and re-examination of apparently
opposing perspectives.
Does not directly address Kanbur’s subtext: behind the ‘debate’ are
vested interests seeking to use neo-liberal arguments to control the
policy agenda to protect national interests
Can help expose them, undermine more obviously untenable
arguments, strengthen more genuine seekers of development?
Dorward, A (2009) 'Integrating contested aspirations, processes and policy:
development as hanging in, stepping up and stepping out.' Development
Policy Review 27 (2): 131-146 (in Press, March 2009)
http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff37115.php
Dorward, A. R. (2007). Livelihood strategies, policies and sustainable poverty
reduction in less favored areas: a dynamic perspective in R. Rueben, A.
Kuyvenhoven and J. Pender (ed) Sustainable Poverty Reduction in LessFavored Areas. Wallingford, CABI.
Kanbur, R. (2001). "Economic policy, distribution and poverty: the nature of
disagreements." World Development 29(6): 1083-1094.
22
Centre for Development, Environment & Policy.
CeDEP
School of Oriental
& African Studies
Integrating contested aspirations,
processes & policy: development as
hanging in, stepping up & stepping out
Andrew Dorward
http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff37115.php
Reading, 30 January 2009
23