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The long-term effects of development aid - Empirical studies in rural West Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Bierschenk, Thomas
  • Elwert, Georg
  • Kohnert, Dirk
Abstract
This article is based on field studies in rural West Africa. It concentrates on the socio-structural effects of development aid in the long run, in contrast to numerous available evaluation reports on the short-run effects of development projects. The study reveals that superficial generalisations or condemnations of development projects, like the big farmers benefit at the expense of the smaller ones, or the men benefit at the expense of the women, do not hold up to verification. Quite to the contrary one observes a wide range of specific adapted forms by which the target groups react to the demands and offers of development projects, and thereby transform their own social structure. In short, one observes a great diversity of social self-organisation. The bureaucratic structures of the development administration do, however, unfortunately - more often than not - ignore the social dynamic of their target groups which they nevertheless sustain unconsciously. Development aid has become an important political and economic factor in most African countries. Its financial impact often exceeds that of the national budget. It contributes, therefore, significantly to the development of a bureaucratic class and of its clients: the project development degenerates into a project nationalization / bureaucratization. This contrasts vividly with the strategies of the peasants. Men and women at village level do not accept any longer the paternalistic development approach. They just select what they need out of the packages of solutions that are offered to them, while they develop their own solutions, like a variety of seeds adapted to their specific resource endowments, diversified sources of income, different strategies of accumulation and risk prevention. All this allows for a gradual evolution by variation and selection. The dynamic of the rural society is to a large extent due to a competition of different (strategic) groups, opposed to one another, about the partitioning of the cake of development aid. Normally this struggle between different vested interests is covered up by the rhetoric of development planning. Planned development has up to now proven to be to rigid, to be able to take account of the complex and subtle fabric of self organisation. Aid sometimes appears to be a second best substitute for a vision of a democratic society. This is due to the fact that the structures we are aiming for in the long run - which are to allow for open markets, an orientation of the producers at the resources and needs of the nation, and last not least, the growth of indigenous structures of self-help - would require a responsible and democratic government, as well as the guarantee of civil rights, accountability, an independent judiciary, freedom of the press, etc.; up to now, however, all these elements are still oppressed by the commando state itself, well nourished by the various forms of technical and financial aid.

Suggested Citation

  • Bierschenk, Thomas & Elwert, Georg & Kohnert, Dirk, 1991. "The long-term effects of development aid - Empirical studies in rural West Africa," MPRA Paper 4217, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 1993.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:4217
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keith Griffin, 1991. "Foreign Aid after the Cold War," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 22(4), pages 645-685, October.
    2. Kohnert, Dirk, 1988. "Socialism without liberation: Land Reclamation Projects in Guinea-Bissau," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 28(2/3), pages 161-175.
    3. Robert H. Bates, 2005. "Political Reform," CID Working Papers 114, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kohnert, Dirk, 1997. "L’emprise de l'occulte sur la légitimité de l'état et l'aide à la démocratisation en Afrique," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47(1), pages 24-50.
    2. Kohnert, Dirk, 2015. "Donor’s double talk undermines African agency: Comparative study of civic agency in Burkina Faso and Togo," MPRA Paper 67093, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Kohnert, Dirk, 1996. "Magic and witchcraft: Implications for democratization and poverty-alleviating aid in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(8), pages 1347-1355, August.
    4. Kohnert, Dirk, 2011. "Cultures of Innovation of the African Poor – Common roots, shared traits, joint prospects? On the articulation of multiple modernities in African societies and Black Diasporas in Latin America," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 241-262.
    5. Kohnert, Dirk, 2022. "'Enlightened' West African dictatorship challenged by state capture ? Insights from Benin, Togo and Senegal," MPRA Paper 114913, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Kohnert, Dirk, 2020. "On the impact of the occult on state legitimacy and democratization aid in Africa," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47(1), pages 24-50.
    7. Kohnert, Dirk, 1994. "Im Netz sozialer Beziehungen: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen lokaler Experten in Afrika [In the Network of Social Relationships: Potentials and Restrictions of Local Experts in Africa]," MPRA Paper 83763, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 16 Apr 1995.
    8. Moumouni, I. & Tovignan, S. & Baco, M.N. & Nouatin, G., 2013. "Pitfalls of projects-driven institutional development in developing countries: The case of privatisation of agricultural services in Benin," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 48, March.
    9. Beck, Erin, 2016. "Repopulating Development: An Agent-Based Approach to Studying Development Interventions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 19-32.
    10. Kohnert, Dirk, 2022. "Des dictatures ouest-africaines « éclairées » contestées par la capture de l'État ? Perspectives du Bénin, du Togo et du Sénégal ['Enlightened’ West African dictatorship challenged by state capture," MPRA Paper 114934, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Moumouni, Ismail & Tovignan, Silvere D. & Baco, Mohamed N. & Nouatin, Guy, 2012. "Pitfalls Of Projects-Driven Institutional Development In Developing Countries: The Case Of Privatisation Of Agricultural Services In Benin," 52nd Annual Conference, Stuttgart, Germany, September 26-28, 2012 133046, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    12. Dirk Kohnert, 2018. "Trump's tariff impact on Africa and the ambiguous role of African agency," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(157), pages 451-466, July.
    13. Kohnert, Dirk, 2007. "Common roots, shared traits, joint prospects? On the articulation of multiple modernities in Benin and Haiti," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 151-173.
    14. Kohnert, Dirk, 2008. "Entfremdung und Ausgrenzung: Afrikas neuer Nationalismus in Zeiten der Globalisierung," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 197-222.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    development cooperation; ODA; evaluation; Africa; social structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N17 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Africa; Oceania
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy
    • O22 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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