Alternatives to Aid

Many charities and academics argue that aid is unsustainable and creates dependency. As the Oxfam advert so vividly put it:
‘Give a man a fish, and he can feed his family for a day. Give him the skills to fish for himself and he can feed his family for a life time.’

So what are the practical alternatives to aid, and how can we in the West work with developing countries to alleviate poverty and respond to natural disasters themselves?

Grassroots organisations and bottom-up approaches

Grassroots NGO's are an alternative to bilateral (UN, World Bank and IMF) and multilateral (government) aid. They are based in developing countries and are therefore regarded as being more in touch with local needs. Moreover, NGO-directed aid is aimed primarily at the poor: those that are directly suffering from the effects of an ailing economy.

In contrast, the aid given by governments can be inappropriate and unsuccessful. For example, the Islu Damn in Turkey was a multilaterally-supported aid project whose costs ran into billions of dollars. The dam promised to generate electricity and create jobs, but it also displaced 80,000 Kurds from their homes, and restricted river flows to the rest of the Middle East.

This type of large-scale project is very far removed from smaller initiatives, such as ‘Send A Cow’: a small NGO that works directly with widows in African countries. Such schemes take a bottom-up approach to alleviating poverty: they avoid creating dependency, but instead achieve empowerment and long-lasting, sustainable changes. These smaller NGO’s need our support.

Trade Justice and Fair Trade

Trade Justice is a term used to suggest the idea that countries use trade, not as a tool for self-gain, but for global development. The Trade Justice movement aims to make the global trade system beneficial for developing countries, by giving them a chance to play fairly on the global economic stage. The movement is advocated by various NGO’s, but is primarily theoretical and currently holds little weight in the international trade arena.

To help change this, we can support initiatives such as Fair Trade. Fair Trade is a grassroots consumer movement in which people in democratic societies willingly take part in improving the lives of people in the developing country. The Fair Trade movement allows producers in the developing world to obtain a fair price for their goods, which promotes empowerment and sustainability instead of dependence on charity aid.

Resolve the debt crisis

The current mountains of Third World debt were first amassed in the 1970’s after the 'oil crises'. Developing countries borrowed large amounts of money offered very cheaply by Western banks flooded with excess Middle Eastern oil money. During the 1980’s, due to falling market prices and huge rises in interest rates, the developing countries became unable to meet their repayments.

In the face of these debts, aid becomes negligible. Last year, the entire sum raised by Comic Relief for Africa was paid back to Western banks the very next day, in the form of interest repayments.
Mozambique has repaid its original debt over 30 times, yet because of spiralling interest payments it is still highly indebted. The crippling burden of repayments is holding back development. In many African countries, more money is spent on interest repayment on these debts than education and health care combined.

Several of these loans were taken on by dictators, but it is the unfortunate citizens of these undemocratic states that foot the bill. Furthermore, top-down aid from the West often finances dictatorships, giving them more credibility at home and abroad. The focus should be on reducing debt, not simply plying developing countries with aid programs.

Conclusion

There are many alternatives to aid. Our first call should be for trade justice and support for the fair trade movement. The debt crisis must be constructively resolved. Aid programs need to be appropriate, sustainable, accountable and effective.

What can you do?

  • Campaign for the following:
    • Debt cancellation. See Jubilee Debt Campaign.
    • Aid directed towards the sectors and services relevant to the Millennium Development goals (see our article).
    • Trade reforms – to allow developing countries to protect and promote their own agriculture and industry.
  • See the Cafod campaign toolkit (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development).
  • Read about the Make poverty history campaign.
  • Lobby your MP to raise these issues.

Find out more


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