technical cooperation amongst developing countries: - the need for a revitalized effort in pakistan
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The paper presents the basis for the setting up of a revised policy for Technical Cooperation amongst Development Countries. The overall long-term objective of the TCDC Phase II project is the promotion of technical and economic cooperation between Pakistan and other developing countries in accordance..........TRANSCRIPT
Technical Cooperation Amongst Developing Countries: The need for a Revitalized Effort in Pakistan
Background Paper For the Consultative Workshop to formulate a National Policy
By
Sohail J. Malik [UNDP Consultant TCDC] Chairman
Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd. Islamabad, Pakistan
December 2002
2
Table of Contents
1 Background 1
2 TDC in other Developing Countries 2
3 Pakistan Tcdc Programme Phase Ii (1999-2002) 4
4 TDC Pakistan - Lessons and Recommendations 5
5 Towards a Revised National Policy for TDC 7
Appendix Table Experience with TDC Breakdown of TDC Expenditure
8
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1
1. BACKGROUND
The Government of Pakistan (GOP), in partnership with the UNDP, is committed to
promoting technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC). Keeping in view
the continuing high priority accorded to the TCDC by the GOP and the sustained efforts
of the UNDP to make TCDC an integral part of its global development strategy, Phase II
of the TCDC project has been designed to build on the achievements of Phase I and to
strengthen the use of TCDC modality in the priority areas as outlined in the Country
Cooperation Framework (CCF) for Pakistan1. The first CCF (1998-2003) is being
implemented in all three of its thematic program areas i.e. Gender, Governance, and
Sustainable Livelihoods. The CCF emphasizes the use of the TCDC modality in
strengthening the overall efforts towards sustainable human development and poverty
eradication through partnership, capacity building, advocacy, and resource mobilization.
The overall long-term objective of the TCDC Phase II project is the promotion of
technical and economic cooperation between Pakistan and other developing countries in
accordance with Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) 1978. The immediate objectives
of Phase II are:
To promote the use of TCDC in current areas of CCF focus i.e.
governance, gender, and sustainable livelihoods.
To build capacity of the beneficiary institutions and the focal point.
As the TCDC phase II comes to an end it is important to review the TCDC experience in
Pakistan, conduct a rapid assessment of its impact and devise ways in which the project
can be made more efficient in achieving the universal goals of poverty reduction and
economic development. This background paper presents the basis for the setting up of a
revised policy for Technical Cooperation amongst Development Countries. Section 2
presents a summary of TCDC experience in other developing countries. Section 3
contains the description of TCDC in Pakistan, while the summary of lessons learnt from
the review of Pakistan activities and recommendations for the future is presented in
section 4. The key elements of the revised strategy on TCDC in Pakistan are presented in
section 5.
1 The CCF spells out the goals, strategies, and priorities of the GOP for the development cooperation with
the UNDP.
2
2. TCDC IN OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
2.1 The Experience
It is noteworthy, that a number of developing countries are striving to achieve economic
growth through the transfer of experiences among them, particularly in terms of new and
innovative techniques and approaches to the organization of production to enable
increase in productivity output and overall competitiveness in the global economy.
Significant progress has been made through a variety of activities including training and
practical exchanges among developing countries which sought to address such issues as
poverty, the environment, trade and investment, job creation, the transfer of technology,
governance and gender. A number of specific interventions were also designed to
increase awareness of TCDC and to strengthen the capacity of national, regional and
inter-regional organizations in the promotion and management of TCDC activities.
Evaluations of the various experiences from around the world show that activities
implemented were for the most part well planned and executed. Cooperation amongst
various stakeholders including UNDP, NGO’s, implementing agencies and the
community was marked with coordination and planning for the promotion of TCDC and
in sponsoring a variety of activities as promotional instruments. Resources had been
effectively applied for activities which were successfully implemented and that they had
served to demonstrate the continuing relevance of TCDC as an important dimension of
international development cooperation.
TCDC has the potential to be an effective instrument of international technical
cooperation. However, there is a need for further work in terms of the identification of
successful experiences as a basis for their replication, particularly in priority development
areas of special concern to the developing countries. Some relevant examples /
experiences of technical cooperation amongst developing countries are listed in attached
Appendix Table 1.
2.2 Areas of training / cooperation
The experiences summarized in Appendix Table 1show the need for the adoption of a
more strategic orientation for TCDC; focusing on a number of high priority areas such as
poverty eradication, environment, investment, production, employment, macroeconomic
policy coordination, as well as health, education, the transfer of technology and rural
development and gender development. The promotion of activities in these areas is likely
to have a major development impact on a large number of developing countries.
Selected areas of focus of the program should be those which have had a demonstrated
impact in the past and which have the potential for replication in other developing
countries. Secondly, emphasis should be placed on the development of national, regional
and inter-regional capacities in formulating and managing TCDC initiatives of a strategic
nature. Thirdly, particular attention should be paid to TCDC initiatives, which have the
potential to support wider economic cooperation schemes among developing countries.
3
2.3 Participation of Private Sector and NGO’s
Given the resource constraints of the Governments in the developing countries, it is
imperative that the private sector and the NGOs’ be encouraged to provide and allocate
resources for such activities. The Government should take the lead in encouraging the
private sector through facilitation of dialog amongst various stakeholders and may
consider providing fiscal incentives such as tax breaks etc. for the private sector and
NGO’s to come forward and undertake such activities. Governments in collaboration
with multilateral agencies such UNDP and the World Bank should provide for holding of
workshops/ seminars for providing training for participants from national and appropriate
regional and inter-regional organizations in the application of TCDC. Such workshops
should be oriented towards the identification of opportunities for practical TCDC
exchanges among participating countries instead of focusing exclusively on a theoretical
exposition of TCDC principles. An important aspect of this support is to facilitate the
dissemination of appropriate information and databases and provision of individual
experts, centers of excellence and innovative technical cooperation activities capable of
replication in other developing countries.
NGO’s have an important role to play in promoting specific interventions at the grass-
roots level and working with other civil society organizations and transferring techniques
aimed at stimulating increases in productivity output in the developing countries in order
to enable them to compete effectively in the global economy.
A special effort will have to be made to assign execution responsibility to national
entities as well as regional and inter-regional organizations representing the developing
countries in order to ensure that ownership and responsibility are vested in the developing
countries for the management of TCDC programs. By its very nature the TCDC Program
requires the multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank to play
a predominant role but this should be one of support for the national and regional
initiatives.
Furthermore, various projects should be evaluated against clearly established qualitative
and quantitative benchmarks in order to facilitate monitoring, review and evaluation in
terms of actual outputs. The area requiring special attention is the creation of jobs and
sustainable livelihood for the achievement of sustainable human development since
stimulating an expansion of output is critically linked to the increase in employment and
income generation.
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3. PAKISTAN TCDC PROGRAMME PHASE II (1999-2002)
The main purpose of the second phase of Pakistan’s TCDC program (1999-2002) is to
exchange training, expert services and know-how among developing countries.
In line with the long-term objective of TCDC to promote technical and economic
cooperation between Pakistan and other developing countries, the project phase
contributed to the capacity building of various public sector organizations through
training programs that were based on TCDC modality.
During the period under review (September 1999 to September 2002), 51 participants
from Pakistan attended training programs mainly in China, Indonesia, Singapore, and Sri
Lanka. These courses were offered in a variety of fields including food processing,
electronic engineering, telecommunication and media, manufacturing technology,
housing planning, health, solar energy, and weather forecasting. In the same period
Pakistan offered two international courses on gender issues and human resource
development.
To disseminate information on project activities, a website of TCDC Pakistan has been
launched and information on needs and capacities of 100 Pakistan institutions has been
put on the internet.
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4. TCDC PAKISTAN – LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The overall performance of Phase II has been modest due to a number of factors. First,
technical cooperation has mostly occurred in low-priority areas whereas sectors of major
interest to Pakistan have not received adequate attention. Second, the lack of effective
participation of the private sector and NGOs in the training programs has severely limited
the program’s outreach. Third, only a few countries have shared their technical expertise
and know-how with Pakistan through the TCDC modality. Fourth, the program did not
make tangible progress in promoting the use of TCDC modality in current areas of CCF
focus.
National Priorities
The CCF is designed to address the issues of poverty eradication and sustainable human
development through three broad program areas: governance, gender, and sustainable
livelihoods and the environment. In each of the three thematic areas, the focus is on
capacity building, alliance building, resource mobilization, and support to advocacy
activities. The TCDC modality has the potential to contribute to the capacity building
element of the priority areas outlined in the CCF. For a fuller utilization of this potential,
however, the training programs needs to be demand-driven, based on the countries
development priorities.
Global Trends
The current global TCDC activities of the UNDP are directed towards dealing with
myriad developmental challenges including social and economic uplift, promotion of
science and technology, protection and generation of environment, and improving
agricultural productivity. Global TCDC operations are also being increasingly focused on
major development issues such as trade and investment, debt management, and
macroeconomic policy coordination. UNDP has also made efforts to encourage the use of
TCDC modality in helping the developing countries to effectively meet the challenges of
globalization. On the operational front, the UNDP has emphasized the importance of
partnerships and networks among centers of excellence in pivotal countries, exchange
and replication of best practices, and the use of triangular cooperation modality in the
TCDC programs. There is a need to include these new modalities in the program’s new
phase.
Regional Cooperation
It is increasingly being recognized that south-south cooperation initiatives should not
only promote technical collaboration but also encourage joint efforts in social and
economic development. Consequently, more emphasis is now being placed on bringing
the TCDC within the broader framework of economic cooperation among developing
countries (ECDC). As Pakistan is already striving to achieve greater economic
cooperation with the developing countries especially through SAARC and ECO, efforts
are needed in Phase II of the program to facilitate integration of TCDC in these regional
arrangements. This would allow the country to broaden the scope of its cooperation
especially with other developing countries in the region.
6
Millennium Development Goals
TCDC remains an effective instrument through which the developing countries can pool
their capacities to achieve the targets set at the Millennium Summit. Towards this end,
efforts must be made to design and implement technical and economic cooperation
programs having direct relevance to the Millennium Development Goals.
What is required is a coherent program that aims to strengthen the capacity of the focal
points in the design, implementation, and execution of strategic TCDC program activities
in line with Pakistan’s priorities and the global thrust of TCDC activities.
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5. TOWARDS A REVISED NATIONAL POLICY FOR TCDC (to be completed through consultations)
5.1 TCDC Policy Towards Income Generation and Opportunity Building
6.1.1 Small and Medium Enterprise
6.1.2 Agriculture and Rural Development
6.1.3 Trade and Industry
5.2 TCDC Policy Towards Security and Empowerment
6.2.1 Population Welfare
6.2.2 Health
6.2.3 Nutrition
6.2.4 Technical Education
5.3 TCDC Policy Towards Improved Governance
6.3.1 Institutional Reforms and Public Sector
6.3.2 Corporate Governance
5.4 TCDC Special Policy Aspects Covering Gender
6.4.1 Reproductive Health and Mother-Child care
6.4.2 Skill Development and Income Generation Activities
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APPENDIX TABLE – Experience with TCDC
Name of Country/Project/Program Types of impact (if assessed) Lessons learnt with
a) weaknesses if any and
b) strengths/good points
1. City Farming Innovations India
(Mumbai, Pune (innovative
package of workable farming
practices that enables city dwellers
to grow their own food on every
available square inch of urban space,
including terraces and balconies, if
they so desire.)
The impact of the practice of city farming is
clear. Following Dr Doshi’s lead, urban folk are
now growing their own quantities of vegetables
and fruits without having to depend all the time
on markets. Marketed food is expensive often
because the cost of transport has to be added to
it. It is also often hazardous: no one quite
knows what amount of pesticides and pesticide
residues will be found in the foods purchased
from the market.
Dr Doshi’s agriculture precludes the use of
chemicals and pesticides. For this reason, it is
also safe. Since it does not require much time
and money and relies on using wastes from
nearby sources, it is an important form of
sustainable agriculture.
Dr Doshi’s good practices could have a
significant impact on policies relating to food
production. Today, most governments have
fallen into the trap of relegating all food
production to the countryside. However, new
policies supporting such forms of urban
agriculture should now be entertained.
Urban farming brings the health and other
benefits (including recreation and physical
exercise) associated with rural agriculture to
In general, the techniques propagated are not
expensive and rely on materials available close
by. There are no requirements of heavy
equipment or even light equipment. But the
results are there for all to see and, if lucky, to
taste.
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2. Rearing spiders as biological pest-
control agents: India (designed to
utilise biological control agents for
control of pests without recourse to
toxic pesticides the impact of which
on health is well known. )
3. Sulabh Shauchalaya: Low-Cost
Sanitation: India (programme based on
fabricating a new design for low-cost
water-seal toilets and pushed these
through an imaginative self-financing
scheme. Carried out by an NGO Sulabh
city folk.
Farms of the kind raised by Dr Doshi can help
bring down prices in the market for obvious
reasons. Even if the vegetables and fruits
produced are not destined for the market, their
availability to several households in the cities
can help reduce scarcity generally.
The use of spiders in the domestic setting for
control of cockroaches would bring down the
use of the extremely poisonous substances
conventionally used to control such pests.
An agricultural programme that is based on the
use of predators like spiders would also create
suitable environments for the return of several
other beneficial insects which are unable to
tolerate the presence of pesticides.
Knowledge of the use of biological control
agents such as spiders can be easily transferred
from community to community. The
technology is simple and can be taught to
children, women and youth. It can also be
transferred to other countries when needed.
Wherever Sulabh technology has been
introduced, it has led to a remarkable reduction
in environmental degradation associated
normally with slums. The availability of
sanitary facilities dramatically reduces the
threat of water-borne and other diseases and has
W. The multiplication of biological control
agents is location-specific. Once local species
are identified, they can be multiplied as per the
available space and number of people. The
technology is simple and the practice can be
implemented in a small garage or one’s own
backyard. This technology can be important to
rural women and schoolchildren. The former
can undertake this as a private entrepreneurial
activity which can serve as a source of
additional income for them. This technology
can also be taken up by schoolchildren as a
hobby which earns them pocket money.
W. The principal obstacle to the propagation of
Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets remains the cost.
For the urban poor who most need the toilets,
the low-cost Sulabh toilet still involves money
and is therefore still out of reach. To some
extent, this problem has been addressed by
constructing a certain number of public toilets
10
International was founded by Dr
Bindeshwar Pathak in 1970 in Bihar.)
4. The CPF: Mobilising domestic
savings for development:
(Singapore) Mobilising domestic
savings for development (The CPF
is a fully-funded defined-
contribution social security scheme
operated by the Singapore
government. Employees and
employers each compulsorily
contribute a specific proportion of
the employee’s monthly wage
income to be credited into the
employee’s CPF accounts. The
direct impacts on public health.
Such toilets improve the general environment
considerably. They improve the quality of life,
as women particularly need no longer have to
face the humiliation of having to defecate in
public.
The direct impact on the lives of scavengers is
even more significant. Sulabh is committed to a
complete elimination of the practice and to the
rehabilitation and retraining of former
scavengers. Wherever the new latrines have
been introduced, scavengers have been
rehabilitated and given new vocations. Even
when scavengers have been retrained to
maintain the new sanitary latrines, they find
they are in a considerably more respectable and
humane position.
A fully-funded provident fund scheme like the
CPF encourages (compels, in fact) savings,
which are an important ingredient of long-term
economic growth through their provision of
funds for investment.
The CPF has also developed further from its
early phase due to the continuous managed
investment approach underlying it. This
approach has proven to be a relative success not
least because of the double coincidence of
wants achieved as a result of judicious
management. The government has liberalised
the use of CPF savings in areas where members
and having these maintained free of charge.
However, most public toilets constructed by
Sulabh International are pay-toilets and users
must pay for their use on every occasion. This
invariably means that people will continue to
use open spaces for defecation.
S. Since the technology is simple and can be
fabricated at the village level through trained
artisans and masons, there is ample scope for
replication in other countries of the South. The
Sulabh revolution originated in Bihar, but has
now spread to practically all the states of the
Indian Union and abroad. For these reasons, it
can confidently be asserted that the Sulabh
Shauchalaya has long since passed the test of
replicability.
W. One of the main problems associated with a
compulsory defined-contribution social security
scheme like the CPF is the aspect of forced
savings it entails. Workers might not be too
pleased at not being able to make use of part of
their hard-earned income as and when they
deem fit, particularly so if their intertemporal
consumption preferences are positively slanted
towards current consumption. Such reservations
are likely to be felt especially at the start of
such a scheme.
S. This scheme, or at least many of its elements,
can be replicated in other developing countries
11
employee’s CPF funds can be
withdrawn for certain specified
purposes over the course of his or
her working life. The remainder is
set aside for the employee’s old-age
needs.)
5. The Regulation of Foreign
Captial Flows in Chile (This
practice is intended to regulate the
composition of foreign capital
inflows into the Chilean economy in
order that the volatility which
typically characterises short-term
flows be reduced and that domestic
macroeconomic stability, as well as
Chile’s export-driven growth model,
be preserved.)
have a need for funds and through which, at the
same time, it can achieve a certain policy
objective. For instance, allowing members to
withdraw part of their balances to purchase
their own homes accords not only with their
desire for home ownership but also with the
government’s aim of procuring a sense of
stakeholdership among the population and
securing their political commitment
A major aim of Chile’s capital-market
regulations has been to discourage excessive
inflows of certain forms of capital, whilst
retaining the flows of long-term direct
investment.
Measured in terms of percentage of GDP, FDI
and longer-term portfolio investment have
grown in importance compared to foreign
borrowing
By contributing towards a more stable real
exchange rate and a more sustainable current
account deficit, regulations like Chile’s
facilitate the pursuance of economic policy that
is geared towards export-led growth. Indeed,
the growth and diversification of exports has
become the engine of growth of the Chilean
economy. For example, in 1995, exports grew
by 11% in real terms compared to real GDP
growth of 8.5%
that would like to increase the level of their
domestic savings and to channel these resources
towards investment in physical infrastructure
and social development, such as housing,
education and healthcare.
S. The Chilean system has significance for
developing countries that wish to better manage the
interface between external financial forces and
domestic macroeconomic and financial objectives. In
view of the present financial crisis, which has spread
from East Asia to other parts of the world, the
Chilean policies assume even greater significance
and are now often quoted as examples of prudent
management.
S. The Chilean policy recognises the need to
distinguish between long-term and short-term
capital inflows, and the potentially harmful
movements of short-term flows, and devises
practical mechanisms to reduce their volatility.
W. The main policy significance, therefore, is
that the measures contribute to the prevention
of excessive capital movements that could
cause damage to the economy through the
inflows of too much funds and thus the build-up
of foreign debts, their being channeled into
unproductive investments, the risk of large
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6. The Small-scale Textile
Production using Natural Dyes:
Bangladesh (In this project, clothes
are being produced with the use of
various forms of natural dyes.
Experiments to find the sources of
natural dyes and mordants are
conducted continuously. In this act,
farmers and weavers collaborate
together. The experiments are
directed towards making cloth
production cost-effective so that the
finished product falls within the
purchasing power of the common
people.)
This project is very significant for policy
decisions. In Bangladesh, there is no regulation
of the chemical-dye business. It follows the
regulatory framework of Germany. The
German regulation on Consumer Goods is
followed as a guideline to regulate the use of
hazardous chemical dyes. On the other hand,
the government is not taking any initiative to
increase natural-dyeing activities and to provide
support to the small-scale weavers.
The natural-dyeing practice is becoming
popular among a small group of entrepreneurs.
The only thing they need is training and sources
for dyeing and mordants. There is a very good
possibility of replicating the project in other
districts with weaving pockets. The small-scale
weavers are very much willing to take up such
work. Interested groups in other countries to see
whether elements of it can be usefully
replicated can study the experience of this
project.
withdrawals of the short-term funds and a
consequent debt crisis.
S. The measures also enable a country to have
better control over its financial and
macroeconomic policies.
S. The overall impact of the project is positive.
There is now a general awareness of the hazards
caused by chemical dyes to human health and to the
environment. In Prabartana, a more encouraging
response towards natural-dyed clothes has been
noted.
S. The factory produces yardage fabric with natural
dyes which is sold in Prabartana. There is great
demand among the middle- and upper-class
customers who are ready to pay a higher price per
yard of natural-dyed clothes. This is mainly out of
health concerns. But lower-middle-class people are
also buying such clothes nowadays
W. There is no competition between natural-dyed
products and those produced with chemical dyes as
the former still command a very small share of the
market. However, the natural-dyed clothes are sold at
a relatively higher price
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7. The Water-efficient Sugarcane
Farming: India (A series of extremely
intelligent modifications to the
conventional package of practices
associated with sugarcane farming
developed by Suresh Desai)
8. Gender and Biodiversity
Management in India. In 1997, the
Indian NGO, the M.S. Swaminathan
Research Foundation (MSSRF),
conducted a research project on "Gender
Dimensions in Biodiversity Management:
India" in different locations throughout
the country.
The propagation of this method of organic farming
for the raising of sugarcane, if made part of
government policy, would help in better allocation of
scarce resources and investments.
It would help improve the productivity of
sugarcane farms over the years as it would
remove the element of uncertainty that
presently dogs sugarcane production, largely
due to the unpredictability of water supply itself
as a result of the reliance of large water projects
on good monsoon precipitation.
As the methods tried out and tested would
improve sugarcane production in several farms,
the total output of sugarcane in particular areas
would not fall because overall efficiency would
be improved. Most important, sugarcane would
continue to be produced on a sustainable basis
and resources assigned now to expensive,
capital-intensive irrigation projects could
instead be assigned elsewhere. Water from
already constructed reservoirs could be
assigned to farmers who do not get any of it,
leading to enhanced employment opportunities.
One of the principal findings of the MSSRF project
in India was that gender roles are socially
constructed rather than biologically determined. The
studies found that there was much variation in the
tasks assigned to men and women in different
locations, with the same task like seed selection or
winnowing being done by women in some
communities but not in others. In areas of traditional
agriculture, among communities and classes which
S. The modifications to the package of practices
suggested by Suresh Desai are independent of scale
and can be tried on small and large farms without
any difficulty and with great benefit to all. The
modifications, however, will work better on small
farms as small farms, as a rule, are more efficiently
managed than large farms
S. The Suresh Desai technique of reducing water
channels and the raising of a ‘bio-film’ over the
planted area is a cheaper, equally effective measure
that can substitute for drip and sprinkler systems.
S. This gender analysis of the roles that women and
men play in managing natural resources is a
comparatively unexplored but crucial subject, which
allows us to re-think current practices and understand
the gender factors within them. Equipped with this
gender-sensitive knowledge, it should be easier for
us to prevent mistakes of the past and meet the
specific needs, opportunities and constraints of both
women and men in the future.
14
did not practice gender seclusion, women's
participation in biomass-related activities was high,
and women's knowledge and interest in conservation
was apparent.
The research clearly pointed out that there is a
simple or uniform division of labour, skills and
knowledge by sex. Secondly, the research
demonstrated that age and education are
increasingly important factors in determining
gender roles and knowledge of the natural and
ecological resources.
According to the studies carried out at MSSRF,
the available literature on gender and
biodiversity provides the following indications.
Men and women have different kinds of knowledge
and information about plants and animals, in part
because they have different tasks in farming and in
providing income and goods for their households.
In many societies, women are mainly responsible for
seed selection and storage, as well as for exchanging
seed and ensuring that local agro-biodiversity is
preserved.
Both men and women preserve their native plant and
animal species. The motivating factors, however,
may differ. Men tend to be more interested in the
market value of the species, while women may be
more interested in their cooking and nutritional
value. In areas where there is out-migration of men
leading to the feminization of agriculture, women
tend to conserve a wide range of food and medicinal
plants for ensuring household food and health
security.
15
The ways in which men and women have
traditionally managed their seeds, plants and animals
are fast changing. Government agricultural policies
often lead to a change in dietary habits, resulting in
tribal and rural families abandoning their traditional
foods. This is particularly true in India, where the
extensive public distribution system of the central
and state governments generally concentrates on the
supply of rice and wheat. Dietary changes also take
place when tribal families lose access to non-wood
forest products in habitats declared as protected
areas.
While women probably constitute the largest group
of farmers who have conserved and improved agro-
bio diversity, they often have no property rights to
land. Also, they tend to be bypassed by development
schemes relating to biodiversity. Women's
universities, Home Science colleges and other
educational institutions catering to women's needs
seldom include biodiversity as a field of
specialization.
The program has provided small production
units with the basic means for penetrating new
markets, enhancing and perfecting production
techniques and, thus, raising incomes.
In fact, the per-capita number of rural
production units processing foodstuffs at
income levels that do not reach industrial scale
has increased by an average of 100 percent.
Small family businesses, moreover, generate an
average of five direct jobs per unit.
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9. Appropriate Technology: Brazil
Brazil’s National Scientific and
Technological Development Council
(CNPq) is sponsoring a project to develop
and disseminate appropriate technologies
that have a scientific basis; are simple and
low-cost; and are easily assimilated and
accepted.
A reversal of migration flows from rural to
urban areas has been observed as rural
smallholders find opportunities for work and
employment in the countryside. Another spin-
off is the change in hygiene habits in
smallholder homes leading to healthier
conditions.
There is a noticeable change in social behaviour
and political perceptions among smallholders
participating in the program. Greater awareness
of their rights and potential leads them to
exercise their citizenship more forcefully, by
presenting demands, offering proposals and
taking responsibility for their small businesses.
In other words, they cease to be objects of
social exclusion and become active subjects,
taking the reins of their own destinies.
Several problems were encountered during
implementation of this innovative experience.
Collaborations with partner institutions made it
possible to overcome many of these.
Resistance and disbelief concerning the
project's viability, which were expressed at the
outset by some institutions and technicians,
were overcome by the political determination of
those responsible for it.
Smallholders’ initial limitations and lack of
experience in developing their own business
enterprises, coupled with an understandable
sense of insecurity, are being overcome by
investment in courses and training programs,
technical assistance, constant monitoring and
guidance. Adequate training of smallholders
has helped improve assimilation of
technological adaptations, which is a key factor
in success.
The limitations and resistance of technicians,
who are accustomed to rural extension projects
geared mainly to primary production, have been
overcome by the work of teams knowledgeable
both in the technological fields encompassed by
the program and in the management of small
businesses.
17
Problems related to seasonal availability of raw
materials are being solved by means of
technical consultancy aimed at producing other
inputs and by using appropriate storage
techniques.
Because innovative experiences nearly always
encounter resistance, not only from the public
but from technicians and local authorities,
investments must be made to highlight
successful experiences in courses, lectures,
demonstrations, mass communication, visits
and excursions. Such efforts have a positive
multiplier effect in local communities because
local inhabitants admire and often purchase the
products of neighbours’ whose work is
recognized by others.
Use of indigenous natural resources and
management strategies tied to small-scale
production make it possible to generate less
waste material, thus diminishing harm to the
environment.
Regionalized production and commercialization
also cut transportation costs, saving energy. In
the case of agro-industries, preservative-free
foodstuffs provide consumers with healthier
commodities.
Experiences with small businesses have shown
that choice of the production unit must take
account of: the potential consumer market; the
suitability of the region in terms of availability
of raw materials; and the skill potential of
smallholders who will operate the unit.
18
10. Caring for People: Pakistan
Ziauddin Medical University's
Department of Community Health
Sciences, located in Karachi,
Pakistan, has launched an innovative
primary health care program for
people living in Sikanderabad, a
sprawling squatter settlement
adjacent to the university. The
program, which prides itself on
being community-based, is devoted
to education, research and service.
Officials hope that this initiative will
serve as a prototype for public
health programs pursued by other
medical universities throughout
Pakistan, which have to tackle
daunting public health problems
with resources that fall far short of
the challenge.
Project officials expect that over a three-year
period student-led family intervention efforts
will:
Reduce infant mortality rates by 30
percent.
Increase immunization coverage
among children under five by more
than 85 percent.
Increase oral rehydration therapies
among children suffering from
diarrhoea by 50 percent.
Raise contraceptive use among
adults by 20 percent.
Create a cadre of informal women
health activists from the pool of
women now actively working with
students.
Program advocates have emphasized the
principles of self-reliance and sustainability.
However, these principles were not shared
initially by members of the community who
believed that the university was receiving
S. Participants learn to work effectively in
partnerships, uniting public institutions to serve
excluded social groups. The state, meanwhile,
provides proportional subsidization in the most
underprivileged areas, giving priority to those
most in need.
The main obstacle faced by the program's staff
has been the community's reluctance to
participate in program planning and
development. The eight-member health
committee, formed right after the project was
launched, lost half of its members in short
order. The four members who remained on the
committee were simply too few in number to
fulfill the committee's mandate. This problem
was overcome by transforming a cadre of
young community volunteers, who had already
given a great deal of their time to the public
health center, into a general working group.
This group was given responsibility for making
day-to-day decisions and interacting with the
health committee members for the major policy
decisions.
Resources – or, perhaps more precisely,
citizens’ expectations of additional resources –
was another critical problem that stood in the
way of the project's success. Because the
university is a large private institution that
appears, in comparison with the community, to
be flush with funds, citizens anticipated that it
would make heavy financial investments in the
community's public health center. University
19
outside financial assistance that was not being
passed along to the community. The barriers of
distrust were lowered somewhat through such
activities as blood-pressure monitoring, which
was offered to residents free of charge in their
homes. The success of the university's polio
vaccination campaign also helped boost the
community's confidence in the university's
health care initiatives.
Young local volunteers are now being trained in
first-aid and other community-based health care
procedures. They are also being given hands-on
experience regarding the management of the
public health center. For example, on a rotating
basis, volunteers have been asked to manage
the center's finances and accounting.
Despite the progress that has been made, the
program still has a long way to go to achieve its
twin goals of community self-reliance and long-
term sustainability.
officials, however, emphasized self-reliance
and community-based sustainability. Thus, in
place of direct contributions, the university
offered a helping hand. Such differing
expectations led citizens initially to see the
project in a different light than project
administrators and staff. Not until after the
successful campaign to ward off a potential
polio epidemic did the two begin to see eye to
eye on both their strategies and goals.
Language is another barrier that sometimes
stands in the way of success. Most residents of
Sikanderabad are from northern Pakistan or
Afghanistan. They speak only Pushto. Women,
in particular, are unable to speak or understand
Urdu, Pakistan's national language. Language
differences cause a host of communication
problems when students enter the houses of the
local residents to whom they have been
assigned – usually at times when only the
women are present. To address this problem,
students have often asked a male child in the
household to serve as their assistant or, in the
most difficult cases, students have called on a
health care volunteer who speaks both Pushto
and Urdu to serve as a translator.
As mentioned earlier, women in Sikanderabad
observe strict purdah, which means they remain
completely segregated from males outside their
immediate family. For this reason, male
students can only enter a home and thus
actively participate in the project if a male
family member is present. It is also not a safe
practice to send female students alone into
houses. Each student group has included at least
20
11. The Village Bio-Electricity:
India The project concentrates on
technologies that generate biomass
and convert bioresidues into energy.
Management strategies have been
developed to use these technologies
as part of an economically
sustainable package to provide
lighting, drinking-water and services
such as the milling of grains.
The project has the potential to become
fully economically sustainable.
Biomass-generated
electricity often has proven more
reliable than electricity supplied by the
national grid. Villagers also have more
say in how it is managed and organized.
This alternative electricity supply
reduces pressure on the overstretched
national electricity supply, which is
currently 25 to 30 percent short of
demand.
one male student who has acted more as an
escort and data editor than a data collector. An
alternative strategy now under consideration
would allow students to collect information and
data in local schools instead of at the homes of
families.
First and foremost, the project shows that,
despite the initial suspicion and cynicism of
citizens, the project is unlikely to succeed in the
long term if the community is not actively
involved and does not assume responsibility for
at least some aspects of the process. The bottom
line is this: the more hands-on activities the
community is engaged in, the more likely the
project will continue into the future.
In the early stages, the project’s main problem
was how to find finances. Once it was under
way, the villagers involved started to believe
that it was a government initiative and that they
could enjoy its benefits free of charge. It wasn’t
easy convincing them to pay tariffs and,
although the collection rate has exceeded 90
percent, this continues to be a problem.
Another problem related to the fact that some
people saw the forest planted to supply biomass
as a source of timber for private consumption.
There were two major thefts of wood but,
because these were committed by politically
powerful people, the police did not pursue
them. This caused a certain amount of
resentment in the rest of the village.
21
People are more likely to accept an innovation if they
are kept well-informed about the project and can
what is going on. The free exchange of information
is essential.
22
Breakdown of TCDC Expenditures
PO Admin
Salary/Support/Sundri
es
7%Duty Travel
5%
Individual Training
Outgoing
54%
Training Pakistan
10%
Conferences/Meetings
/Workshops/Seminars
15%
Non-Expendible Local
8%
All Other NES
1%