Don't Bring the Power to the People?

Decentralization is a key part of Mozambique’s strategy to reduce poverty…To improve governance and accountability, the government should empower communities as local agents of change.

--Beating the Odds: Sustaining Inclusion in a Growing Economy, World Bank, 2008

Sounds good. I found this digging through one of many (insert sarcastic tone) enormously fascinating World Bank papers while researching for my TechnoServe paper. As an American and staunch believer in democracy, I love to hear this kind of stuff. I mean, if you get past the cult of personality, what do you think the average Cuban would have said about whether to overthrow Castro back in the day? What would a regular Zimbabwaen say about Mugabe and the power he wields from his office in Harre? Let’s spread the power out, bring it closer to the people. Empowerment, right?

Wrong. Maybe. I’ll admit, these are just a few pieces of anecdotal evidence, but when my American friend, who will remain unnamed but we’ll call Ben, told me what he experienced in a government planning session, I was quite shocked, and it got me thinking.

Ben, who works for the Ministry of Development & Planning, went to Xai Xai (pronounced “shy shy”) to help with the three year budgetary planning for 2010 – 2012. Mind you, Xai Xai is in the bordering province to the capital Maputo AND we’re already in the new year AND this is the provincial not district government, so one would think the officials had already done some prep work and Ben was just coming along to finish the job. One would think, and one would be wrong. When I asked him how Xai Xai was, he basically said something to the extent of “That place is f****ed for the next 100 years, or at least as long as I’m alive.” He sadly related the provincial government to his sister’s high school. She went to a mediocre high school in Omaha, and he surmised that the middle 50% of her class, not even the top quarter, would do a better job than the people he met with there. When Ben tried working with them in Excel to figure out how they got certain numbers, they pulled out their cell phone calculators.

Not only had they not really done anything, but as Ben explained, they “didn’t budget for anything that would provide any public good.” It was all for things for the office. Either they wanted AC or new computers – things that would ‘help them do their job’. At one point he saw they had budgeted 1,800,000 meticais (or $60,000) for a new office vehicle. He brought up the fact that this sum would buy a Mercedes SUV, but seemed to be the only crazy one in the room.

Sitting around the pool one weekend at Clube Naval, this development topic came up, and I haven’t heard people rip into local government quite like these experienced development workers did. When I was doing interviews in Nampula, I talked with the District Administrator, who was happy to report that with the new decentralization in the past two years, they had been given $300,000 to use for community projects. Only later did I learn from a local that these ‘community projects’ become homes and other pet projects for the higher ups in the district government., rather than engines for job creation.

This last point, to me, is compelling. Personally, I have always envisioned corruption on the grand scale, stuff like embezzlement, Swiss banks, and the prime minister. But it seems it might be more widespread on the local level, where oversight is thin. In local government, as Ben explained, things like building a house for the provincial doctor are legitimate expenses. Houses, cars, trips - all fair game. Jobs for friends happen all the time.

But beyond the corruption question, what if local governments simply aren’t ready for decentralization? I’m not espousing Communism, but maybe top-down planning has had something to do with China’s success. Their local governments may be inept, the country knows it, and the guys at the top are quite sharp. Ben admitted he was twiddling his thumbs in Maputo working with federal government; he said he was embarrassed to be taking another Mozambiquean’s job. There were competent people around him, unlike at the local level.

Sure enough, the World Bank report admitted, "Weaknesses in capacity—within both the state and civil society at local levels—threaten to undermine reform’s potential benefits." So you need to build up capacity. Training is good, but it only goes so far. Maybe the decentralization thinking goes that at some point you just have to accept that you’re going to have some rough early years, but in the end you’ve got to learn by doing. When the citizens see who is in power and how things have changed for better or worse for the local populace, will they connect the dots and demand more competent leaders? Let’s hope so. Decentralization is happening regardless.

"I like to spend some time in Mozambique"

Bob Dylan put it well - I'm having a good time here. I'm past my planned two months in the country. The posts have been slow coming lately because I've been putting in some sleepless hours trying to finish my poultry paper. Pretty soon I think I'm going to start sweating feathers. Fortunately, I've taken a few breaks and been able to take in Mozambique. A few of the highlights over the past 10 days or so:

Weekend at the beach

I like the beach, but as I live on one I don't go crazy over it like some people do. Still, Mozambique's beaches are some of the best in Africa, from what I hear. I went to one of the crappier ones, but that's a relative term. The water was crystal clear and 20-foot waves were breaking right at the beach, which made for some fun jumping into them and getting spit out like a rag doll. Most everyone else didn't think so. We met some crazy South African guys who lived there, and basically said, "There's about a 90% chance you'll get stung by a jellyfish." The truth feels like burning. A few cold beers solved that problem.

There was about 25 of us there in a few beach houses. Other than body surfing and jellyfish, the weekend was filled with barbecuing, passing out on the beach, reading, a couple parties, beach football, passing out on the beach, a crazy game of charades (see my flatmate Carlos getting it), passing out on the beach, etc. And ole' Bobby D was right, "There's lots of pretty girls in Mozambique." But he failed to mention that they're all prostitutes. On the first night, a couple guys and I went to a club, and by the luck of the draw, the three girls I danced with turned out to be there for something other than a twirl, dip and drink. After dancing with the first, my friend from Amsterdam, who I won't name here because he works for int'l aid organization, turned to me, "Uh Rob, you know they're hookers, right?" "Oh yea, I know." Riiight.

Not your average safari

This past Saturday two other TechnoServe guys, Steve and Mike, and I hired our TechnoServe driver to take us to Kruger National Park on the border of South Africa, arguably the best animal playland in southern Africa. We were so tired from a cocktail party/fund raiser the night before that most of us were falling asleep (fortunately not the driver). The animals kept us going - from impala, giraffe, wildebest, warthog, monkeys, zebra, buffalo, and so many impala that we eventually didn't even stop for pictures. We saw an impala hanging in a tree, but not the leopard that others saw drag it up there and eat some, saving the rest for later. Apparently you're not supposed to lean out the window like Steve and I were doing to snap some killer pics of a heard of elephants crossing the road. Some Safari Nazi lady started yelling at us and honking her horn from behind us. I think she scared the elephants more than we did.

It wasn't really how I imagined a safari. I always thought we would be in a rugged jeep with some crazy local guy wearing a hard bucket hat and all decked out in gear, a gun to his side. We'd be speeding through the wilderness, splashing through water with mud splattering on our vehicle while the driver yelled something intense at us and tribal music blared in the background. Instead, we were in the company truck, cruising on sealed roads (sometimes dirt), picking up a local radio station that was playing a "Best of America" mix. It was all over the map. Four consecutive songs might be "Tiny Dancer", Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind", "Hit Me Baby One More Time", and "Dark Side of the Moon". The lions, unfortunately, were hiding that day.

Super Bowl and the sunrise - the perfect pair

Like any American worth his salt, I found a way to watch the Super Bowl. The kickoff, though, turned out to by 1 am our time. Steve, Mike, another TechnoServe gal, and couple Peace Core volunteers got together around 11 for a 7-hour battle against sleep. It was great getting to watch football after all the soccer and cricket I've seen the past months - although we got the international broadcast, which meant we didn't get the commercials and the broadcasters gave definitions for everything. Quote: "A touchback allows you to take the ball to the 20-yard line." But then again, I guess John Madden calling the game wouldn't be much different. In the end, the team we were behind came out on top, and just as the game was finishing we watched the sun come up. I don't think everyone else in Maputo had been watching - the only streets more silent than Maputo's were probably Indianapolis's. By 6:00 am I was back home and getting to bed.

Now back to chicken...

Selfish Giving and the Implications for Altruism

Perhaps you've seen Disney's commercials on TV offering a day to one of its parks in return for a day of volunteering. Sounds good. I even sent the link to my friend on Facebook. But it wasn't until my cousin sent me an article from a sociology blog and struck up a discussion that I actually started thinking about the implications of this "selfish giving" on altruism and development.

In the article, the author basically critiques development approaches that tie consumerist behavior to giving - cause-marketing strategies like the Red Campaign and Shopping For A Cure. She talks about mandated volunteering (an oxymoron if there ever was one, she notes) like racking up community service hours to satisfy graduation requirements or being sentenced in court to community service. Her own research tells her these people aren't any more likely to see this as a way to enrich their lives. Her argument is essentially: "That such (social positive) activities are increasingly tied to commodity exchanges cheapens and demeans not only those activities but also leaves our society much less enriched since those behaviors are not seen as life-long pursuits."

For me this raises two questions: Does altruism exist and, more interestingly, does it even matter for development? I think the former question is a bit easier. I would be lying to you if I said I wanted to get into development purely for altruistic motives. Simplistically put, I want to be successful, I have an interest and concern for poverty, so that's why I am getting into it. I am expecting things in return - a living, fulfillment in life, etc. But I think this interest and concern for poverty probably is some form of altruism (Self-promotion is another interest of mine...). I also think altruism is much easier to identify on a smaller scale - "random acts of kindness" are one example. In China I had one lady help me with my bags off the train, book a bus ticket, and show me around town, just because she wanted to help.

But do we even need altruism for development? Can't we just use incentives, like salaries, Disney tickets, or even just the experience? I'm a just-get-the-job-done kind of utilitarian, so my gut instinct was no, we don't need altruism. After all, some of the ex-McKinsey and investment bankers who volunteer with TechnoServe come for a resume builder, to make contacts for a job opportunity, or for a new experience. Not everyone who comes to TechnoServe wants to save the poor from the clutches of poverty, but they are very talented people and in the end create big impacts. We need these people in the fight. Thus, perhaps incentivization of volunteering is the way to go - we don't need altruism.

But then I thought about the situation more. I tend to think of the poverty problem as a bunch of smaller, inter-related problems. As such, right now I think that perhaps in the short term, altruism might be less important. TechnoServe can bring in consultants, regardless of their feelings about poverty, and help get the poultry industry launched, for example. Smaller battles can probably be won without altruism. But the bigger war probably requires altruism. When you're trying to develop an entire country, you need committed people to stick it out to the end.

When you add business to the mix, I think the picture becomes clearer. I've seen a ridiculous amount of money-making opportunities while I've been abroad, from bars to hostels to farming. But anything I formed would be a social business. I want to create change in people, not just make money. Similarly, my friend Gustav here in Maputo is starting a social venture capital fund - every project he invests in must have a social impact. I think this is the kind of thinking - evidence of altruism - that is necessary in the long term.

So should you volunteer and go to Disney? I'm torn. Perhaps this is one of the short-term opportunities that I'm referring to. But if, like she says, the message we're sending people about giving and expecting to receive has negative repercussions down the line, maybe it's not the best way to go. Or is it too idealistic or esoteric to think about possible long-term repercussions on the mentality of a rich population when you have over 30,000 children dying every day from preventable disease and starvation? Should we just try to get these problems under control now, mentality be damned? Or is the development picture bigger than that and should we really be concerned about the possible dearth or death of altruism?

The West or China: Who Should Save Africa?

I hate using the word “save” because it smacks of patronization, but I think it encapsulates the intense outside assistance that the continent needs to get its economic engines going. So who should be their Clark Kent?

The US and other developed nations have been in Africa for decades, trying various development efforts but making little headway. On the other hand, you have the Chinese, the new kids on the block. I’d read a bit about the Chinese in Africa before coming, but it wasn’t until I got here that I realized their pervasiveness. Even in Mozambique, not one of China’s most favored nations (Sudan, Angola, and Congo), it’s not hard to run into them. They’ve helped construct the Mozambiquean Parliament building, the Foreign Ministry, and are currently building the new national soccer stadium, just to name a few. Not only are the companies Chinese, but so are the cheap Chinese workers they bring. In the mornings I run past these workers waiting for their shifts to start, and just outside our TechnoServe building a Chinese construction project is going up. Rumors go around that the Chinese workers are convicted criminals, but it’s more likely that they are just a part of China’s need to feed its growth and keep unemployment down.

I’ve asked various people about the West vs. China question. Development agencies like USAID and the World Bank come into African nations and tag stipulations of “democracy” and “transparency” with almost any inflow of money. Some people argue that it’s almost colonialism in itself, and others have pointed out that we are treating them like children. The Chinese, they say, don’t try to impose their ideology – they are just here to do business, like adults.

In some respects I agree with them. True to Chinese form, when they say something will get done, it gets done. My friend Gerson of CLUSA said he had talked to a Chinese contractor, who told him something to the extent of, “I would love to employ Mozambiqueans, but my guys already know the system and work twice as hard as the locals. It’s just not cost-effective.” I also recently spoke with a former USAID employee, who I won’t name here. Commenting on USAID strategy, she said, “Nothing is ever done for the right reason. You don’t plant bananas in a particular place because they grow well there. There’s always an ulterior motive.” USAID is in the same building as TechnoServe, and there’s a large banner out front showing the Mozambiquean and US flags, with the words “25 Years of Progress & Partnership.” I know development is a difficult thing, but it seems odd to me that USAID would brag about being in a country for a quarter of century, when the nation still remains one of the 10 poorest on the planet. For an entertaining slight of development, read "Bring on the Chinese".

They have a point, and the evidence provides a compelling argument, so I’m not completely decided. However, I’m leaning in the opposite direction. It seems to me that China is here for more than business – in some cases they are using manipulation for exploitation (Admittedly, the US’s record on this front is too spotless). For evidence check their funding of the war in Darfur. Rather than training African workers up and promoting knowledge transfer, China seems only interested in the bottom line. I talked recently with a couple of experienced TechnoServe leaders. They explained that the Chinese investments do in fact come with stipulations – tax breaks or free land, the latter of which they are getting in the Beira Corridor in the middle of the country.

One of the two TNS leaders, a Mozambiquean who actually previously worked for the government, said he saw no problem with treating the African governments like children – they are acting like children. He said that politicians often spend more time in the air than in their offices. The ceiling on government salaries has caused their travel per diem to skyrocket. The Director of the National Agricultural Survey, he said, had just a year or two ago requested over 400 days of travel in a year! Either that’s a blatant attempt at corruption or this guy should be on Heroes. In The Bottom Billion, a book I just finished, Paul Collier continues this thought by arguing that we’ve already went through the experiment of giving African countries a huge, no-strings-attached injection of budget support (i.e. aid). It’s called oil. He cites Nigeria, which has received around $280 billion in oil revenue over the past 30 years. Most of it has ended up in the government’s budget. How are the Joe Everydays of Nigeria doing? Exactly. Collier goes through each country that has had a similar large injection and finds no difference in growth rates between countries with and without large inflows.

For a big China fan like myself, this talk may come as a surprise to some people. The verdict is still out in my mind, so over the next few months I’m sure I’ll get to talk more about it and perhaps share with you if I find anything interesting.

Chronicle of a Mozambiquean Bus Trip, Day 2 of 2

So, to continue the story...

Day 2, 9:40am: The Indian-esque men get off the bus and into a minivan. It turns out they were Pakistani. The bus comes alive with chatter and laughter. Someone says to me, “Two days, they eat nothing.” And he was right – the entire trip I hadn’t seen any of them eat anything, say anything, or get off the bus even briefly. Bizarre.

Day 2, 1:20pm: Bread and bananas. This time though, I go crazy with some cashews. Lunch is served.

Day 2, 2:30pm-ish: I notice for the first time how the dirt is caked on me thicker than a notebook. I can rub my skin anywhere – face, hands, arms – and watch as the dirt comes off in rings. It becomes a game after a while. Again, you run out of things to do.

Day 2, 4:23pm: Stopped for the umpteenth time. The stops are getting ridiculous. This time, however, it is the police. Our crew gets off the bus and there's a lot of talking. Somehow we are back on the road in 10 minutes.

Day 2, 4:40pm: That didn’t last long. We end up at the district police station. This is absurd. The driver and his crew are taken inside. Apparently, the driver didn’t have any documents to drive a bus! I assume the situation was amended with a bribe of some sort because we’re back on the road in a half hour. Like an eager dog, I’m the first one on the bus.

Day 2, 5:15pm: The stout Mozambiquean passenger who has been inhaling cheap gin like it’s air is starting to get a bit out of hand. He’s hitting on women, grabbing babies, making loud and obnoxious comments about the driver, and harassing me to buy him a beer once we get to Maputo.

Day 2, 6:36pm: The police stop us again. They start questioning the crew. I start (continue?) questioning my decision to take this bus. People on both sides have their cell phones out. Meanwhile, a drunkard on the bus is being helped off the bus by the other aforementioned stout drunkard – they both make their way to the bathroom. I’m watching this spectacle just as another passenger is yanked off the bus and quarantined by several militarypersonnel. They have him surrounded and are questioning him behind a military truck. Then, just as I'm watching this, another officer hops onboard and comes straight to me, asking for my passport. He looks at the cover and says “America”, before barely taking a look inside and handing it back to me. “Have a nice day” he says to me.

As soon as he gets off the passengers in the back shout “Vamos!” with a sense of urgency that seems to say they just want to get out of there. As we start going one of the women on board says “America!” and is echoed by another man who says, “Obama, Mozambique. No problem!” It’s at this point that I become known as “Obama” to all the passengers. Everyone on board seems to be having a pretty good time with me, the token foreigner who has no idea what’s going – the deer in the headlights so to speak. The passenger who was pulled off is left behind.

Day 2, 7:05pm: Stopped by the police again. An officer gets on and says rousingly, “Bon dia!” The passengers all reply back with excitement. I’m thinking, “Shut up and just drive.” Now I learn why all the police stops: they’re looking for illegal immigrants. The guy who was pulled off was Somali and the Pakistanis were immigrants leaving the bus for small vehicle to take back roads. So we’re transporting illegal immigrants.

Day 2, 8:00pm-ish: We make a big stop in the suburbs of Maputo, and because of all the luggage being unloaded, we sit and sit. Eventually I grab my bag and take local transport.

At 9:20 (6 hours late), I finally ended up in my cozy apartment. My roommate is out with friends, but since I look and feel I’ve been run over by a semi I decide not to join. At final count, souvenirs from the trip include: two phone numbers, stench and filth that would make my younger brother look like a princess, the early stages of a beard, a short-term aversion to bananas, 4 hours of sleep, a digestive system that feels like it’s had a roto-tiller taken to it, a raging migraine, and what seems like a minor sprained ankle (I have no idea how). And I wanted to see the countryside…dumb.

Chronicle of a Mozambiquean Bus Trip, Day 1ish of 2

This past Friday I returned from a 2-day bus ride spanning pretty much the entire country of Mozambique north to south. Not only was it a 2-day bus ride and not only was it in a 3^rd world country, but it was the cheap bus in a 3^rd world country. When I told people here I was taking the bus, especially the TechnoServe people (who were willing to pay for a flight), I received responses just short of “You are going to die.” Here’s a few of my notes from the trip:

Day 1, 1:30am: I arrive at the “bus station”, which is essentially a bus parked at someone’s house. By this time the bus is almost completely full and someone’s in my seat. After franticly searching for bus management in fear that the bus might take off with me seated on the floor, I find out that they sold two seat #37s. Convenient. I get moved around and end up in an aisle seat rather than my ticketed window seat. The bus, mind you, looks like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and sitting in my seat instantly blasts me back to the 1940s. I’m concerned we may not make it around the block.

Day 1, 2:12am: Our bus makes the move. But out of nowhere comes about 9 Indian-looking men. It’s odd: all 9 of them board at the last minute, all wearing thick clothes like heavy woolens and scarves wrapping their faces to go with their expressionless faces. It seems as though they paid informally because they take their seats in the aisle, on the floor and on little stools. The one seated to my right and the overweight Mozambiquean taking up 1/3 of my seat to my left create a space for me tighter than Dolly Parton’s face. Taking something out of my pocket requires that I stand up in my seat, and sitting down becomes a human game of Tetris, where I have to contort my body into exactly the right position to fit between them. The layer of sweat coating all of us makes this considerably easier.

Day 1, 2:30am-ish: The driver starts blasting Portuguese reggae. Are you kidding? It’s 2 in the freakin’ morning! Meanwhile, two babies are already crying and the smell of chicken, French fries, and sweat wafts through the air. In a duel of shoulders, I jostle with the Indian for space, and pray by the grace of God that I might be able to fall asleep.

Day 1, 7:23am: We pull up on the side of the road and are bombarded by hawkers. I buy bananas and bread, two of the few safe, non-messy eatables. I estimate that the night before I “slept” for about 1 hour. My shirt is already soaked through with sweat, and on we go.

Day 1, 1:18pm: Bananas and bread for lunch – watch for a recurring theme.

Day 1, 5:37pm: We are stopped at the first of probably 10 or so police checkpoints. It’s at this point that I notice how bad the BO is without any car breeze. I’m sure I’m a contributor to this.

Day 1, 10:40-11:45pm: The bus has “mechanical problems”. I hear words like “screws loose”, but no one seems to really know, including the guys trying to fix it. Passengers chat and sleep on the road while it’s being fixed, while I delete old contacts in my cell phone. You run out of things to do and people to talk to…

Day 2, 1:23am: We pull over and the lights come on. I suddenly get a nauseous feeling. An announcement is made. The ticket man says the driver is tired and wants to sleep. I’m thinking, “What are we paying for?” Realizing I probably won’t be able to sleep and haven’t eaten since the banquet I had for lunch, I start walking down the highway into the dark with about 10 other passengers. I felt like I was searching tirelessly in the desert for water, just with the lights out. We finally find a little foodstand and I tell them that yes, I will absolutely have the chicken and rice. That sounds delightful.

I’m quite confident that by this time my stomach has consumed itself. The chicken was cold and the rice was as gritty as my skin at this point, but there could’ve been rocks in there and I would’ve eaten it. I ate with some passengers over conversations about Arnold Swarzennegar (an all-time favorite abroad) and then headed back to the bus. Finding that we had an hour to kill before 4am, I laid down on the road and stared up into the stars. It really is everything it’s cracked up to be. Out there in the bush with no lights, the African sky is a vivid canopy of constellations extending all the way down to the horizon. I fall asleep briefly and am woken up only by the headlights of oncoming traffic.

Haiti and the Fleeting Nature of Consciousness

The destruction and suffering in Haiti is incredible. The images are quite simply gut-wrenching. That much is obvious. But the more mind-boggling prospect to me is the thought of such an earthquake hitting a country that already has nothing. Now that I've seen the (lack of) infrastructure and personnel present in countries like Mozambique, I don't know what would happen if a cyclone or earthquake hit. Heck, some places look like they've already been hit.

In Haiti, and other developing nations during times of crisis, the aid is sorely needed. This is not a time for business approaches. This is not a time for sustainability or scalability. Expedient food, shelter, clean water, and medical assistance are simply what's required. In this respect I've been impressed by the American and international response. Perhaps because of a new American president, learning from past mistakes, or a desire to right the wrongs of Katrina, aid seems to be pouring into Haiti. This is a good start and it will save lives.

My bigger concern is what's in store for Haiti for the future. In my inbox over the past two days I've received 11 emails from people telling me how I can help. This is great: people are coming up with all kinds of ways to raise money. But it's also a time for glitz, glamor and fun. I've been invited to backyard barbecues, dinners at chic restaurants, and movie nights. iTunes and Wyclef Jean are also gunning for my dollar. I love the creativity, but my concern is what happens when when the peer pressure is gone. What happens when it's not "cool" to text in your donation to the Red Cross? What happens when the 3-second attention span of Americans like me is diverted by something like, say for example, Michael Jackson dying? (And I'm not downplaying this, so don't throw a fit) When it gets down to the actually rebuilding a nation, who will be left?

This is where I think business will be important. Certainly, support will need to come from all angles - foreign nations and aid agencies need to apply pressure for an efficient and transparent government, for example. But when there is a profit profit incentive, you can be sure businesses will stick around. Rwanda is an impressive example. Its government has worked hard to welcome businesses, and while all the credit isn't due to foreign business investments, a lot of the recent 8-10% economic growth is. The country's president has been welcoming to companies like Costco and Starbucks, both buying Rwandan coffee. The laws are accommodating to domestic business too - you can open a business in three weeks, quicker even than in Japan.

I like this thinking by the government. I believe it can happen in Haiti, and I hope the pressure and attention can continue from the US and abroad. My friend Richard, who I met in Bangladesh, visited Haiti a couple years back. He said the poverty he saw there was the worst he's ever seen. He said the population just wanted anything they could get for themselves, almost like survival of the fittest. Things seemed desperate and heartless - the people needed hope. If we stick around, maybe they will have hope.