# 2010 University of South Africa
All rights reserved
Printed and published by the
University of South Africa
Muckleneuk, Pretoria
DVA3702/1/2011±2014
98653202
3B2
DVAMod Style
CONTENTS
An introduction to your studies
ix
THEME A
The rural-urban interface
1
STUDY UNIT 1
The integrated character of rural and urban development
2
1.1
Introduction
2
1.2
Theoretic viewpoints
4
1.3
Interaction between rural and urban areas
6
1.3.1
Technology
7
1.3.2
Waste and pollution
7
1.3.3
Trade, capital flows and markets
7
1.3.4
Physical infrastructure
8
1.3.5
Decentralised government structures and
political institutions
8
1.3.6
Land-use patterns
8
1.3.7
Remittances
9
1.4
Urban bias
9
1.5
Conclusion
11
1.6
Learning outcomes check list
12
STUDY UNIT 2
DVA3702/1/2011±2014
Centralisation versus decentralisation
13
2.1
Introduction
13
2.2
Centralisation
14
2.2.1
Perspectives
14
2.2.2
Evaluation
15
2.3
Decentralisation
16
2.3.1
Perspectives
16
2.3.2
Policies
17
2.3.3
Evaluation
19
2.4
Conclusion
21
2.5
Learning outcomes check list
22
iii
STUDY UNIT 3
Institutions for development
23
3.1
Introduction
23
3.2
Local government
23
3.2.1
The meaning of local government
23
3.2.2
Local government in Africa
25
3.2.3
Developmental role of local government in South Africa
26
3.3
Local organisations
27
3.3.1
A continuum of local organisations
29
3.3.2
A typology of local organisations
30
3.3.3
Tasks of local organisations
34
3.4
Conclusion
45
3.5
Learning outcomes check list
46
STUDY UNIT 4
The household economy: urban-rural linkages
47
4.1
Introduction
47
4.2
The household economy
48
4.3
Sustainable livelihoods
49
4.4
Sustainable livelihoods framework
50
4.4.1
Sustainable livelihoods defined
51
4.4.2
Forms of capital assets
51
4.4.3
The principles of sustainable livelihoods
52
4.5
The household survival strategy
62
4.6
Urban lifestyles
64
4.7
Socioeconomic links with rural areas
65
4.8
Conclusion
67
4.9
Learning outcomes check list
67
STUDY UNIT 5
iv
Rural-urban migration
68
5.1
Introduction
68
5.2
The colonial origins of migrant labour
69
5.3
Models of urban migration
71
5.4
Migration, urbanisation and rural development
72
5.5
Displacement and natural disasters
73
5.6
Conclusion
74
5.7
Learning outcomes check list
75
THEME B
Key issues in rural development
77
STUDY UNIT 6
Land tenure reform
78
6.1
Introduction
78
6.2
Land tenure
78
6.3
Land tenure reform
81
6.3.1
Definition of land tenure reform
81
6.3.2
Prerequisites for land tenure reform
82
6.4
Land tenure reform and development
84
6.4.1
Rural development
84
6.5
Zimbabwe: a case study
86
6.6
Conclusion
87
6.7
Learning outcomes check list
88
STUDY UNIT 7
DVA3702/1
Integrated rural development
89
7.1
Introduction: the general problems of the rural areas
89
7.2
Integrated rural development: the early stages
90
7.3
The concept of integrated rural development
93
7.4
Objectives of integrated rural development
98
7.5
Framework for integrated rural development
99
7.5.1
Agenda
99
7.5.2
Actors
100
7.5.3
Action
100
7.6
Obstacles to integrated rural development
101
7.7
Focal points for improving the standard of living and
quality of life of the rural poor
104
7.7.1
Human orientation
105
7.7.2
Government commitment
105
7.7.3
Co-operation between government and nongovernmental
organisations
106
7.7.4
Popular participation
107
7.7.5
Integration of development
108
7.7.6
Co-ordinated action
108
7.8
Conclusion
109
7.9
Learning outcomes check list
109
v
THEME C
Key issues in urban development
111
STUDY UNIT 8
Urbanisation and city growth
113
8.1
Introduction
113
8.2
The study of urban development
114
8.3
The scope of urban growth
115
8.4
The primate city and urban bias
115
8.5
Causes of urbanisation
119
8.6
Urbanisation policy
121
8.7
Urban survival: the informal sector
122
8.7.1
Composition of the informal sector
123
8.7.2
Characteristics of the informal sector
124
8.8
Relationship between the formal sector and the informal
sector
125
8.9
Urbanisation in an increasingly global world
127
8.10
Conclusion
127
8.11
Learning outcomes check list
127
STUDY UNIT 9
vi
Urban services
129
9.1
Introduction
129
9.2
Urban development policy
129
9.2.1
The nature of the Third World state in the
context of policy making
130
9.2.2
The nature of the Third World city
130
9.3
Urban development policy guidelines
131
9.4
A case study on tackling urban problems
133
9.5
Urban housing
134
9.5.1
Housing conditions in Third World cities
134
9.5.2
Extent of squatting
135
9.5.3
Housing strategies
136
9.5.4
From squatter settlement to informal settlement
137
9.5.5
Some examples of urban upgrading
138
9.6
Water service delivery
139
9.7
Facing the challenges of urban growth
140
9.7.1
Investments in infrastructure
141
9.7.2
Role of local services
142
9.7.3
Need for greater local autonomy
142
9.8
Conclusion
142
9.9
Learning outcomes check list
143
References
DVA3702/1
144
vii
AN INTRODUCTION TO YOUR STUDIES
Welcome to Development Studies (module DVA3702).
In this module we will work with the following issues:
(1) the relationship between rural and urban development
(2) implications of urban migration
(3) integrated versus sectoral rural development
(4) the developmental role of urban and rural local government institutions
(5) rural growth points
(6) urban upgrading
(7) rural and urban development policies and strategies
This study guide is divided into three themes which cover all the above issues. The
three themes are as follows:
(1) theme A: The rural-urban interface
(2) theme B: Key issues in rural development
(3) theme C: Key issues in urban development
Each of these themes is further subdivided into study units. Each study unit has
learning outcomes, telling you what you should be able to do when you have worked
through the study unit. This will help you to plan your study programme in detail.
First read the following important information before going on with your studies:
This is a study guide, not a textbook. The objectives of the study guide are to:
(1) introduce you to various themes
(2) direct you to specific reading
(3) structure your studies through a number of activities
The study guide is divided into three themes, each dealing with a number of topics.
Each theme is in turn divided into a number of study units. A study unit aims to
deal with a limited area of learning in a manageable format. You should be able to
work through the material in an individual study unit in one sitting.
The study guide is the starting point of your studies. Work through it from
beginning to end, do the reading when you are asked to do so, and complete the
activities when you come to them. Remember to file your notes where you can find
them when you need them for doing an assignment or preparing for the
examination.
DVA3702/1
ix
To complete this module successfully you must have all the prescribed reading
material available (see Tutorial letter 101 for the list of prescribed books). Without
the prescribed reading material you will not succeed.
In Tutorial letter 101 a number of assignments are set. Each assignment focuses on
a set piece of tutorial matter and gives you the opportunity to collate, integrate,
evaluate and, to an extent, to apply the knowledge you have gained up to that point.
------------------------------------------------------------------You will find this icon at the beginning of each study unit, indicating the learning
outcomes set. First read the outcomes carefully. Then, as you progress through the
study unit, constantly refer back to them and use them as a guide.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This icon indicates an activity that requires you to write a paragraph or page about
an aspect of the prescribed reading. Writing activities are indicated throughout the
study units and form part of your study. The activities aim to give you the
opportunity to make summaries, apply knowledge and formulate ideas and
arguments.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This icon indicates a reading activity.
activity You will be asked to read specific sections of
the prescribed reading matter which you must study. You will then be asked to
make a summary or list from it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Each study unit concludes with a learning outcomes check list.
list This check list
consists of statements, and you must respond to them by indicating ``yes'' or ``no''.
Indicate honestly whether or not you have achieved the outcomes. If you cannot
answer with a ``yes'' return to the study unit and revise the material.
x
THEME A
THE RURAL-URBAN INTERFACE
The main thrust of this module is that rural and urban development are not two
separate things. Rural development influences urban areas and urban development
influences rural areas. As time passes, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to
differentiate between urban and rural areas. Urban areas are not typically urban in
the tradition of Western cities and rural areas are not that different from urban
areas. Each has some characteristics of the other and what are known as urban
services are not exclusive to urban areas. Finally, development is about human
beings, not about areas, and human beings move frequently between rural and
urban areas and are influenced by life in these areas. For all these reasons we deal
with urban and rural development in one module and the first theme of this module
deals with the relationship between the two kinds of development.
STUDY UNIT 1
THE INTEGRATED CHARACTER OF
RURAL AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to:
(1) engage in the study of rural-urban development by describing issues identified
in a case study
(2) show understanding of the complexity of rural-urban development by
identifying the human, economic and environmental links between rural and
urban areas
(3) give an account of the characteristics of the urban bias debate
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1.1
INTRODUCTION
In this study unit, you will learn about the integrated nature of rural-urban
development. The main objective is to understand that in this era, it is difficult to
separate development as happening only in rural or urban areas. The point is to
ensure that development occurs in both spatial areas because people are not
confined to only one area but move around all the time. Although people may settle
in an urban area, they are likely to keep contact with the rural areas they came
from. Above all, the integrated nature of rural and urban development is a result of
the recognition that poverty and unemployment cannot be tackled by concentrating
on one side of the situation only. Development planning has to be holistic.
Given this understanding, it is also essential for policymakers to understand that
agricultural production is not exclusive to rural areas, since it also happens in
urban areas; and that non-agricultural production also takes place in rural areas
regardless of the extent to which these activities happen. If policymakers
understand the integrated and interdependent nature of people's livelihoods, they
will be better able to plan across spatial boundaries. In this study unit, we
introduce you to theoretical viewpoints that explain the dichotomy between rural
and urban areas and then turn to those areas that create connections between the
two spatial areas.
2
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ACTIVITY 1.1
Please read the following quote from the Integrated Sustainable Rural
Development Strategy (ISRDS) (2000:8). The ISRDS document forms part of
the Reader.
Rural-Urban Linkages
Rural-urban linkages take many forms, some of which are particularly
important with a view to developing a strategy for integrated sustainable
rural development (ISRDS). The more dynamic types of linkages are
found in:
(a) the movements of people between rural and urban households (many
of which are of a circular nature), and these include temporary
migration (as in seasonal moves) and labour migration (including
weekly commuting)
(b) the more permanent migration of people from rural to urban areas
and vice versa
(c) the movement of people operating from a single (urban or rural)
household (as in daily commuting or school trips, shopping trips and
short-term visits)
(d) the movement of resources (such as money and remittances),
commodities (as in the production-market chains for agricultural
produce), and services (eg mail delivery).
The more static (or long-term) types of linkages are found mainly in the
infrastructural connections between rural and urban areas (eg roads,
railway lines, and water, electricity and telecommunication networks).
In the absence of these linkages neither rural nor urban development can
take place. The ISRDS should therefore not only be aimed at integrating
only rural development actions, but it should also incorporate actions to
integrate rural and urban areas.
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ACTIVITY 1.2
In the texts you have just read, the core issues of the rural-urban debate are
mentioned. In not more than two sentences each, describe what the texts say about
the following issues:
Urban land: ........................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
Housing and squatting in urban areas: ...............................................................
............................................................................................................................
3
Urban services: ...................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
Local institutions for development: .....................................................................
............................................................................................................................
Now turn to the contents page of this study guide and see where the issues are
discussed. Note that some of the study units discuss issues that are not listed above.
------------------------------------------------------------------In your feedback on the activities you should have discovered the core issues of the
rural-urban development debate. While it is possible to identify the separate issues,
the solution to development problems lies in a holistic and integrated development
approach.
1.2
THEORETIC VIEWPOINTS
In the period from the end of World War II (1945) until the end of the first
Development Decade (at the close of the 1960s), modernisation was considered to
be the key to development in the Third World. Modernisation was geared to
industrialisation Ð mainly in urban areas Ð to the extent that urban areas were
characterised as ``motors for development'' (Gellar 1967). During the 1970s,
however, it was increasingly realised that the concentration of material resources
and human resources in urban development did not deal with the whole
development problem because rural development also required attention.
The success of the Marshall Plan, according to which the USA provided large
amounts of money and technical assistance to European countries who had fallen
victim to World War II, resulted in the assumption that the underdeveloped Third
World needed only capital investments and to follow the historical development
pattern of developed countries in order to become industrially developed countries.
The West assumed that these countries would follow the same path of development
and industrialisation as the modern Western world. Modernisation theory
developed from this one-sided intellectual environment (which was strongly
influenced by the cold-war politics of the 1950s and 1960s) (Todaro 1982:88).
Policy-makers, development practitioners and students in development studies
(which includes the fields of development administration, economics, political
science and geography) shared in the postwar optimism that Western theories,
technology and institutions were suitable for application in a Third World
environment (Knippers-Black 1991:24 et seq; Higgott 1983:2). It was generally
accepted that the problems of Third World countries could be solved by applying
theories which resulted from the study of the historical evolution of the West.
Assumption means acceptance of something
without real proof that
it is so, in other words
a belief, a taking of
something for granted.
4
This led, in the 1960s, to the belief that modernisation was the key to the
development of the disadvantaged and underdeveloped Third World. The
assumption was that the stimulation of economic growth in general and
industrialisation in particular would eventually provide the answers to the
development of Third World countries. The manifestation of development was
considered to consist of a series of stages which all countries had to go through. It
was an economic theory of development, where economy, investment and foreign
aid were regarded as the principal methods of achieving economic growth and
general development. Development therefore became synonymous with economic
growth and was regarded as economic growth by means of industrialisation,
specialisation, maximisation of national income and centralisation of authority and
planning, service provision and the allocation of growth benefits. The human
component of development did not receive much attention.
This process of modernisation included industrialisation Ð mainly in urban areas.
Supporters of the modernisation school of thought regarded it as their task to
manipulate the spatial organisation in order to achieve certain development
objectives.
A metropolis is a large
urban place or a city.
In the process of urbanisation, this approach resulted in the selective concentration
of development inputs in certain centres, based on the assumption that this would
streamline the urban system and bring about a more effective and more rapid
spread of development through the urban hierarchy to areas outside the centres.
Development efforts were aimed at industry building and large investments were
made in urban areas. Cities were regarded as ``motors for development'' and the
expectation was that the relative prosperity of the cities and industrial growth
would trickle down from the industrial metropolises to the rural areas (Rondinelli
& Ruddle 1978:20; Gellar 1967).
This viewpoint regarding the urban-rural relationship was supported by the
classical economic theory (Rondinelli 1991:335). Modernisation theory and its
fundamental evolutionary paradigm remained the dominant ideology throughout
the 1950s and 1960s, which explains its large-scale acceptance by developing
countries. It was believed that stimulation of economic growth and industrialisation would eventually provide the answer to underdevelopment and its manifestations (Higgott 1983:9).
The feeling of wellbeing which characterised the independence of former colonies
was gradually replaced by a realisation of the extent of the problem of subsistence
poverty facing Third World countries. This led to more and more criticism against
the basic assumptions of the modernisation theory. The dependency approach
offered an important critique of the modernisation approach. The interaction
between political and economic factors provides the basis for this approach (Fair
1982:22). The basic idea of the dependency approach is that the capitalist world
economy which originated in the West had become established worldwide through
a process of imperialism. This process gave rise to a world economy in which the
core or centre (European and North American powers) exploited the periphery
(Third World countries) and kept them in a position of dependency. Supporters of
the dependency approach blame the absence of development (underdevelopment)
experienced by countries in the periphery on the existence of a world economy
(which was essentially in favour of the Western countries).
According to the dependency school of thought, the metropolises and cities in the
Third World are in fact instruments of exploitation. Similarly, rural towns and
growth centres are instruments through which metropolises or cities exploit the
rural interior. This exploitation is seen as a chain, starting in the industrialised
capitalist states and stretching into the most remote rural areas of Third World
countries. Cities, towns and rural growth centres all form links in the chain. In
conclusion, according to De Souza and Porter (1974), cities are regarded by the
dependency school of thought as ``centers of colonial domination in the service of
5
international capitalism, subjecting regional and national hinterlands to economic
satellization and exploitation'' (Fair 1982:21).
The dependency school of thought's criticism of the modernisation school of
thought may be regarded as valuable in pointing out the shortcomings of the
modernisation approach. Nevertheless, the dependency approach cannot be
accepted without any criticism. A fundamental problem of this approach is that
it points out the shortcomings of modernisation without offering any real solutions.
We therefore find ourselves in a theoretical dead end.
The modernisation and dependency schools of thought provide the basis for
numerous debates about strategies of development that would be fair to both the
rural and urban areas. In order to identify these strategies we must look at the
integrated nature of the urban-rural situation in the Third World.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 1.3
(Spend 45 minutes on this activity.)
``The dichotomy between rural and urban spaces as a result of modernisation has
meant that rural spatial areas remain undeveloped compared to urban spatial
areas''.
Using the article by Cruickshank (2009) in the Reader, discuss the validity of the
above statement.
In your feedback on the activity you should have discovered the core issues of the
rural-urban development debate. While it is possible to identify the separate issues,
the solution to development problems lies in the use of a holistic and integrated
development approach.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3
Utilise means to make
use of
INTERACTION BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS
Interaction between rural and urban areas can be seen in various ways. The most
visible interaction is probably the flow of people, in other words migration. The
flow of capital and goods between the areas represents the economic interaction.
Human beings utilise their environment in order to meet their economic and social
needs. As a result of factors such as overpopulation, inadequate resources and poor
planning, the environment becomes exhausted and environmental degradation
takes place. The city and urban industries contribute largely to such degradation;
the surrounding rural areas, too, are subjected to urban practices which are
harmful to the environment and natural resources.
From the above you can easily come to the conclusion that there are three clear
links between the rural and urban areas. They are the human link, the economic
link and the environmental link. Let's look at these links.
The article by Cruickshank (2009) shows some of the origins of the division of the
spatial areas into rural and urban and the results thereof. The article makes it clear
that the one-sided favour given to urban areas is largely motivated by economic
considerations. But the article also shows that that view is skewed. The integrated
6
nature of rural and urban development can be seen in a number of areas. Flora and
Flora (2008), Von Braun (2007), Tacoli (2004), Tostensen (2004), Okpala (2003),
and the UNDP (2000) identify a number of factors as drivers for the integrated
character of rural and urban development. These are discussed below.
1.3.1 Technology
Technology has created a situation whereby the world has, in a way, become almost
as small as a village. Through technology, communication has become very easy
and affordable for almost everyone. Various forms of technology have assisted in
the quick flow of information and movement of people between areas leading to the
development of new markets and services. Communication technologies have
reduced the time it takes to travel between rural and urban areas and for people in
these areas to communicate with one another, effectively eliminating or, at least,
greatly reducing isolation. Think of the telephone, the cellular phone, the radio and
television as forms of technology that have made the world look so small. Such
technological developments have strengthened the links between rural and urban
areas. Technology has not only made the distance between rural and urban seem
smaller, it has also created opportunities for economic growth and development in
rural areas. You need to think of technology broadly, and as including
transportation and road networks.
1.3.2 Waste and pollution
The problems presented by pollution that emanates largely from urban areas
affects those who live in rural areas as much as they affect people in the urban
areas. Take, for instance, the issue of gas emissions. The effects are not limited to
cities. Their impact on the ozone layer, for example, with the attendant effects on
climate change flooding, droughts cannot be confined to cities. Rural areas are
affected as weather patterns change and, in turn, change production patterns for
the farming communities. Furthermore, the waste products of urban industries that
end up in a country's water resources have severe effects on rural communities
which, in many instances, use unpiped and unpurified water.
The toxicity of industrial chemicals shows itself in the form of acid rain, which does
not necessarily fall in the urban areas that produce the toxins. Acid rain has major
effects on rural societies because it leads to soil degradation and, in the long term,
to poor harvests. The ultimate outcome is often migration of subsistence farmers to
the cities in a bid to improve their standard of living.
1.3.3 Trade, capital flows and markets
Goods and services produced in either of the spatial areas are consumed in the
other spatial area, or in both. This involves trading, capital flows and markets.
Agricultural produce from rural areas, for example, is consumed in urban areas
and clothing and textiles produced in urban areas are used in rural areas. Think
what the outcome of a government policy that aims at increasing agricultural
production without creating additional markets for such produce might be. This
example makes the interrelatedness nature of rural production and urban markets
very clear. Technology and improved road networks have dramatically changed how
people spend money and commute to markets and workplaces. The link between
7
rural and urban is so strong such that neither of the two can claim independence
from the other.
1.3.4 Physical infrastructure
For any development to occur, the physical infrastructure (e.g. the road system) is
crucial. Take, as an example, the delivery of foodstuffs to the urban areas. Without
proper roads, the urban areas would be at some disadvantage when it came to
receiving their food. Roads (and other infrastructure) therefore play a critical role
in ensuring the integration of rural and urban areas.
You should not see the physical infrastructure as applicable to goods only: think
also of the mobility of people. You have learnt that isolation is one of the major
causes and/or contributing factors to poverty. In fact, isolation is one of the major
features of rurality. Without proper road infrastructure, movement becomes very
difficult. The improvement of roads helps create better connections between the
rural and urban areas.
1.3.5 Decentralised government structures and political institutions
Governments are increasingly realising that distinguishing between rural and
urban areas is to some extent unrealistic. The issues of poverty and unemployment
know no boundaries. When opportunities in the rural areas dry up, people
inevitably flock to urban areas in search of a better life. In addition, the demand
for social services, for example, is also no longer limited to urban areas. In order to
address these problems, governments are increasingly turning their attention to the
development of both rural and urban areas through policies of decentralisation.
Decentralisation policies ensure that boundaries cut across different areas.
Municipalities are increasingly becoming inclusive of both poor and better-off
areas, and of both rural and urban areas. The intention is to ensure
interdependency, as we explain in this study unit.
In South Africa, for example, municipalities are constitutionally required to adopt
a developmental approach in order to ensure that sustainable development takes
places. The intention is that even the less developed rural areas will be able to
benefit from the better-off urban areas. The government's local economic
development (LED) policies also attempt to better integrate its rural-urban
spatialities. The LEDs, cutting across political boundaries, ensure popular
participation, inclusivity, better use of regional resources and capacity-building,
among other things.
1.3.6 Land-use patterns
In the past, rural and urban areas were differentiated primarily by the nature of
land-use. In the rural areas, land was used mainly for agricultural purposes while
in the urban areas it was used for industrial and residential purposes. That
distinction is fast disappearing. Today, urban areas share many features with rural
areas, as may be seen in the farming activities taking place in urban areas such as
those of Gauteng. Here, we notice that subsistence and commercial farming exist
side by side with large industrial and commercial activities.
8
1.3.7 Remittances
Migrants in urban areas send money ``home'' from the cities and help create a
demand on the part of the rural folk for goods produced in the cities. The city
creates jobs for rural people who would otherwise be unemployed. Similarly, rural
areas create employment for urban dwellers who work in vegetable shops or
butcheries, for truck drivers and factory workers. Try to imagine the number of
economic activities in the cities that depend on raw materials from the rural areas.
1.4 Urban bias
To what extent, then, does the economic interaction between urban and rural areas
consist of advancing the cities at the expense of the countryside? And to what
extent is the difference in conditions due to spatial specialisation which is of
potential benefit to a region or country?
Lipton (1977:1) has advanced the thesis that the biggest conflict in Third World
countries is:
... between the rural classes and the urban classes. The rural sector contains
most of the poverty and most of the low-cost sources of potential advance; but
the urban sector contains most of the organisation and power. So the urban
classes have been able to ``win'' most of the rounds of struggle with the
countryside.
Chambers (1983:4±5) expresses this as follows:
At the one end there coexist rich, urban, industrialized, high status cores, and
at the other, poor, rural agricultural and low status peripheries ... . Both
internationally and within individual third world countries, centripetal forces
draw resources and educated people away from the peripheries and towards
the cores. Within Third World countries, skills migrate from rural to urban
areas, and from smaller to larger urban centres, feeding in turn the
international flows of the brain drain.
This echoes Frank's (1969:6) argument that:
... each of the satellites ... serves as an instrument to suck capital or
economic surplus out of its own satellites ... moreover, each national and local
metropolis serves to impose and maintain the monopolistic structure and
exploitative relationship of this system.
Clearly the argument of these theorists has some merit. The main cities are indeed
the point of entry for the immensely powerful worldwide economic forces. The cities
contain the richest classes and the political elite. Even if the majority of the
population lives outside the urban areas, which is still the case in most Third World
countries, the cities often seem to be more dominant, dynamic and economically
influential. With reference to the late 1970s, Gilbert and Gugler (1981:28) stated
that ``in Pakistan Karachi generates 42 per cent of industrial value added and
accommodates 50 per cent of all bank deposits compared to its 6 per cent of the
national population''.
9
Gilbert and Gugler (1981:38) recognise that ``few now doubt that Third World
urban and regional systems are a reflection of basically distorted patterns of
development'', but they then situate the reality of the city's power and privilege
within the context of the economic history of colonial and postcolonial countries.
Gilbert and Gugler identify two main stages in the development of Third World
regional systems dominated by urban areas: an initial export-orientation phase,
characterised by main ports developing into primary cities, followed by a phase of
``industrialization, modernization and bureaucracy'', coupled with independence
and efforts to build up some form of national economy. In the first phase, ``the
urban-regional structure was the result of the imposition of a foreign trading
system onto an indigenous system'' and ``urban primacy and the emergence of
major cities was an outcome of export expansion and the channelling of the
benefits arising from international trade'' (Gilbert & Gugler 1981:41). In the
subsequent stage, during initial efforts at industrialisation, the same cities grew
further as ``most market oriented companies tended to concentrate in the cities''
(Gilbert & Gugler 1981:46). Another feature of this more recent phase is the link
between urban growth and privilege and politics (Gilbert & Gugler 1981:47):
In many countries ... it can be argued that it is the location of government
and the paraphernalia of modernization rather than industrial growth per se
that is the principal source of urban and regional concentration.
It is clear from this account that it is not the urban areas per se which are
dominant, but rather specific economic and political groups.
It is also important not to see rural-urban relations only in terms of exploitation, as
if the city is the enemy of the countryside. As Harris (1990:29) says, ``urban
development is not an alternative to rural development: each is necessary for the
other''. Part of what has happened with the growth of cities is a necessary
territorial specialisation: ``cities produce an output of goods and services where, in
conditions of relative economic backwardness, productivity is disproportionately
enhanced by physical concentration''; and a poor country should have ``at least one
concentration of workers with infrastructure of a reasonably high standard''
(Harris 1990:23). Harris (1990:29) also lists a number of ways in which the urban
economy is useful to the rural economy: in areas adjoining the cities, more intensive
and experimental cultivation can emerge; ``the city labour market offers part-time
work in the agricultural off-season for cultivators''; ``concentrated urban markets
with a relatively high growth of income provide expanding demand for agricultural
outputs''; manufacturing industries including engineering and chemical industries
provide direct inputs into agriculture; and high urban productivity may lead to
surpluses for rural investment.
Distorted means that
something has been
pulled out of shape so
that it is skew.
Affluent means well-todo or rich.
10
It should be clear that a distorted development path has led to the present urbanrural imbalance. It should also be clear that the existence of more affluent
specialised areas (cities) is not an entirely negative situation. If we bear in mind the
potential that cities offer, it may be easier to see the potential of rural areas, and
also the obstructions in rural areas which prevent them from using the
opportunities offered by the national situation. Although there are serious
constraints as a result of the international economy and the urban-dominated
national life, the ``disorganization and increasing inappropriateness'' of the
structures in rural areas are obstacles in themselves (Mabogunje 1989:90). There
is much room for both urban and rural improvement, and for the creative
improvement of rural-urban interaction.
From the discussions in the sections above, it should be very clear that nothing
short of an integrated national development policy will suffice. The need is for a
policy that takes into account the complex economic dynamics involved in both
rural and urban areas, and which will optimise the use of the resources of both
spatial areas and help to establish optimal interaction between the growing cities
and the countryside. It should also be clear that, in spite of this positive potential,
the distorted development which present urban-rural systems have inherited, and
political and economic powers at both national and international levels, work
against the optimal use of economic opportunities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 1.4
Make a summary of the section entitled ``Urban bias'' by listing all the arguments,
both for and against.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In this section, we have provided you with some insights into the factors (human,
economic, technological, environmental etc) that create or contribute to linkages
between rural and urban development. You should be able to see the
interconnectedness of the two. It is the integrated character of the two spatialities
that necessitates integrated thinking on the part of policymakers to ensure that
development planning is evenly executed and to avoid urban bias.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 1.5
(Spend one hour on this activity.)
Identify and explain the factors that account for the integrated character of rural
and urban development in developing countries.
This question requires you to identify the factors that make rural areas important
to urban areas and vice versa. To help you do this activity, read the articles by
Tostensen (2004), Tacoli (2004), Okpala (2003) and UNDP (2000) in the Reader.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5
CONCLUSION
The foregoing indicates the extent of the interrelatedness of urban and rural
development. When considering issues such as rural poverty and deforestation of
the environment in more depth, the causes can often be found in the cities. The
urban demand for certain agricultural products contributes to the commercialisation of agriculture. This results in a loss of land for the peasant farmer (and
therefore the loss of the means to produce food) and contributes to rural-urban
migration. The demand for wood and charcoal in the cities also contributes
significantly to deforestation. Urban areas are therefore often the cause of
problems in rural development, which necessitates that you consider each subject in
your studies within a wider context.
11
A holistic view means
one that sees everything as being connected; as forming part
of a larger whole.
In Development Studies, the challenge is to take a holistic view of the development
issue and to recognise the integrated nature of rural and urban development
because of human, economic and environmental links between the two.
We emphasise this at the end of this unit because a holistic approach has not been
followed in the past:
Analyses of development problems based on the ``urban-rural dichotomy'' or
on urban or rural bias, however, often lead to development policies and aid
programmes that not only misrepresent the relations between urban growth
and agricultural development but also overlook or ignore the mutually
beneficial linkages between them. As a result, agricultural and urban
development policies have been planned and implemented separately
(Rondinelli 1986b:238).
1.6
LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcome
(1) I can describe the issues related to the
study of integrated rural-urban development.
(2) I can explain the human, economic and
environmental links between rural and
urban development.
(3) I can identify and discuss the arguments
used to explain urban bias.
12
Can do
Cannot do
STUDY UNIT 2
CENTRALISATION VERSUS
DECENTRALISATION
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to:
(1) explain the difference between centralisation and decentralisation
(2) identify and explain the different policies in respect of decentralisation
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1
INTRODUCTION
According to Rondinelli and Ruddle (1978:39), the increasing disparity between
rich and poor in the Third World is the result of unequal distribution of social
services, and physical facilities and unequal access to production factors. There are
inequalities among individuals, but the main cause of inequality is the uneven
development of regions as a result of an overconcentration of production factors,
social services and infrastructure in the cities. Unbalanced regional development in
the Third World is caused by unbalanced spatial development as can be seen in the
growth of primate cities. A network of urban and service centres linking the rural
hinterland with urban areas is lacking in most regions.
This state of affairs, and more particularly the role of cities in national
development, is explained in different ways by various schools of thought. These
may be placed on a continuum ranging from a perception of cities as negative (eg
the view that urbanisation in the Third World is artificially introduced at the
expense of rural areas), to a perception of cities as positive (eg the view that cities
have the best development potential and that investment should therefore be
concentrated in those areas). In this latter regard, Pugh (2000:x) states: ``Cities
are the engine of economic growth and provide jobs, services and the promise of a
better quality of life.'' The extremes of this continuum are therefore roughly
represented by the arguments for and against urbanisation, which favour
centralisation and decentralisation respectively. Between these poles there are
views giving equal importance to urban and rural development, and other
approaches which do not consider the inequality between the urban and rural
sectors to be an obstacle and focus instead on development planning in terms of
spatial patterns.
13
2.2
CENTRALISATION
In this section we consider perspectives on centralisation and then present an
evaluation of this argument.
2.2.1 Perspectives
The centralisation argument is conducted at two levels. The first level justifies the
founding and existence of primate cities, and at the second level the feeling is that
primate cities are desirable because they function as ``motors of development''.
Primate cities originated during the colonial era as administrative capitals that
offered certain services which drew migrants. These centres were almost always
situated at the coast and therefore also served as import and export harbours,
which made them a natural choice for the establishment of industries.
Three important characteristics of the developmental history of primate cities
should be taken into account here. Firstly, people who earned a relatively high
income settled in these cities, thereby creating a market for a large variety of
imported goods, which in turn induced import and export firms to establish their
headquarters there. Secondly, primate cities offered the best infrastructure,
services and facilities in the relevant countries, mainly owing to the political and
economic influence of the higher income groups residing in them. The fact that
essential services such as water and electricity were cheaper and more reliable in
the cities than elsewhere acted as a strong inducement to establish industries in
these areas. Thirdly, primate cities were developed as centres of local transport and
communication networks, partly to enable the colonial authorities to exercise
efficient control over their territories, but also to help with the exploitation of raw
materials (Rondinelli & Ruddle 1978:47). Gellar (1967:23) explains that ``in most
cases, the capital city assumed the role of leading sector in the political, economic,
and social modernization of their country''.
Criterion means a
measure used to judge
or evaluate. If there is
more than one
criterion, we talk of
``criteria''.
The charge of overurbanisation has also been addressed by advocates of
centralisation, who consider the question as to the optimum size of a city to be
central to this issue. Unfortunately there is no universal criterion that can be
applied to determine such an optimum size because all the criteria proposed to date
are subjective. Gilbert (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:169) observes that the problem with
the urban system is that it can be seen as a situation in which an ideal has to be
pursued, but where there is no consensus about what the ideal should be. He adds
that there is no typical urban system. An empirical norm for Third World countries
would have to be sought either within the Third World or outside it. Within the
Third World a norm would have to be determined with due allowance for the fact
that Third World countries are characterised by regional imbalances and by
primate cities as the common urban system. Moreover, a distinction would have to
be made between primate and other cities. This task would be hampered by a lack
of criteria. For example, is a primate city three times or twenty times larger than
the second largest city? Should primate cities be defined in economic or
sociological terms, or should demographic features be the only consideration?
The obstacle here is clearly similar to that preventing a decision about the optimum
size of cities.
Far from being hampered by arguments about the questions of imbalances and the
optimal size of cities, advocates of centralisation say that on balance investment in
primate cities is highly beneficial, especially in view of the lack of large-scale
projects elsewhere in Third World countries. They also hold that, regardless of their
size, primate cities are the best potential vehicles for development in Third World
14
countries. This again raises the question of optimum city size. The question is
simply: is there a limit beyond which a city becomes too large? Arguments based on
city size cannot survive a thorough analysis, according to Dewar, Todes and Watson
(1983/1984:94). This implies other questions such as: Is the diseconomy of
pollution and crime outweighed by the economic potential of cities (Rondinelli &
Ruddle 1978:47)? Another question is whether we are aware of the real strength of
the city's ``growth motor'' and how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to
dismantle it (Dewar et al 1983/1984:93).
Those in favour of centralisation naturally cite the objections to decentralisation to
create the impression that centralisation is the only real option, and they duly
conclude that the criticism of ``urban bias'' is largely unfounded because it results
from prejudice against the poor in favour of the rich. To underline their argument
they point out that cities are not exclusively inhabited by the rich, just as rural
areas are not exclusively inhabited by the poor.
2.2.2 Evaluation
The argument raised further on in the section on decentralisation, namely that
migration to the cities is not necessarily a natural consequence of development, is
also valid in respect of centralisation. Rather than being attracted by the
development potential of cities, rural inhabitants are pushed away by the poverty of
rural areas, this poverty being largely the result of prejudice in favour of the rich
who have settled in the cities of many Third World countries. Rural migration to
the cities is therefore not a rational choice in favour of development (Dewar et al
1983/1984:89). Neither can urban growth be seen as the result of the internal
dynamics attracting people to share in the development opportunities.
Those advancing the cause of centralisation cannot deny that the potential of many
primate cities to offer employment opportunities, housing and services has been
exhausted, with the result that diseconomy has to some extent already become evident
in these cities. Prejudice against the poor in favour of the rich benefits urban areas at
the expense of most people living in rural areas. Thus it seems that capital investment
is still concentrated in the cities, mainly because investors have little hope of gaining a
return on investment in rural areas. It also seems that large-scale rural poverty
persists while cities are increasingly faced with the same problem.
People in favour of centralisation argue that balanced development is too expensive
to implement in practice. Third World countries seldom have the financial and
administrative capacity to implement decentralisation policies. Furthermore, the
opinion is held that rural people will be in a better position in the cities.
Accordingly, centralisation is viewed as the best way to effect development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 2.1
Summarise the views in favour of centralisation and then evaluate them.
------------------------------------------------------------------15
2.3
DECENTRALISATION
Below we consider perspectives on decentralisation and policies calculated to
promote decentralisation. Finally, we present an evaluation of this argument.
2.3.1 Perspectives
Rondinelli (1987:31) defines decentralisation as:
the transfer of planning, decision making or management functions from the
central government and its agencies to field organizations, subordinate units
of government, semi-autonomous public corporations, area-wide or regional
development organizations, specialized functional authorities or non-governmental organizations.
Decentralisation, Rondinelli (1987:31) argues, can be distinguished ``by the degree
of authority and power, or the scope of functions, which the government of a
sovereign state transfers to or shares with other organizations within its
jurisdiction''.
This shift, according to Drakakis-Smith (2002:175), has been encouraged by the
World Bank on the grounds that local service needs vary and are better understood
at the local level and may be better integrated with one another.
People in favour of decentralisation do not believe that improving the gross
national product (GNP) should be the first aim of national economic policy, nor for
that matter, do they consider economic criteria as the most important for
development. They are sceptical about the advisability of allowing the growth of
cities to continue unchecked; indeed, their entire rationale is informed by what they
perceive as the evils of urbanisation.
According to Rondinelli and Ruddle (1978:48±49), the main points of the
argument in favour of decentralisation are the following:
(1) Primate cities and other large urban complexes cannot offer sufficient
employment opportunities for their own populations, hence they cannot absorb
additional work-seekers migrating from rural areas.
(2) As a result of the rapid population growth in larger cities, inhabitants with
little or no schooling are forced to accept unpleasant work that offers a bare
subsistence wage at best, with the result that their living conditions are worse
than those found in rural areas.
(3) Migrants from rural areas expect to receive goods and services that are
neither in demand nor available in rural areas. Disappointment of these
expectations causes alienation and dissatisfaction.
(4) Growing urban populations increasingly strain the capacity of public facilities
and services such as health care, education and electricity generation, which
are usually already overstrained.
(5) Most metropolitan cities cannot provide adequate facilities or maintain
services at required levels because their revenue gathering systems are not
adequate and therefore impose severe constraints on their budgets. The influx
of migrants is causing a widening gap between that which is necessary and
that which is possible.
(6) Most large cities cannot function as modern cities because they are hampered
by the demoralising constraint of having to graft modern facilities onto
16
traditional urban infrastructures. Consequently, the health and wellbeing of
inhabitants of such cities are jeopardised by high crime levels and a lack of
physical and economic conveniences.
(7) Continued migration to large urban centres results in a concentration of urban
poor in slums and squatter settlements, which hastens physical decline and
social demoralisation in such centres.
(8) Prolonged concentration of the labour force and resources in primate cities
and metropolitan centres deprives the rural hinterland of resources, continues
regional inequality between incomes and prevents real growth in rural areas,
giving rise to a dual economy.
(9) Decentralisation has the potential of being politically advantageous. Samoff
(1990:516) is of the opinion that successful decentralisation can bring about
empowerment when the emphasis is on decentralisation of decision making
and not on spatial or economic decentralisation. Political decentralisation
may have a beneficial influence on spatial and economic decentralisation.
Resources and functions may be devolved and distributed more effectively
through a decentralised political structure (United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements 1989:46).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 2.2
State each of the nine arguments above in your own words.
------------------------------------------------------------------2.3.2 Policies
The points in favour of decentralisation set out above are translated into practice
as policies calculated to promote decentralisation. Some of these policies are
discussed below.
2.3.2.1 Decentralising industrial development
The pattern for deploying industrial development is based on the view that
continued investment in large cities worsens regional imbalances and, therefore,
rural poverty. From this perspective it is argued that investment should be
concentrated at points that are so far removed from urban growth centres that they
cannot be absorbed into such centres. Smaller towns, especially those in the
interior, are ideally placed for industrial reinvestment according to this principle.
2.3.2.2 Restricting migration
One method used to restrict migration in the past was that of legally enforced influx
control, which was ethnically selective and was applied during colonial rule in
areas such as Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Until 1986 this type of control was
also practised in South Africa, where it applied to certain categories of blacks
rather than to the entire rural population. Tanzania maintained a form of this
control (albeit no longer on an ethnically selective basis) long after independence,
by periodically repatriating the urban unemployed to their rural areas of origin
(Dewar et al 1983/1984).
17
An incentive is a motivation or a promise of
reward.
Migration to urban areas may also be diverted by providing incentives for
migration to major towns and service centres rather than to cities (Rondinelli &
Ruddle 1978:51). It is presumed that migrants will automatically be attracted to
sites where decentralised new industrial development takes place, thus diminishing
the flow of migrants to the cities.
Another restrictive method that may be adopted is that of reducing the
attractiveness of migration to the cities Ð especially permanent migration Ð by
prohibiting strikes in cities (Dewar et al 1983/1984), by not providing public
services to squatter settlements (Rondinelli & Ruddle 1978:51), and by strictly
limiting the growth of squatter settlements (Dewar et al 1983/1984).
2.3.2.3 Founding new towns
New towns are created in two ways. Firstly, there is the practice of building a new
national capital in an area removed from the existing urban areas, as in the case of
Brazil and Malawi, where this measure was adopted both for political reasons and
to open up the hinterland of those countries. While Brazil's capital is situated in an
area with great potential for urban settlement, Lilongwe in Malawi is virtually the
gateway from the south to the relatively undeveloped north. The main disadvantage
of this kind of urban development is its costliness.
Towns are also created by selecting rural sites as prospective growth points (eg
sites where industries have been established with state assistance) and then
creating infrastructure by making special investments in educational and health
facilities (Dewar et al 1983/1984). Bear in mind that this kind of township
development usually clashes with existing economic forces, with the result that
incentives have to be provided for extended periods in order to attract people to the
relevant sites.
2.3.2.4 Rural development
Apart from encouraging town development in rural areas, it is obviously also
necessary to enable subsistence farmers to make a living exclusively from their
agricultural production so that they will stay on the land and not enter the labour
market at certain times of the year. To this end, efforts have been made to
commercialise agriculture by introducing such measures as the following:
(1) establishing large farms with a view to producing for the export market and to
provide employment for the local populace
(2) providing extension services to inform small farmers of modern scientific
farming methods and thus help them to improve their profit margins
(3) providing agricultural credit
(4) upgrading of marketing facilities
More recently, attention to development in other areas has led to the improvement
of educational facilities and health care as a means of accelerating the creation of
employment opportunities in nonagricultural sectors.
2.3.2.5 Political-economic decentralisation
Rondinelli, McCullough and Johnson (1989:62±69) maintain that in order to create a
successful political-economic framework for decentralisation which will be appropriate to developing countries, it is necessary to analyse the following elements:
18
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
local goods and services and their consumers
alternative financial and organisational resources for the provision of services
satisfactory institutional frameworks for service provision
socioeconomic and political circumstances which influence policy formulation
and programme implementation
(5) satisfactory policy intervention and instruments to direct policy formulation
during the design of projects and programmes, as well as financial and
technical assistance and programme evaluation
The political-economic framework described here is the ideal one, and as with all
other policies there are certain obstacles to bear in mind. If it were possible to
implement this framework in practice without any problems, decentralisation
would be the solution to all spatial, political and economic problems.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 2.3
Describe the five decentralisation policies in one sentence each.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3.3 Evaluation
This evaluation is based largely on Dewar et al (1983/1984). Another more recent
article, ``Decentralisations in practice in Southern Africa'' (SLSA Team 2003),
essentially deals with the same issues, but specifically concerns Zimbabwe,
Mozambique and South Africa.
As mentioned earlier in the evaluation of the centralisation argument, migration to
the cities is not necessarily the result of a rational choice (Dewar et al (1983/
1984:89). Advocates of both centralisation and decentralisation therefore proceed
from an incorrect interpretation of the process of migration in the Third World.
Migration from rural areas to the city is often a matter of necessity, and the
migrants therefore do not necessarily have high expectations of urban services,
good housing, urban luxuries and economically and psychologically rewarding
employment. Many of the arguments in favour of decentralisation, however,
wrongly take such expectations on the part of migrants for granted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 2.4
Read the contribution by the SLSA Team (2003) in the Reader and note the
similarities and differences between the various countries, especially regarding
decentralisation policy since the 1980s.
------------------------------------------------------------------Any effort to change migration patterns should be made with due allowance for
existing economic forces, because attempts to effect change will fail if they run
counter to such forces. A case in point is influx control, which merely worsened
rural poverty and regional inequalities without effectively achieving its chief
19
purpose, which was to curb urban growth. Moreover, the increasing poverty which
rural populations experienced as a result of influx control forced them to live too
close together, and this population pressure further diminished the agricultural
potential of the land.
One of the main concerns underlying the argument in favour of decentralised urban
development (urban redistribution) is that primate cities are becoming too large.
This concern did not originate from empirical data from which the optimum size of
cities may be deduced, but from a view that Western town planners hold about
Western metropolises and now consider to be equally applicable to primate cities in
the Third World, even though most primate cities are much smaller than Western
metropolises.
It is further maintained that there can be no balanced development unless the
growth of major cities is curbed, but financial incentives to this end are usually
hopelessly inadequate because the economic growth potential of the relevant cities
is seriously underestimated. Moreover, despite the policy to promote development
in rural areas, it certainly remains less costly, and therefore more popular, to invest
in industry, services and administration in major cities than elsewhere.
The governments of Third World countries are caught in a dilemma. Although
decentralisation of economic activities would be politically advantageous, it is
virtually impossible to neutralise the many powerful factors that attract economic
activities to cities. Many more points may be raised against decentralisation, but
we will confine ourselves to the following:
Equitable means fair
or reasonable.
20
(1) Most of the diseconomies of scale regarded as being the result of the size of
cities are actually the result of poor management of the spatial structure of
cities.
(2) Efforts to achieve equal development throughout a country by reducing the
level of economic activity maintained in its cities to the lowest level
maintained in other parts of the country are counterproductive. Surely it
would be far more to the purpose to elevate the depressed areas to the level of
the more prosperous ones?
(3) It is not at all certain Ð indeed it is highly improbable Ð that investment will
automatically be redirected to rural areas or that other benefits will accrue to
these areas if urban growth is curbed. If cities lose their attraction for
investment it is far more likely that investors will seek out opportunities
offered by other cities that may well be in other countries.
(4) Efforts to redistribute industrial development cannot succeed if they run
counter to the dynamics of the relevant economy. Since developmental
inequalities among regions are partly caused by the differences in their
development potential, the location of industrial development in areas with a
low potential would inhibit the whole economy instead of bringing about the
envisaged equitable distribution of development.
(5) A policy of rural development is not only correct, but essential, for Third
World countries. It is ill-advised, however, to base such a policy on the
assumption that rural development will stop migration to the cities Ð at best
it will only diminish such migration, and such a reduced flow can produce
noteworthy results only in the long term. Rural development can succeed only
if policies are in the first instance aimed at reducing the pressure which large
numbers of landless people exert on the land Ð especially in Asia and Africa.
(6) Advocates of decentralisation tend to exaggerate the problems caused by
migration to the cities because they underestimate the capacity of cities to
absorb migrant populations. In fact, it would seem that unemployed urban
dwellers have a better chance of survival than their rural counterparts
because the informal sector, albeit not an alternative for the formal economic
sector, is more viable in urban than in rural settings and accommodates up to
40 per cent of the labour force in some cities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 2.5
State the above six points of evaluation in two sentences each.
------------------------------------------------------------------The following quote from Dewar et al (1983/1984:95) which aptly summarises the
development dilemma and the solution to it:
The need to grow and the need to spread the benefits of growth are potentially
in conflict. It is now clear that in developing countries which are powerfully
influenced by forces of capitalism, one objective cannot be pursued at the
expense of the other. The only feasible approach is to utilize the potential of
the most propulsive economic impulses in order to generate resources which
can be spread to the underdeveloped areas.
The writers are sober enough to admit in closing that ``there are severe constraints
on the degree to which this can be done in practice''.
The following should be borne in mind (Rondinelli 1983:76):
Decentralization is not a quick fix for the administrative, political, or
economic problems of developing countries. Its application does not
automatically overcome shortages of skilled personnel; in fact initially it
creates greater demand for them.
Decentralisation is expensive and requires sufficient political commitment to rural
development. Third World countries often lack the necessary funds, well-trained
personnel and political commitment, and this hampers the implementation of
decentralisation.
It should be noted that decentralisation, like democracy, has no static model that
can easily be transferred from one country to another (Kanyinda 2004:10).
However, the challenge remains to identify positive components of decentralisation
policies from which all countries could benefit.
2.4
CONCLUSION
In this study unit we considered the role of cities in development. The various
schools of thought in this regard form a continuum, with the two extremes being
the arguments for and against urbanisation. These arguments favour centralisation
and decentralisation respectively. There is no single solution to the problems of
Third World countries. What is required is a mix that should relate to the
particular conditions that are prevalent in a particular region.
21
2.5
LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcomes
(1) I can explain the difference between
centralisation and decentralisation.
(2) I can identify and explain the different
policies in respect of decentralisation.
22
Can do
Cannot do
STUDY UNIT 3
INSTITUTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to
(1) explain the meaning of the term ``local government''
(2) describe the history and emerging issues of local government in Africa
(3) identify the role of local organisations in development by relating it to the role
of government
(4) classify local organisations according to the characteristics found in a
typology of local organisations
(5) distinguish the tasks associated with local organisations
(6) apply knowledge of local organisations in classifying and describing local
organisations in your community
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1
INTRODUCTION
This study unit is part of theme A. It focuses on the institutions that play a role in
promoting development in rural and urban areas, namely local government and local
organisations. With regard to local government, the following issues are addressed:
the meaning of local government, the history and emerging issues of local
government in Africa, and the developmental role of local government in South
Africa. Where local organisations are concerned, we look at their role in
development by relating it to the role of the government, we discuss the classification
of local organisations according to the characteristics found in a typology of local
organisations and, finally, we distinguish the tasks associated with these
organisations.
3.2
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Let's begin by looking at the definition and characteristics of local government.
3.2.1 The meaning of local government
Generally, a distinction is made among the central, regional and local levels of
government. At the central level the emphasis is on broad national policy, including
macro guidelines, norms and standards, and the execution of functions that
normally belong at the central level. At the regional level (eg a province) provision
is normally made for regional policy, and for the execution of functions which may
23
be considered to belong at the regional level. At the local level the concern is
normally with local policy relating to local functions and their execution.
As far as local government itself is concerned, the Office of Public Administration
of the United Nations defines it as the governing body (elected or otherwise locally
selected) of a political subdivision of a nation (or, in a federal system, a state)
which is constituted by law and has substantial control over local affairs, including
the power to impose taxes or to exact labour for prescribed purposes.
Kasfir (1983:27) breaks up the various characteristics of local government as
follows:
Local because the system of government must be close to the common people
and their problems; efficient because it must be capable of managing the local
services in a way which will help raise the standard of living; and democratic
because it must not only find a place for the growing class of educated men,
but at the same time must command and respect the support of the mass of
the people.
All-embracing as this definition is, it has a defect commonly found in definitions of
local government: it loses sight of the fact that in local government a political
process takes place at the local level. Local government is not merely a local
administrative process in which certain resolutions are carried out; it also includes
local decision making and the processes leading to this. Thus the local offices of the
Departments of Agriculture, of Health and of Justice, for example, cannot be
regarded as local government, for these offices differ from local representative
bodies with local legislative power. The definitions given above do not, however,
necessarily exclude the local offices of central government departments.
Mawhood (1987:9±10) identifies the following five characteristics of a
decentralised structure:
(1) An independent budget. This means that revenue and expenditure should
generally balance, while the power to issue cheques should reside with an
official of the local authority and not with a government civil servant.
(2) A separate legal existence. This entails corporate status, the capacity to sue or
be sued, and the power to hold land and property.
(3) The authority to allocate substantial resources. This includes the power of the
institution to decide on its expenditure, the freedom to vary both revenue and
expenditure as it sees fit, and control over staff appointments.
(4) It possesses different functions. Mawhood (1987) argues that a single-purpose
local body is not a decentralised structure. In other words, although the
functions of a local authority need not be uniform, it must undertake more
than one function.
(5) Local decision making. The crucial point is that although different forms of
election or appointment to a local authority may be considered, the public it
serves must feel that the policy-making body is representative of its views.
It should be sufficiently clear that the concept and practice of local government
take on a variety of forms in different parts of the world. Local government
performs a large variety of functions at different times and in different places.
24
3.2.2 Local government in Africa
In Africa's urban areas no strong tradition of local government was in place at the
time of independence in the various countries. The postcolonial decline of local
government in sub-Saharan Africa is also due to the fact that the African
governments concerned have not given local governments enough opportunity to
come into their own. With few exceptions, the autonomy of local government has
been overwhelmingly threatened by central governments, as all writers on local
government in this enormous region agree. Mawhood (1991a:8) emphasises the
emasculating effect of the central planning model which dominated tropical
African governments after national independence in the 1960s, when the key to
rapid economic development was seen as lying in central decision making:
``Local councils formed no part of this plan; they were often starved of
resources and supervision over their executive was weakened or abandoned''.
Antipathy means a
strong feeling of dislike.
There are other reasons for the postcolonial decline of local government in subSaharan Africa, including the advent of military rule and one-party states, the lack
of financial and human resources available to local government structures, and
above all, central governments' fear of or antipathy towards local political power
bases.
Mawhood (1987:8) identifies four phases in the treatment of and approach to local
government in the postindependent African state. He suggests that the analogy of
the pendulum may be used in analysing this topic, since some African governments
are once again attempting to decentralise power to local governments, having
taken it away in the period immediately after independence. Mawhood's four
phases are as follows:
(1) The final years of colonial rule saw the institution of decentralised
governments; the new rulers accepted and reinforced this decentralised
system of local government. However, political competition among different
political parties and the need to accumulate power led to the withdrawal of
support from autonomous local authorities.
(2) In the wake of this, governments favoured a centralised administration and
greater central government control over the allocation of public resources.
Mawhood (1987:8) calls this new approach to administration ``deconcentrated'', rather than decentralised.
Deconcentration differs in important respects from decentralisation, although
Mawhood notes that they are often confused. Decentralisation involves a
hierarchical division of power among different institutions over different
geographic areas; for example among central, state/provincial or local
governments. On the other hand, deconcentration means a division of
administrative responsibilities within, say, a government department.
(3) Discontent with the consequences of this new approach led to governments
experimenting with mixed authorities as from the late 1960s. The Tanzanian
example, is a good example of a mixed authority. However, power still
remained in the hands of government officials.
(4) Finally, in the 1970s, some African countries began to return once more to
fully decentralised local governments. Nigeria in 1976, Tanzania in 1978 and
the Sudan are probably the best examples of governments who were once
again prepared to look at the possibility of decentralised governments in the
mould of those instituted in the 1950s by the colonial authorities.
25
Olowu (1995:2) states that ``a strong system of local government is a prerequisite
for economic and social advancement as well as the prospect of a sustained
democratic regime''. This observation is made against the background of Africa's
apparent lack of progress in establishing a strong system of local government.
After World War II the policy in British colonial Africa on local government was
characterised by the following (Olowu 1995:3):
^
^
^
^
^
There was institutional separation of local authorities from central government.
Local authorities had to assume responsibility for services such as primary
education, health services, community development and secondary roads.
Local authorities had their own funds and a budget raised through local direct
taxation.
They employed their own, qualified staff.
Government was carried out by councils, consisting of popularly elected
members.
Central government performed an advisory, inspectorial role.
With the onset of independence in the colonies these policies were not yet
implemented or only partly implemented. In the years following independence,
local authority functions came to be largely centralised by government with only
local (or deconcentrated) offices performing their functions under direction and
control of central government. By the 1990s the tide began to change. The
importance of local government to democratisation and development became
conventional wisdom. In this new climate, Olowu (1995:5) proposes a model of
self-governance characterised by the following:
^
^
^
^
Recognition of institutional pluralism
Development of a system of rule of law and property rights
Association within the framework of various communities of interest
Provision for the resolution of institutional conflict among the various
organisations
This model clearly makes provision for a partnership between local government
and civil society. In South Africa, strong emphasis is also placed on the role of local
government in democratisation and development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 3.1
Study the two articles entitled ``The African experience in local governance'' and
``Local institutional and political structures and processes: Recent experience in
Africa'' by Olowu (1995; 2003) in your Reader. Then summarise the articles in not
more than three pages, by discussing the historical background and possible ways
of strengthening local government in Africa.
------------------------------------------------------------------3.2.3 Developmental role of local government in South Africa
In the recent development debate, local government is increasingly emphasised as a
very important institution in development and the expansion of democracy. It is
argued that, at the local level, people must participate in a democratic fashion to
26
elect representatives; and that local government and civil society can harness
efforts to tackle development problems. South Africa seems to follow the
prescription well. In 2000, after a process of reorganising and demarcating new
local authorities, an election was held nationwide. A number of metropolitan
councils and also rural authorities were elected. Much attention will be focused on
these local government institutions in the coming years. To obtain some
background on the role of metropolitan government, do the following activity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 3.2
Read the article by Mmakola (2000) in your Reader. Then consider whether, and
how, metropolitan local authorities can contribute to local development with civil
society as a partner. Write about two pages.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The White Paper on Local Government (1998) also deals with the developmental
task of local government in South Africa. It talks of ``developmental local
government'' and explains what is meant by it. Study section B of the White Paper
(1998) in order to get an idea of how the South African government sees local
government's development task.
Hilliard and Wissink (2000) also deal with the roles and functions, and specifically
the developmental role, of local government. Study this contribution in the Reader.
3.3
LOCAL ORGANISATIONS
To understand development in any country, it is extremely important to have an
understanding of popular, rather than government, initiatives in that country.
Government development efforts must bear some relation to the practices and
initiatives of the people. The energies of a country's people are usually seen at work
in various social contexts: in the mobilisation of the poor over certain local political
issues; in the adoption of ``selfish'' economic strategies by a group of rural
households (these strategies often affect prices, employment and land issues); and
in sports and cultural activities.
In rural areas, these creative, grassroots activities may be divided into political
activities (eg peasant resistance movements), economic activities (eg traders'
associations) and cultural activities.
However, local organisations in rural and urban areas straddle the three categories
listed above. For instance, the members of a church choir may use the choir's travel
facilities, raise funds and, between them, meet their physical needs, at the same
time maintaining a sense of group identity. And, of course, some churches are
politically oriented.
Some organisations do not have formal membership and may consist of a loose
coalition of disparate forces. At the same time, there may also be organisations
that have a more formal structure. At this point, we should also mention the fact
that there are some development-related organisations whose power bases are
27
external to the areas in which they operate. These may include trade unions with
large migrant membership, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), governmentrun youth structures (such as the Malawian Young Pioneers), and even a football
leagues.
In studying local organisations, you should bear in mind the following: the nature
of the terrain itself, the geographical distribution of the population within that
terrain, whether or not this population includes the very poor, the lack of resources,
and the political powerlessness of people generally (Chambers 1983:109).
Local organisations in rural areas tend to reflect a greater mixture of indigenous
social structures than that found in urban areas. This is owing to the nature of
rural society, which is characterised by the presence of indigenous languages (this
is particularly true of rural societies in Africa and Asia), traditional family
structures, and traditional religious and agricultural practices. However, these
characteristics all form part of the resources of local organisations in their
confrontation with modernity and assaults on traditional structures.
Permeated means to be
filled right through
with something.
Third World society is highly complex and permeated with authoritarian power
structures. For example, Chazan, Mortimer, Ravenhill and Rothchild (1988:71)
say the following with regard to Africa:
Most studies of contemporary Africa ... have emphasized the importance of
class and ethnicity in determining the social roots of public institutions.
African social and national life, however, revolves, in the first instance,
around a medley of more compact organizations, groupings, associations, and
around movements that have evolved over the centuries in response to
changing circumstances.
This picture of a complex network of groupings, movements and institutions needs
then to be put into the context of the inequality and turbulence of the modern
world. Fuentes and Frank (1989:184), speaking of popular or working class
movements in the Third World, contend as follows:
The international and domestic burden of the present world economic crisis
falls so heavily on these already low-income people as to pose serious threats
to their physical and economic survival and cultural identity. Therefore, they
must mobilize to defend themselves Ð through social movements Ð in the
absence of the availability or possibility of political institutions to defend
them.
Many local organisations are therefore defensive and oriented towards survival
amidst the ravages of modernity. They have also emerged precisely because of the
weakness and inappropriateness of official development efforts.
Local organisations came into being not because they wanted to help national
development efforts, but because they sought, and still seek, to serve the
aspirations of their members. Such movements exist in the context of the modern
dynamics of the Third World state, but also in the more localised context of a
complex rural society which already has a tradition of social and economic
movements which have arisen in response to the invasion of the modern world in
the past few centuries. The result of all this is a very diverse range of organisations
and movements, all of which are directed to responding to various rural and urban
needs, but which stand in a variety of relations to official structures, ranging in size
28
from tiny self-help groups to very large political or resistance movements. Peasant
movements may aim to protect rural producer prices and their land rights (against,
for example, agribusiness, nature reserves, urban encroachment or mining
interests). Groups engaged in co-operatives or self-help schooling efforts may
base their activities purely on meeting their own needs, and even conservative
governments may be prepared to aid such groups. Rural traders form interest
groups, while some of the more formal NGOs may represent local aspirations and
give local people access to political forums and to urban markets.
Other NGOs may employ local people, but primarily represent the interests of
perhaps well-meaning funding and aid organisations. In each country a variety of
voluntary organisations spring up in response to particular opportunities and
issues, and may form part of broader and more diffuse social movements (eg
political, labour or women's movements). However, in many countries, the
government tries to co-opt such social movements into the state, or else forbids or
discourages them from operating.
The whole subject of local organisations in rural and urban areas is a very complex
one, and perhaps one needs to study individual cases to get any real clarity.
Furthermore, the way in which the various organisations have contributed to or
hampered development is not always clear. Productive economic initiatives can
often safely be put in the development camp, but what if they prop up a parasitic
government, destroy the environment, and destroy existing local enterprises? It is
essential to take into account all the consequences of any economic initiative before
judging whether such initiatives aid development or not. Conversely, resistance and
opposition movements, even if these are in some cases destructive, may actually
lead to strengthening a society and to a more functional political and economic
order within a certain country. If this happens, the effect of a resistance movement
may be regarded as development-oriented.
From the preceding discussion it is obvious that the relationship between
governmental and popular development initiatives is complex indeed. Many
popular initiatives represent limited sectional interests, whose net effect on society
is not always positive. The state's development efforts, on the other hand, will not
succeed unless they correspond, to some extent, with popular initiatives.
It is incorrect to assume that there is necessarily a conflict between the state and
civil society. In theory, at least, governments could facilitate the creative efforts of
popular movements, while in other areas they could initiate projects which are
unlikely to originate from within society itself, but which could be integrated into
the economy as a whole. At present, however, many countries are experiencing a
considerable level of conflict between government and grassroots movements.
3.3.1 A continuum of local organisations
Institutions or organisations for development can be placed on a continuum: from
purely governmental institutions at one end, to purely private institutions at the
other end. Esman and Uphoff (1984:58) designed a continuum consisting of five
categories of local organisations. This continuum is set out in table 3.1.
29
TABLE 3.1
A continuum of local organisations
A
B
C
D
E
Central
government
agencies
Local
government
units
Local
organisations
(cooperatives,
clubs, etc)
Political organisations
Private
organisations
Governmental ........................................................................ Nongovernmental
(Public sector)
(Intermediate sector)
(Private sector)
While central government and private sector organisations may be responsive,
rather than accountable, to local interests, organisations in the intermediate sector
are accountable to their members and are involved in development activities
(Esman & Uphoff 1984:59). Of course, in acknowledging the important role of
intermediate organisations as accountable, development-focused local organisations, it is important not to underestimate the role of central and local government
in rural and urban areas. They remain important institutions for general
administration and accessing of resources. Yet they are in a sense aloof and
removed from the local population.
In the excerpt in section 3.3.2 below, Esman and Uphoff (1984) provide a typology
of local organisations. Before reading the excerpt, do the following activity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 3.3
List the local organisations operating in your community. Also indicate their area
of involvement (eg early childhood development, health).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3.2 A typology of local organisations
Esman and Uphoff (1984:61±67) distinguish three categories of local organisations. Read what they have to say about the typology of local organisations in the
following excerpt from their book, Local organisations: Intermediaries in rural
development (1984:72±82).
A Typology of Local Organizations
The range of local organizations [LOs] itself can be divided into three
categories: (1) local development associations (LDAs), (2) cooperatives,
and (3) interest associations (IAs).4
A common distinction between formal (or ``modern'') and informal (or
``traditional'') LOs was not made typologically, as the degree of
formalization is better treated as a variable cutting across all other
30
types. The cases we covered in our review did not include many of the
most informal groups, since direct involvement with development
activities was a criterion for consideration. But all three of these
categories include relatively informal as well as formal associations.
The first type, local development associations, shares some characteristics with local government (B) [see the continuum in table 3.1 above].
First, LDAs are area-based, bringing together all or most of the people
within a community or region to promote its development by direct selfhelp or other means, such as lobbying for needed services or raising funds
to pay for new construction. The servicios of the National Community
Development Service and the Ayni Ruway in Bolivia are representative of
this type, as are the Village Development Committees in Botswana,
Tanzania, and Zambia, the Local Development Associations in Yemen,
and the Sarvodaya Shramadana organizations in Sri Lanka.5
Membership in LDAs is as heterogeneous as the communities involved,
since the only common characteristic that members share is their place of
residence. There can be considerable ethnic, religious, or economic
homogeneity, depending on the locality. But this is a variable, not a
defining characteristic. The organizations are generally multifunctional
in that they can undertake a wide variety of tasks Ð from supporting
education to building roads, assisting agriculture, maintaining churches
or mosques, or possibly even regulating social conduct (for example,
temperance activities). They are not comprehensive in their responsibilities, as are local governments, nor do they have the same legal or
taxing powers. They are extensions of the community more than of the
government, though they may be government instigated and assisted. The
authority they exercise is likely to be extra-legal as well as legal in origin,
since they draw legitimacy less from formal charters than from
expressions of community need. Certain LDAs may be so much the
creatures of government that it would be better to regard them as fitting
in category (B). But judging by the criteria indicated above, we found a
substantial number of LOs Ð 19 percent of the cases in our sample Ð
which are best regarded as LDAs, clearly differentiable from local
government.
The second type, cooperatives, is extremely varied and has many
subtypes. At one level it is a purely nominal category, as thousands of LOs
around the world are called ``cooperatives''.6 One can usefully distinguish
this set of LOs from the rest, however, by focussing on their economic
functions for their members. The defining characteristic of cooperatives,
as Galjart (1981b) has suggested, is the pooling of resources by
members. Using this criterion, we classified 35 percent of the LOs in our
sample as cooperatives. The resources involved may be capital (savings
societies or rotating credit associations; eg, C. Geertz, 1962), labor
(rotating work groups; eg, Seibel and Massing, 1974), land (production
cooperatives; eg, Wong, 1979), purchasing power (consumer co-ops), or
products (marketing co-ops). In addition, there can be pooling of
financial resources and labor to secure production inputs like fertilizer or
power tillage through service cooperatives. There is a democratic
principle operating in most cooperatives which presumes that even if
31
resource contributions are not equal, all members should have an equal
voice in decisions Ð with purchase or input of even one share entitling
the member to a vote like other members.
Various distinctions can be made between co-ops and LDAs. Co-ops are
usually more limited in the scope of their activities, though the
multipurpose cooperative societies found in numerous countries of Asia
and Africa generally include credit, agricultural inputs, and marketing
services along with consumer goods, as do the SAIS organizations set up
in Peru after the land reform (McClintock, 1981). Having single or few
functions is thus not a defining characteristic of co-ops; rather the
number of functions is a relevant variable. Membership in cooperatives is
usually more limited or selective than that in LDAs, though co-op
membership can be quite encompassing within a community and can thus
be rather heterogeneous. While homogeneity of membership is often
thought to be an important feature of cooperatives, we need to examine
this as a variable rather than take it for granted. The most crucial
difference between co-ops and LDAs is that the latter contribute mostly to
``public goods,'' accessible to all, while the benefits from co-ops are
usually of a more private nature, most accruing directly to members. To
be sure, co-ops can provide gains to non-members as well, for example,
those in Bolivia studied by Tendler (1983).
One reason for considering cooperatives separately as a group is to
examine the arguments of some observers that co-ops are more likely to
disadvantage poorer sectors of a community than to help them, whereas
by working for public good, LDAs provide benefits that should be
accessible to all.7 Our findings are not much more encouraging; still,
there are enough exceptions to indicate that this form of LO can be useful
for disadvantaged groups. What needs to be better understood is how to
work within different kinds of environments. The success of a leather
workers' co-op for untouchables in Barpali, India, of the bams (co-ops)
among Tiv small farmers in central Nigeria, and of Andean Indians'
cooperatives in highland Ecuador suggests that this category should not
be written off as unable to help the poor (F. Thomas, 1968; Morss et al,
1976, II:23141; Meehan, 1978:13437). We need to know more about
what structures, incentives, and outside support will be most conducive to
the desired developmental results.
The third type of LO, interest associations, is the most diverse of the
three. What we call interest associations are defined not by geographic
boundaries as are LDAs, or by pooling of economic resources as are coops, but by certain common features of their membership. In some IAs,
persons come together for the sake of performing some particular
function better, perhaps water management or public health or primary
education. Water users' associations, health committees, and parentteacher groups are examples of functional interest associations. In other
IAs, people join together on the basis of some personal characteristic Ð
such as their sex, ethnicity, religion, or economic status Ð to promote
common interests. Women's associations, mothers' clubs, tribal unions,
mosque committees, church groups, and landless laborers' organizations
are examples of what might be considered categorical interest
associations. As a rule, IAs will be less encompassing than LDAs, which
are inclusive and multifunctional by definition, but more so than co-ops,
32
since they are concerned with social as well as economic interests and
with public as well as private goods. Nearly half Ð 46 percent Ð of the
LOs in our sample fell into this category.
A specific interest association can verge on either of the other two
categories. A water users' association operating in an irrigation scheme
may be fairly similar to a cooperative. But to the extent that the
association is occupied with deciding on water rotation schedules,
resolving disputes, and carrying out channel maintenance, it is servicing
an economic activity more than performing it. Traditional water users'
associations like the subak in Bali (Birkelbach, 1973) and the zanjera in
the Philippines (Coward, 1979b; Siy, 1982) involve some pooling of labor
to keep the channel systems in good order, and they operate in a highly
equitable manner. But contributions of resources and voting are likely to
be proportional to landholding, rather than equal as in a co-op, since the
organizations' purpose is to provide goods or services to members more
than to share inputs, risks, and benefits. Similarly, the members of an
ethnic association might in effect constitute an LDA, if the whole
community is ethnically homogeneous and the group engages in many
activities, as did the Ibo State Union in Nigeria (Sklar, 1963; Smock,
1971). The difference remaining, in this example, is that non-Ibos in a
community would not become members as they would in an area-based
LO like the Onitsha Community League.8
The continuum of membership differences between homogeneity and
heterogeneity is particularly complex. At the extreme of heterogeneity, both
sexes, all ages, all social classes, and any diversity of races and religions
would be represented in a group Ð a rare circumstance. Homogeneity in all
these regards, on the other hand, is not much more likely. A group which is
homogeneous with regard to ethnicity, for example, is likely to be
heterogeneous in terms of age, sex, and probably some other characteristics.
As a rule, a cooperative would not be extremely heterogeneous, as members
are usually a subset of the general population motivated to come together by
classification to be made sometimes according to degree rather than kind. If
the organization includes women as well as men and deals with problems of
health, schooling, and so forth, as well as economic livelihood, it could
qualify as an LDA.
NOTES
4 This designation is not to be confused with ``interest groups'' in the
``pluralist'' tradition of American political science. The interest
associations included here undertake self-help activities as well as
seeking to promote, by whatever means are feasible, the interests of
their members.
5 Studies that have been instructive concerning these are Savino (1984),
Healy (1980), Chambers (1974), NIPA (1976), Cohen et al. (1981),
Ratnapala (1980) and C. Moore (1981).
6 For example, the local organizations in North Yemen referred to as
ta'awun in Arabic are labelled in English both Local Development
Associations (their national organization is called the Confederation of
Yemeni Development Associations) and cooperatives. In fact, ta'awun
have all the characteristics of LDAs and features of cooperatives as we
define these categories (Cohen et al., 1981).
33
7 See Fals Borda (1976), Mu
Ènkner (1976), ICA (1978), and Lele
(1981). Fals Borda summarizes the negative findings against
cooperatives in this regard from a major comparative study by the
UN Research Institute for Social Development covering Africa, Asia
and Latin America (see UNRISD, 1975)
8 Consider, for example, the differences arising between the Onitsha Ibo
Union and the Non-Onitsha Ibo Association, both formed according to
ethnic criteria but the latter made up of ``strangers Ð Ibos from
outside this town''. A third organization also formed in the town of
Onitsha, the Community League, was open to anybody living in Onitsha
(Sklar, 1963:151±57).
The three categories of local organisations identified are local development
associations, co-operatives and interest associations. The defining feature of each
type of local organisation may be found in its rationale, source of authority, functions,
membership commonality or origin of resources. Thus, a local development
association is distinguished by its multiple functions on an area base. Co-operatives
are distinguished by the pooling of member resources as shares. Interest associations
are distinguished by the commonality of their members, for example same sex or
activity such as involvement in early childhood education.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 3.4
Use the variables and characteristics described by Esman and Uphoff (1984) to
categorise each of the local organisations that you identified in activity 3.3.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3.3 Tasks of local organisations
In order to perform their functions, organisations, including local organisations,
have to perform certain operational tasks, for example planning and resource
mobilisation. This is necessary in order for them to achieve their goals.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 3.5
In the previous two activities you identified and classified local organisations in your
area. Now determine what operational tasks they carry out. It may be necessary to
speak to the chairperson or secretary to get this information. Remember to be
courteous and clearly explain to them what you need and why you need it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
34
Esman and Uphoff (1984:72±82) distinguish four groups of tasks performed by
local organisations, namely:
^
^
^
^
intra-organisational tasks
resource tasks
service tasks
extra-organisational tasks
These tasks are then further subdivided and explained in detail. Read the following
excerpt from Esman and Uphoff's book, Local organisations: intermediaries in
rural development (1984:72±82).
Local Organization Tasks
When dealing with the whole range of LOs, one can identify a number of
operations that represent the generic outputs of these organizations. In
our 1974 review, we specified six tasks that were evident in the operation
of LOs: planning and goal-setting, resource mobilisation, provision of
services, integration of services, control bureaucracy, and claim-making
on government. In this analysis, to focus on the working of specific LOs
more than on whole LO systems, we have seen a need to add two more:
conflict management and resource management. These eight tasks can be
viewed as four pairs, which constitute a continuum from initiating and
maintaining internal organizational activity (A) to influencing the
external political-administrative environment (D). Activities pertaining
to resources and services, the inputs and the outputs of organization,
come between.
(A) Intra-organizational tasks
Planning and goal-setting
Conflict management
(B) Resource tasks
Resource mobilisation
Resource management
(C) Service tasks
Provision of services
Integration of services
(D) Extra-organizational tasks
Control of bureaucracy
Claim-making on government
We will discuss each of these in turn as basic LO functions. Then, after
describing briefly the methodology we used for making quantitative
assessments, we will indicate observed relationships among them.
Planning and goal-setting is logically the first task, though any strictly
sequential view distorts the reality that this task must be undertaken
continually to determine the relevance and precision of other tasks. We
were impressed with the way some of the most effective LOs made explicit
and thorough surveys as part of their planning and goal-setting
process Ð in particular, house-to-house interviews supplemented by
group discussions to ascertain the most urgent needs of individuals and
groups, what resources they controlled, and what they would be willing to
contribute toward collective efforts. This function, well performed, can
35
36
TABLE 3.2
Variables and characteristics distinguishing types of local organisation
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS (C)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
(B)
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONS
(C1)
RATIONALE
Perform government
functions at local level
Improve income, services, Increase benefits from
etc for area residents
economic production or
consumption
Advance members' common interest and/or perform specific activities
for members
AUTHORITY
LG is structure of political authority*
Quasi-authoritative; may None, but may be regishave government author- tered and regulated
isation
Only de facto authority
LPO is structure of politwhich members may con- ical competition*
cede to it
FUNCTIONS
Comprehensive
Multiple functions on an Single or multiple
area basis
Single or multiple, dePrimarily political; may
pending on agreement of perform others
members
MEMBERSHIP
COMMONALITY
Residence (degree of
heterogeneity depends
on area)
Residence (degree of
heterogeneity depends
on area)
RESOURCES
Taxation and grants from Assessments and contricentral government
butions (often in kind);
may have government
subventions
* As defined by Eckstein and Gurr (1975).
COOPERATIVES
(C2)
INTEREST
ASSOCIATIONS
(C3)
Contribution of economic Personal characteristics
resources (land, labor, or (eg sex) or activity
capital)
(eg, irrigation management)
Pooling of member resources as shares; may
have government subsidies
LOCAL POLITICAL
ORGANISATIONS
(D)
Influence or acquire
authority
Political allegiance or
ideology (degree of
heterogeneity varies)
Fees, dues, levies, etc
Dues and donations;
set by members for group likely to have some outactivity or interest; may side financial support.
get outside resources
have the side effect of educating the community, as in the case of setting
up the Banki water supply committees in India (Misra, 1975), or of
drawing forth effective new local leaders, as in the organizational efforts
in Tambon Yokkrabat, Thailand (Rabibhadana, 1983). Few LOs that we
reviewed have had formal plans such as would please the eye of a
planning commission member, though some do have fairly detailed plan
documents.14 When LOs took this task seriously, the most important
result was a shared knowledge among member of their needs and
capabilities and a grounded consensus that would buoy their performance
of other tasks. In this way, the process of planning and goal-setting may
be more important to the success of LOs than the specific outputs of that
process.
The means for eliciting planning and goal-setting are varied. The Small
Farmer Development Programs (SFDP) established with FAO support in
Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Philippines (which we will refer to often in
this book because of their organization innovation and frequent success)
developed methodologies to be introduced by group organizers for group
problem solving (FAO, 1978:79). Some outside ``catalysts'' for LOs focus
their efforts on ``consciousness-raising'' among members or potential
members as part of, or even as a preliminary requirement for, planning
and goal-setting. Apart from having some outside agent prompting the
effort, it appears that the need to cope with problems can precipitate
planning and goal-setting within the community. Hyden (1981b) has even
suggested that some ``obstructive power'' can be an advantage for
starting viable rural organizations, a theme we will return to several
times. Both the Chipko and the Bhoomi Sena movements in India initially
mobilized marginal populations to defend their access to land and natural
resources, and then proceeded to plan and carry out productive activities
as well (De Silva, 1979; De Silva et al., 1979). The same dynamic was
observed in the Kagawasam case in the Philippines, as confrontation over
land rights prompted collective planning and self-help (Hollnsteiner,
1979). On the other hand, systematic planning was developed under more
''normal'' conditions with the Sikuma cotton cooperative in Tanzania
(Lang et al., 1969), the Amul milk cooperatives in India (Paul, 1982),
and the Baglung district bridge construction program in Nepal (P.
Pradhan, 1980). In these cases, energetic leadership initiated a process
that grew well beyond the initial LO effort.
It is tempting for outside agencies to do the planning for LOs, intending
to leave ongoing decision-making to the organization after initial
decisions about priorities and program support have been made. Indeed,
one of the few quantitative studies of local organization concluded that
project success was more positively affected by the resource contributions
of small farmers than by their initial participation in project design
(Morss et al., 1976). This conclusion, however, may have been influenced
by the large proportion of agricultural credit and production projects in
their sample.15 In our quantitative analysis we found that planning and
goal-setting had the same correlation with overall performance as did
resource mobilization, suggesting that participation in initial decisions be
treated at least as seriously as resource contributions.16
It may be thought that planning and goal-setting requires a certain level
of sophistication on the part of LO leaders and members. However, we
37
found no correlation at all between effectiveness in this particular task
and levels of literacy or per capita income. This suggests that at the local
level planning need not require many technical skills or resources. Rather,
in information gathering and consultation, local knowledge is needed
more than scientific training. Technical knowledge can be added to local
planning efforts to enlarge the range of alternatives, to achieve some
internal consistency in plans, or to reconcile them throughout a larger
area. Assistance from a higher-level organization (an LO federation or a
government agency) will be more effective once the planning process has
been started on a firm foundation of local knowledge and commitment to
collective action.17
Conflict management is probably the most ``internal'' of tasks in that its
purpose is to maintain group solidarity for achieving common purposes.18
Accounting for degrees of success in this task is difficult because effective
conflict management is not as evident an activity to outside observers as
is planning. Indeed, when explicit efforts at conflict management come
into operation, it may mean that the more important informal measures
have failed. It may be that conflict management is performed best where
it is least visible.
We presume that in most settings there is potential for conflict within the
group, though how incipient it is will vary. To some unavoidable extent,
judgments about success in conflict management will reflect the
environment: low-conflict situations may offer no opportunity to develop
or show such capacity, and high-conflict situations may overwhelm it. We
have tried to minimize this problem in our analysis by looking for indirect
as well as direct indications of conflict management. If the environment
or the development activity under consideration is potentially conflictproducing (for example, because there are caste or class differences or
because loan repayments are being enforced) but there are no evident
conflicts, one may assume some success in conflict management. Such an
inference might be incorrect, but it would be even more misleading to
assume that the amount and success of conflict management is
proportional to what is observed.
Some conflict within LOs should be regarded as normal and, within
limits, as useful. Social scientists who study conflict have shown how, if
successfully resolved and limited, it can mobilize resources and build
larger, broader, and deeper commitment to common purposes (Coser,
1956). This view is more than a Toynbean tautology, which suggests that
conflict Ð like challenge Ð is good in moderate quantities, defined by
whether or not one ``survives'' it. Rather it is a recognition that within
any organization interests are likely to be in some respects divergent. At
the same time, there are likely to be some common interests which, if
activated and emphasized, can compensate constructively for differences.
Acceptable rules and legitimate procedures for dealing with conflict can
serve to protect and accommodate divergent interests, channeling them
into joint efforts for agreed objectives.
We find instructive the analysis of conflict and cooperation in a dozen
Peruvian rural communities between 1964 and 1969 by our colleague
William F Whyte. It has usually been presumed that these are inversely
related Ð the more conflict, the less cooperation. But the two forces
operate in the real world as distinct variables. One can find not only high
38
conflict/low cooperation and low conflict/high cooperation situations, but
also low conflict with low cooperation. A low conflict/low cooperation
situation represents stagnation, whereas conditions of high conflict and
high cooperation can energize satisfaction (Whyte, 1975).19 The absence
of conflict is not necessarily productive, and its presence not always
destructive.
The significant circumstance is how the conflict is handled, whether
energies are channeled through reconciliation of interest or dissipated in
mutual sabotage. The two factors that appear to be most associated with
successful conflict management are the quality of leadership (an
explanation always verging on tautology but a reality nevertheless) and
the existence of ``informal'' modes of organization. Unfortunately,
neither of these factors is easily amenable to outside instigation or
improvement. Persons who work with LOs have often pointed to the lack
of ability to manage internal conflicts as a key cause of LO
ineffectiveness, and have often felt themselves unable to improve this
capability. We will consider this issue in Chapters 6 and 7, noting here
that one of the encouraging findings of our quantitative analysis was that
the degree of economic or social heterogeneity within LOs was not
significantly associated with successful conflict management. Those LOs
with substantial heterogeneity were as often as not able to handle the
conflicts that they confronted.
Resource mobilization is probably the task that government agencies
most value in LO performance. Our assessment of this task took a
community perspective. Estimates of success included not only the raising
of local resources but also the acquisition of outside resources Ð from
government or external agencies Ð if these were given to the LO as a
result of activity on its part. We included as resources not only money and
labor but also various material or in-kind contributions and the
mobilization of political resources for voting or lobbying to promote
LO goals.
In the literature the most specific analysis of this function has been done
by Morss et al. (1976) in terms of ``resource commitment'' by
participants in development projects, in conjunction with some form of
local organization.20 By ``resource mobilization'', we refer to all
resources channeled as an organization, so the two terms are
comparable. Resource mobilization is always a relative matter, since its
value depends on how much or how well it meets the needs of the
community. Fairly small amounts of resources put to use in alleviating
urgent problems can represent great success from the perspective of
members and also of assisting agencies. Assessments should reflect such
judgments rather than simply absolute amounts.21
Among the issues to be resolved with regard to resource mobilization, is
the balance to be struck between outside and local resources.
Communities, especially poor ones, can benefit from external assistance,
but to rely very much on it creates a dependency that may prove to be
counterproductive. The concomitant paternalism is likely to inhibit selfhelp and even undermine long-standing patterns of community initiative.22 The total volume of resources (and ideas) for local problem solving
would thereby become less than would otherwise be attainable, and the
use of whatever resources are made available would not be as likely, for
39
lack of local involvement, to meet priority needs efficiently or to be
providently managed. A good example is the finding by the World Bank
in its study of village water supply (1976) that the facilities were
maintained better over time when villagers not only participated in
decision-making about projects but also contributed resources toward
construction and operation. This supports the finding of Morss et al.
(1976) about ``resource commitment''.
Our own finding, discussed later in this chapter, that resource
mobilization correlates more highly with overall LO performance than
does claim-making, suggests that self-help activities are a more
important part of LO functioning than outside resources. The paradoxical
twist on this relationship is that there is a positive association overall
between self-help efforts and resource mobilization from outside the
community. We found that if only outside resources were involved,
performance was relatively poor except in the area of services. Some
combination of local and outside resources is generally to be preferred,
with enough outside resources to encourage and extend local resources
contributions, and with enough of the latter to justify and multiply the
former. This is a very important subject with regard to assessing and
assisting LOs and will be taken up in later chapters.
Resource management is perhaps the least glamorous of LO activities,
but the fact that in our statistical analysis it turned out to have the
highest correlation with overall LO performance suggests that it may be
the most influential. (It also had the highest average correlation with
success in other tasks.) This function involves keeping track of funds,
collecting loans, maintaining buildings and equipment, operating
irrigation structures, repairing roads, and the like. In assessing the
performance of this task, we focussed on the extent to which LOs are able
to manage their resources, whether mobilized locally or acquired from
outside the community, in ways that increase the volume of resources
subsequently available to the LO and its members. Where we are
considering the management of natural resources, particularly forests,
soil, and water (an increasingly important kind of resource management
in the rural sector), the criterion is preserving the resource base while it
supports productive activities.
A prime example of good resource management is the building up of a
revolving loan fund by enforcing repayment and by making productive
loans to members, so that more persons could be assisted over time.
Examples of poor resource management include corruption by officers
who deplete LO treasuries, squandering resources on unproductive
ventures, and failure to harvest crops planted on communal fields. The
tasks of resource management and conflict management are related in
that LO conflicts are more likely to arise if there is poor management of
local resources.23 Indeed, in our statistical analysis, the highest
correlation was between these two tasks.
Since most of the reported experiences of poor resource management
involve ineffective or dishonest handling of financial resources, this is one
area toward which government and other outside training and support
efforts could usefully be directed. Training, of course, is likely to be more
effective with regard to skills like bookkeeping or maintenance of
equipment than to attitudes like honesty. Still, constructive skills and
40
attitudes can be reinforcing. In Chapters 6 and 7 we address some of the
problems of resource management and suggest, on the basis of LO
experience, some things that may be done to reduce the problems. Since
resource management is central to LO performance, we need to draw on
whatever means can increase effectiveness in this function. Remedies can
be considered with relatively few environmental constraints, as indicated
by the fact that none of the environmental variables analyzed has a
significant correlation with LO success in resource management.
Provision and integration of services are tasks easy to conceive and
describe though not so easy to access, because seldom are LOs solely
responsible for agricultural or social services. If LOs are involved in
service delivery or coordination, it is usually in conjunction with some
government or private agency (though we do find some cases where LOs
are wholly responsible for domestic water supply or make loans from
their own funds mobilized from savings deposits). We do not count as LO
provision of services any coming entirely from outside agencies. But one
can give LOs credit for involvement in the delivery and monitoring of
health services, for example, where they schedule visits with doctors at a
clinic or follow up on patients to see that medicines are taken, so that
outside services become more accessible or effective. One should also
credit LOs that help to coordinate such services as approval of credit
applications and timely delivery of fertilizer.
Service provision is the ``bread-and-butter'' task for most LOs; it
occurred in about 90 percent of the cases we studied. The exceptions
were organizations concerned mostly with lobbying or legal redress Ð
though access to the legal system itself is a service usefully performed by
the Sidamo associations in Ethiopia, for example (Hamer, 1980) Ð and
organizations involved in planning and even coordinating but not
delivering services. Service integration, on the other hand, was attempted
in only about half the cases reviewed, and only one-tenth of these were
judged to be ``quite effective'' in such integration, compared with onequarter judged ``quite effective'' in provision. This may reflect the
resistance of bureaucratic agencies to any horizontal coordination of
their activities at the local level.
We found at least some LOs that were able to increase the relevance,
timeliness, and efficiency of services by being involved in their
coordination. Engaging LOs in the task of service integration appears
to offer government and private agencies opportunities for improving the
benefits to be derived from their services. This would involve LOs not only
in decisions as to the timing and level of services but also in the
evaluation and modification of services in relation to local needs. LOs are
an underused channel for service delivery, according to a study of rural
organizations in the Philippines done for the Asian and Pacific Centre for
Development Administration (Montiel, 1980:18485). An excellent
example of the possibilities for service delivery and integration is the
Kottar Social Society in India (Field, 1980).
Control of bureaucracy and claim-making are perhaps the most difficult
tasks for LOs, since strengthened capabilities along these lines are likely
to constrain government to some extent. There can be differences of
interest, of course, between a government (the political leadership) and
its agencies. Insofar as priorities and resource allocations are
41
established, the government has an interest in efficient administrative
implementation. Are extension agents actually visiting the farmers, and
as often as they are supposed to? Do medical assistants show up for their
clinic work as expected? Are loan officers certifying credit-worthy
farmers without insisting on bribes?
Local people and leaders can know more precisely than any central
government officials just what lapses or misdeeds are occurring in
program operations, and local organizations are in a much better
position to insist on improved performance of local staff than are
individuals. Perhaps the most instructive case of LO control of technical
and administrative staff has been that of the Farmers' Associations and
Irrigation Associations in Taiwan, where the LOs have actually hired and
supervised their own field-level staff.24 Control over bureaucracy can be
indirect rather than direct if a government solicits the opinions of
farmers, irrigators, or mothers on a systematic basis. Through
organizations, idiosyncratic views can be sifted out to get representative
assessments, which deserve to be treated seriously by higher political and
administrative echelons. The limits of control and coordination of
bureaucratic behavior from above are increasingly apparent.25 The
orderly logic of hierarchical direction according to Weberian theory is
better for getting staff to follow superiors' orders (or at least to appear to
do so) than for getting staff to work together across administrative
boundaries and to be responsive to clients' requirements. With
functioning local organizations, greater control and coordination from
below should be available to supplement if not replace the oversight of
political and administrative superiors.26
The relevance of such a strategy for improving governments' development
performance depends, as indicated in Chapter 1, on the goals and values
of the top political leadership. They have it in their power to frustrate if
not always to promote, effective LO activity. One of the main findings of
theoretical significance in our earlier study was the importance of
congruence between the development objectives of national leaders and
those of local communities. To the extent that their goals are
compatible Ð that is, that leaders want for communities what
communities want for themselves Ð the distribution of power between
them is positive-sum, not zero-sum. In this situation, more power at the
center contributes to furtherance of local goals, and power at the local
level increases the center's ability to achieve its objectives. If there is a
divergence of objectives, however, strengthening LO capabilities will
detract from central power (Uphoff and Esman, 1974). Thus, one cannot
look at claim-making as an LO activity without reference to the
orientation of the regime's leaders. Enhanced claim-making ability
should be positively regarded by political leaders insofar as they desire
greater satisfaction of rural people's needs, and approve of greater
capacity on the part of rural people to articulate and meet those needs by
self-help and in cooperation with the government. The LO outcome of
empowerment, discussed in Chapter 1, must be evaluated in this
context.27
A government must expect certain costs from claim-making. Even if the
demands coming from an LO are regarded as reasonable by its members,
a regime having limited resources or different priorities may consider
42
them excessive, though LOs are seldom powerful enough to impose
significant costs on a government. It should be understood on both sides
that the government cannot always respond favorably. The consequence
should be a continuing dialogue that helps each to understand the
priorities of the other and to make feasible adjustments. Shortfalls in
what government can provide may then occasion more local resource
mobilization on a cost-sharing basis.
This set of functions of local organization we think encompasses the main
tasks of concern analytically and for policy purposes. As suggested
previously, these functions do not represent the outcomes of LO activity,
which are desired for their own sake; those we will address in terms of LO
performance. Rather they constitute outputs of organization. Our analysis
here reflects the concepts and experience reported in the literature plus
our own observations. An effort has been made to provide a more
systematic and quantitative basis for making generalizations and for
inferring appropriate strategies of support. Before we discuss our
statistical findings concerning LO functions, we need to describe in brief
the methodological basis for these findings.
NOTES
14 The difference between planning and accomplishment was demonstrated to Uphoff in a study (1979) of 16 rural communities in Sri
Lanka. Half were selected for their record of development activity
through LOs and the other half were matched neighboring
communities with no such record. One of the latter had a rather
detailed plan for local development, with a handsome handillustrated cover. The Rural Development Society was prepared to
provide all the labor needed for ensuring cultivation of some 300
acres if it could get technical advice and some material inputs (mostly
cement) to link seven small reservoirs by canals to a large one that
overflowed each rainy season. But no work followed when the
community became divided over alleged misappropriation of ``food
for work'' allocations and when the government failed even to
acknowledge receipt of the request for technical assistance.
15 The DAI sample included a large number of projects where subsidized
credit or other inputs were involved, so ``planning'' decisions might be
less important if the activity was fairly standard and an attractive
opportunity was being offered. Then the ``matching'' resources
contributed by participants would be more significant. For a
reanalysis of the DAI conclusions, see Young (1980).
16 In the more recent DAI study, a statistical analysis of the overall
impact of LOs found participation of the poor in decision-making to
be significant, but not resource commitments (contributions) of the
poor to the program (Gow et al., 1979, I:232).
17 One might regard a subject like rural road construction as a fairly
technical and sophisticated activity with little scope for LO assistance
in the planning process, but Tendler's study of rural road projects
(1979) highlights the contributions that LOs can make at the
planning stage to get an ``optimal fit'' between local uses and road
layouts.
43
18 We are not using the term to refer to handling conflict between the
LO and others in its environment, except insofar as this creates
problems of group cohesion and cooperation.
19 Two of the 12 communities studied fit the last category. Whyte's
distinction between conflict and cooperation, using operationalized
scores for each variable, arose from his observation that whereas in
1964 only one of the 12 had low conflict with low cooperation, five
were below the mean on both indexes five years later. All three
communities that remained low in conflict and high in cooperation
were small, relatively ``traditional'' ones. The factor of socioeconomic
differentiation (which increased with size of community) correlated
with conflict as would be expected (though not when the smallest
villages were omitted); it did not correlate one way or another with
cooperation, which is quite interesting.
20 The findings of that study are summarized by its successor study as
follows: projects intended to benefit small farmers are more likely to
succeed when small farmers participate in project decisions and
make resource commitments to project activities; organizations can
facilitate small farmers' participation in decisions and resource
commitments (Gow et al., 1979, I:7).
21 Resources mobilized could be compared on a per capita basis or per
community or per area, as a percentage of per capita income or of LO
budget. Each standard would be valid for some kinds of comparisons
and not for others. Since resource mobilization by any one criterion is
seldom measured or reported for more than a few cases, systematic
assessments must rely on grosser, composite comparisons. Any single
quantitative measure will limit the range of comparison and reflect
only one aspect of resource mobilization, not representing its utility
relative to need.
22 Gow et al. (1979, I:5859) discuss the case of a successful cattle
producers' cooperative in Peru that was able to pay substantial
dividends to its members as well as sell meat, cheese, and wool to the
community at reduced rates; it was disbanded after government
agencies approached it ``with an open checkbook'' and made large
loans. The resulting farmers' organization was judged no more than
average in its success.
23 A dramatic example of this interaction was seen in a pair of SFDP
projects in Bangladesh, where landless persons were given loans to
buy rickshaws with which to earn nonfarm income. One LO had a
leader who was honest and dedicated, but it also had a member able
and willing to do maintenance and repair work on the group's
rickshaws. It prospered, while the other languished. Conflicts arose in
the latter LO over who was responsible for the deteriorating condition
of their rickshaws. Nobody in that group was able or willing to repair
them; eventually they became unusable, income ceased, and the loans
could not be repaid. If the group had been better able to manage its
internal conflict, the resource management lapse might not have been
so devastating. But also if members of the group had taken better
care of their equipment, some of the controversy could have been
avoided. Lack of attention to equipment maintenance was a
deficiency in project design (Islam, 1979). These cases are discussed
again in Chapter 6.
44
24 The most thorough study of these associations is by Stavis (1974a).
Changes in their organization are discussed by Gilbert Levine in an
appendix to the Stavis chapter on Taiwan in Uphoff (1982±83,
2:248±252), and also by Moulik (1981). During the period of
greatest agricultural dynamism in Taiwan Ð through the early
1970s Ð the FAs and IAs although closely supervised from the
center, had a good deal of discretion in undertaking local agricultural
development activities. Their employment of staff evidently contributed to both the level of effort and the responsiveness of trained
personnel. Increased central control over association activities was
introduced in 1975 in the name of greater efficiency and equity in
resource use (farmers' groups in richer areas could afford to pay staff
more and could therefore attract and keep better-qualified personnel). Much of the staff and budget control was returned to the
associations in 1982. Additional sources on these LOs are Abel
(1975), Bottral (1977), Kwoh (1964), and M. Moore (1983).
25 See Leonard's excellent empirical study of the agricultural extension
service in Kenya (1977), which accounts for the observed relationships by drawing on organization theory.
26 This is discussed in Uphoff (1983a) in terms of creating LO capacity
to make demands to balance the ``supply-side'' orientation of
prevailing administrative doctrine and practice in most developing
countries.
27 It should be borne in mind that regimes are seldom monolithic; some
top leaders may not be sympathetic to advancement for the rural
majority, while others are. Or some elements of the bureaucracy, on
which the regime depends, could take a more positive-sum view than
political leaders toward central vis-aÁ-vis local capacity. To be sure, a
leadership sympathetic to enhancing local capacity could be thwarted
by less supportive elements of the bureaucracy. Our discussion here of
respective gains and losses of power refers to the purposes of national
leaders generally, vis-aÁ-vis rural communities, without elaborating on
the implications arising from pluralism within regime structures.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 3.6
In not more than four pages list and describe the tasks of local organisations. Then
compare this list with the list you compiled in activity 3.5.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3.4
CONCLUSION
In this study unit we have paid attention to the roles of local government and local
organisations in development. The notion of partnership between local government
and local organisations (civil society) is being increasingly emphasised in the
debate on international development. In a sense the notion of central government
as an active partner is being bypassed. The argument is simple: in the past central
government has failed to secure development at the local level. Because local
government is closer to people, it can act more effectively as an agent for
development, while simultaneously promoting democracy.
45
It remains to be seen whether or not the new collective wisdom will stand the test of
time and really deliver development results. As a scholar of development, your task
is to keep abreast of the debate and its implementation at the local level. After
studying this study unit you should be well informed on the types and tasks of local
development organisations. Now reflect on how those organisations can collaborate
with local government to bring about development.
3.5
LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcomes
(1) I can explain the meaning of local
government.
(2) I can describe the history and emerging
issues of local government in Africa.
(3) I can identify the role of local organisations in development by relating it to the
role of government.
(4) I can classify local organisations according to the characteristics found in a
typology of local organisations.
(5) I can distinguish the tasks associated with
local organisations.
(6) I can apply knowledge of local organisations in classifying and describing local
organisations in my community.
46
Can do
Cannot do
STUDY UNIT 4
THE HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY:
URBAN-RURAL LINKAGES
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
use the concept of household economy appropriately
use the concept of sustainable livelihoods and explain its meaning
explain the concept of livelihood diversification and identify its determinants
list and discuss the policy areas affecting livelihood diversification
highlight the socioeconomic links between rural and urban areas
-------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1
INTRODUCTION
Study of the household economy is concerned with the way people make ends meet.
Rural poverty and urban squalor are mainly caused by few employment
opportunities and low incomes associated with unskilled or low-skilled labour
and the decrease in earnings from agriculture-related production. As a survival
strategy, poor households diversify their means of earning an income: income is
earned through (subsistence) agriculture, seasonal farm labour, hawking in the
informal sector and remittances sent from urban incomes (eg mineworkers) to the
rural household. Consequently, a household survives on the income earned by a
number of members of the household in diverse income-generating activities.
According to Ellis (1998:6) a household is ``the social group which resides in the
same place, shares the same meals, and makes joint and coordinated decisions over
resource allocation and income pooling''. This definition is, however, somewhat
limiting. It does not take into account the contribution made by non-resident
members of the family: those earning an income in the city, for instance. Yet, urban
employment opportunities are on the decrease and wages earned are dwindling
(Francis 1998:73). It is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to earn a
household income by ``straddling'' the rural and urban sectors.
47
4.2 THE HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 4.1
Think about your own household or that of a close friend:
^
^
^
Is your household contributing to the subsistence of a relative/friend in a rural
area, or do you receive a contribution from a relative/friend in an urban area?
What is the nature of the contribution: money, food, information?
What is the effect of the relationship of giving/receiving on the family?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Obligation means a
duty or requirement.
The concept ``household economy'' refers to the interaction between household and
family organisations, and the economy. The household economy is therefore a
means to an end, namely survival. This goal of survival extends beyond the survival
of the household. As a result of the socioeconomic links with rural areas, the urban
household has a duty to meet its obligations towards rural relatives. It is important
in this respect to mention the ``economy of affection''. According to Hyden
(1983:8) the economy of affection in this instance refers to support networks,
communication and interaction among groups bound by kinship, community,
religion and lineage, and not merely by emotions as such. It indicates co-operation
within a household and among various households to make a living and perform
economic activities. In the household economy, the economy of affection is the
foundation for the activities of the household economy. Decisions are made within
the household economy with due regard for the economy of affection, and therefore
with due regard for the rural and the urban household. This means that when
migrants make decisions in their ``new'' context (ie the urban lifestyle and the
household economy), such decisions will follow the principle of the economy of
affection. Migrants will make decisions that will be of benefit to themselves as well
as to their rural relatives. They therefore make choices that will be favourable to
themselves and to those with whom they have links in the rural area. This principle
becomes apparent in three areas: basic survival (the survival strategy), social
preservation and development (Hyden 1983:11±15). Basic survival is the most
fundamental area in which the economy of affection may be found. Migrants will in
the first instance act so as to satisfy their own basic needs and those of relatives.
Social preservation amounts to utilising the economy of affection in order to make
the social side of daily life more acceptable. This means, for example, that when
women go to fetch water (often at a considerable distance from their homes), they
do so in a group so that they can socialise along the way by talking or singing. In so
doing, the struggle for survival becomes less unpleasant. In the field of
development, the economy of affection offers an extensive support network. It
takes the form of financial assistance, assistance in finding employment, provision
of temporary accommodation to new arrivals and the provision of schooling
opportunities in the city for children of rural relatives.
In discussing the process of urbanisation Kuznesof (1986:75) looks at the transition
from the subsistence economy in the household to labour-specific activities. The
process of urbanisation may be regarded as increasing the economic diversity of the
rural area, accompanied by an interdependency between the urban and the rural area.
The household economy, which forms part of the urban lifestyle, is therefore the
interaction between the household and the external economy. The subsistence
48
economy, which forms part of the rural lifestyle, is the interaction between the
household and its productive ability to meet the subsistence needs of the household.
The household economy makes a contribution to the subsistence economy, while the
struggle for survival serves as a motivating force to enter the household economy,
which results in interaction with and differentiation within the economy at large. In
other words, the household economy contributes to the subsistence economy found
in the rural area by moving away from the subsistence economy and adding to it by
being part of the household economy of city life. Migrants are pushed away by the
known (subsistence economy) towards the unknown (household economy), because
the known cannot satisfy their needs. They enter the complex economy at large and
turn to the differentiated nature of the household economy which involves
interaction between the household and the economy at large. The household
economy is employed as an alternative to the subsistence economy where the family
satisfies its needs within its ``own economy'' in the form of subsistence farming.
Entering the household economy is seen as a potential solution to the problem of
providing for the needs of the family.
Two related aspects give rise to the household economy. The survival strategy is the
more important of the two. Poverty and deprivation in the subsistence economy
force individuals to find other means of survival. They consequently enter the
household economy, not by choice, but in order to survive. They regard the
subsistence economy practised in rural areas as insufficient to meet their needs.
This is the second aspect giving rise to the household economy. Individuals entering
the household economy do so to ensure their own survival as well as the survival of
those in the rural areas to whom they are socioeconomically linked.
Entry into the household economy is seen as the easy solution to all problems, for
instance in respect of housing and services. The urban lifestyle is also regarded as
wonderful and better, bigger and more convenient than the rural way of life
(Seekings, Graaff & Joubert 1990:47). In fact however, entry into the household
economy is not a smooth transition. It is necessary to adapt to the environment, the
working conditions and the lifestyle in general. Support is nevertheless available,
especially in the socioeconomic and sociocultural fields. The survival strategy is the
most important aspect in the transition to the household economy, and this is
discussed in more detail later in this study unit.
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ACTIVITY 4.2
Answer the question: ``What is the household economy?'' File your answer for
future reference.
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4.3
SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
The household economy is a mechanism that people use to ensure sustainable
livelihoods. What is meant by ``sustainable livelihoods''? They are livelihoods that
take into account the long-term impact of the strategies employed by maintaining
natural resources so that the needs of both the existing and future generations can
be met. According to Carney (1998) and Scoones (1998), there is a need to
49
understand the livelihood strategies and the ``vulnerability of the poor as the
starting point for intervention''. This is supported by Scoones and Wolmer (2003),
who emphasise that poor people are vulnerable and face many uncertainties. They
therefore suggest four areas where policy directions could support the idea of
creating livelihoods that are sustainable. These are: redistribution of resources
(primarily land, but also other resources), the politics of a free market, multiple
decentralisations, and realising rights (Scoones & Wolmer 2003:113±114). Toner
(2003:774) goes one step further and moves from frameworks for thinking to what
she calls ``principles for action''. We must realise that, although the concept of
sustainable livelihood is theoretically sound, its implementation is faced with many
challenges in practice as is the case with the poor living within this reality. This is
discussed by Scoones and Wolmer (2003:114±115) and illustrated by Toner
(2003), using two case studies of Tanzanian districts.
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ACTIVITY 4.3
Read the articles by Scoones and Wolmer (2003) and Toner (2003) in your Reader.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 4.4
Answer the following questions and file your answers for future reference:
(1) In a paragraph of about half a page, explain the concept of sustainable
livelihoods.
(2) List and then discuss, in not more than one page, the policy directions for
sustainable livelihoods.
(3) List and explain, in not more than two pages, how these policy directions
impact on the principles for action.
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4.4
SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS FRAMEWORK
At the heart of migration is the desire for economic wellbeing on the part of
individuals as well as individual households. Similarly, rural and urban
development aims to improve the living conditions of the people concerned. If
we understand the household as the basic unit of production in any society, we will
also be able to understand the economic imperatives of that unit. In this section, we
employ the use of the sustainable livelihoods (SL) framework by the United
Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) to analyse the
factors that impact on households' ability to lead sustainable lives. (We hasten to
add that this is not the only framework used in the analysis of livelihoods: CARE,
Oxfam and the United Nations Development Programme also have their own
frameworks.) Through this, we hope that you will be able to understand why some
household members finally migrate to cities (remember the push and pull factors?).
50
It should also become clear to you why, particularly in this theme, the emphasis is
on the linkages between rural and urban development planning.
4.4.1 Sustainable livelihoods defined
A livelihood consists of five specific capital assets that a household possesses. These
capital assets are human capital, natural capital, physical capital, financial capital
and social capital. It is these assets that ensure sustainable livelihoods, which
Carney (1998) defines as follows:
A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets and activities required for a
means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover
from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets
both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base.
4.4.2 Forms of capital assets
^
^
^
^
^
Financial capital consists in money incomes, access to credit and any other
financial means. Financial capital is a very versatile form of capital. Having
money means that a household can afford to do many things, such as going to a
doctor, buying enough food, sending children to school and so on. A household
that has access to financial capital is therefore better placed to achieve its
wellbeing than one that does not have financial capital. Money could come into
the household through wage employment, state social grants, self-employment
and remittances.
Human capital consists in education, skills, knowledge, health and labour.
Changes in human capital are likely to have tremendous effects on all other
factors that count as household assets. At a household level, human capital is
most likely to differ from one household to the next, since households are rarely
the same size. The size of a household is one of the factors that determine what
livelihood strategies the household will pursue.
Natural capital consists in land, water and biological diversity. Lack of access
to productive land may greatly compromise the livelihoods of some families. So,
too, with other natural resources. Due to their conditions of poverty, poor
households may find themselves degrading the natural environment to such an
extent that even the soil nutrients cannot be recovered.
Physical capital consists in livestock, machinery, communications, infrastructure and housing. Without proper road infrastructure, for example, people
struggle to reach markets. Poor housing or lack of a safe water supply could
mean that people have to spend most of their time building or repairing and
maintaining their hopes, or collecting water from a distance for domestic uses.
This prevents people from engaging in productive activities.
Social capital refers to the ability to socialise with other people, for example in
local organisations. It also includes access to information and any form of social
support, either from family or friends. Social capital is closely related to social
groups or class. Here, networks are created and, for the poor, these provide a
way of withstanding shocks such as funeral costs. Friends, family and club
members, for example in a stokvel, will always be at hand to help if the
household has a good stock of social capital. Social capital also goes to the level
of politics.
51
Important as they are, the assets we have referred to above exist within a
particular context of vulnerability. The DFID framework refers to trends, shocks
and cultural practices as influencing livelihoods. Trends refer to changing patterns
of stocks of resources, population density, technology, politics and economics.
Shocks could take the form of job losses, conflict and climate change, while
cultural practices may affect how people manage and choose their livelihoods
(Carney 1998:11). Understood within the vulnerability context, how assets are
used is the function of societal structures as represented by levels of government,
the private sector as well as processes in the form of policies and institutions. These
structures and processes in turn determine the kind of livelihood strategies people
adopt, for example whether they are natural resource-based, non-natural resourcebased or migration. While societal structures set and implement laws and policies
which affect service delivery and trade, processes embrace laws, policies, and
norms, and determine how structures function. The livelihood strategies people
choose affect incomes received, wellbeing of individuals, improved food security
and less vulnerability. This explanation is presented diagrammatically in figure 1.
FIGURE 1
DFID sustainable rural livelihoods framework
Source:
Source Carney 1998
4.4.3 The principles of sustainable livelihoods
According to Carney (1998:3, 7) and Scoones (1998:7±8), the sustainable
livelihoods approach is based on six core principles, as follows:
^
^
^
^
^
52
People-centredness. Attempts at poverty alleviation should focus on what people
have Ð their strategies, environments and ability to adapt.
Participatory and responsive. Beneficiaries should be the main actors in
identifying and prioritising their needs.
Dynamic. Support provided to the poor should take into account the fact that
livelihoods are not static but are determined and influenced by many factors.
Multilevel. Poverty is multilayered and cannot be addressed only at one level.
Institutions and processes need to be considered. Strategies should be able to
link the micro and macro levels.
Holistic. Because of the dynamism of poverty, strategies should be holistic and
not be confined to a few particular areas of people's lives.
^
Sustainability. Attempts at development should aim at ensuring sustainable
environments, including the economic, natural, institutional and social
environments.
It should be stated here that the sustainable livelihoods principles are not ``set in
stone'', but are in the process of evolving.
VILLAGE CASE STUDY: MDUDWA VILLAGE, EASTERN CAPE
PROVINCE
[The excerpt below is taken from Ntshona and Lahiff (2001).]
Mdudwa Village was selected for an in-depth study of livelihoods at a
household level. Mdudwa was purposefully selected as an example of a
reasonably accessible but undeveloped village. Although located only 10
km from Flagstaff town, the village has no roads, piped water or
electricity and has not been the subject of any government development
initiatives. Further stages of the study will focus on even remoter
communities and those which have been more directly affected by state
development policies. Mdudwa village is situated about 10 km outside
Flagstaff on the way to Kokstad. Mdudwa is one of the three subvillages
constituting Gcinilifu cluster. The other sub-villages are Mtshekelweni
and ``Kuwait''. Gcinilifu is under Xopozo tribal council. There is a
headman (uNozithetyana) and a ward councillor (Ceba) in the village.
The ward councillor represents about 15 villages inside and outside
Xopozo area.
There are 81 sites in the villages distributed in two areas known as Kayisa
and Mathumbu, called after the two main clans that make up the village. A
total of 23 out of the 81 sites are in Kayisa and the rest in Mathumbu. At the
time of fieldwork, 10 sites in Kayisa were vacant. The vacant sites have
either been given back to the headman to be allocated to other people or
continue to be used by their owners for arable purposes. In Mathumbu, 14
sites were vacant. It should be noted that not everyone in the Kayisa area is
of the Kayisa clan Ð eight out of thirteen households in Kayisa are of the
Kayisa clan and the rest have other clan names.
Sources of livelihoods
A wide variety of livelihoods were identified by the people of Mdudwa
village, including pensions, cropping, livestock, kin dependency, formal
and casual wage employment, remittances from migrant workers and
hawking.
Women above 60 years of age and men above 65 are entitled to state
pensions, but not everybody in the village who meets these requirements
gets the grant. The Department of Social Welfare is widely criticised for
delays in processing the applications. Those who receive pensions
typically have to support large families. Household composition is
increased in many cases because of children who are left in the care of
grandparents. Some pensioners have to support two households as it is
not uncommon in the village for a man to have more than one wife.
Almost all the households in the village make use of their arable fields.
People grow maize, pumpkins and beans, with the main concentration
being on maize. They use maize for homemade beer, maize drink
(amarhewu) and for a variety of foodstuffs. They also feed it to livestock
53
such as chicken and pigs. Households who do not make use of their arable
fields are perceived by their neighbours as being poor. People keep a
variety of livestock, including cattle, goats and poultry, although many
households that had cattle in the past do not have them now. Livestock
are kept for a variety of reasons, including food, as a store of wealth, and
for ploughing purposes.
Kin dependency is common among households who do not have a reliable
source of income or households who are waiting for remittances from
husbands in distant towns and cities. Gifts or loans from friends or
relatives takes various forms, such as a small dish of maize meal, maize,
samp or sugar. Many people in the village work occasionally for their
neighbours, especially those with old-age or disability pensions, assisting
them with collection of firewood and plastering houses with mud. A
number of people in the village are employed in the state plantations and
some work for a private company which dips the poles. In this area,
maybe because it is close to KwaZulu-Natal, many people have worked in
the sugar plantations.
Some still work there permanently or seasonally. Other migrants work in
Gauteng and the Free State provinces, mainly on the mines, and a few in
Cape Town and Port St Johns.
Remittances support a number of households with men working away
from home. During the household interviews it was evident that most
husbands remit inconsistently. Wives in such cases are prompted to
borrow money in order to ``chase their husbands behind''. Households
which, according to the wealth ranking exercise, were classified as
relatively rich, are in many cases receiving remittances from their
educated children. Education and a full-time job were counted during the
exercise as factors that greatly improve the wealth of a household. Some
households earn a living by selling fruit or meat in the streets of
Flagstaff, or by making baskets and brooms for sale to their neighbours.
Overall, we can say that households at Mdudwa pursue diverse and
multiple livelihood strategies. The most common activity is crop
production, but only the very poorest households depend on it as their
main source of livelihood. Pensions are the only regular source of cash
income for many households and typically support large extended
families. Full-time wage employment either locally or in the cities is the
goal of most people of working age but is available to only a minority of
households. Households with one or more members in wage employment
are noticeably better off than their neighbours.
Migration
Migration to cities such as Johannesburg and Durban was for many
decades the principal source of livelihoods for households at Mdudwa, but
is now in decline as a consequence of falling employment in industry and
the mines. Migration was, traditionally, a largely (but not exclusively)
male activity, and men typically worked a succession of fixed-term
contracts Ð joyini in local terminology Ð over the course of their
working lives. Some people have taken as many as eleven joyini while
others as little as one. Many of these joyini were for a single season,
especially in the KwaZulu-Natal area which offers temporary harvesting
jobs in the sugar cane plantations. This kind of job is very strenuous and
poorly paid. Many people took their first joyini in KwaZulu-Natal. Joyini
54
in KwaZulu-Natal used to be looked down upon by people when compared
to joyini in the mines of Gauteng or the Free State, which are for longer
periods and pay better than the sugar plantations. Temporary employment on the plantations would last between three to six months but for
employment in distant places would usually be for at least one year.
Although migration generally benefits the individuals and households
concerned, it is not without its social and economic costs.
Many men started second families in the cities, thus significantly
reducing the money remitted back to their rural homes. Women in the
village indicated that in some cases they have to borrow money while
waiting for remittances from their husbands, while others reported that it
is not uncommon for men to come home from the cities empty handed.
Almost all the older men in the village (35 years and older) have taken
joyini in their lifetime. In the past decade or so, finding employment has
not been easy for many people. Now people consider themselves lucky if
they can find a job in the sugar plantations, and are likely to go back year
after year if they can. This is unlike in the past where most men would
settle for temporary employment in KwaZulu-Natal only whilst waiting
for better employment elsewhere.
Joyini like many other livelihood strategies of rural people has not been
the single livelihood strategy for many migrants. It has in many cases
been coupled with agricultural activities. It was common for men to take
leave from their places of employment and return home around planting
and harvesting seasons. Because of the high retrenchments in the mines
and industries, many have fallen back on agriculture to survive. These
days there are very few migrants from Mdudwa. People in the village
spoke of spending a year or more looking for employment in metropolitan
areas without success.
Land and agriculture
The people of Mdudwa were dispossessed of much of their land by the
government to make way for an agricultural college in the 1930s. The
agricultural college offered employment to local people to work in its
arable fields as well as training students for agricultural extension
service. After it was closed, the government used the land for livestock
production and later as a plantation (Flagstaff Plantation) of exotic trees
such as pine and gum. The area is commonly known as Bhunga Farm
(Ibhunga). People of Gcinilifu and Sipaqeni (which is under a different
tribal authority) are now claiming the land under the land restitution
programme. If the claim is successful, they plan to move their houses
closer to the forest and use the land in which they reside presently as
arable fields. The villages of Gcinilifu and Sipaqeni have had a series of
meetings on how best to use the land, and their respective chiefs are at
the forefront of the claims. Mdudwa village today does not have clearly
demarcated arable fields like other villages in the Transkei. During the
1960s, the area was subjected to ``betterment'' (forced replanning and
relocation) and each household was allocated a site of approximately one
hectare for combined residential and arable purposes.
Their former arable plots on the slopes around the village now form the
communal grazing lands of the village. There are no fences that divide
the grazing land, but rather a system of ``social fences'' between the
55
various grazing areas, known as camps. People agree on when to graze
on not to graze in one camp that is reserved for the winter season. There
are a total of four camps in the area.
People in the village complain that although all home plots are supposed
to be all the same size, in practice they differ considerably. In part this is
because of the natural unevenness of the land, but according to the
village headman people commonly move the beacons which mark the
boundaries of their plot. Other people, especially from the Kayisa clan,
blame the headman for giving them smaller than average plots. There is
some disagreement about who has the formal authority to allocate plots,
although most people in the village agreed that both the tribal leaders
and the agricultural extension officer are involved. Further confusion was
evident around the role of the local municipality which, according to the
ward councillor, was also supposed to be involved, but this could not be
confirmed. Some informants suggested that the actual allocation of sites
is the responsibility of the extension officers, while other people in the
village claim that their sites were allocated by the headman (which is
something that happened in the 1990s) and others claim that it was men
from the tribal authority. The allocation of a site by the tribal authority
involves considerable expenses Ð a meal has to be prepared by the
household for the visitors and other men from the village who witness the
formal demarcation of the plot. In the normal course of events, a person
requiring a plot must first approach the village headman, which the
Kayisa clan perceives as the most difficult of all the stages of site
allocation because the headman perceived them as ``anti-chief''. Some
people resort to bypassing the headman and going straight to the tribal
authority. Others, because of the delays by the headman in taking them to
the tribal authority, have decided to leave the area (bakholiwe) to find
sites elsewhere. For many the first stage is very expensive, involving
transport for the applicant and the headman to the offices of the tribal
authority, and gifts for the headman and members of the tribal council.
At each stage, some money has to be paid. Following this, the headman
takes the applicant to the tribal authority to present his or her case in
front of the tribal council. Next, the tribal authority forwards the name of
the applicant to the extension officers in the district Department of
Agriculture. In the final stage, the tribal authority supports the
applicants' case before the extension officers. The extension officer must
establish that the applicant is married and whether or not they already
hold another piece of land in the village. Applicants are generally advised
by the extension officers to pay the local tax and the general levy of R20
to avoid unnecessary delays. The extension officers visit the site identified
by the applicant to formally allocate it. A number of households reported
that the headman himself allocates plots, with the tacit approval of the
tribal council and without the involvement of the Department of
Agriculture. The headman strenuously denied this, insisting that only
government officials could legally do so.
If an occupant decides to vacate a site, and does not intend using the site
for other purposes such as crop production, there is an agreement in the
village that they should hand the site back to the headman who then reallocates the site to another household. Most of the sites that have been
vacated are not suitable for residential purposes, but households are
56
granted the use of them for crop production. A local tax and general levy
(irhafu) of R20 is payable by every plotholder. The collection of the tax
and general levy, and the approval of new plot allocations, used to be
done by a branch of the magistrate's office before the coming of the new
democratic government. This office has now been taken over by the
provincial Department of Land Affairs and Agriculture. If a man has two
wives or more, he is expected to pay R20 for the site of the first wife and
R10 each for the rest. If he dies and the wife who was paying R10 wants
to continue staying in the site she would have to pay R20.
A number of households have access to two sites. These are households
that have relocated to a new site because of problems with the location of
the old site and managed to hold onto their former site. One household in
the village had access to three sites. The first site belongs to the first wife
of the household head, who no longer lives in the area, one is where the
family is currently residing and the third is intended for the eldest son
when he gets married. Families with multiple plots are in a position to
produce more maize and other crops than those with only one plot, as
long as they have sufficient labour within the household to make use of
them. A common complaint among members of the Kayisa clan was that
their sons are not being allocated plots by the headman, forcing them to
subdivide their existing plots between their family members. In contrast,
members of the Mathumbu clan, of which the headman is a member, were
said to be able to obtain as many plots as they need. People use their
arable land for maize production and some fence off small portions as
vegetable gardens. Most of the arable land is used to plant maize,
pumpkins and beans with the main concentration on maize. Crop
production in the area was used in the wealth ranking exercise as one
measure of whether the household is rich or poor. Households that do not
make productive use of their land were perceived by others in the village
as poor. Many households harvest sufficient maize to provide their staple
diet for the whole year, or most of the year. Maize is also used for making
Isigwampa (liquor), Ibhanqa (fresh maize), Amarhewu (maize drink),
Isikhuluphathi (maize with beans), and for feeding to chickens and pigs.
Field crops, mainly maize, are grown on domestic plots and, for those
who have them, on second plots away from the homestead. Smaller areas
(''gardens'') are used for vegetable production, where people grow
potatoes, spinach and cabbages. Fresh vegetables are consumed
throughout the growing season but are not preserved or otherwise stored
over the winter months. Most households do not sell their vegetables or
other crops. The exception is a group of women who have been allocated
a plot by the headman for a market garden, and have recently begun
selling cabbage, potatoes and beans to members of the community and in
Flagstaff town.
Households enter into a variety of relationships with other households in
order to produce a crop. Many households do not have cattle, or sufficient
cattle, for ploughing purposes, and therefore must join ploughing teams
(ilima). The composition of ploughing teams is based largely, but not
exclusively, on kinship. Relations between households usually endure over
many years, and even over generations. The usual arrangement is for one
household in the team to supply the cattle and all the equipment, such as
a plough and, in some cases, a planter. The household that owns the cattle
57
and the equipment will usually plough its own field first, just after the
first spring rains, and then move on to plough the fields of other members
of the team. In cases where the cattle-owning household is short of
labour, other members of the team will assist with the ploughing and, in
some cases, will provide labour later in the year for ploughing or
harvesting. People differentiated between work parties for the purposes
of weeding (ilima lokuhlakula) and sharing livestock (ilima leenkabi). A
household that has its land ploughed by others (ukumema ilima) must
provide a feast (ukuhlinzeka) for the cattle owners and their household,
and others who contribute to the team. Such feasts are a major burden
for some households, but are generally accepted as necessary in order to
get one's land ploughed and also because they are considered to
strengthen the bonds among kin groups. The main concentration in the
village is on cattle farming as opposed to other forms of livestock such as
sheep and goats. Only a minority of households now have cattle, however,
and very few households have more than 20 cattle. The number of
livestock is a determinant of the social status within the village and is
especially important during the ploughing season. Previously people were
denied old age pension if they had more than 30 cattle, which served as a
deterrent to accumulation, but the practice has now stopped.
Unlike other areas where there are cattle posts and cattle are headed in
those areas during certain seasons, people in Mdudwa kraal their
livestock every night, either at their own home or at another home in the
village which has a cattle byre and its own livestock. In most cases the
households are related. This usually occurs where the household owing
the cattle lacks the labour necessary to look after the animals every day.
There are benefits linked to this form of sharing such as milk, cow dung
and manure for the household where the livestock is kept. In one case we
encountered, the elder brother of a migrant labourer took all the livestock
belonging to his brother to his own village, a few kilometres away,
presumably with the agreement of his brother. Reports about the welfare
of the livestock are occasionally sent to the wife of the migrant labourer,
especially when an animal has died and she is expected to collect some of
the meat from her brother-in-law.
After a break of some years, the Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture
and Land Affairs has recommitted itself to providing dipping services in
communal areas. A dip tank attendant who lives in the village collects the
chemical mixture from the district Department of Agriculture and Land
Affairs to dip people's livestock. Dipping is intended to prevent
Umbendeni (Redwater) and other tick-borne diseases.
People gain cattle through lobola (bridewealth) which is given to the
family of the bride by the family of the groom. While it was traditional
for men to work on the mines or elsewhere in order to accumulate
sufficient lobola, these days many parents must pay lobola for their sons
due to the high rate of unemployment. Lobola can be paid in cash but
most rural households prefer cattle. There are other reasons besides
lobola and cultivation that make people keep livestock. These include
savings, aesthetic value, sales in neighbouring villages, milk, draught
power, manure, Ukugugisa (slaughtering of old cattle) and cultural
reasons. Sheep are also kept for their wool, while both sheep and goats
are necessary for slaughter on ceremonial occasions.
58
Forest and wild resources
Households in Mdudwa depend heavily on the resources they collect from
the forests and uncultivated lands that surround the village. The most
important such resource is firewood that, in the absence of electricity, is
the principal source of fuel in every household in the village. In only a few
better-off households is firewood supplemented by paraffin stoves. The
gathering of firewood is a labour intensive and physically demanding
activity, carried out almost entirely by women and girls, which must be
repeated three or four times a week.
Also of great importance is the gathering of building materials,
particularly wooden poles and thatching grass. While some structures
in the village nowadays have tin roofs, every homestead has at least one
traditional hut of mud and timber walls and thatch roof, and for poorer
households such dwellings remain the norm. Other natural materials of
lesser economic importance gathered in the area are rushes and wattle
for the making of traditional baskets and brooms, and a range of leaves,
seeds, bark and roots for use in traditional medicines. While a range of
grasses, rushes and other natural materials are collected from the
grazing lands and the banks of streams, the most heavily exploited areas
are the three categories of forests within and adjacent to the village Ð
the state-owned Flagstaff plantation, so-called village plantations and
scattered pockets of indigenous forest. The people of Mdudwa are acutely
aware that they are the historical owners of all the land surrounding their
village, even that which is now under state-owned plantations. Village
plantations, mainly composed of black wattle, were established under
previous government to create revenue for the tribal authority, and are
under the control of the village headman. They are sometimes referred to
as headmen's forests. Because of their close proximity to the residential
areas, there tends to be a shortage of dry wood for firewood. Thus, these
plantations are mainly used for the collection of building poles and laths,
for which people must pay a fee to the headman. When a person pays to
cut a tree, the headman asks one of his associates to accompany the
person lest they cut other trees. One tree costs about R10. People value
poles from indigenous trees in the village plantations as they are much
more durable than the pine or gum poles from the state plantations. The
revenue collected for the use of the village plantations is supposed to be
paid over to the tribal authority, but some residents of Mdudwa
questioned whether this in fact happens. Access to the state-owned
plantation is controlled by officials at the old agricultural college,
referred to locally as Ibhunga. People wishing to collect firewood must
first get a permit, for which they do not have to pay, but which are only
available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays before 12h00. One
permit allows the collection of a single headload of dry wood. Honey may
also be collected from the plantation without charge, but charges are
levied for other resources such as thatching grass, building poles and
laths. Entry to the plantation is monitored by security guards, who check
for the necessary permits and control the amount of material taken out by
users, but evasion of the guards and the permit system is believed to be
widespread. Fines can be imposed on anyone removing material or found
in possession of cutting tools without permission. There would appear to
be no controls over the collection of natural materials from non-forest
59
areas, such as grazing lands and riverbanks in and around the village. An
interesting insight into village dynamics, and attitudes to natural
resources, is provided by the story of the Mdudwa soccer field. As in
many South African villages, soccer is the only organised recreational
activity, and is a daily ritual for the male youth. The old soccer field in
Mdudwa village was located on a slope in the village, so the young men
decided to find a more level site. Unfortunately, the only one suitable was
on land that had been confiscated from the village many years ago and
incorporated into the state forestry plantation. The decision was taken to
clear trees from the chosen area and the soccer players went to work.
They were threatened with legal action by the forestry officials but they
continued with the clearing. The sub-headman was called to resolve the
matter but he did not succeed, perhaps because his son was a leading
member of the soccer team. Today the soccer field is in constant use and
is an important amenity in the village. There can be little doubt that the
decision to clear the site was influenced in part by historic claims to the
land on which the plantation is located. It also points to an underlying
tension between the powers-that-be, including both traditional leaders
and government officials, and the younger generation.
Water
Up to now, people of Mdudwa get water for domestic purposes from a
number of unprotected streams and springs around the village. These
sources are considered very reliable and do not dry up even in times of
drought. The collection of water is an exclusively female activity, and is a
daily ritual for women and girls in every household in the village. No
efforts have been made, by the villagers or others, to protect the water
points or the streams that supply them, and some villagers complained
that water is occasionally contaminated by people washing clothes
upstream. Livestock are watered from the same sources, but usually
downstream from the domestic supply points, yet there appeared to be no
concern about water-borne diseases in the village. A water scheme is
presently under construction for the villages of Mdudwa, Mtshekelweni
and Kuwait which will supply piped water to a number of communal
standpipes. The project is said to cost about R200,000 and is being
implemented under the Build, Operate, Train and Transfer (BOTT)
programme, by a private implementing agency contracted by the
municipal council. Even though a water committee had been established
for the three villages, and the project was already under construction,
there was widespread confusion and lack of information about the
scheme, to the extent that nobody in Mdudwa could tell us the name of
the private implementing agency involved. (It is probably Amanz'abantu,
but this could not be confirmed.) The water committee consists of nine
members, four from Mdudwa village, three from Mtshekelweni and two
from Kuwait. They are advised by a representative of the private
implementing agency who is known to members only by her first name.
The committee is supposed to oversee all aspects of the scheme, both
during the construction phase and during its subsequent operation. Local
people have already been employed to dig trenches for the water pipes,
but there was some confusion about who would pay them and how
much they would receive. While the physical construction of the scheme
60
proceeds, little progress has been made in developing systems to manage
the water use and the maintenance of the infrastructure. Villages have
been informed, seemingly arbitrarily, that they will be able to use the
water for cooking, washing and drinking, but not for irrigation or
washing of big items such as blankets, since these require a lot of water.
On the financial side, the committee has decided that all households in the
three villages must make a monthly contribution of R5 toward the
maintenance of the system and purchase of diesel for the pump. This
figure, we were informed, was decided on the basis of what it was thought
people would be willing to pay, rather than on the basis of any estimates
of the real costs of operation and maintenance of the system. As yet, no
measures have been put in place to collect such charges, or for dealing
with households that fail (or refuse) to pay. The confusion and lack of
information about the water project can be attributed to a failure of the
relevant authorities to fully inform villagers about what is being planned,
and their role in it, but also to divisions within the community.
Considerable tension exists between the village headman, the longstanding power in the village, and the newly elected ward councillor, the
representative of developmental local government. Although there is a
strong element of personal rivalry in this case, it can be related to wider
tensions between traditional authorities, represented by the chiefs and
headmen, and pro-democratic elements mainly associated with the
African National Congress. These tensions gave rise to physical violence
at Mdudwa in the run-up to the 1994 democratic elections and have
remained simmering in the area ever since. In the case of the water
project, the local ward councillor called several meetings to inform
people that funds had been approved by the council for a water scheme in
the village. The meetings were poorly attended because the headman
would call another meeting, which would clash with the water meeting.
The headman remains opposed to the project and has warned people that
they will end up paying for what they currently get for nothing. While the
introduction of a piped water scheme can be seen as a triumph for the
new local government, and for the local councillor who lobbied hard for
it, the manner it which it has been introduced remains top down and
bewildering to the intended beneficiaries. The local committee established
to facilitate the project clearly does not have the support of all members
of the community and serves largely to rubber-stamp the decisions of the
local municipality and the little-known implementing agency. Realistic
financial planning appears to have been overlooked in the rush to deliver
infrastructure, which raises serious concerns around the viability of the
project when the implementing agency withdraws. The switch from what
is effectively a free resource to one that must be paid for will undoubtedly
impose a strain on many poorer households. Coupled with this is an
underlying gender dynamic whereas women are currently responsible for
collecting water, and may be expected to benefit most from the new
system, it is men, as the controllers of most cash income in the villages,
who are likely to end up paying for it. It is thus, perhaps, not surprising
that the water committee is largely composed of men.
61
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ACTIVITY 4.5
(Spend one hour on this activity.)
Read the case study on Mdudwa Village above and identify the various forms of
capital assets available to the villagers.
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4.5
THE HOUSEHOLD SURVIVAL STRATEGY
The interdependent relationship between the rural and urban areas forms an
integral part of the survival strategy. Migrants in the first instance move from the
rural to the urban areas to ensure their survival. This process of migration for
survival centres around needs. By entering the household economy, migrants, and
those with whom they maintain socioeconomic links in the rural areas, survive,
because if migrants survive and can satisfy their needs, they can help rural
inhabitants survive by meeting some of their needs.
The survival strategy may be discussed primarily in terms of felt needs and possible
need satisfaction, as well as the fact that rural inhabitants perceive an urban
lifestyle as being more acceptable than a rural lifestyle. The latter arises from felt
needs which, according to the rural inhabitant, can be satisfied more easily by the
household economy than by the subsistence economy.
The needs that are relevant to the survival strategy include the need for services (eg
water and electricity), employment opportunities, education, recreation, housing
and adequate land on which to settle. Urban bias contributes to the perception
among rural inhabitants that the survival strategy and need satisfaction are
possible only by migration to an urban lifestyle and the transition to the household
economy.
The most basic need which emerges from the survival strategy is the need for
adequate land on which to settle (Watson 1991:29). As a result of the limited
capacity of the rural areas, and especially the restrictions of communal land rights,
the rural inhabitants migrate because they have no land or not enough land for the
subsistence economy. In the urban areas the household economy is dependent only
on enough land to erect an informal dwelling.
The need for education also plays a role in the decision to migrate because the
importance of training is becoming increasingly obvious. Educational prospects in
the rural areas are limited, and as a result rural inhabitants are drawn to the cities
Ð but a better education for children will very rarely be the only reason for
migration. It is rather one of a collection of aspects that make up the survival
strategy.
If one asks why rural inhabitants find an urban lifestyle more acceptable, it is clear
that the reason must be sought in the survival strategy. Rural inhabitants wish to
survive. In their struggle to survive, certain needs arise. They believe that they will
be able to satisfy those needs more easily and more effectively in the city by
entering the household economy, because the subsistence economy does not offer a
solution in the struggle for survival.
62
Socioeconomic links between cities and rural areas lead to rural inhabitants
regarding an urban lifestyle as preferable to a rural lifestyle: in a sense, an urban
lifestyle offers the best of both worlds in that it satisfies the needs of the family as a
whole, while the migrants' strong bonds with their origins remain intact.
The move to the household economy entails a process of diversifying the incomegenerating activities of members of the family. While conventional wisdom sees
diversification as a temporary occurrence, Ellis (1998:2) says it can be a
deliberate household strategy or an involuntary response to crisis: it is both a safety
net for the poor and a means of accumulation for the rich.
The household economy is the arena where livelihood diversification occurs. While
the diversification may originate in rural areas, it is also found in the informal and
squatter settlements in urban areas. Looking at livelihood diversification from a
rural angle, Ellis (1998:4) defines it as ``the process by which rural families
construct a diverse portfolio of activities and social support capabilities in their
struggle for survival and in order to improve their standards of living''.
Livelihood diversification is followed as a means of survival for the poor or as a
means of accumulation of income for the rich. Earlier we stated that livelihood is
more than income: livelihood also includes social institutions, gender relations and
property rights. Also included is access to public social services such as education
and health (Ellis 1998:4±5). Yet income remains an important aspect of livelihood,
and we will therefore pause for a moment to consider the categories of livelihood
income. Saith (1992, quoted in Ellis 1998:5) distinguishes farm income, off-farm
income and nonfarm income. Farm income includes earnings from crops and
livestock; off-farm income usually consists of wage or exchange labour on farms;
and nonfarm income is subcategorised into nonfarm rural wage labour, nonfarm
rural self-employment, property income (eg rents), urban to rural remittances (of
income earned within the national boundaries) and, finally, international
remittances earned from overseas migration.
An intertemporal
strategy is a strategy
that takes into account
that current decisions
also affect the choices
available in the future
(eg if you save more
today you can consume
less today, but you will
be able to consume
more in the future).
What influences decisions on livelihood diversification? The economic logic of
households definitely determines livelihood diversification options; social and
family considerations also play a role. Ellis (1998:11) distinguishes the following
determinants of diversification:
Income diversification
means that in order to
survive or increase their
wealth, people make use
of a range of different
opportunities and means
to earn an income.
Income diversification is a widespread livelihood strategy. Its practice straddles
rural and urban areas and provides a means of survival to many, and a means of
enrichment to some. Because of its prevalence in the Third World it needs to be
provided for in national development policy. A number of policy areas are relevant
for income diversification as a livelihood strategy. Reinforcement within these
areas will improve the household economy and support household livelihood
strategies. Ellis (1998:25±29) identifies the following important policy areas:
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
seasonality
differentiated labour markets
risk strategies
coping behaviour
credit market imperfections
intertemporal savings and investment strategies
targeting
reduction of risk
63
^
^
^
^
^
^
microcredit
rural services
rural nonfarm enterprise
rural towns
infrastructure
education
To summarise, livelihood diversification as a household strategy is an important
part of the household economy and needs to be reinforced by appropriate
government policy.
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ACTIVITY 4.6
You will need to do this activity before you can do the one that follows. Skim-read
the article by Ellis (1998) in your Reader. Then thoroughly read the sections in the
article entitled ``Introduction'', ``Concepts of livelihood diversification'', ``Determinants of diversification'' and ``Diversification and policy''.
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ACTIVITY 4.7
Do the following activity and file your answers for future reference:
(1) In a paragraph of about half a page, explain the concept of livelihood
diversification.
(2) List and then discuss, in not more than one page, the determinants of
livelihood diversification.
(3) List and explain, in not more than two pages, the policy areas affecting
livelihood diversification.
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4.6
URBAN LIFESTYLES
It is typical of the urban lifestyle that migrants move to the city, but retain their
rural links and continue to regard themselves as members of their community of
origin. They are therefore not isolated in the city and they assume that they will
return to the rural area (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:117). These links with the rural
area indicate that migrants remain peasants at heart, but become urbanites
because they participate in the urban lifestyle. Migrants will use their urban
connections to help the children of their rural relatives to attend school in the city.
They become accustomed and adapt to the urban lifestyle in order to realise their
economic objectives. As they move about the city, they become experienced in the
urban lifestyle. Migrants who move to the city therefore actually acquire an
additional culture, namely the urban culture.
64
It is important to bear in mind that the urban lifestyle makes provision for a
migrant arriving in the city from the rural area to be supported by relatives or
acquaintances in the city. Knowledge of, and strategies for survival in, the urban
environment are conveyed and explained to the migrant. A solidarity develops
among rural inhabitants who come to the city as migrants and become part of the
urban lifestyle.
Life in the city is also characterised by alternative lifestyles (Gilbert & Gugler
1984:121). The most important of these lifestyles are the networks of family and
friends. Religious groupings are another example of an alternative lifestyle found in
the city and utilised by migrants to become part of the urban way of life. A further
characteristic of the urban way of life is the co-operation that exists within groups.
It is also an innovative lifestyle because it offers more opportunities, and new
opportunities are created more readily than in the rural areas.
The subculture of poverty as part of the urban lifestyle is the rule rather than the
exception. Characteristics of this subculture are as follows: the absence of a protected
childhood, a tendency towards female- or mother-oriented families, and a strong
tendency to yield to authoritarianism (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:129). The subculture of
poverty gains a permanent foothold in the urban lifestyle because it has a strong
influence on the children. As a result of the subculture of poverty, the children
assimilate the prevailing lifestyle in the environment and they become so used to it
that they do not make use of the opportunities that may present themselves.
4.7
SOCIOECONOMIC LINKS WITH RURAL AREAS
As a result of the traditional system of land ownership, the rural population in
Africa migrates to the cities very easily, because the extended family's occupation
of rural land means that individuals may move to the cities without giving up their
rural resources (Swilling, Humphries & Shubane 1991:367). Socioeconomic links
with rural areas facilitate entry into the household economy because the migrants
know that they still have their rural resources to fall back onto and to which they
can return. Socioeconomic links indicate the bond between the migrants in the city
and their families and friends in the rural area. In practice, this finds expression
most strongly in the system of kinship between inhabitants of rural and urban
areas. This bond is in fact reinforced, for instance, when a father migrates to the
city, because his brother will take on his role in the rural area. Bonds of this kind
may be found in the social, psychological and economic fields (Peil & Sada
1984:178). The economic links become evident in the financial assistance that
migrants channel from the city to their families in the rural area. The migrants
retain a stake in land rights in the rural areas. This facilitates the survival strategy
in that the migrants who have socioeconomic links with the rural area are twice as
likely to survive because their opportunities have been doubled.
Socioeconomic links are also forged when children remain in rural areas to attend
school (Seekings, Graaff & Joubert 1990:51). This influences the household
economy in that money, food and clothing are sent to children in the rural areas. It
also forms part of the survival strategy. By means of the household economy,
migrants provide for their own survival as well as the survival of other members of
the household who remain in the rural areas.
65
The most significant influence of urban income on rural people is that it facilitates
the rural survival strategy. The benefit of the household economy (money) serves to
supplement the subsistence economy as a source of income. This eases the strain on
subsistence economy activities because a supplementary income is available for
satisfying needs.
Because rural inhabitants receive money from the city, it appears to them to be
easy to earn money in the city. In this way, urban income may also serve to attract
inhabitants of rural areas to the cities.
When migrants arrive in the city, everything seems new, foreign and strange.
Accordingly, it is when they first arrive in the city that they are offered
socioeconomic and sociocultural support.
Kinship is the primary network providing support for new arrivals. When migrants
arrive, some of their relatives may already have settled in the city and they will give
the new arrivals with the necessary support. This support may take various forms,
for instance temporary accommodation, financial assistance, exchange of knowledge and finding employment.
Migrants may also receive support from the neighbourhood in which they settle
(Huggins 1989:18). If they meet their neighbours and build up friendships with
them, these new friends may also be supportive. Migrants may receive valuable and
useful information from neighbours on matters such as the nature, scope and
venues of cultural, social and recreational activities.
An example of a support service is the burial society. Like women's organisations,
burial societies serve as mechanisms to help migrants adapt to and keep pace with
various aspects of the modern urban lifestyle (Huggins 1989:37). By joining a burial
society, migrants meet other members of the community in which they live. They
acquire information and hear opinions on the urban lifestyle. The burial society as
such provides them with peace of mind because they know that if they should die, their
families will receive support, and that if relatives of theirs die, they themselves will
receive support. Women's organisations also provide support where necessary. For
instance, they assist new arrivals with food preparation, settling in and information.
According to Huggins (1989:40), the stokvel offers important assistance to
migrants in respect of the household economy and the survival strategy. It is
believed that the name ``stokvel'' is derived from the term ``stock fair'' (cattle
auction). Stokvels come in different guises and are usually associations with a
limited membership. Each member regularly contributes a certain amount of
money and each member in turn receives the ``jackpot'' Ð the whole amount
contributed in a given period, usually a week or a month. Mutual trust is important
for the success of a stokvel. When new arrivals enjoy the support of a stokvel, they
are assured of receiving a large amount of money as a return on their ``investment''
of a smaller amount.
Indiscriminately means
doing something without thinking about
what the result may be,
acting in a random
manner.
66
The household economy is important to the survival strategy because certain needs
are identified which are important for survival. In order to meet these needs, it is
necessary to enter the household economy. Migrants make decisions regarding the
extent to which they will be able to satisfy these needs by entering the household
economy. They will not move to the city indiscriminately, but will first make
reasonably sure that their needs will be better satisfied in the city.
Socioeconomic links between rural and urban areas are important in the decision
to adopt an urban lifestyle because migrants always retain their links with rural
areas, which provide them with an option in case they are not able to adapt to the
urban lifestyle. However, problems with adapting are usually resolved by means of
socioeconomic and sociocultural support.
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ACTIVITY 4.8
Describe in your own words the socioeconomic links between rural and urban
areas.
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4.8
CONCLUSION
In this chapter we have discussed the household economy, and particularly how the
household economy is influenced and supported by urban-rural linkages.
Sustainable livelihoods and the household survival strategy form part of the
context. Finally, we discussed urban lifestyles and socioeconomic links with rural
areas.
4.9
LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcomes
Can do
Cannot do
(1) I can explain what is understood by the
concept of household economy.
(2) I can explain what is meant by livelihood
diversification.
(3) I can explain what is meant by sustainable livelihoods.
(4) I can identify the determinants of livelihood diversification.
(5) I can list and discuss the policy areas
affecting livelihood diversification.
(6) I can highlight the socioeconomic links
between rural and urban areas.
67
STUDY UNIT 5
RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to
(1) explain the colonial history of migrant labour
(2) identify areas of investment of income remittances from migrant labour
(3) explain how migrants' use of remittances could influence policies supporting
household livelihood strategies
(4) list and explain the models of rural-urban migration
(5) identify the consequences of natural and human-made disasters
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5.1
INTRODUCTION
In this study unit, we discuss migration as it relates to the movement of people from
rural areas to urban areas. To provide you with some background, we first try to
define this concept before analysing the types of migration and discussing the
causes and results thereof, as well as obstacles to migration. Although the study
unit is based on a number of other readings, our main source is the book Migration
in South and southern Africa: dynamics and determinants (2006), edited by Kok,
Gelderblom, Oucho and Van Zyl. Although this study unit tends to focus on labour
migration, you need to understand that many people all over the world migrate for
different reasons Ð economic, education, political, social and environmental, to
mention a few examples.
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) defines migration as ``the crossing
of a spatial boundary by one or more persons involved in a change of residence''
(2007). The HSRC acknowledges the debates around the definition of this concept,
but it definitely rules out any definition that includes moving from one house to
another in the same neighbourhood (or town) or from one apartment to another in
the same block of flats. Consequently, for a move to be regarded as migration, it
should not involve just a few kilometres. Essentially it should be a crossing of some
spatial boundary, for example between countries, provinces, local governments, or
magisterial districts. For the purposes of this study unit, migration is defined as the
movement of people from rural spaces to urban spaces within the borders of a
single country. Keep in mind that definitions are specific Ð they cannot be
anything and everything, otherwise they will serve no purpose.
68
De Jong and Steinmetz (2006:249) refer to local and distant, temporary and
permanent, voluntary and involuntary, national and international forms of
migration. In many instances, what we refer to here as rural-urban migration
will involve individuals crossing a spatial boundary into another area. The ruralurban migration we discuss therefore fits in with many of the forms De Jong and
Steinmetz refer to, but within the boundaries of a single country.
5.2
THE COLONIAL ORIGINS OF MIGRANT LABOUR
The era of colonialism represents a particular and special discourse of migration in
the developing world, especially in the sub-Saharan region. During that era, local
colonised populations were not only required to provide labour to the mines and
farms, but also to the industries that resulted from such activities. Thus ruralurban labour migration was born from the colonial needs for labour. In cases where
local labour was not found, it was drawn in from other colonies Ð thus involving
cross-border migration. In many ways, labour migration was a system for creating
forced labour reserves, particularly in the colonies (O'Laughlin 2002:511; Jeeves
& Kalinga 2002:1), and it created many social problems (Bryceson 2003:21)
which fed into how a household's assets were utilised.
One of the ways people tell their stories is through songs. Mazibuko (2009:24)
explains that people express themselves in music as a form of participation in
specific issues. The story of migration has also been told in song in South Africa.
Specific popular songs Ð especially by Miriam Makeba, Caiphus Semenya and
Hugh Masekela Ð that explain the effects and consequences of rural migration,
tell of people being transported in trains to the mines and of others dying there. The
songs express sorrow, hope and frustration about migration. The long labour
contracts migrants had to endure without their families and loved ones are issues
that come out clearly. But also from those songs, we learn that migration became
an option in order to sustain livelihoods ensuring food security in the households
and even in enabling young men to get married (Wentzel & Tlabela 2006:74).
The early Cape colony authorities of the Dutch East India Company had at some
stage to request permission to bring in Malaysian slaves to provide the required
labour which the settled white inhabitants refused to do. Similarly, in the 1800s,
the British colony of Natal had to bring in Indian labour to work in the sugar cane
fields as indentured labour, and after the expiry of their contracts, they could
choose to either return to India or stay in Natal.
As for the local African people, particularly in sub-Saharan and South Africa, the
colonial governments used taxation to force men to go to work in the mines, where
their labour was critically required (Wentzel & Tlabela 2006:74). Some common
forms of taxes that those men were required to pay were head tax and hut tax.
Initially these attempts were resisted and people used their livestock as payment.
This could not, however, last for long as it depleted their wealth, and the
colonialists themselves later refused to accept livestock as tax payment. Local
people were therefore forced to join the ranks of migrants. In some parts of Africa,
these forms of taxation were forcibly resisted with the use of arms. The
Bhambhatha Uprising of 1904 is a case in point. Although it is known as the
Bhambatha Uprising in the history books, the Zulu people refer to it as Impi
Yamakhanda (head tax war). The uprising was led by the Bhambatha from
Enkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, who resisted paying tax and therefore opposed the
recruitment of young men to the Witwatersrand gold mines.
69
In order to ensure an adequate labour supply to the mines, the colonial authorities
passed various pieces of legislation to dispossess African people of their land, and
even their right to earn a living as farm workers was severely curtailed. All this was
done to ensure that these people became landless and were compelled to seek
livelihoods as workers of one kind or another. This was actually a process of
creating a kind of forced labour which took place in the whole region, with the
mines drawing labour from countries such as Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique,
Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe (Wentzel & Tlabela 2006:74±75). To this day,
labour migration from these countries still provides a way of earning a living for
many people.
Rural-urban migration was not and is never an issue that affects all except white
people. White people were also forced to migrate during the same era, but largely
by natural factors. The clouding of the issue, as if migration is a non-white issue,
came about as a result of the fact that white people were protected by colonial
governments against competition with other racial groups. Take, for instance, the
1896 outbreak of rinderpest Ð a cattle disease that left many stock farmers poor
Ð and the drought that accompanied it, which affected everyone, not only white
people. These two occurrences led to what is known as the ``poor white'' problem in
South Africa (Wentzel & Tlabela 2006:82; Mtonga 2002:25-45) and the related
pieces of legislation that successive colonial and apartheid governments passed to
save the white race. Here then are the early beginnings of the politicisation of
poverty in the region and South Africa in particular. A picture was created that
white people should and must not be allowed to fall into poverty as that would
make them vulnerable to association with black people regardless of their
economic standing. Wilson and Thompson (1971:181±182) state the following:
For much of the period under consideration policy aimed at prising Africans out of
reserves to work on white-owned farms and industry. African reserves were
regarded by whites as ''reservoirs of labour'', and congestion, landlessness, and
crop failure were welcomed as stimulants to the labour supply. But similar
phenomena among whites were viewed as national calamities.
Today, it is common practice for many people to shift continually between rural and
urban areas. People move to work in the cities and return ``home'' at specific times
of the year Ð their homes being the rural space. Now, think of this as a culture
born out of circumstances. The process of migration has, since the colonial era,
been projected as a cultural one, based on the assumption that people of African
origin prefer to work as migrants and return home periodically. On the contrary,
this culture was forced on the people. Many such people who were recruited to the
mines and farms away from their real homes were forced to stay in single-sex
compounds. In the cities they were regarded as sojourners while white people
enjoyed the liberty to live with their families wherever they wished. In South
Africa, specific laws were passed to prevent African people from settling in towns
and cities. Wentzel and Tlabela (2006:84±89) refer to specific pieces of
legislations such as pass laws, the Group Areas Act and the Urban Areas Act,
which were used to control the influx of black people into urban areas. These laws
became obstacles to the permanent settlement of African people in urban areas.
The results of this ``culture'' of migration Ð the spread of diseases and family
breakdowns have been described by many (Roux & Van Tonder 2006:129±130)
while a few, such as Ramphele (2002) and Baden, Hasim and Meintjies (1998),
examine the effects of migration on women left behind alone with the children.
70
In this section, we have tried to give you some insight into migration during the
colonial times. Of importance is to understand that the migration of people to
urban areas was (and still is) largely induced by specific factors. This does not in
any way imply that everyone who migrated was forced to do so. Many people left
their places of origin of their own volition. Nevertheless, you should realise that
migration at that stage was driven by politics for those who migrated, and
economics for those who needed labour. We can thus state that politics and
economics have always had a tremendous influence on the practice of migration.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 5.1
(Spend 1.5 hours on this activity.)
Write short notes on the reasons for migration in South Africa.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3
MODELS OF URBAN MIGRATION
In this section we look at the factors that cause people to migrate to the cities. (You
should bear in mind that migration is not only a move to the city; it can also be a
move to a rural area.) Many theories have been offered in an attempt to provide
answers to the question: why do people migrate? In considering the different
answers to this question, you will notice that, as Gelderblom (2006:271) explains,
theories of migration include push and pull factors in varying degrees. As you read
through this section and the relevant article in the Reader, try to differentiate
between pull factors and push factors.
Gelderblom (2006:268±290) discusses the various theoretical approaches to
migration, namely the spatial reward structure, individualised rewards, structural
variables, information flows, perceptions, motivation and decision-making, and
filters. Let us take a brief look at each of these theoretical approaches to
migration.
The spatial reward model
The spatial reward approach to migration states that once people perceive an area
as being unable to offer them what they need, they are likely to leave it for an area
that they believe is better able to meet their needs.
Individualised rewards model
The people who live in a particular place enjoy different benefits based on their
individual characteristics or attributes, such as education or gender. People will
move or stay depending on whether the area will reward their particular
characteristics.
Structural variables determining decision-making units
A decision to migrate or not to migrate may be influenced by a number of factors.
This could include marriage, gender and the number of people who need to be
consulted about the decision.
71
Information sources
Knowledge is power. Without information about other places people will not
migrate. Once they have access to such information, they are more likely to
consider migration and to decide for or against it.
Filters
This approach emphasises the factors that could prevent or assist an individual to
decide to migrate or not to migrate.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 5.2
(Spend 45 minutes on this activity.)
Based on your understanding of the causes of migration, write short notes on the
various theoretical approaches to migration.
------------------------------------------------------------------5.4
MIGRATION, URBANISATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
We have seen that the main impetus for migration is to help people improve their
livelihoods Ð whether they migrate voluntarily or are forced to do so. A number of
studies (Jeeves & Kalinga 2002; De Jonge & Steinmetz 2006) show that migration
enables people to send remittances home and to keep hunger and starvation in their
families at bay. Through remittances, families are able to send children to school and
this ultimately contributes towards the formation of human capital in the rural areas.
Looking at the other side, migration deprives the rural areas of their physically
strong people. As it is often the young people, in particular, who leave for the urban
areas, the rural areas become populated mainly with older persons and the infirm,
who have a limited contribution to make to rural economic development. The fact
that remittances help build rural human capital may well be reversed since the very
people who are educated with this money may finally migrate themselves. This
rural brain-drain then poses severe challenges. It happens because the rural areas
lack the economic incentives that would retain their young educated people. Here,
you need to refer back to the models of migration discussed above to help you
understand some of these problems.
While migration is primarily a result of economic issues Ð the need to earn a living
and ensure food security in the household Ð it must be seen in a holistic manner.
Here, you need to think of the effects of migration on those remaining behind.
What happens to the family that is left in the rural areas? What happens to the
rural areas themselves as the physically strong people leave for the cities? These
are some of the issues that should concern us. You learnt at the first level that
poverty is not only economic, but also involves issues of emotional wellbeing and illbeing. The article by Ntabeni (2002) in the Reader will give you greater insight into
these issues.
Ramphele (2002:65) has this to say about the impact of the migrant labour system
on females remaining behind in rural South Africa:
The migrant labour system expected African women to divide themselves into
faithful wives who ran the rural household and mothers who nurtured the children
that would become the economy's labour force. For eleven months of the year these
72
women were to lead celibate lives and focus on mothering the children. Little
consideration went into the difficulty of re-establishing intimacy between husband
and wife.
Although labour migration has been dominated by males, the perception could be
created that it is a ``man thing''. On the contrary, females have not been left
untouched by this movement. Baden, Hasim and Meintjies (1998:39) have this to
say about women's migration in South Africa:
While recruitment of mine workers remained male-dominated, African
women began to move into urban areas in increasing numbers from the 1930s
onwards. While the range of employment opportunities for white women
increased during the War , the vast majority of African women in the cities
were employed in domestic work, which, although highly exploitative, offered
women food and shelter in urban areas. Legal restrictions on the movement of
women into the cities, and the exclusion of Africans from a range of jobs
resulted in a high proportion of women located in the informal sector in
activities such as hawking and beer brewing or, in rural areas, working
casually on farms. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the apartheid
government began to regulate more systematically the movement of African
people, and especially of African women in order to restrict the development
of a large urbanised African population.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 5.3
(Spend one hour on this activity.)
Using the understanding you have gained by reading this section, identify the
effects of migration on family members left behind when their menfolk migrate to
the cities.
List, and then explain in your own words, each of the models of urban migration.
File your answer for future reference.
------------------------------------------------------------------5.5
DISPLACEMENT AND NATURAL DISASTERS
Normal (voluntary) migration is primarily motivated by perceived economic
opportunities in the city (Todaro 1994). Forced migration, on the other hand, is
caused by, inter alia, famine, droughts and wars across national boundaries.
Forced migration is distinguished from voluntary migration by the diminished
power of decision in the former. Although few theorists mention natural disasters
as a cause of forced migration, the same element of powerlessness applies in
people's decision to migrate from areas affected by a disaster.
Natural disasters can cause irreparable damage and major displacements.
Selected examples of such displacements are as follows:
^
^
^
A cyclone hit Orissa, India, in 1999 and caused the total collapse and
destruction of 742 143 housing units.
An earthquake in Turkey in the same year made one million people homeless,
including 70 per cent of the population of Izmir (Habitat 2001:182).
On 26 December 2004, a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean generated a
tsunami that caused widespread destruction. This disaster claimed the lives of
73
over 150 000 people in South and Southeast Asia (Deen 2005:2). Most of the
people who were affected lived in marginal areas on the coastline Ð not surprisingly, many survivors wanted to migrate deeper inland onto higher lying
ground.
The above-mentioned disasters are not isolated occurrences; they are examples of
catastrophes that occur all too often.
Table 5.1 below (Habitat 2001:182) provides information about the total number
of people affected by disasters, including those killed. Those ``affected'' are people
who require immediate assistance during a period of emergency (ie help in meeting
basic survival needs such as food, water, shelter, sanitation and urgent medical
assistance).
TABLE 5.1
Total number of people affected by armed conflicts, natural and technological disasters, 1990±1999
Armed
conflict
Type of
disaster (%)
Natural
disasters
Technological
disasters
84,705
62.0
5.4
14.0
54,600,922
111,791
4.4
2.9
18.5
45,216,161
1,677,789,948
318,778
27.6
89.7
52.9
Europe
9,582,061
18,416,100
72,965
6.0
1.0
12.1
Oceania
70,025
18,022,672
14,841
0.0
1.0
2.5
163,670,942
1,870,010,653
603,080,100
100
100
100
Armed
conflict
Type of
disaster (N)
Natural
disaster
Technological
disasters
101,553,666
101,181,011
America
7,249,029
Asia
Continent
Africa
Total
Source:
Source Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Table compiled by Susan Krieger.
The data in table 5.1 show that from 1990 to 1999 more than 2 000 million
people were affected by disasters worldwide: most of them (1 800 million) by
natural calamities; many in the course of armed conflict (163 million); and a
relatively small but still significant number by technological (human-made)
disasters (600 000). The above led to a massive exodus of migrants, largely to
urban areas, often in neighbouring countries, mainly to recover from the
devastating effects of natural disasters, and in search of economic prosperity in
urban areas. This resulting urbanisation holds a serious threat for the sustainability
of urban regions in the developing world, in terms of jobs, housing and
infrastructure.
5.6
CONCLUSION
Our discussion of the colonial origins of migrant labour, as well as of urbanisation
in sub-Saharan Africa, has made it sufficiently clear that the phenomenon of urban
migration is too vast and complex to be forced into formal models. The concrete
circumstances and specific problems of the people involved, with their rational
decision-making capabilities, simply cannot be reduced to structural generalisations. Such generalisations cannot finally fathom the causal factors behind the
attracting and repelling (push and pull) forces governing migration tendencies.
74
Migration is part of a wider social system which can only be understood to the
extent that it is examined theoretically as well as concretely. In this regard many
able fieldworkers and researchers have vigorously cautioned against uneven urban
and rural development in the light of concrete circumstances.
5.7
LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcomes
Can do
Cannot do
(1) I can explain the colonial history of
migrant labour.
(2) I can identify areas of investment of
income remittances from migrant labour.
(3) I can explain how migrants' use of
remittances could influence policies supporting household livelihood strategies.
(4) I can list and explain the models of ruralurban migration.
(5) I can identify the consequences of natural
and human-made disasters.
75
76
THEME B
KEY ISSUES IN RURAL
DEVELOPMENT
In theme A we saw how strong the rural-urban links in Third World countries are.
These links are socially reinforced by family relations and economically reinforced
by land. Rural land remains a central issue in the household economy and in rural
development: it also remains an issue that influences urbanisation and the
development of cities.
Although we pay separate attention to rural development in theme B, this does not
mean that rural development is a separate issue. It is very much integrated with
urban development and we refer to this fact frequently.
77
STUDY UNIT 6
LAND TENURE REFORM
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to
(1) explain the concept of land tenure reform
(2) list the prerequisites for land tenure reform
(3) write an essay on land tenure reform in Zimbabwe and Namibia
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6.1
INTRODUCTION
Land is probably the most precious resource for the survival and continued
existence of humankind, and it forms the basis on which an entire economic, social
and constitutional order is established. It is on land that people settle and achieve
security; they can use the land to their advantage and make a living from it. At the
same time land is very valuable, particularly in view of the fact that the population
is growing, cities and towns are growing and businesses are expanding, while the
amount and availability of land remains constant. For that reason land must be
utilised with the utmost care and with careful planning, and heavy demands are
made on land tenure reform is surrounded by high expectations.
Systems of land tenure and utilisation of land play an important part in the
development process and have become a survival issue, owing to the high
population growth rate with its accompanying demands for increased food
production and equality. A third important aspect which should be increasingly
stressed is the demand for sustainable development, which implies that the
environment and ecological resources have to be protected and preserved.
Reform of land tenure may offer the solution to the majority of the above problems.
Emotionally, however, this is a very sensitive matter and there is probably no other
sphere in which the conflict between traditional values and economic concepts is
more difficult to reconcile.
6.2
LAND TENURE
The term ``land tenure'' refers to the legal or traditional relations between
individuals or groups and a community with regard to the rights and obligations of
land use. Margeot (1988:288) describes land tenure as the relationship between
groups of individuals on the one hand, and on the other, land and water as well as
78
the products produced on the land. Barnes (1988:285) agrees, but stresses that the
study of land tenure must also examine the political, economic, sociological and
administrative structures that exist within a community.
According to Margeot (Van de Wall 1988:36) systems of land tenure have
developed over centuries to meet changing demands and practical needs of food
and shelter which have arisen as the result of population growth. A system of land
tenure may therefore be defined as the system whereby persons acquire rights with
regard to land. These rights may take the form of freehold, right of use, leasehold
or any other form that is legally recognised and protected.
Land tenure systems therefore reflect to a considerable extent the way in which a
given community organises itself. For Margeot (1988:288) the features of a
healthy land tenure system include the following: the provision of security, ensuring
a permanent and accurate record of rights, giving rise to effective and economic
patterns of land use, adapting to changing needs, encouraging development,
preserving what is good in existing practices, being maintained by well-trained
officials, and being understood and accepted by all members of the community. If
the land tenure systems which prevail in rural areas are evaluated according to
these features, one is bound to conclude that the systems to which certain groups in
South Africa are subjected are anything but effective.
The variety of land tenure forms is virtually endless. Formal categorisation is at
best a simplification of social reality. In other words, models of land tenure systems
do not adequately describe what is actually happening on the ground. An additional
problem, as identified by Bohannan (1963), is that rural inhabitants have different
perceptions of land tenure relations than do westernised urban people. Generally, in
most if not all developing countries, there is more than likely to be a pronounced
discrepancy between the respective ways in which local inhabitants on the one
hand, and academics, planners and state bureaucrats on the other, perceive or
understand land tenure. The following is a good case in point: Jeppe (1980:11)
points out that the term ``communal'' or ``common'' ownership of land can easily
be oversimplified, and this may lead to misunderstanding the indigenous rights to
land. Not only do communal rights to land stem from the community's right to
land, referred to above, but members of the tribe can also obtain and exercise
strong individual rights to land. However, these individual rights differ
considerably from the Western concept of private ownership.
In South Africa, for a variety of historical and political reasons, land tenure and
land use show an uneven pattern. Settlement patterns, discriminatory legislation
and regulations, economic circumstances and innumerable other factors contributed to making land and land tenure one of the biggest problems in the country.
Some people are of the opinion that the problems of land tenure can be solved by
simply repealing existing discriminatory laws and making land available to all. The
right to possess one's own land is indeed an elementary human need that must be
respected, but problems relating to the possession of land have so many social,
political and economic implications that they go far beyond the mere possession of
land. Other aspects that play an important part in land tenure and land tenure
reform include agricultural development, urbanisation, environment conservation,
housing, job opportunities, community development and systems of land
registration.
79
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 6.1
Read the following excerpt from a work by the Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO 2002:7±12) for additional information on land tenure, and make notes for
yourself.
What is land tenure?
Land tenure is the relationship, whether legally or customarily defined, among
people, as individuals or groups, with respect to land. (For convenience, ``land'' is
used here to include other natural resources such as water and trees.) Land tenure
is an institution, i.e., rules invented by societies to regulate behavior. Rules of
tenure define how property rights to land are to be allocated within societies. They
define how access is granted to rights to use, control, and transfer land, as well as
associated responsibilities and restraints. In simple terms, land tenure systems
determine who can use what resources for how long, and under what conditions.
Land tenure is an important part of social, political and economic structures. It is
multi-dimensional, bringing into play social, technical, economic, institutional,
legal and political aspects that are often ignored but must be taken into account.
Land tenure relationships may be well defined and enforceable in a formal court of
law or through customary structures in a community. Alternatively, they may be
relatively poorly defined with ambiguities open to exploitation.
Land tenure thus constitutes a web of intersecting interests. These include:
^
^
^
^
Overriding interests: when a sovereign power (e.g., a nation or community has
the powers to allocate or reallocate land through expropriation, etc.)
Overlapping interests: when several parties are allocated different rights to the
same parcel of land (e.g., one party may have lease rights, another may have a
right of way, etc.)
Complementary interests: when different parties share the same interest in the
same parcel of land (e.g., when members of a community share common rights
to grazing land, etc.)
Competing interests: when different parties contest the same interests in the
same parcel (e.g., when two parties independently claim rights to exclusive use
of a parcel of agricultural land. Land disputes arise from competing claims.)
Land tenure is often categorised as:
^
^
^
80
Private: the assignment of rights to a private party who may be an individual, a
married couple, a group of people, or a corporate body such as a commercial
entity or non-profit organization. For example, within a community, individual
families may have exclusive rights to residential parcels, agricultural parcels
and certain trees. Other members of the community can be excluded from using
these resources without the consent of those who hold the rights.
Communal: a right of commons may exist within a community where each
member has a right to use independently the holdings of the community. For
example, members of a community may have the right to graze cattle on a
common pasture.
Open access: specific rights are not assigned to anyone and no-one can be
excluded. This typically includes marine tenure where access to the high seas is
generally open to anyone; it may include rangelands, forests, etc, where there
may be free access to the resources for all. (An important difference between
^
open access and communal systems is that under a communal system nonmembers of the community are excluded from using the common areas.)
State: property rights are assigned to some authority in the public sector. For
example, in some countries, forest lands may fall under the mandate of the
state, whether at a central or decentralised level of government.
In practice, most forms of holdings may be found within a given society, for
example, common grazing rights, private residential and agricultural holdings, and
state ownership of forests. Customary tenure typically includes communal rights to
pastures and exclusive private rights to agricultural and residential parcels. In
some countries, formally recognised rights to such customary lands are vested in
the nation state or the President ``in trust'' for the citizens.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6.3
LAND TENURE REFORM
Land tenure, particularly the use of land, has become a cardinal issue of survival in
many countries in Africa. The population increase has placed tremendous pressure
on the available agricultural land, and in particular on the capacity of the land to
meet the food requirements of a steadily growing population (Russell 1986:30).
Land tenure reform has an important role to play in addressing these problems.
6.3.1 Definition of land tenure reform
Land tenure reform involves an important change in institutionalised relationships
between people with respect to land. Land tenure reform can take a variety of
forms depending on the situation to be remedied (Abbot & Makeham 1980:146). It
means different things to different social classes and to the different countries
affected by it (Montgomery 1984:4). De Janvry (1981) stresses that there is no
general agreement on the definition of land tenure reform, and distinguishes nine
major types. Raup (1967) suggests that it generally involves the redistribution of
land Ð either breaking up or consolidating holdings Ð followed by the provision of
support services for agriculture. The final aim is to achieve both an improvement in
rural welfare and an increase in total production. Raup (1967:297) argues as
follows:
Above all else, land reforms are major cultural events. It is too simple to call
them political. They shake roots, not branches ... . Land reform is often
appropriate for attacking agricultural production problems caused by
defective social and political structures. It is seldom an appropriate tool
for the solution of the poverty problem among the poorest sectors of the rural
population.
Keep this important statement by Raup (1967) in mind as you progress through
this study unit.
According to Jeppe (1980:208), land tenure offers the opportunity to use land to
pursue a career and agricultural activities, and it also offers the necessary security
which is linked to such tenure. The arrangements relating to land tenure therefore
give effect to the rights and obligations of people towards one another with regard
to the acquisition and use of land. In the light of this, Jeppe (1980:208±209)
defines land tenure reform as follows:
81
Land tenure reform, therefore, refers to the different ways in which these
opportunities for land utilisation, as well as the mutual rights and obligations
of people on the acquisition and use of land, can be changed, and it can
include one or all of the following: land redistribution; change of tenure
(rights of ownership) and rights of use; settlement on the land; consolidation
of units; systems of cooperative, collective and state farming; administration
of reforms; and regulations on inheritance of rights to land. Related but
separate aspects are the implementation, improvement or change of training,
community development, agricultural extension, tax on land and rights,
labour arrangements, marketing, granting of credit, farming techniques,
cooperatives, agricultural research, arrangements with regard to acquisition
and alienation of rights to land, etc.
According to Dorner (1972:18), the essential meaning or core of land tenure
reform lies in purposeful changes in land tenure Ð changes which affect the
ownership and/or control of land and water resources. In other words, he focuses
on land reform in its narrower meaning of property rights reform. Among the
possible measures in this regard are the following:
(1) expropriation of large estates and the distribution of land among former
tenants and labourers, whether for individual or collective ownership and
production
(2) abolition or improvement in tenancy conditions by converting tenants into
owners or by reducing rental payments
(3) granting of land titles to cultivators to provide them with greater security
(4) transformation of tribal and other customary and traditional forms of tenure
in the interest of the cultivators of the land
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 6.2
Summarise section 6.3.1 (the definition of land tenure reform) in not more than
two pages.
File your answer for future reference.
------------------------------------------------------------------6.3.2 Prerequisites for land tenure reform
It is important to note that it is necessary to comply with certain prerequisites
before a new system of land tenure may be implemented.
Politically and emotionally, the whole issue of land tenure reform is very sensitive.
There is probably no other area in which the conflict between traditional values and
economic concepts is more difficult to reconcile than in the case of land rights. Van
de Wall (1988:39) puts forward the following prerequisites for successful land
reform:
^
^
82
The rural population must accept the principle of land reform.
Large-scale land reform measures imply high costs in respect of surveying,
registration, resettlement, and so forth, and this in turn requires a large number
of qualified and trained staff.
^
^
^
^
^
The central government's full commitment to and participation in the reform
programmes are essential to their success.
Economic and viable commercial farming units must be established during the
reform process and farmers must be provided with financial and technical
support services.
During the implementation of reform measures it is necessary to give ongoing
attention to the issue of job creation for those who abandon farming as a result
of the reform, and training must be provided to enable them to utilise new
(alternative) job opportunities.
Reform measures must have as their aim the settlement of farmers who are selfsufficient and self-maintaining, and it is important that they should realise that
their progress and success are dependent upon their own efforts; a system of
land tenure must therefore be implemented which enables farmers to accept
responsibility and take the initiative themselves.
It is important that farmers enjoy security in respect of land rights and that
legislation affords protection, and that farmers receive compensation should
these rights be violated.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 6.3
Read the article by Cliffe (2000) in your Reader.
Do you think that these prerequisites can be honoured in your country? Give
reasons for your view.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Barnes (1988:285±286) points out that before a new system of land tenure can be
implemented, it is important to begin by analysing the people's relationship with
the land. Consideration ought to be given to the following:
^
^
^
^
the existing system of land allocation (who controls land transactions?)
the political system (role of the state)
the existing administrative structures
the financial arrangements with regard to land (land banks, land tax, mortgage
fees, etc)
Bohannon (Barnes 1988:286) proposes a model of land tenure reform based on the
following three principles or guidelines for the analysis of land rights within a
particular cultural framework:
(1) People's view of land in the sense of their perception of size or measurement,
for instance the Western idea of hectares or acres.
(2) The concept of the relationship between a human being and the physical
environment.
(3) The spatial regulation (dimension) of the social system expressed in some way
in words and deeds, such as the Western laws of contracts and succession
which regulate social relationships relevant to land.
On the basis of these principles a ``phased'' approach is, according to Bohannon,
(Barnes 1988) required for the design of a land tenure system which reduces abuse
to the minimum and promotes development to the maximum degree.
83
Thus it is necessary to look not only at two or three exclusive systems, but rather at
a flexible system capable of taking into account all the different phases of land
tenure from traditional land tenure up to freehold. The advantage of this type of
approach is that it is flexible enough to accommodate the various perceptions of
land tenure.
6.4
LAND TENURE REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT
Studies of development currently focus on provision of food, agricultural
development and the position of peasant and subsistence farmers.
This emphasis may be ascribed to the famine in many countries of Africa and the
growing realisation that the capital needed to bring about development will not be
generated from the urban industrial sector alone. Africa is characterised by critical
shortages in all sectors of the economy, and by corruption and oppression, leading
to the demoralisation of both urban and rural areas. In this difficult situation it is
the farmers who have the least chance of aid or even essential services, particularly
in view of centralisation policies and a shortage of funds, labour power and
services.
The majority of Africa's exports are unprocessed agricultural products, the prices
of which have been declining since the 1970s, forcing Africa to sell more and more
while earning less and less. As exports earn less, it becomes increasingly difficult to
import essential goods for the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The effect
on Africa's industries and agriculture has been disastrous.
Another problem is population growth. Despite population development policies,
Africa's population growth rate is still dangerously high. The urban population,
however, has grown twice as fast as the national growth rates. In 1970 only 22,9
per cent of the population of Africa was urbanised, in 1990 the figure was 28 per
cent, and it is estimated that by the year 2010 it will be 41,8 per cent (Kasarda &
Parnell 1993:4). In 1960 there was only one city with more than a million
inhabitants in Africa. In 1980 there were 14, and it was estimated that by the year
2000 there would be 171 (Kasarda & Parnell 1993:7). However, at the time of
writing (2005), approximately half of the world's population was still to be found
in the rural areas. Added to this is the fact that the rural areas must produce food
as well as cash crops. This points to the direct link between land tenure reform and
rural development.
6.4.1 Rural development
Third World governments must accept the need for rural development arising from
the following factors: firstly, the need for increased food production and improved
agricultural productivity; secondly, the interests of social justice and national
economic progress; thirdly, the fear that uncontrolled urban growth may lead to a
subsistence urbanisation, and that demands for job opportunities, housing,
transport, sanitation and social services may rise to levels beyond governments'
capacity to satisfy. Thus governments are committed to opposing a state of
overurbanisation through, among other things, high figures of migration.
The dimensions of the problem are appalling. The majority of rural inhabitants of
sub-Saharan Africa are poorer than they were 30 years ago, food production is not
keeping pace with rural population growth, income differentiation between rural
84
and urban areas is increasing and urban job opportunities have not kept pace with
urban population growth (Fair 1990:451).
Land tenure reform has a direct bearing on questions of development. As we have
pointed out, land tenure systems embody legal, contractual and customary
arrangements whereby people in various kinds of farming activities gain access to
productive opportunities on the land. Land tenure institutions encapsulate the rules
and procedures governing the rights, duties and liberties of individuals and groups
in the use and control of the basic resources of land and water. Adams (Kepe &
Cousins 2002:2) argues that lack of clarity in respect of tenure rights to land and
natural resources is a major obstacle to development, and that it also contributes to
inappropriate land use and management practices, and to ineffective rural
governance. Lack of tenure security can constrain new forms of enterprise, such as
ecotourism or community forestry, which often involve partnerships with outsiders.
In short, land tenure institutions help to shape the pattern of income distribution in
the agricultural sector (Dorner 1972:17). However, it is important not to view land
tenure institutions in isolation. The dimensions and prospects of farming
opportunities are crucially influenced by labour, capital and marketing facilities.
Kepe and Cousins (2002:2) maintain that although land reform is necessary for
rural development, it will only be effective if it is embedded within a broader
programme to restructure the agrarian economy. Infrastructure for transport and
communication, and support services such as extension, training and marketing
advice, are also essential. These are largely absent in the communal areas at
present, and are inadequately provided for in most land reform projects.
Government should play a central role in planning and implementing such
programmes, but must work closely with other agencies such as NGOs and the
private sector, and in partnership with communities and enterprising individuals.
Without a degree of security of tenure, land users will apply only those
socioeconomic inputs that may bring immediate benefits; they will have no real
interest in preserving the fertility of the soil or in acquiring equipment to make the
land more productive, which in turn would add to the capital resources of the
country. This is the case not only for inputs such as fertilisers which leave the soil
more fertile after the crop has been taken; it applies also to the use of labour. The
improvement of water supplies, terracing and drainage, maintenance of farm
buildings and fencing, and a number of similar tasks are often undertaken in what
would otherwise be leisure time, provided there is security of tenure (Abbot &
Makeham 1980:143). A land tenure system should ideally also provide optimum
scope for entrepreneurial and management skills.
In the majority of developing countries great emphasis is placed on the need for
land reform as an important prerequisite for agricultural development. It is widely
acknowledged that agricultural development is one of the key factors in the
achievement of successful economic development, and that agricultural development can be achieved only if the traditional system of land tenure is drastically
reformed (Van de Wall 1988:36). This is also supported by the South African
government (see the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy 2000).
Jeppe (1980:218±219) also voices this opinion and points out that the general
economic development of developing countries is only possible:
if the agricultural sector provides food, labour and a portion of the reserves of
85
gradual industrialisation. The part played by land tenure reform in economic
development can be to remove all obstructions in the way of agricultural
production and to promote a new climate of expectations by laying a new
foundation for identifying renumeration [sic] with effort and for balancing
expenditure with yield. The prerequisite for development in less-developed
countries, is to organise agriculture in such a way that (a) agriculture offers
incentive for productive labour and investment and, (b) that a combination of
production factors is used in agriculture which is compatible with the expense
and availability of these factors at a given time.
Basic to all this is Van de Wall's (1988:36) demand for a drastic land tenure
reform attempt.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 6.4
Study the article by Kepe and Cousins (2002) in the Reader entitled ``Radical land
reform is key to sustainable rural development in South Africa''. Make a summary
of their arguments and then explain in your own words the link between land tenure
reform and rural development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6.5
ZIMBABWE: A CASE STUDY
Von Blanckenburg (1994) discusses the attempts at land tenure reform in
Zimbabwe. To a large extent land tenure reform in Zimbabwe is characterised by
redistributive measures, from commercial (white) farmers to landless peasants. This
is also the case in Namibia (Amoo 2001). (This is be dealt with in activity 6.4.)
Redistributive land tenure reform usually has political, social and economic
objectives. In the case of Zimbabwe the political objective is important: the 4 800
big landowners whose farms were distributed have little political clout in a total
population of nine million; on the other hand, land was the central issue in the
Zimbabwean liberation war and in all the general elections following independence
(Makunike 2000). The social objective of the Zimbabwe reform was to create more
independent jobs for the rural people. However, it is doubtful whether the land
redistribution has achieved much in this regard. In most redistributive campaigns
the economic objective is to ensure more economical use of the land. However, in
Zimbabwe this became a problem in view of the remarkable efficiency of the big
landowning farmers and the weak performance of the newly created settlement
farms.
Von Blanckenburg (1994:24) concludes as follows:
It is obvious that the Zimbabwe reform is atypical compared with other
redistributive reforms, especially those in Asia. Its peculiarity is that the
intended redistribution will not affect a semi-feudal estate sector of low
productivity, but one of the most efficient subsectors of the economy. The
resulting problem for the government is to find ways to minimize the
economic costs of the programme.
86
Since the publication in 1994 of Von Blanckenburg's case study, the land question
in Zimbabwe has not been resolved: in fact, it worsened with the occupation of
commercial land by so-called war veterans from 1999. Development volatility has
become a feature in Zimbabwe over recent years. At the time of writing (2005), the
land issue remained unresolved, agricultural production was under threat, income
and job opportunities were waning, foreign investment was dwindling and fuel
prices were rising Ð all of which contributed to social, economic and political
unrest during the period 1999±2005.
Under these circumstances, and mindful of the statement by Raup (1967:297) that
land reform is seldom an appropriate tool for the solution of rural poverty, it is
doubtful whether the present attempts at land tenure reform in Zimbabwe will bear
positive results.
Namibia and South Africa, with their social and economic similarities, may face
the same problems with land tenure reform, and should be mindful of the lessons to
be learnt from the Zimbabwe experience.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 6.5
Make a thorough study of the article by Von Blanckenburg (1994) in the Reader.
Also study the article by Amoo (2001) in the Reader. Then do the following activity:
Write an essay in which you compare land tenure reform in Zimbabwe and
Namibia. Comply with the following requirements:
^
^
Use the seven prerequisites for land tenure reform identified by Van de Wall
(1988) in section 6.3.2 to evaluate the processes in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Your essay should not exceed five pages and you must file it for future reference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6.6
CONCLUSION
It is evident from the above discussion that the issue of land tenure reform cannot
be considered in a vacuum. The political, economic, sociological and administrative
structures within a community have a major influence on systems of land tenure
and possible land tenure reform. Land tenure and utilisation of land are among the
most important issues in the development process, and in South Africa and other
countries these issues are characterised by an unequal pattern as a result of
historical and political factors.
In view of the need for increased production, equality and sustainable development,
it is necessary to give careful consideration to existing systems of land tenure and
land utilisation, and it is assumed that the reform of systems of land tenure is
essential.
It is clear that the issue of land tenure reform and the need for productivity,
equality and sustainable agriculture within the context of general development, and
more specifically agricultural development, is an extremely difficult one and makes
tremendous demands on policy-makers and politicians.
87
6.7
LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcomes
(1) I can explain the concept of land tenure
reform.
(2) I can list the prerequisites for land tenure
reform.
(3) I can write an essay on land tenure
reform in Zimbabwe.
(4) I can write an essay on land tenure
reform in Namibia.
(5) I can compare land tenure reform in
Zimbabwe and Namibia.
88
Can do
Cannot do
STUDY UNIT 7
INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
describe the historical development of integrated rural development
explain the concept of integrated rural development
discuss the obstacles in the way of successful integrated rural development
draw up an agenda for integrated rural development
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7.1
INTRODUCTION: THE GENERAL PROBLEMS OF THE RURAL AREAS
Continuing rural poverty is still the greatest problem in the Third World. There is
barely an institute or government in the world that does not pay attention to this
problem and try to make some contribution to its solution. In the meantime the
situation is not improving. Indeed, there are indications that it is deteriorating. The
following may be suggested as the main reasons for the deteriorating situation
(Abbott 1992:122):
^
^
^
^
Population growth resulting in a steadily increasing demand for food and
employment.
Economic recession with lower prices for export goods, lower capital inflow and
heavier burdens of debt.
Structural adjustment programmes imposed by the World Bank, leading to
reduced government spending, higher food prices and a general deterioration of
the economic position of those who are not exporters.
Successive years of drought and persistent civil war or military violence.
It is generally recognised that agriculture is still the most important activity and
generator of revenue in rural areas. Indeed, in many African countries, for instance
Zimbabwe, it is the primary economic activity. For this reason it was the trend for
many years to try to commercialise agriculture in order to produce export
products. In general, however, these efforts were not very successful. The main
reasons, as mentioned above, have been economic recession, a decline in world
market prices, the systems of land tenure under which farming had to take place
and successive droughts. Unfortunately these conditions have also contributed to a
decline in the peasant farming system which had been largely responsible for food
production. Peasants (particularly in Africa and therefore in South Africa as well)
89
received little aid for the crops they cultivated, the credit they needed, the
marketing system that had to sell their products and the technology they had to use
to ensure a surplus harvest (Longhurst 1987:113). The peasants had little or no
negotiating power, chiefly because they were unorganised, and their products were
undervalued as a result of unnaturally low food prices. The official rhetoric and the
development programmes had virtually no effect. Hendry (1987:3) summarises the
crisis situation in agriculture as follows:
More than three decades of efforts by developing nations to upgrade the
productivity of their traditional agricultural systems have not, despite the
support of bilateral and multilateral aid programmes, produced the desired
results. A great many countries have become even more ... dependent on
imported staple foods, which they have either purchased with scarce foreign
exchange or received as food aid ... . Now, some 20 years after high-yielding
varieties first showed their promise, we know that the yield increases obtained
in a few key staple crops ... were nearly meaningless to the great majority of
Third World peasants, who relied on rainfall on often marginal soils, and
whose access to credit, extension, and inputs was usually minimal.
A major problem that is reflected in this quotation is the fact that Third World
countries (and by implication African countries as well) are no longer able to feed
their populations. While rapid population growth is being experienced everywhere,
food production has declined or has failed to keep pace with the increased rate of
population growth. Accordingly the governments of these countries have no choice,
as Hendry (1987) rightly says, but to import food on a large scale. Where food
purchases are no longer possible due to economic bankruptcy, populations become
dependent upon food aid, which places them in a permanent and deteriorating
relationship of dependence with the outside world.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.1
Summarise in one page the negative situation in Third World rural areas.
Also read the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS) (2000)
in the Reader in this regard.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Consensus means
agreement. If you and
I agree about something, we have consensus.
7.2 INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT: THE EARLY STAGES
The popularity of integrated rural development may be ascribed to international
consensus on the need for such an approach following radical changes in
developmental thinking since the seventies (Coombs 1980:1).
Dissatisfaction with the outcome of earlier efforts to expedite development in the
Third World, as explained in the previous section, and the search for strategies to
narrow the gap between rich and poor countries, contributed to the achievement of
this consensus. More specifically, it may be said that the poor results of the first
development decade of the sixties gave rise to some rethinking.
90
The first development efforts in the Third World were intended to expand industrial
investment, expedite modernisation and increase food production. While some
countries did show an increased GNP, few countries achieved real success in
realising their development plans. In fact, the economies of several countries
declined. These poor countries had to face many problems. The income gap between
rich and poor widened, the population growth rate was so rapid that all economic
growth was neutralised, imports exceeded exports, and severe balance of payments
problems prevented these countries from generating capital for investment
(Rondinelli & Ruddle 1978:2). Not a single sector of their national economies
performed well.
One of the major problems requiring attention was the increasing inequality in
income both among and within countries. Awareness of this steadily growing
inequality was one of the most important reasons for generating new ideas in
regard to development in the Third World.
During the early 1960s, Third World governments came under growing pressure to
increase production and agricultural exports to meet the food requirements of their
growing urban populations and to meet foreign exchange demands (Lacroix
1985:10). It was clear that previous efforts to develop the Third World had been
unsatisfactory and that there was a need for new strategies to narrow the gap
between rich and poor. This gave rise to the reconsideration of existing strategies,
which brought new insight.
Certain assumptions underlying the conventional concepts of GNP and economic
growth were seriously questioned. Among these assumptions were the following
(Coombs 1980:9):
(1) that focusing development efforts on industrialisation and the modernisation
of the urban areas would have a ripple effect which would extend to the rural
areas and would start a dynamic, self-supporting process of rural development
that would eliminate the need for government to invest directly in rural
development
(2) that agricultural development (measured in terms of increased outputs of
export and cash crops) is the essence of rural development which should be the
first priority in the event of investment in the rural areas
(3) that economic and social development were two separate processes and that
significant progress in the former was a prerequisite for significant progress
in the latter
(4) that territories and communities were all more or less the same and that
solutions for one would also work for another
(5) that the most effective and efficient method of organising rural services was to
use individual specialists, each providing his or her own service in a sectoral,
top-down fashion
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.2
Before reading further, explain in one paragraph why, in your opinion, these
assumptions were questioned.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
91
Various weaknesses in existing strategies were pointed out, including the following
(Coombs 1980:10):
Authoritarian means
expecting people to
obey authority and
rules. People are therefore not allowed the
freedom to do what they
want.
Paternalism means
government as if by a
father. A paternalistic
attitude therefore
means that rural inhabitants are regarded as
being children and are
prevented from taking
responsibility for their
own lives.
(1) They gave rise to expensive bureaucratic competition and resulted in
duplication of development efforts.
(2) They placed great pressure on scarce resources, particularly by way of topheavy administrative superstructures, while too few resources were being
offered at ground level.
(3) The rural inhabitants received confused, fragmented and disjointed, and often
contradictory, messages as to what they ought to do with their lives.
(4) The benefits of government programmes went mainly to those who needed
them least.
(5) The inflexibility and highly standardised services of a centralised structure
meant that important differences in needs and preferences of the various rural
areas were ignored.
(6) The authoritarian and paternalistic attitude of the top-down approach created
a spirit of dependence rather than autonomy.
(7) The cost involved in the top-down single-purpose approach was so high that
the majority of governments of developing countries were financially totally
unable to launch development programmes that would have a wide-ranging
impact.
The realisation that approximately 20 years of development efforts based on the
assumptions mentioned above had achieved precious little necessitated a
reconsideration of theory and strategies, in the course of which new insights were
achieved. Coombs (1980:11) accurately describes this turnabout as follows:
The GNP had been dethroned as the cardinal definition and measuring-rod
of national development in favour of a much broader, more humanistic and
more egalitarian view that defined development in terms of meeting the
``basic needs'' and ``improving the quality of life'' of the people themselves,
especially the most disadvantaged. The discredited ``trickle-down''
approach to rural development, and the artificial dichotomy between
economic and social development, were discarded in favour of the view that
the two were interdependent and therefore a combined attack on the
economic and social roots of rural poverty was imperative. Recognition of
the severe shortcomings of conventional rural delivery systems led to the
demand for a more ``integrated'' and more ``community-based'' approach
to rural development.
Attempts were therefore made in many quarters to increase agricultural production
and keep rural populations on the land. In Latin America the 1961 Punta del Este
manifesto of the Organisation of American States stated that attention must be
paid to a more integrated approach to rural development in which land ownership
reform would receive specific attention. These ideas were solidly based on the work
of Raoul Prebisch, an economist and supporter of the dependency school, who had
for many years made influential contributions to the development debate (Lacroix
1985:10).
92
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.3
Assess your knowledge of the historical background to the beginnings of integrated
rural development by summarising this section up to this point, in your own words,
and without referring to the study guide.
------------------------------------------------------------------In India the origins of integrated rural development may be traced back to the
recommendations of the Ford Foundation during the drought of 1965. It
recommended that intensive, integrated attempts be made to stimulate India's
agricultural sector. A 10-point programme was proposed to achieve this aim,
involving the following concerns and activities:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
Mutually reinforcing
activities are activities
that strengthen one
another. Such activities
would therefore be actions which would
make one another
more effective by adding to one another.
adequate agricultural supplies for use by rural inhabitants
sufficient agricultural credit
intensive educational programmes
prospects for individual farms
stronger local institutions
a guaranteed market and set prices for agricultural products
reliable marketing facilities
rural public works
evaluation and analysis of actions during development programmes
a co-ordinated approach
The basis of the 10-point programme was that a number of mutually reinforcing
activities were applied in a specific area in order to increase the productivity of the
peasant farmers and to bring about more effective government support for rural
development (Cohen 1987:13).
Integrated rural development arose from these elementary ideas about a more
integrated approach to rural development. The Comilla project in Bangladesh
probably received the most publicity in this regard. It was successful in respect of
the distribution of agricultural technology, the mobilisation of local resources for
improving the villages and the development of cooperatives. This project was also
used as an example for the establishment of other projects (Ruttan 1984:395).
For the South African situation, refer to the Integrated Sustainable Rural
Development Strategy (ISRDS) (2000), specifically section 1.
7.3
THE CONCEPT OF INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT
A major problem with ``integrated rural development'' is the vagueness of the
concept. Cohen (1987:25), for example, remarks: ``No systematic analysis of
integrated rural development project characteristics exists.'' In the literature there
is often confusion between ``rural development'' and ``integrated rural development'' and even ``agricultural development''. A relatively common distinction
drawn between rural and agricultural development is that agricultural development refers to the production of certain commodities, while rural development
refers to the improvement of the standard of living and quality of life of the rural
population as well as an increase in job opportunities outside agriculture. The
concept of integrated rural development usually presents problems since it is
93
difficult to determine or prescribe the ``correct'' interrelationship among the many
sectors.
The concept of integrated rural development includes all the subsystems of rural
communities: economic, social, cultural, institutional, administrative, as well as
environmental and humanitarian facets (Jeppe 1986:47). Because integrated rural
development is applied differently in many different countries, and authors have
different opinions about it, there is no generally accepted definition of it.
According to Moris (1981:11), the original meaning of integrated rural
development is linked to the coordination of various components necessary for
development within a given area. He also mentions that the concept was connected
at a later stage to multisectoral programmes and that the World Bank finally
linked it to the fact that all segments of the population have to be involved with
such a project.
Coombs (1980:15) identifies the following five areas of integration:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
integration of national planning for rural development
integration of the components of a programme
integration of similar activities found in various programmes
horizontal and vertical integration
integration of the various attempts of different organisations
Coombs (1980) therefore regards integration in rural development as a
combination of naturally related components into a more cohesive and unified
whole in order to enhance their collective cost-effectiveness (we may add their
general effectiveness too).
Integrated national planning is essential for successful integration at local level. It
is a fairly common mistake to integrate only the implementation of rural
development. This cannot succeed unless the foundation is laid at a national level.
When provision is made for only one component of a programme, the danger is that
it may fail for lack of a supporting system. The component of production, for
example, must be coupled with that of marketing. Lack of integration among
components results in many failures and much frustration when participants realise
that their acquired skills and newly established organisation cannot remedy their
poverty problem.
All activities at a local or even a regional level must be harmonised, hence the need
for regular discussions among the parties involved in all development activities in a
certain area. One service or activity complements the next. A less urgently needed
activity can only hope to succeed if it is associated with a more essential one.
Vertical integration is equally important since local participants are not able to do
everything themselves. They require outside assistance. A local group, for example,
may be very keen and organised, but without budgetary assistance at regional or
national level their efforts will be of no avail. As in the case of having too many
programmes, the involvement of a large number of organisations is also confusing
and is experienced negatively by rural inhabitants. The existence of organisations
frequently depends on their ``success''. They must produce or accomplish something
concrete. To this end they will vie with one another for scarce resources and the
support and acceptance of the rural population. In order to ensure meaningful
rural development, aid organisations, government agencies and government
departments must restrain this natural tendency to compete and exclude others.
94
Koppel (1987:213±214) supports the points set out by Coombs (1980) which we
have discussed, but goes further and states that integration also involves
consultation:
``If principal actors in the program are involved enough, in at least a
consultative mode, to know what the program is trying to do, cooperative
efforts to support these objectives are more likely to be forthcoming.''
An element of integrated rural development implicit in the above discussion may
now be mentioned specifically. We quote Ahmed (1980:461):
Integrated rural development ... requires a focus on the participant
population ... . The implication of this premise for national rural development
efforts is that, instead of attempting to reach the rural population with
vertical sectoral programs, a means must be found to form local
organisations of homogeneous interest groups and make them serve as the
instrument for integrating and managing the sectoral activities of the
beneficiary population.
Popular participation and involvement are not merely variables in the rural
development model. Such participation is crucial to the integrated approach and
we examine it in more detail further on.
Malhotra (1980:21) introduces a new dimension of integration. He contends that
integrated rural development refers not merely to the integration of programmes
and activities, but also to the integration of objectives. He supports his statement
by arguing that a programme or project can be tackled on an integrated basis only
if the objectives of the contributing components are integrated. He states that the
objectives of a programme must be presented as a single package.
Integrated rural development is therefore an approach which is not only based on
theoretical aspects, but has a direct, practical influence on planning for
development. Abasiekong (1982:21) says that integrated rural development is
A comprehensive and coordinated approach of all persons and agencies
concerned, aimed at involving rural people in determining policies and
planning and implementing programs that are designed to improve their
economic, social and cultural conditions and enable them to make a positive
contribution to national development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.4
Make a summary of the views on integration of the following authors/
document:
Coombs
Koppel
Ahmed
Malhotra
The ISRDS (2000) in the Reader
------------------------------------------------------------------95
Now that you have an idea of what is meant by integration, it is necessary to also
look at what is meant by rural development. There are numerous definitions of
rural development. We start with a basic definition and try to gradually expand
on it.
Lele (1975:20) defines rural development as follows:
``Rural development is defined as improving living standards of the mass of
the low-income population residing in the rural areas and making the process
of their development self-sustaining.''
This definition contains three basic elements:
^
^
^
improvement of living standards
low-income population
self-sustaining development
To a greater or lesser extent all definitions contain these three elements because
they are seen as basic requirements for successful rural development. The first
element appears to be economically oriented, but in actual fact it embraces far
more than mere economic improvement, and involves other aspects such as social
services. The second is an extremely vague reference to low-income population. The
important question is who is referred to and what standards are used to determine
where this group fits in. Lele (1975) talks of low-income areas, plainly a reference
to all persons in certain geographic areas. The third element is a direct reaction to
the fact that in the past, rural development often had no life of its own and
continued only while external agents kept it going.
The World Bank's (1975:3) definition is as follows:
Rural development is a strategy designed to improve the economic and social
life of a specific group of people Ð the rural poor. It involves extending the
benefits of development to the poorest among those who seek a livelihood in
the rural areas. The group includes small-scale farmers, tenants and the
landless.
This definition specifies in more detail the reference in Lele's (1975) definition to
living standards, that is economic and social life, and is particularly useful in
describing the target group of rural development. First it speaks of a specific group
of people, the rural poor, and then it goes on to identify this group as the poorest
among those trying to eke out a living in rural areas. To make sure that we are able
to identify those who make up this group, they are mentioned by name: small-scale
farmers, tenants and the landless.
Bryant and White (1982:3) add to the World Bank's definition by identifying the
function of rural development in respect of the target group as follows:
Thus our concept of rural development is that of empowering the rural poor so
that they might improve their standards of living and make that process selfsustaining.
The description of rural development by Obaidullah Khan stimulates much thought.
Firstly he says what rural development is not (Obaidullah Kahn 1980:57):
96
[It is] not the development of an area arbitrarily called rural, nor is it
development of agricultural production with a component of improving social
services.
He then defines rural development as follows (Obaidullah Khan 1980:57):
It is a fundamental process of social, economic and political transformation
of a peasant society in which the main actors are the majority members of
that society themselves.
Obviously Obaidullah Khan is against the practice whereby governments and agents
identify an area in which they wish to launch their ``rural development'' by using a
strategy of agricultural development. He also condemns the establishment of social
services such as schools and clinics. He sees rural development as a fundamental
process of transformation, not just improvement, nor aimed at only one or a few
sectors, but at the whole life of rural peasants, namely their social, economic and
political life. This drastic change in the situation not only has far-reaching
consequences for rural inhabitants, but also for the governments of Third World
countries.
This definition is also the only one quoted here that does not describe rural
development as a strategy but as a process. Defining it as a strategy gives the
impression that it is an effort from outside the rural area, an endeavour on the part
of governments and agencies who decide the destinies of the rural inhabitants.
While one cannot deny that governments and agencies play a significant role in
rural development, Obaidullah Khan (1980) puts the emphasis in the correct place
by identifying the rural inhabitants as the main actors.
It is clear from his definition that Obaidullah Khan (1980) regards rural
development as an integrated multisectoral process and that there should also be
integrated roles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.5
Summarise in your own words the ideas of Obaidullah Khan (1980) on rural
development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.6
Define in your own words the concept of integrated rural development. Don't be
satisfied with your first effort. Try it over and over again until you are satisfied.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
97
7.4
OBJECTIVES OF INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Malhotra's (1980) reference to objectives (refer back to section 7.3) raises the
question of what the objective or objectives of integrated rural development are.
From what has been said thus far, we can already define a general objective.
This general objective is multiheaded in the sense that it strives towards a total
transformation of life in rural areas by addressing the problems of poverty,
housing, infrastructure, social amenities and labour (Thapliyal 1983:287). We can
say therefore that integrated rural development has a number of related but
different purposes. Perhaps the World Bank (1975:83) puts this objective more
clearly. It identifies a dual objective for rural development, namely to bring about a
rise in income through greater productivity and improved employment, and at the
same time to fulfil the basic requirements of shelter, food, education and health.
Below we endeavour to explain the diverse objectives of integrated rural
development by referring to the works of various authors.
(1) Increasing agricultural production and productivity to change the rural
areas' subsistence economy to a commercial economy (Danoewidjojo
1980:390; Malhotra 1980:18). Brown (1975:13) sets his sights much
lower, and speaks of increasing the local supply of basic commodities.
(2) Raising the income of the rural poor (Danoewidjojo 1980:390). This may be
achieved by creating job opportunities to enable people to overcome absolute
poverty (Brown 1975:13). Providing employment may be seen as a means to
an end and a goal in itself. It can improve productivity, ensure higher
incomes and foster human dignity (Malhotra 1980:19).
(3) Stimulating agricultural processing industries and agriculture-oriented
business enterprises in an effort to diversify the economy, create job
opportunities and encourage internal demand for locally manufactured
products (Danoewidjojo 1980:390).
(4) Striving towards a fair distribution of the profits of development, bringing
about equality of distribution to satisfy the basic needs of the poor (Malhotra
1980:18, 19). In other words, to make social services, facilities, technology
and infrastructure more available to the poor so as to improve health,
nutrition, literacy and family planning (Danoewidjojo 1980:390; Brown
1975:13).
(5) Relieving urban population pressure (Brown 1975:13) by making social
services and facilities more available, also in the rural areas (Danoewidjojo
1980:390).
(6) Implementing new land ownership rights to afford families greater security
(Brown 1975:13).
(7) Conserving soil, forests and other natural resources for the future (Brown
1975:13). This may also be regarded as maintaining the ecological balance
between humankind and nature, and requires ecologically responsible use of
scarce resources (Malhotra 1980:20).
(8) Promoting popular participation. Although popular participation sounds
more like a means to an end, it should also be seen as a goal in itself. In
social and political terms, it is the basic necessity of development (Malhotra
1980:19).
(9) Promoting self-sufficiency. This is the implicit goal of rural development.
Self-sufficiency means that people have the will to use their own resources
and to depend on these for self-sustaining development (Malhotra 1980:20).
The independence of the population at national and local level should be seen
as the ultimate aim of integrated rural development.
98
(10) Creating employment. This links up with the previous point, as independence
is promoted when people are working and able to meet their needs.
Integrated rural development must therefore also address the problem of job
creation and employment in order to provide the poor with an income and to
achieve the final objective of integrated rural development mentioned in (9)
above.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.7
Without referring to the study guide, make a list of the objectives of integrated
rural development and explain each of them in one sentence.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7.5
FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The framework below is made up of the agenda for, the actors in, and the action of
rural development.
7.5.1 Agenda
Integrated rural development in the Third World is chiefly concerned with the
problem of poverty. Not only is an effort made to alleviate and reduce poverty, but
due consideration is also given to that kind of ``development'' which causes the gap
between rich and poor to grow, and which increases rather than reduces poverty.
Development that exhausts the natural resources and harms the environment
ultimately also leads to greater poverty and dependence. So, integrated rural
development also tries to correct the wrong kind of development.
The basic needs approach flowed from the struggle against poverty and the
apparent inability of large-scale economic development to eradicate poverty.
Within this approach there was an almost immediate difference of opinion between
those who first wanted to help the poor and only then allow them to participate in
the development process, and those who wanted to ensure that the poor
participated in the development process from the outset. Some were in favour of
relief first before turning the attention to release from the poverty trap. Others
wanted release from the poverty trap first before anything else (Swanepoel
1996:96).
Notwithstanding this difference (and the fact that it exists to this day), the basic
needs approach was the beginning of the swing towards needs-oriented
development, self-sufficiency, and empowerment.
Against this background a number of existing issues are regarded as problem areas
in regard to rural development. The purpose of rural development programmes is
sometimes also to deal with problems of this nature, whether directly or indirectly.
Aspects such as the following are at issue:
^
^
Equal treatment. This has to do with the problem of distribution, enrichment of
the elite, corruption, empowerment, equal opportunities, and so on.
Land tenure. The relationship between different systems of land tenure and
rural development, access to land tenure, and land tenure reform is a complex
99
^
^
one. Land tenure is also related to issues such as migration, population
pressure, elitism, equal treatment and economic relations.
Migration and population pressure. Rural-urban migration is closely related to
both rural and urban development. There is also an interaction between
migration and rural production capacity. Migration, population pressure and
land tenure systems are also interrelated, which as a complex of problems has
an effect on sustainable development. Where population pressure is too high,
alternative paths to agricultural development have been pursued, for example
industrialisation in the countries of Southeast Asia, and the exploitation of nonrenewable resources in the Amazon region.
Economic and political relations. Relations at a variety of levels are at issue
here, for example international relations between the so-called northern and
southern countries (the haves and the have-nots of the international
community), rural-urban relations and the contention that the urban areas
are in a privileged position at the expense of the rural areas, and relations
among a variety of social groups, such as the owners and non-owners of land,
the rich and the poor, and the powerful and the powerless.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.8
Try to reproduce the points on the agenda by writing brief notes about them.
------------------------------------------------------------------7.5.2 Actors
A variety of actors are active in the field of rural development:
^
^
^
^
International organisations. International aid organisations such as the World
Bank and a large number of international NGOs are present in virtually all
Third World countries. In addition, international aid is provided by certain
states which have founded organisations for this purpose, such as the United
States Agency for International Development.
The state. Many regard the national bureaucracy as still the biggest single roleplayer in development. It is convenient to class under this heading project
organisations, local government and field administration. When dealing with
these actors, administrative reform is an important theme throughout.
Nongovernmental organisations. NGOs are extremely important mechanisms in
rural development. They not only play a role in the implementation of
development, but are important alternative sources of policy formulation on
development.
Informal organisations. Spontaneous movements aimed at development, or even
at blocking development, are encountered worldwide and may be of shorter or
longer duration or may in time take the form of formal organisations.
7.5.3 Action
The shift in development thinking from large-scale economic development and
industrialisation to small-scale, sustained, self-sufficient development also requires
adjustments in the implementation of rural development. This does not mean that
industrialisation and actions usually associated with economic development, such
as physical and social infrastructural development, no longer take place or ought to
100
take place. The difference is that a shift in emphasis takes place in which the
knowledge, abilities, needs and interests of the poor are put first by means of a
process of empowerment. This means that people's basic needs, as defined by the
people themselves, are satisfied and that social security is provided Ð things which
necessarily take place at community level. In order to ensure sustainable
development, each person and community must handle its own resources and
environment with the necessary care.
7.6
OBSTACLES TO INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The obstacles to development in general also affect integrated rural development.
The first obstacle is the problem relating to participation. Although participation is
the one aspect of rural development which is emphasised by everyone, the problem
of differing interpretations of participation remains. The issue of risk, the rural
traditional decision-making structures, and the fact that rural inhabitants are
accustomed to top-down decision making on their fate by the national government,
are only some of the factors contributing to the difficulties often experienced in
getting rural inhabitants so far as to participate in development programmes. The
interpretation attached to participation also makes it difficult to determine
whether people are really participating at grassroots level. Some interpretations
want the people to participate reactively at grassroots level when the government
approaches them with plans and strategies for their development. In this sense the
cooperation or even the goodwill of the rural population is interpreted as
participation and the population is regarded as a junior partner in the programme.
This view of participation is identified as the technocratic approach. However,
there is also the view that without decision making, the population cannot really
participate. That is regarded as the radical or strong view. The power to make
decisions immediately implies political power (Swanepoel 1996:96), and by now
we have already come a long way from cooperation and goodwill. Now the local
population are at least equal partners, if not senior partners. We gain some idea of
what participation in this sense implies when we read Gow and Vansant's
(1985:107) view that it
``implies local autonomy through which potential beneficiaries discover the
possibilities of exercising choice and thereby become capable of managing
their own future.''
An even stronger view of the strong or radical approach is provided by Wisner
(1988:49) when he says the following:
The process described so far is political. Politics is about conflicts of interest.
The organisational expression of women's, rural landless people's and urban
squatters' interests are [sic] at the heart of the strong needs approach. This
approach is about confrontation, not harmony. It is about the day-to-day
definition of needs and the next steps people take in demanding the conditions
so that they can fulfil these needs.
There is, however, a further difference of opinion in regard to participation which
causes problems. In the first place, there is the view that participation in decision
making should be by way of the local representatives. Participation in
implementation may in fact take place at a broader level, but decision making is
a matter for the small group of elected or traditional leaders. The other opinion is
101
that this method of participation is elitist and that it in fact prevents assets from
being equally distributed, and prevents those who have the greatest need from
benefiting by rural development. Accordingly this view favours the mobilisation of
the poor against the elite (Bryant & White 1984:3). This approach is well
summarised by Gow and Morss (1981:13) as follows: ``There is a role for local
organisations Ð but primarily a revolutionary one Ð in effecting the fundamental
redistribution of assets.''
Swanepoel (1996:96) says the following on this issue:
We must still not be satisfied with some vague reference to representatives of
the people. It is essential that the poorest of the poor are part of the decisionmaking process to ensure that they get their fair share of the fruits of
development and that the principle of equity is maintained. The democratic
right of participation is not limited to the few. Every individual adult, whether
relatively poor, poor or the poorest of the poor, has the right to be part of the
decision-making mechanism regarding his or her development.
Thus it is clear that we are a long way from achieving finality about
participation, which may be regarded as the basis of integrated rural
development. This may be attributed to a difference of opinion, but it may also
be the result of the complexity of the design of integrated rural development
projects and their technical sophistication. Because of this the target group is
effectively excluded from the decision-making process when the project is
formulated.
The second obstacle is the problem of diversity. The majority of views on integrated
rural development that have contributed to the existing consensus are inclined to
give rise to somewhat simplistically expressed opinions on the rural areas of the
Third World. The existence of major differences between rural areas in general,
and also in particular, is often ignored. The rural areas of Southeast Asia and of
Africa cannot be treated in the same way. However, there are also differences
within a region such as southern Africa, and indeed there are differences within a
single territory that may be regarded as a geographic unity. As Huntington
(1980:15) observes:
''From afar one may see in rural Africa an equality and uniformity born of
poverty. But such uniformity does not necessarily entail unity. Quite the
reverse, such uniformity is often bitterly competitive.
The first conclusion we may draw is that there can be no uniform prescription for
rural development. At most there can be broad guidelines within the ambit of which
planning and action must take place, bearing this diversity in mind. The other
aspect that stems from this is that a great deal more needs to be known about the
existence and effect of this diversity. Local and situational research is therefore
necessary before integrated rural development can come into its own.
The third obstacle is the problem of cost. The cost involved in integrated rural
development is an important obstacle to its implementation. Owing to a lack of
funds, governments prefer to tackle a single project that is highly visible and will
produce results in the short term. This kind of project is also more likely to attract
support from financiers in the West. The fact that long-term integrated projects are
ultimately more self-sufficient, and will therefore be cheaper for the government,
apparently does not weigh as heavily as the short-term benefits such as the prestige
102
value derived by the government, and the interest on the part of financiers that it
brings about. The involvement of financiers immediately entails other problems,
since such agencies can make demands which are not good for integrated rural
development. A further problem relating to cost is that financing for integrated
rural development may be suddenly terminated or drastically reduced, which not
only results in the failure of the effort, but also causes internal frustration among
rural inhabitants whose expectations have been raised by the project.
The fourth obstacle is the problem of established structures. The structures
responsible for rural development are many. Firstly, there are traditional
authorities such as South Africa's tribal authorities; secondly, there are the
government departments; and thirdly, there are semistate and nongovernmental
organisations. All of these structures have characteristics that make it difficult for
them to initiate integrated rural development and put it into effect.
Traditional authorities are not only elitist, but are as a rule not keen to encourage a
total transformation of their populations since doing so could threaten their
positions. Government departments possess the characteristics of their colonial
predecessors that were geared to law-and-order functions. Moreover they are
organised for sectoral top-down action, which, to a considerable extent, bedevils
any integrated bottom-up action. Most nongovernment agencies were established
at a time when it was still believed that large-scale investment in industries and the
rapid commercialisation of agriculture were the answer to Third World problems.
These agencies usually prefer limited programmes which are production-oriented
rather than people-oriented. Therefore it appears that comprehensive structural
change is necessary for integrated rural development to succeed (Swanepoel
1996:100).
The fifth obstacle is the problem of attitudes. Structural change in itself cannot
eliminate all the problems. A change in attitude among the bureaucrats in
particular, and also among the politicians, is necessary. Bureaucratic action is
characterised by paternalism and places emphasis on concrete results at the
expense of human development. As a result of comprehensive planning and
implementation there is a natural tendency towards a top-down blueprint
approach. This has two detrimental effects. Firstly, there is a gap between the
perception of realities in poor rural areas by designers of projects and
programmes, and the perceptions of those who have to implement the projects
or programmes. In the second place, population participation is confined to what is
permitted by bureaucratic intervention. Policy and strategies leave no room for
real decision making at ground level. A major problem frequently arises from
inadequate political support and failure by central government to commit itself to
rural development. This problem should be viewed against the background of the
political instability and vulnerability of most Third World governments. Their
legitimacy bases are often unstable, and governments prefer to launch development
programmes and projects in areas where they are assured of support. This brings
about reluctance to decentralise, in spite of the fact that decentralisation is vital
for any attempt at rural development (decentralisation is discussed in study unit 2).
Integrated rural development can also make considerable demands on the political
system, since measures such as land ownership reform may threaten the interests of
the rich elite. It is clear that a change in attitude in the bureaucracy will have to be
preceded by a national political commitment to integrated rural development, with
optimum opportunity for local participation.
103
The sixth obstacle is the problem of capacity. Integrated rural development
requires such comprehensive action that the capacity for implementation is usually
lacking in the countries where it is most needed. This includes serious problems as
regards coordination of all the institutions involved. A more serious, but related,
point of criticism is that the basis of knowledge that was available for
comprehensive rural development programmes in the 1970s was inadequate to
provide for the proper design and successful implementation of many projects
launched at the time. A final point of criticism is that ordinary people lack the
knowledge and expertise and are therefore excluded from participation. Integrated
rural development projects tend to be large and sophisticated, and Gran
(1983:288) says that
the larger the project the less likely it is that the poor will be protected in
practice by the institutional linkages designed for that purpose. Large
projects are prone to supply inappropriately large-scale technology, creating
new dependencies and reproducing further social and economic inequalities..
The seventh obstacle is the problem of monitoring and evaluation. This aspect
deserves to receive a great deal more attention, both in theory and in practice.
Information is often poorly documented. This means that important lessons which
have already been learnt cannot be taken into account when new projects are
launched. Evaluation is also not ongoing, so the necessary adaptations are often
not made during the course of the project. Evaluation and monitoring also have
political implications, since problems which are identified may have an important
impact on political and financial support for a specific project.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.9
Can you remember all the obstacles discussed here? Summarise in two sentences
each of the obstacles to integrated rural development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7.7
FOCAL POINTS FOR IMPROVING THE STANDARD OF LIVING AND
QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE RURAL POOR
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.10
Read Swanepoel (1989) in the Reader. Make a list of all the agenda items he
discusses.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Against the background of the obstacles or problems discussed in section 7.6, we
can now look at some items that need special consideration.
104
7.7.1 Human orientation
One of the primary goals of rural development must be to improve the quality of life
of the rural poor. There may be many entirely legitimate reasons for rural
development efforts, such as a region's contribution to the national welfare, the
inclusion of rural communities in the national political system or increasing the
capacity of the rural areas to absorb excess population in the cities. All these and
similar reasons, whether practical or not, are essentially secondary to the main
reason, namely the improvement of the quality of life of the rural poor. For this
reason rural development is not the development of a region which is arbitrarily
described as rural (Obaidullah Khan 1980:57). It focuses on people and seeks to
benefit them. The development of the region is not nearly as important as the
development of the people, since human development is self-sustaining. Gran
(1983:2) is therefore right when he remarks that ``development, in its broadest
meaning, is the liberation of human potential''. This does not mean that all efforts
at human development lead to sustainable development. Nor does it mean that the
development of the region is not important; however, it should not be done at the
expense of the people living there. In this regard Swanepoel (1985:100)
comments,
``Although area plays an important role, it is primarily the people living in an
area who are to be developed ... . In this sense rural development is
humanistic, it aims at the development of human beings.''
In the Third World there are many examples of unsophisticated, human-oriented,
ground-level development efforts that reach millions of people and improve their
quality of life. One need only journey through the rural areas of South Africa to see
how horticultural, agricultural and manufacturing projects by small groups of
women and men are having an effect far beyond the lives of those directly involved.
7.7.2 Government commitment
Successful rural development needs a strong commitment by government
(Swanepoel 1989). It must be a long-term commitment so that rural development
can enjoy the attention it needs within the security and advantageous climate of a
government commitment (Sussman 1982:106).
Government commitment means that certain demands must be met, such as the
following:
(1) National policy support. Isolated rural development projects cannot have the
same impact as integrated projects supported by a national policy. A national
policy means that a government's total approach to the objectives of rural
development must be focused (Rondinelli & Ruddle 1978:152).
(2) Administrative support. A national policy commitment without administrative
support is mere rhetoric. A bureaucracy must be geared to rural development.
This means that urban areas must not be accorded priority to the detriment of
the people in rural areas. The bureaucracy must also, therefore, be in favour
of a human orientation. There must be no confusion between the provision of
services and the development of people. This attitude must be present in the
top management, but also among the middle-level management and the
ground-level workers.
(3) National planning and programming. Purposeful central planning and
programming is necessary to bring about ground-level development
105
(Rondinelli & Ruddle 1978:144). It provides a sense of direction and makes
development at ground level possible. There is no question of blueprint
planning here. National policy-makers and planners must weigh up local
implementation requirements and comply with them in their planning and
programming so that development efforts at ground level do not fail. In other
words, purposeful central planning makes purposeful decentralised planning
possible.
(4) Ability to coordinate. The successful implementation of integrated rural
development requires that all efforts be centrally coordinated. Integrated
development must be a joint and harmonious effort if it is not to lapse into
chaos and confusion. Without coordination, rural development becomes
divided against itself and little comes of its objectives.
7.7.3 Co-operation between government and nongovernmental
organisations
NGOs are playing a growing and increasingly important role in rural development.
In addition, the majority of Third World countries are unable to undertake the
tremendous task of development on their own. Therefore there is good reason for
NGOs to bear part of the responsibility for rural development.
This optimism about the involvement of NGOs is due largely to the following
factors:
^
^
^
^
^
^
There is a greater awareness of the limitations of direct government
intervention as far as development activities are concerned.
There are a number of success stories relating to the involvement of NGOs in
development efforts, which indicate their greater flexibility and their potential
to reach the poor masses on the ground.
NGOs have the capacity to reach the rural poor as well as the remote areas of a
country.
They also have the capacity to promote participation in development activities
at local level.
Their capacity to function at low cost is also an advantage. Often the services of
personnel are provided free of charge and such personnel are often more
motivated than public servants.
They have a greater flexibility and ability to act innovatively than bureaucratic
institutions. Their capacity for adaptation is often far greater than that of
government departments.
It cannot be denied that in certain instances there is room for cautious optimism
regarding the role of specific NGOs in development actions. However, the subject
cannot be approached blindly. In this regard the following cautionary observations
are particularly important (Cernea 1988:17±18):
^
^
NGOs comprise a very diverse group of institutions and not all of their activities
are development-oriented. Many NGOs primarily serve a specific interest group.
For some NGOs it is functional to oppose the government because of the interest
groups they serve.
The following problem areas of NGOs deserve mention (Verhelst 1990):
^
106
Limited self-reliance. Many NGOs struggle to maintain projects over a long
term without foreign aid.
^
^
^
Limited technical capacity. The staff of NGOs is often limited owing to the
limited scope of their activities.
Individual launching of their activities. The activities of NGOs seldom form an
integral part of activities within a specific development programme. There is
therefore a minimum of coordination.
Lack of sensitivity to local culture. Foreign NGOs that become increasingly
involved in Third World countries are often not sensitive enough to the cultural
environment in which they function. Inappropriate values and criteria are often
applied to the target population.
Despite these problems, it remains a fact that, in general, NGOs succeed in
involving the ordinary people in their projects (Streeten 1987:92). NGOs may also
play an important role in limiting the growth of government structures. Chambers
(1977:135±136) rightly warns against the constant creation of government
institutions:
As a government persistently tries to do too much and proliferates its
organisations ... the overburdened, under-staffed and under-experienced
machine becomes dysfunctional, demonstrating a spastic condition in which
orders from the centre produce if anything unpredictable and often contrary
twitchings in the extremities of the limbs. At the same time, the governmental
bureaucracy continues to expand and lies as a deadening weight on the
economy and the taxpayer.
It is extremely important that a partnership evolves between governmental and
nongovernmental structures (Swanepoel 1996:98). The government cannot simply
accept the existence of NGOs while otherwise ignoring them. On the other hand, the
government is still the most important development agent in the rural areas, and
for that reason NGOs cannot simply act as if government institutions do not exist.
There must therefore be cooperation in one form or another, without either of the
two parties having to forfeit anything substantial.
7.7.4 Popular participation
The idea of popular participation has been so popularised that it belongs largely to
the rhetoric of governments, political institutions and providers of aid. This fact,
however, does not make popular participation less important or urgent. We have to
agree with Gow and Morss (1981:14) that it is important ``to think beyond the
participation slogan to something that is both practical and beneficial''.
Usually four reasons are advanced to show that participation in development is
essential (Swanepoel 1989):
(1) It is important to make use of local skills. Without local participation,
planning is inadequate since the skilled local inputs are lacking (Bryant &
White 1984:10).
(2) Participation is a prerequisite for sustained development. Through participation the local community makes a contribution which inclines them to also
maintain what has been brought into being (Bryant & White 1984:10).
(3) Participation is essential for equitable development. It is argued that it is only
through participation that the rural poor can ensure that they are accorded
their rightful share of development (Gow & Morss 1981:13).
(4) Participation is, in essence, democratisation. Here the focus is on the need for
107
the poor to gain control, and this is linked to political power (Bryant & White
1984:8). This demand for empowerment is motivated by Gran (1983:2) as
follows:
To best develop and best use finite resources, humans need the maximum
practical control that is socially feasible over all aspects of development,
most particularly over those goods and processes necessary for meeting
basic human needs and security. The poor must participate effectively in
political and economic terms. Without this empowerment, significant
economic advance is impossible.
Without discussing the merit of these four arguments, it is clear that the issue of
participation by the population in rural development must be accorded serious
attention.
7.7.5 Integration of development
In the early years of development there was a tendency to benefit the urban areas
at the expense of the rural areas. Together with the disillusionment about the fruits
and inevitability of economic growth, came the realisation that rural areas should
be developed. This caused attention to shift to the rural areas. The problem is that
the urban and rural areas are to a great extent in competition with each other for
``development attention''. This points to a simplistic view of the problems of urban
and rural development. Rondinelli (1986b:238) is correct when he says the
following:
Analyses of development problems based on the ``urban-rural dichotomy'' or
on urban or rural bias ... often lead to development policies and aid
programmes that not only misrepresent the relations between urban growth
and agricultural development but also overlook or ignore the mutually
beneficial linkages between them.
What is necessary, then, is an integration of urban and rural development
(Swanepoel 1997:53, 54). This is a single development problem and the solution
cannot be sought at the expense of either urban or rural areas. The urban areas
must be developed to be capable of serving rural development, and vice versa.
7.7.6 Co-ordinated action
Integrated rural development should be regarded as a total transformation
(Obaidullah Khan 1980:57). Development must address life as a whole as well as
the total environment. For this reason integrated rural development should be
understood as a total systems approach (Armor, Honadle, Olson & Weisel
1979:276) in which all participating organisations and institutions, be they
government or nongovernment, have the same objectives which they pursue in an
interdependent, integrated programme. While it is impossible for one institution to
be responsible for all rural development, it is an unhealthy situation if several
institutions carry out overlapping work among the same people without
coordinating their actions. The question is, however, whether the government
apparatus, which is sectorally structured, is capable of coordinating such actions.
Is it possible for an institution to coordinate when it works on its own, has
autonomous decision-making powers, has no formal links with any other
108
institutions, and has its own field staff that are accountable to it alone and who are
not bound by rules or regulations? Uncoordinated action results in a waste of
resources, competition among participants, duplication of work and confusion
among the population.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 7.11
Read Sections 4, 6 and 7 of the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development
Strategy (2000) in your Reader. Also read the article by Gumbi (2002) in the
Reader. Write an essay of five pages on the theory and practice of integrated rural
development in South Africa. File it for future reference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
7.8
CONCLUSION
This chapter focused on one of the central issues in the theme of rural development:
integrated rural development. First we discussed the history of integrated rural
development and clarified the concept. Then we reflected upon the objectives.
Following this, the framework for integrated rural development was discussed and
we arrived at one important conclusion: integrated rural development is
complicated and is a huge task that depends on many issues, but stakeholders
and coordination are two central variables in what we would like to call successful
integrated rural development aimed at improving the poverty situation in rural
areas specifically.
7.9
LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcomes
Can do
Cannot do
(1) I can describe the historical development
of integrated rural development.
(2) I can explain the concept of integrated
rural development.
(3) I can discuss the obstacles in the way of
successful integrated rural development.
(4) I can draw up an agenda for integrated
rural development.
(5) I can write an essay on the theory and
practice of integrated rural development
in South Africa.
109
THEME C
KEY ISSUES IN URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
Urbanisation is one of the major social transformations which Third World
countries, particularly African countries, are undergoing at present. Urban as well
as rural areas are subject to its influence. The large concentration of (especially)
the poor in the cities makes the question of development even more salient in cities
than in the rural areas.
For a variety of reasons, economic motivation probably being the most important,
people are migrating from rural areas to cities and also to areas between cities.
The economic motivation, namely to find employment, is reinforced by the search
for better social services such as schools, clinics and facilities, and by the very poor
conditions in the rural areas Ð all playing a part in creating a strong incentive for
migration to the urban areas.
Third World migration has brought people streaming to the capitals or main
economic centres. In Africa this has led to the creation of what is known as primate
cities. Primate cities are created when the population in a single city or,
exceptionally, two cities, grows at such an alarming rate that the city doubles in
size. The basis for the growth of primate cities may be found in the colonial past
when development was concentrated mainly in the administrative centres. In view
of the shortage of natural resources, among other considerations, very few ``growth
centres'' were established which could develop into cities. As a result, the national
economic assets have been concentrated in cities, where the national development
question of poverty is most evident.
Policies usually reflect the most pressing issues, especially those that may have an
adverse effect on the popularity of governments. The policy followed is usually
aimed at urban development, a phenomenon known as urban bias, which creates
the conditions that bring about further migration and therefore intensifies the
urban development issue.
111
At a practical level, the problems which arise and which policy needs to address are
those of employment opportunities, housing and social services. National policy, for
instance on regional development, provides the broad framework within which the
practical policies are formulated.
Policy formulation and implementation do not take place in a vacuum. Apart from
government institutions, such as local governments, there are other groups,
organisations and movements that influence policies for the benefit of their own
interests. The ``invasions'' of South American cities and the organised occupation
of land currently experienced in South Africa are examples of ``movements'' whose
actions have a decisive influence on policy formulation and implementation. The
contributions of all the above groups are important when studying the poverty issue
in Third World countries.
The above issues are discussed under this theme. Your task is to study the issues
and to determine their interrelatedness.
112
STUDY UNIT 8
URBANISATION AND CITY GROWTH
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to
(1) discuss the urbanisation trend in the Third World and point out its
consequences
(2) explain the relationships between causes of urbanisation, dependent
urbanisation and urban primacy
(3) explain the debate regarding the relationship between the formal and informal
sectors
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8.1
INTRODUCTION
According to Dr Carl Bartone (Pugh 2000:x), Principal Environmental Engineer
of the World Bank, for the first time in history one-half of the world's population is
living in cities. It is estimated that more than two-thirds will be urban dwellers by
2025. While urbanisation is a global phenomenon, the fastest growth of cities is
taking place in the developing world, where more than 90 per cent of the new
urbanites will settle.
In line with the above, Tannerfeldt and Ljung (2006:1) suggest that in a world that
is now more than half urban and likely to become increasingly so, poverty
alleviation efforts need to focus on urban settlements. These authors argue that the
principles they propose for guiding urban poverty alleviation will create impacts
that will reduce rural poverty at the same time. In its latest (2009) development
report, the World Bank even goes so far as to suggest to South Africa that the
emphasis of the government's development programme should fall on urban rather
than rural development (Smit 2009:23).
Yet there is no agreed definition of the concept ``urban'' in its African context. In
Gabon, for example, areas with more than 1 000 inhabitants are classified as
urban, whereas in Kenya and Zaire the norm has been fixed at 2 000. In Ghana,
5 000 is the criterion, but in Nigeria it is 20 000, with the added proviso that a
city or town should sustain a nonagricultural economy. Although the United
Nations defines ``urban'' as relating to populations of 20 000 and more, on a
continent as relatively unurbanised as Africa, a concentration of 5 000 people in
any one area may well qualify as ``urbanised'' (on account of the sparse
population of the continent, the small number of cities and so on).
113
However, the size of the population is not the only criterion for defining a city. If
you agree with this statement, you will also agree that it is no easy task to arrive at
a satisfactory definition of the term ``urban''.
In attempting to establish precisely what is meant by this term, we can identify a
number of characteristics (or criteria) which have been used in different
approaches. These characteristics include: size, population density, the permanence
of the settlement, social heterogeneity, autonomy, community, the presence of an
educated elite, clearly differentiated institutions, mental stress, deviant subcultures, and conditions that could stimulate social change and class conflict. You
will be able to identify some of these characteristics in any urban area which you
can think of and, in fact, with a minimum of research you will be able to verify
them.
In this study unit we take a brief look at the scope of urban growth. With Gilbert
and Gugler (1984) as our guide, we study the causes of urbanisation in the Third
World. Your previous studies will have made you aware of the two main approaches
to the study of development: the modernisation approach and the dependency
approach. Throughout this study guide you will come across the different
viewpoints of these schools of thought, and your task is to weigh them up and
draw your own conclusions. Do bear in mind, however, that the dependency theory
is facing increasing criticism and has taken on so many guises that, as Gilbert and
Gugler (1984:17±18) observe:
differing strands of Marxist and neo-Marxist thought have created a position
where there is no such thing as dependency theory, probably no longer a single
dependency approach, and conceivably not even a recognizable dependency
school.
Nonetheless, if the dependency approach is currently undergoing a process of
reformulation and adjustment, this does not detract from the valid contributions it
has made to our field of study. The most important insight in this context is that the
developed and developing countries of the world are not independent, but function
within and have grown from the same framework. In our discussion on
urbanisation we examine dependent urbanisation in detail.
8.2
THE STUDY OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Has the city a role to play in the development of the Third World? This is a valid
question, bearing in mind the poverty and misery to be found in many Third World
cities. One may argue, however, that since the greater part of the Third World's
population lives in rural areas, any attempt at development should concentrate on
these areas. Nevertheless, the pace of urbanisation in the Third World, especially in
Africa, is such that it is impossible to study development without considering the
role the city plays in this process and, bearing in mind its growth rate, the
increasingly important role it should be playing in the development of the Third
World.
This is not to say that we should underestimate the important contribution made by
the rural areas in the development process. The concepts ``rural'' and ``urban'' are,
after all, two sides of the same coin.
114
8.3
THE SCOPE OF URBAN GROWTH
Today, Africa has the world's fastest annual rate of urbanisation. According to
Tibaijuka (2004:2), Executive Director of Habitat Debate, the annual average
urban growth is 4 per cent, twice as high as that of Latin America and Asia.
Already 37 per cent of Africans live in cities, and by the year 2030 this rate is
expected to rise to 53 per cent.
In global terms, it is the countries of East, Central and West Africa that are
experiencing the most rapid growth in their urban populations at present. More
than half the people of North and southern Africa already live in urban areas.
While population density in Africa is low (18 per km2) (Timberlake 1985:39), the
carrying capacity of the land is also low and, as a result of various factors, is
decreasing at an alarming rate. Food production has deteriorated to the extent that
grain products have to be imported in an attempt to combat the malnutrition that
affects 60 per cent of the African population south of the Sahara (Timberlake
1985:15). Wood for fuel is becoming scarcer, so women have to spend much more
time and energy gathering wood.
The rural areas are experiencing two negative trends simultaneously: the means for
subsistence are being depleted, making the struggle for survival much more
difficult; at the same time, population growth is constantly accelerating. While the
necessity for rural development may feature prominently in the rhetoric of
politicians, the fact is that urban bias still predominates in the spending of
development aid. Thus, while more and more schools, clinics and other services are
being provided in urban areas, the under-serviced rural areas are left neglected. In
this situation many rural dwellers see cities as places of opportunity: places to find
employment, better schools and more readily available medical care, and in any
case, places with a better future than the rural areas. Those arriving in the city
seldom find the going easy, but because of their many links with city dwellers the
situation usually does not come as a surprise (see study units 1 and 4).
African cities developed primarily as colonial centres of administration and trade.
While colonial administrators and entrepreneurs were the generators and holders
of power and wealth, little attention was paid to the development of an indigenous
process of urbanisation. On the contrary, various attempts were made to implement
influx control. Africans who succeeded in finding jobs in the civil service or in
commerce were generally housed in compounds or in heavily subsidised
government houses. As a result of colonial domination, African cities developed
very much along the lines of modern European ``garden cities''. After
independence, the newly created ruling class opted for a continuation of the
former colonial policy on urbanisation. Among the measures that this entailed were
the eviction of people and the demolition of shacks, as well as the imposition of high
and often inappropriate building standards.
8.4
THE PRIMATE CITY AND URBAN BIAS
Historical, economic, political and spatial factors are indicated as some of the
reasons for the creation and growth of primate cities. A city that is growing
exceptionally rapidly (sometimes at double the rate of the next largest city in the
same country) and that wields the economic and political power in a country is
usually regarded as a primate city. In Africa, the largest cities (usually the
115
capitals) are (at least) twice as large as the next largest cities in the countries
concerned and are therefore primate cities. A primate city is like a burning candle
attracting moths. As Preston (1990:16) puts it:
Primate cities in developing countries are said to be drawing a disproportionate influx of population from other areas. Their rapid growth is alleged to
result from biases in patterns of government expenditure and employment, in
part resulting from the undue political influence of these agglomerations.
Preston (1990) is referring to urban bias, a theme to which we return later on. To
illustrate the rapid growth of cities, let's look at the urbanisation trends in Africa.
The tendency in Africa since 1960 has been for the larger cities to grow faster than
the smaller ones. The percentage of the urban population living in cities of more
than one million people increased from 0,0 per cent in 1960 to 1,6 per cent in
1980 and 7,2 per cent by the year 2000.
Rondinelli (1986b:233) talks of a pattern of urbanisation in the Third World that
is ``far more concentrated'', where ``large percentages of the urban population are
found in one or two very large metropolises''.
The point we wish to emphasise is that, while urbanisation is a worldwide tendency:
there are major variations between regions and that the forms of this
urbanization vary considerably between the developed and less developed
nations and indeed within the Third World itself (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:8).
Urban bias has already been mentioned as a reason for the excessive growth of
primate cities in the Third World. We will highlight this concept briefly, as
discussed by Gilbert and Gugler (1984). Urban bias is the result of the
concentration of power in the hands of urban groups. These groups use their
power to benefit from the allocation of resources. This intensifies inequalities
between rural and urban areas and retards development (Gilbert & Gugler
1984:164). In the words of Lipton (quoted in Gilbert & Gugler 1984:164):
The most important conflict in the poor countries of the world today is not
between capital and labour. Nor is it between foreign and the national
interests. It is between the rural classes and the urban classes. The rural
sector contains most of the poverty, and most of the low cost sources of
potential advance; but the urban sector contains most of the articulateness,
organization and power. So the urban classes have been able to ``win'' most of
the rounds of the struggle with the countryside; but in doing so they have
made the development process slow and unfair.
This ``victory'' has enabled the Third World city to offer certain social and
economic benefits.
A striking worldwide feature of urbanisation is that there is a direct link between
income and urbanisation levels. In countries with advanced industrial market
economies, almost 80 per cent of the population lives in urban centres. In middle
income countries, as defined by the World Bank, over half the population is
urbanised, and in low income countries little more than 20 per cent of the
population, on average, is formally urbanised. The industrial market economies
have a low population growth rate (1,3 per cent per annum in the period 1970 to
116
1980). Low income countries, on the other hand, have a very high population
growth rate (approximately 5 per cent per annum in the period 1970 to 1980),
while middle income countries, of which South Africa is one, had a growth rate of
3,8 per cent per annum for the period 1970 to 1980 (Webber 1985). Bear in mind
that an annual growth rate of 5 per cent is equivalent to doubling a nation's urban
population every 11 years, a rate too rapid to be accommodated by even a wealthy
nation (Webber 1985).
Like individuals and families, industrial and commercial entrepreneurs tend to find
city sites, particularly sites in large cities, the most attractive locations. There they
have ready access to a skilled labour force, to developed and emerging markets and
their associated social organisations, and to a wide variety of suppliers, customers
and services. The more advanced a national economy is, the more complex its
markets tend to be, and hence the more dependent its institutions are on specialised
services of all sorts from accountants, lawyers, insurance underwriters, bankers,
architects, engineers, government agencies, equipment repairmen, economists,
and, nowadays, computer programmers and analysts. All these services generally
require a skilled and available labour force. As Webber (1985:2) explains:
A metropolitan complex is, in effect, a massive communications switchboard
through which all sorts of specialists are connected to each other Ð through
which their interdependencies get satisfied ... . Indeed, the only reason cities
exist is that they supply connectivity between interdependent establishments
and at lower costs than are possible elsewhere. Persons and business firms
congregate in cities only because costs of interaction with others over space
are less where distances between partners to transactions are short. That's
why millions of people are willing to crowd into a small space and to suffer
the costs that attach to high density and congestion.
It is not surprising that there is generally a direct relationship between
contemporary urbanisation and industrialisation. An urban location for industry,
according to Dewar, Todes and Watson (1984:70±71), facilitates three important
functions which affect the viability of the industry. Firstly, it provides crucial backup services Ð repair and maintenance services, communication and transport
services, and adequate utility services, such as water and power. Secondly, it
provides a readily available supply of reliable, trained labour. Thirdly, it provides a
market for products. Together, these functions provide ``economies of agglomeration'' Ð a clustering of industries for the mutual benefit of all concerned. These
economies, in turn, attract the establishment of further industries. Growth, once
started, tends to become self-perpetuating.
Whereas current theory in many fields assumes that cities are built upon a rural
economic base, the reverse is also true: that is, rural economies, including
agriculture, may be built directly upon city economies and city growth (Jacobs
1969:7).
The following can be said about agriculture:
[A]griculture is not even tolerably productive unless it incorporates many
goods and services produced in cities or transplanted from cities. The most
strongly rural countries exhibit the most unproductive agriculture. The most
thoroughly urbanized countries, on the other hand, are precisely those that
produce food most abundantly (Jacobs 1969:7).
117
In addition to Jacobs's observations, a recent development in certain of the
developed countries is also of note: that in some areas agricultural production now
has more of a peri-urban than a rural base. For instance, much of Italy's vegetable
crop is grown in technologically sophisticated operations on smallholdings on the
outskirts of the major cities.
In fact, agriculture does not only take place on the outskirts of cities or in the periurban areas. According to Rogerson (1993:33) the cultivation of food crops,
particularly vegetables, fruit and small livestock, is widely practised in many Third
World cities. This phenomenon holds both positive and negative outcomes for cities
and their residents. The positive aspects are that jobs can be created, the household
economy can be boosted and more people can be fed. The negative results are the
possibility of pollution and the safety and health hazards of roaming animals in a
metropolis (Rogerson 1993:37).
The fact that the food shortage can be addressed in this way is of paramount
importance. Therefore Rogerson (1993:41) comes to the conclusion that ``this
`unconventional' proposal for dealing with some of the problems of the urban poor
must be placed on the policy agenda for the 1990s''.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 8.1
Read the article by Cohen (2004) in your Reader. Pay particular attention to trends
in urban growth in developing countries and regional differences.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Agglomeration means
a mass or a collection.
Amenities are things
that can make life
pleasant.
Encumbrance means
an obstacle or a burden.
118
Cities also offer distinct social advantages, including, for example, a greater range
of better quality services than are available in rural areas. The agglomeration of
people makes it easier and cheaper to provide social, educational, police, sanitary
and health facilities (including clinics and hospitals), and to install such services as
piped water, sewage disposal, gas and electricity. Many more amenities are
available in cities than in villages. Imported goods in the shops bring people into
contact with a wider world and a high standard of achievement, and may even act
as a stimulus to greater personal achievements. Education and training, which are
seen as the passport to better living, are more readily available in the towns and
cities. The status of women is generally higher in the cities due, in part, to a higher
degree of social mobility.
The experience of urbanisation in the advanced capitalist nations, which goes hand
in hand with better opportunities for education and a variety of recreational
activities, is beginning to shape a new way of life in which children play a less
important economic role. Indeed, with the introduction of compulsory, full-time
education and the establishment of minimum ages of employment, children cease to
be an economic asset and may instead represent an encumbrance to social and
material advancement. These are the changes which underlie the Western
experience that urban birth rates are lower than rural ones. As Mountjoy
(1982:58) puts it: ``The more urban an area the lower the fertility of the population
and the more rural an area, the more rapidly its population is reproducing.''
But this is still a very one-sided view of the advantages of urbanisation. There are
also disadvantages, specifically as a result of rapid city growth. Rondinelli
(1986c:264) lists a number of problems experienced in Asian cities:
(1) Large Asian metropolises cannot provide enough jobs for even their current
work force let alone the many more flowing into these areas.
(2) Many of those who come to Asian metropolises are unskilled and uneducated
and can only find informal sector jobs that provide at best a subsistence
income.
(3) Growing urban populations place increasing demands on already overstrained public facilities and services.
(4) Most large metropolitan areas have a traditional and inadequate physical
infrastructure to which ad hoc improvements have been made that are
incapable of providing the coverage or quality of service needed to
accommodate their growing populations.
(5) Weak revenue bases or inefficient revenue collection practices and the
limitations on revenue raising placed on them by central government make it
impossible for most Asian metropoles to keep pace with the expanding public
service needs.
(6) Continued migration of the rural poor to large metropolitan areas in Asia
results in greater concentrations of people in slums and squatter settlements
to which basic services and facilities cannot always be extended.
(7) The heavy and continued concentration of people and economic activities in
the largest metropolises often drains human, financial and natural resources
from the already poor rural hinterlands.
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ACTIVITY 8.2
Compare the above list of problems with the southern African situation and identify
the similarities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitely the most serious negative result of the rapid urbanisation of the Third
World has been the dramatic shift in the incidence of poverty from the rural areas
to the cities. Asthana (1994:58) says that already in the early 1990s, 50 per cent
of the absolute poor were to be found in Third World cities.
As we have seen, urban bias is only part of the complex explanation for
urbanisation. We now turn to some of the other explanations for this
phenomenon.
8.5
CAUSES OF URBANISATION
In simple terms, one may say that urbanisation and urban growth take place only
when a central power has the mechanism to generate surpluses and to concentrate
these surpluses in urban areas (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:11). According to Gilbert
and Gugler, however, this above statement does not give a complete explanation of
urbanisation and urban growth.
119
Theocratic refers to
government by a god
or the priesthood.
The dependence of urbanisation on a mechanism to concentrate wealth does not
explain present-day urban growth satisfactorily. The theocratic communities of
ancient Mexico and China were controlled by elites which used mechanisms such as
military power and moral pressure to draw surpluses (taxes, sacrifices) from
agricultural areas and concentrate them in urban areas. On the other hand, modern
industrial communities make less use of power, preferring to use a complicated web
of related interests as the mechanism for concentrating surpluses in cities.
Consequently, Gilbert and Gugler (1984:11) draw the following conclusion:
Capitalist societies contain elites as powerful as those of theocratic societies,
but the mechanisms for generating and accumulating a surplus are clearly
very distinctive Ð the ideology of capitalism legitimizes urbanization in
terms of its contribution to the growth of the gross national product.
Evidently, these authors ascribe present-day urbanisation to the influence of the
capitalist system. Logically they also conclude that ``today large areas of the world
are integrated into a single economy'' (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:11) and the growth
of a city cannot be explained only in the context of its national or local
environment. Its development also depends on how it is integrated into the
international system. Although one can understand this point of view, one should
guard against a one-sided emphasis on the influence of the international system on
urban growth. Not all cities are linked to this system to the same extent. Local
factors may also have a special influence on the urbanisation process.
Gilbert and Gugler (1984) maintain that imperialism and the encroachment of
European capitalism have been the main influences on urbanisation in the Third
World. Not only did European contact give rise to a number of new cities; it also
caused the destruction of some indigenous cities and complete changes of form and
function in others. The city was seen as an instrument of conquest for destroying or
changing indigenous civilisations. As Gilbert and Gugler (1984:14) observe,
``The newly founded cities reflected the new power structure and exercised
functions relevant to the interests of Europe. They were beginning to become
part of a world economic and social system.''
The colonial city became the seat of political power and authority while the
conquered indigenous population lived in rural areas around the city. Hence the
city acted as a link between the colonial hinterland and the colonial metropolis.
Although Latin America achieved political independence long before Africa and
Asia, Latin American communities were already integrated into the world trade
system. Thus European imperialism resulted in the spread of capitalism throughout
the world, thereby linking even the remotest rural areas to the metropolises of the
world.
The organisation of these colonial-type cities was deeply marked by colonialism, to
the extent that colonial cities are seen by some as quite distinct from industrial
cities (Balbo 1993:26). This fact helps us to understand the relationship between
urban and rural. Balbo explains as follows (1993:26):
It is obvious ... that the few decades which have lapsed from the end of
colonialism were not sufficient to transform what had been conceived as a
dividing space into an integrated one; to overcome the inertia inherent in any
spatial organisation a much longer span of time is required.
120
8.6
URBANISATION POLICY
A distinction may be made between macrolevel and microlevel urbanisation policy.
At the macrolevel (national policy), measures may be imposed that either curb or
promote urbanisation. Policy guidelines on urban development may be based on a
government's preference for restricting or encouraging urbanisation. A macropolicy aimed at curbing urbanisation (such as South African policy until the mideighties) will contain measures to:
(1) prevent or restrict migration to cities
(2) provide a minimum of services, such as housing, in cities
(3) promote industrial decentralisation in rural areas to ``bring job opportunities
to the people''
In such a case, the aim of policy is to restrict urbanisation by making urban life as
unattractive as possible. Tanzania's Ujamaa policy and China's Hsia Fang
Movement, like South Africa's former homeland, migratory labour and influx
control policies, were attempts to curb urbanisation. A belief that the growth of
urban populations is undesirable underlies a ``control policy''. In the case of South
Africa it was not a belief that the growth of urban populations as such was wrong,
but rather that urban migration of a certain population group was undesirable.
It may be an oversimplification of a complex matter to speak, by way of contrast,
of a policy that promotes urbanisation. What we can say is that in Third World
countries urbanisation occurs spontaneously without any encouragement, or that
urbanisation is hardly ever consciously promoted. Indeed, as in the case of Nigeria,
it is more a problem that
the very high pace of urban growth, estimated to be more than double the
annual population growth rate of 2.8 per cent, is totally unrelated to the
general level of economic development, and has outstripped the capacity to
plan and manage the cities effectively (Nwaka 1989:49).
Rural people are encouraged to migrate to cities not only because policies create a
better life in the cities. Rural people are also encouraged to migrate because they
are pushed out of the rural areas by the extremely poor conditions there.
There is overwhelming evidence from many research reports and articles that
urbanisation and the growth of urban populations in Third World countries
constitute a spontaneous and irreversible process. By the mid-eighties it was clear
that South Africa's influx control measures were incapable of arresting the
process: urbanisation (by way of migration to cities) occurred despite efforts to
stem it (see, for instance, May 1990 and Haarhof 1985).
It should be clear to you by now that macro-urbanisation policy should actually
concern spatial development, for instance the creation of a hierarchy of cities and
of rural growth centres. Policies should not be aimed at stopping or curbing the
flow to cities, but rather at regulating it. A policy is therefore necessary to
facilitate the spontaneous growth of cities, namely:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
to encourage the creation of job opportunities
to facilitate the provision of housing in a meaningful way
to facilitate and regulate the right to land ownership
to create opportunities for the city to play a developmental role towards the
rural areas
121
Rogerson (1989) makes use of Richardson's argument to warn against the wrong
policy approach towards urban development. He points out that national urban
policy should be an integral part of an overall development strategy and should not
be treated as a narrow sectoral responsibility (Rogerson 1989:137). He also points
out the necessity for a much closer integration between urban development policy
and development planning in general (1989:100). He warns against a narrow
definition of urban policy as aiming to slow down urbanisation or to primarily
address the primacy problem (1989:137). The lesson to be learnt by South Africa,
according to Rogerson (1989:140), is as follows:
It appears particularly important to cast off the shackles of a dominance
exerted by the spatial obsession of containing the growth of South Africa's
largest metropolitan centres on the one hand, and of redirecting growth into
peripheral growth centres on the other.
Rogerson (1989) is not against growth centres and secondary cities, but he
maintains that they should not be the primary focus and objective of a policy.
8.7
URBAN SURVIVAL: THE INFORMAL SECTOR
How the ``informal sector'' is perceived holds important implications for the way in
which we deal with the concept. The traditional belief of theories about the
informal sector relates to the dualistic character (containing both formal sector
and informal sector) of Third World cities. Brennan (Bromley 1985:43)
summarises this approach as follows:
The traditional belief of theories on the informal sector relates to the dualistic
character (containing both formal sector and informal sector) of Third World
cities. Brennan (Bromley 1985:43) summarises this approach as follows:
Most discussions of the ``informal sector'' take as their point of departure the
dualistic character that is ascribed to the urban economy of the non-socialist
countries of the Third World. This implies that the term informal sector refers
to a dichotomy in which the characteristics of the two parts form each others'
contrasts.
In this context, the formal sector is seen as comprising wage labour and the
activities of large institutions such as government departments. Brennan (Bromley
1985:43) identifies the following criteria for the identification of the formal sector:
(1) a number of related employment opportunities forming part of a well
organised labour structure
(2) working situations that form part of officially registered economic statistics
(3) working conditions that enjoy legal protection
Economic activities that do not comply with these criteria are grouped under the
umbrella term ``informal sector''. This is a very vague and nonspecific term that
covers an enormous amount of economic activity. The watchword of the informal
sector is ``self-employment''. This is exactly where the problem lies, for in terms of
this description, enterprises such as an elementary fruit-selling operation and a
relatively sophisticated computer business fall within the same category, although
their needs are not at all comparable.
122
Brennan (Bromley 1985:43) points out that the above description of the informal
sector is highly unsatisfactory because it is so vague.
The second criticism of the term ``informal sector'' relates to the dualistic
classification mentioned above. Using a strictly formalistic classification when
referring to the formal and informal sectors makes it easy to completely overlook
the intense interaction between the two sectors (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:72).
Brennan (Bromley 1985:46) summarises the problem as follows:
``Moreover, by interpreting the relationship in a dualistic framework and in
focussing on the mutually exclusive characteristics, we lose sight of the unity
and totality of the productive system.''
This statement is very important, because a holistic perspective of the operation of
the economy (emphasising the necessity for an overall picture of the situation) can
improve our understanding of the development issue.
Although the strictly dualistic categorisation of the economy into a formal and an
informal sector has enormous shortcomings of artificiality and superficiality (as
pointed out above), it does offer the advantage of highlighting the informal sector
(namely the economic activities of the impoverished masses) as the absolute
opposite of the formal sector. We first look at the composition of the informal
sector.
Once you have completed activity 8.3, you will look at the composition of the
informal sector.
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ACTIVITY 8.3
Observe the economic activity in your area: at individual houses, the railway
station, taxi rank and shopping centre. How many people do you notice who are not
trading from a shop or an office? List the types of economic activities people are
engaged in, which you regard as activities of the informal economic sector.
------------------------------------------------------------------8.7.1 Composition of the informal sector
In the preceding paragraphs we cautioned against too narrow and superficial a
classification in studying the informal sector. Studies of the informal sector are
often limited to the cities, thereby ignoring labour and production ratios in rural
areas. Informal activities in the urban environment are not independent of the
economy of a particular region, but form an integral part of that economy. It is
therefore important to study a particular region as a whole, as Brennan (Bromley
1985:49) points out. A number of practical examples are mentioned below to
further illustrate this point.
Many regions are dependent on seasonal labour. Fruit farmers are particularly
dependent on seasonal labour, and at a particular time each year these labourers
have an important impact on the economy of the region in which they are working.
123
The area from which they originate may be adversely affected by this practice
should labour be urgently needed there.
Lucrative means
profitable.
Often, products are manufactured in the rural areas and sold in the cities which
may provide a lucrative market for such goods. Some of the profits may be spent in
the cities, but a large portion is returned to the rural areas. This creates ongoing
interaction between the rural and the urban areas. Gugler (2002:21) maintains
that most rural-urban migrants maintain significant ties with their communities of
origin in Africa south of the Sahara. (See also study unit 4.)
Men and women in Malawi do woodwork and crocheting, respectively, and then
market these products in Pretoria because they consider it to be the best outlet for
their products. Transport costs are high and the profit margin small. Bear these
aspects in mind when analysing the characteristics of the informal sector. In the
informal sector, the risks are high and the danger of exploitation very real.
8.7.2 Characteristics of the informal sector
We have already referred to some of the problems of placing a strictly dualistic
division between the formal and the informal sectors. Such a division is not only
very artificial, it also ignores the close economic interaction between the formal
and the informal sectors in practice. Listing the characteristics of the informal
sector will give you some indication of the nature of this small-scale sector. The
following characteristics of the informal sector are distinguished by the ILO
(International Labour Organisation) (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:73):
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
It is easily accessible.
It is dependent on indigenous resources.
The family owns the enterprise.
It is a small-scale enterprise.
Small-scale and adapted technology is utilised and the enterprise is usually
labour intensive.
(6) Skills have often been acquired outside the formal sector.
(7) Markets are unregulated and competitive.
The following contrasting characteristics of the formal sector may give an even
better perspective on the activities of the informal sector:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
It is accessible only with difficulty.
It is dependent on foreign resources.
It is in corporate ownership.
It involves large-scale activities.
It is capital intensive and dependent on imported and often dedicated
technology.
(6) Skills have often been acquired in formal training, and foreign personnel
frequently provide a major input.
(7) Markets are protected by means of fixed rates, quotas and trade licences.
Although informal sector activities in most Third World countries account for the
biggest input into the economy, the activities of this sector are, by and large,
ignored and sometimes even actively discouraged by government institutions
(Gilbert & Gugler 1984:72±75).
124
The section below discusses the relationship between the informal sector and the
formal sector in terms of some of the characteristics mentioned above.
8.8
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FORMAL SECTOR AND THE
INFORMAL SECTOR
When studying the relationship between the formal sector and the informal sector
on the basis of the above-mentioned characteristics, one can easily come to the
conclusion that the two sectors operate in reasonable isolation from each other.
This assumption is not correct, because there are areas in which the activities of the
different sectors are complementary. This is a somewhat neutral statement,
because it is important to bear in mind that opinions differ when it comes to the
relationship between the formal and the informal sectors.
Portes and Walton (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:75) provide an important starting point
in this regard when they argue that the informal sector often subsidises the formal
sector. The cheap labour in the informal sector provides low-cost inputs as well as
inexpensive goods and services to the formal sector. The informal sector is often in
a subordinate position in this relationship. Birbeck (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:75)
illustrates the relationship between the formal and informal sectors by means of
the following example. He refers to the activities of the informal waste collectors in
Cali, Colombia. Most of the waste is collected by these people and taken to large
factories. In the paper industry, waste paper provides approximately one third of
the raw materials for the factories, and 60 per cent of this waste paper is provided
by the informal sector. The compensation paid to the informal workers amounts to
approximately one third of the salary of the lowest-paid employee in the paper
industry. Apart from the fact that the informal workers do not receive a fixed
income, they do not enjoy the benefits (eg pension, medical insurance) commonly
found in the formal sector. On the basis of this example, it is suggested that many
workers in the informal sector are indirectly employed by the formal sector without
enjoying the ordinary benefits usually attached to employment.
The two main approaches to the relationship between the formal and the informal
sectors may be summarised as follows.
Obsolete means
outdated, not useful
anymore.
According to the first approach, the existence and growth of the informal sector
are assumed to represent a phase in the development process. The emphasis is on
the function of the informal sector as a buffer zone. Although the informal sector
provides a living for an enormous number of people who would otherwise have no
income, it must be conceded that the marginal productivity and exploitation that
occur in this sector may be regarded as major causes of poverty. It would be
impractical to expect policies to be formulated in support of ineffective and smallscale economic activity. The informal sector frequently makes use of nearly
obsolete technology. Poverty can really be addressed only by expanding the formal
sector as rapidly as possible to allow for as many people as possible to be
accommodated in this sector (Bromley 1985:51).
The second approach forms the opposite pole to the above argument. The ILO and
the World Bank are major supporters of this approach, which regards the
relationship between the formal and informal sectors as an example of structural
125
Reciprocal refers to a
mutual relationship.
What I do for you, you
will do for me.
inequality. The flexibility and utilisation of appropriate technology which
characterise the informal sector are hampered by the more favourable market
conditions found in the formal sector. The disproportionate advantages of the
formal sector are often reinforced by political bias and government protection.
Those supporting this approach argue in favour of refining the reciprocal
interaction between the two sectors. They propose further that discrimination
against the activities of the informal sector will have to cease. Governments will
have to formulate policies to stimulate and activate the informal sector, for
instance by providing credit facilities, upgrading skills, establishing marketing
opportunities, providing raw materials, and so forth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 8.4
Describe the two approaches to the relationship between the formal and informal
economic sectors in your own words. Which approach represents the modernisation
school of thought and which the dependency school of thought?
------------------------------------------------------------------Rather than becoming involved in a debate on the various schools of thought, we
pose a number of questions to stimulate your thinking in this regard. These
questions will also provide a background for the later discussion on policies to
combat urban poverty.
A variable is something
that changes frequently
and that has an influence on the matter at
hand.
(1) When a number of variables such as those present in the economic dilemma
experienced in Third World countries are combined with the high population
growth rate common to these countries, the question arises whether there is
any real hope of accommodating all economically active people in the formal
sector in future.
(2) Does it serve a purpose to use the notion of ``two different sectors of the
economy'' as a point of departure? Should one not rather consider the needs of
a region as a whole?
(3) Does stimulation of the informal sector perhaps amount to a perpetuation of
cheap labour and services to the benefit of the formal sector? The structural
inequality between the two sectors should also receive attention.
(4) Is the importance of a reciprocal relationship being considered out of context
if one does not take into consideration the inherent conflict and competition
between the small-scale informal economy and activities and the large-scale
capital-intensive industries?
(5) Is ``true assistance'' to the informal sector by government perhaps somewhat
far-fetched? This would amount to political decisions in favour of the poor at
the expense of the wealthy. The wealthy are after all often responsible for
keeping the ruling government in power.
The above are just a few questions that are important in this context. You should
guard against oversimplifying the issue by emphasising certain elements at the
expense of others. An overall view of the issue is very important here.
126
8.9
URBANISATION IN AN INCREASINGLY GLOBAL WORLD
An important feature of the current urban transition is the fact that the nature and
extent of urban growth are now more dependent on the global economy than ever
before. Cohen (2004:34±35) has the following to say with regard to globalisation:
[T]he progressive integration of the world's economies ... has accelerated
over the past 30 years. Driven by an astounding rate of technological change,
particularly in the areas of transportation and telecommunications,
globalization has radically reduced the need for spatial proximity and
reshaped the organization, management and production of firms and
industries. Globalization has also been facilitated by a more favorable
international political climate, the collapse of communism, and financial
deregulation that has allowed capital to become more mobile than ever
before. These changes have combined to produce a more integrated and
global economy than ever before, characterized by a new international
division of labor, increased trade and investment, growing transnational
communications, and expanding crossborder alliances between businesses
and industries.
8.10 CONCLUSION
Urbanisation is taking place at an increasing rate. The changes experienced by a
number of South American cities in the past few years provide us with an indication
of the prospects for many Third World cities. Migration represents a desperate
attempt to meet basic needs. The impact of the masses streaming to the cities is not
exclusively economic. Their philosophy of life has a definite impact on the city.
The urban and rural areas are not two distinct entities with no ties. On the
contrary, they are woven together through socioeconomic relationships among
people. The urban household extends into the rural area because it is part of an
extended rural family. The same goes for the formal and informal economic
sectors. Many difficulties arise when the formal and informal sectors are treated as
separate categories.
The major challenges facing our cities early in the 21st century are related to the
following questions: what lessons can we draw from our past development and
changes in landscape and, on a more proactive note, what new directions and
solutions can we explore to cope with the realities of urban development?
8.11 LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcomes
Can do
Cannot do
(1) I can identify the urbanisation trend in
the Third World and point out its
consequences.
127
Outcomes
(2) I can explain the relationship between the
causes of urbanisation, dependent urbanisation and urban primacy.
(3) I can explain the debate about the
relationship between the formal and
informal sectors.
128
Can do
Cannot do
STUDY UNIT 9
URBAN SERVICES
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have worked through this study unit, you should be able to:
(1) identify the different policy options regarding urban development
(2) explain the problems associated with squatter settlements
(3) list and explain the advantages and disadvantages of various housing
strategies
-------------------------------------------------------------------
9.1
INTRODUCTION
Third World countries are already facing a rapid rate of urbanisation which will
increase further in future. The governments of Third World countries will have to
pay increasing attention to initiatives aimed at dealing with urban growth. For
many social commentators the most alarming aspect of the trend towards global
urbanisation, according to Cohen (2004:32), has been the apparent pace at which
it has occurred. In this study unit we look at the problems surrounding balanced
urban development. We do this by first looking at a number of policy guidelines for
orderly urban development, then at various aspects regarding the provision of
urban services, and then at housing as an example of the provision of urban
services.
9.2
URBAN DEVELOPMENT POLICY
It must be borne in mind that policy in this context refers to the objectives of
institutions and the methods for realising such objectives (guidelines for future
action), as well as decisions on current modes of action. Policy is an umbrella
concept and includes a variety of fields, situations and levels. Urban development
policy therefore refers to the objectives of orderly urban growth and guidelines for
achieving this.
As far as national urbanisation policy is concerned, it should be mentioned that the
objectives of most governments are not very clear in respect of urban development.
Hardoy and Satterthwaite (1989:57) mention that
rather than explicit policies and projects based on careful analyses of what
was causing or contributing to urban trends judged to be unsatisfactory,
129
national plans included a number of broad objectives like slowing migration
to the major cities, developing backward regions or dynamizing rural growth
points.
9.2.1 The nature of the Third World state in the context of policy making
It is important to name a few of the characteristics of the modern Third World
state, because these have a major influence on policy. Our aim is therefore to
outline the context within which policy is formulated. Characteristics of modern
Third World states include the following:
(1) Economic recession. Third World countries with high debt burdens have been
severely affected by worldwide economic recessions. The prices of cash crops
cultivated on a large scale in these countries have repeatedly dropped on the
world markets with each recession. The structural changes and reforms which
are demanded by the IMF and the World Bank as a condition for rescheduling
the international debt of these countries have left governments less room to
manoeuvre when it comes to combating poverty although this position has of
late somewhat softened. The constraints placed on these governments in
respect of subsidies on certain goods and services have had disastrous political
consequences. In Zambia, for example, the IMF recommended the
discontinuation of the subsidy on maize meal in 1991, and this resulted in
considerable political unrest. During 2000 Zimbabwe experienced urban
political unrest, due to high inflation and rising food prices.
(2) Excessive centralisation. Decisions are, in the main, centralised and the needs
of various regions are not adequately taken into account when formulating
development plans (Gilbert & Gugler 1984).
(3) The control-and-regulate approach of the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy is
seldom equipped to deal with the development demands entrusted to them.
They tend to follow a technocratic control-and-regulate approach (McCurdy
1977).
(4) Imitation. Western models are often followed without any adaptation and
there appears to be an inability to formulate policies and strategies that are
specific to the needs of a particular region (McCurdy 1977).
(5) Conservatism. There is often an unwillingness to experiment with new ideas.
Politicians and bureaucrats are frequently the culprits in this respect and
prefer to follow a control-and-regulate approach (Hardoy & Satterthwaite
1989).
9.2.2 The nature of the Third World city
The Third World city differs in many respects from its Western counterpart. The
Western city is a system that generally works well consisting of many interlocking
parts which participate in forming a single whole. The spatial structure of the city
is homogeneous. The city is ordered according to an original master plan based on
an idea of space which is the same whether in Europe or North America. When
master planning is executed in regard to Third World cities, grave problems arise,
especially at the level of implementation. The reason is that the Third World city
differs totally from the Western city described above. With the help of Balbo
(1993), we are going to look at these differences and their meaning for policy
making.
130
Balbo (1993) says that the Third World city is made up of parts which do not make
up a homogeneous whole. He says that the Third World city is one ``of fragments,
where urbanisation takes place in leaps and bounds, creating a continuously
discontinuous pattern''. He shows at length why the Third World city cannot be
master-planned, and concludes that it comes down to the following:
The city of the master plan is made of finished products, while the city in
developing countries is by and large a city in progress, where very little is
completed and very much is used in a way different from that for which it had
originally been designed (Balbo 1993:29).
The way policy is made and the type of planning action will therefore differ
completely for the Third World city compared with Western cities. It requires what
Swanepoel (1996:100) calls ``a total mind change''. Already-established frameworks are out. At the starting point there is only an empty agenda (Korten, as
interpreted by Swanepoel 1996). Blueprint planning must make way for an
adaptive approach characterised by experimentation. This kind of approach, says
Swanepoel (1996:100),
requires a change in organisation and procedure. ... Management should be
fluid, changeable, therefore adaptable and adhocratic. Structures should
provide space for manoeuvring and should themselves be flexible to allow new
actions if necessary.
These new actions can, according to Henderson (2001:338), fashion viable new
alternatives for urban service delivery, focusing primarily on collective action
solutions. He contends that an implicit bias in favour of indigenous rather than
imposed solutions may be detected, as well as an acknowledgement of the influence
of the public choice. In this regard Drakakis-Smith (2002) agrees with Henderson
(2001:338) that the poor are being encouraged to use their own initiatives to
create employment and satisfy housing, health care and many other basic needs.
9.3 URBAN DEVELOPMENT POLICY GUIDELINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Activity 9.1
Read the article by Henderson (2001) in the Reader. This article attempts to give
examples of past and current alternative efforts in urban service delivery. Note the
emphasis on alternative delivery approaches.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Third World countries are faced with a crucial challenge, which is to meet the
growing demand for basic social services, infrastructure and public facilities in the
cities (Rondinelli 1988:19; see also Rondinelli 1986a). We have already looked at
the exceptional city growth experienced in the Third World (including Africa). This
means an increased and ever-increasing demand for urban services. This demand is
not going to be met entirely through rapid and substantial increases in central or
municipal government expenditure. The administrative and financial capacity to
meet the service needs of the poor is still weak (Rondinelli 1988:27). We agree
with the following statement by Rondinelli (1988:28):
131
Clearly, innovative combinations of policy alternatives and organisational
arrangements will be needed to reduce urban service deficiencies in the face
of rapidly growing urban populations and the increasing concentration of the
poor in cities.
Rondinelli (1988:27±50) suggests seven policy options that we mention here, but
do not discuss. The discussion appears in Rondinelli's contribution in the Reader.
(1) Policies that expand direct government provision of urban services by building
up municipal government capacity:
(a) Strengthen the authority of municipal governments to raise adequate
revenues to meet rising urban services needs.
(b) Help municipal governments to strengthen their technical, administrative
and organisational capacity to deliver urban services.
(2) Policies that use ``market surrogates'' to increase the organisational efficiency
and responsiveness of service-providing public agencies:
(a) Encourage direct competition among public service institutions.
(b) Encourage the active marketing of government services.
(c) Use performance agreements for public services delivery.
(3) Policies that lower the cost of providing services through changes in
regulations and methods of delivery:
(a) Adopt urban development and service delivery regulations that are
tailored to the conditions of developing economies and that are more
appropriate to the needs of the poor.
(b) Control urban land uses, land prices and speculation practices that tend to
have a strong impact on service delivery costs and on the access of the
poor to services.
(c) Design service extension and delivery programmes for multiple purposes
and to local standards.
(4) Policies that actively support self-help and service improvements by the poor:
(a) Support programmes that assist community and neighbourhood groups to
improve their own housing conditions through site-and-service, core
housing and shelter upgrading projects.
(b) Provide minimal services or essential preconditions to allow self-help
programmes to operate effectively.
(5) Policies that promote public-private cooperation and private sector participation in service delivery:
(a) Encourage administrative practices and organisational arrangements that
allow voluntary and community groups to participate effectively in
improving services in poor neighbourhoods.
(b) Design service extension programmes so that they create opportunities for
private sector participation or so that market mechanisms can be used to
provide services and facilities where appropriate.
(6) Policies that increase the effective demand of the poor for services,
employment and income generation programmes:
132
(a) Design service improvement programmes to generate as much employment as possible for the beneficiaries of those services.
(b) Develop programmes that increase the capacity of the informal sector to
provide appropriate services and to strengthen the sector as a source of
employment.
(c) Provide services and assistance to encourage small-scale enterprises in
and near slum and squatter communities as a source of employment and
income.
(7) Policies that change urban population distribution:
(a) Channel migration to intermediate and small cities.
The implementation of policy guidelines presupposes a high degree of decentralisation and a well-trained administrative corps that is sensitive to the needs of the
poor. This is seldom found in practice. In this regard Choguill (1994:936) says the
following:
Most governments and urban authorities have struggled heroically over
recent decades to overcome the problems which have resulted. It has been,
however, an uphill struggle and governments have been constrained by lack of
finances, lack of experience in urban administration, in some cases by lack of
will to solve the problems of the rapidly growing number of new urbanites and
by the mere scale of the problems which need to be solved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 9.2
Consider the usefulness of Rondinelli's (1988) seven policy options for improving
service delivery in your city (or the city closest to where you live). Use suitable
examples to show how they could contribute to providing shelter, urban services
and urban employment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 9.3
With Rondinelli's (1988) policy framework in mind, make a study of the article by
Choguill (1994) in the Reader and identify the authorities' problems with providing
shelter, urban services and urban employment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
9.4
A CASE STUDY ON TACKLING URBAN PROBLEMS
There are many opportunities to address urban poverty, inequality and
environmental management in an integrated way, according to Beall, Crankshaw
and Parnell (2000:833).
133
The specific case study that we examine is about integrated slum improvement in
Visakhapatnam in India. This project emphasised the role of community
participation, organisation and initiative, and undertook a wide range of activities,
including environmental improvements, income generation schemes, health and
education development and self-help housing (Asthana 1994:57). Aspects that
Asthana highlights are the following: it became clear that there was a need for a
coordinating mechanism, especially to coordinate the engineering staff with the
community development staff; ``hard'' needs such as housing generated more
participant interest than ``soft'' projects relating to health and education; clienteles
were widespread and vertical links with politicians were actively sought by slum
leaders; land speculation could take place as a result of the project; and women
were marginalised by male leaders into the ``softer'' aspects of community
development.
Asthana concludes her case study as follows (1994:69):
Despite increasing support amongst health and development planners for an
integrated approach to urban deprivation, care must be taken in assuming
that integration can be easily achieved. The experience of Visakhapatnam
suggests that whilst the creation of an umbrella organisation for the
coordination of different sectors is a prerequisite of successful integration, a
number of other factors need to be taken into account. Because of the high
priority given to physical improvement programmes, it is likely that the urban
community development approach has better hopes for success when different
project components are phased. Thus, community and social development
programmes should provide the entry point for project involvement, housing
and infrastructure only being implemented after community organisation has
been strengthened.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 9.4
Read the article by Asthana (1994) in your Reader. Note in particular the key
issues she identifies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
9.5
URBAN HOUSING
There is a relationship between the provision of housing and the rise of squatter
settlements in the Third World. Taking into consideration that squatter settlements
in many of the larger cities in 1982 already accommodate between 30 and 60 per
cent of the urban population (Altmann 1982), it is clear that the terms housing
and squatting cannot be defined separately. In this section we look at housing
conditions, the incidence of squatting and the provision of housing.
9.5.1 Housing conditions in Third World cities
Gilbert and Gugler (1984:82) make three statements which should be borne in
mind when judging data on housing conditions. First, they state that services in
Third World cities are an improvement on those in the surrounding rural areas. For
this reason one should guard against overreacting to urban poverty and
134
romanticising the rural lifestyle. Secondly, one should realise that most of the
criteria by which housing conditions in Third World cities are judged are highly
subjective and ethnocentric. For example, as there is often a greater need for food
than for anything else (greater than the need for piped water in the house), the
standards of the developed regions of the world are frequently irrelevant to the
Third World situation.
The third statement made by Gilbert and Gugler (1984:82) is that
``judgments about housing conditions must also take into account different
cultural, social, and environmental conditions within Third World cities.''
In Latin America, it may take years before city dwellers obtain electricity in their
homes, while in Africa they may obtain it in only highly exceptional cases, if ever.
Housing standards may be similarly influenced by indigenous circumstances. In the
climatic conditions of Asia, a house constructed of wood or bamboo is probably a
more practical dwelling than one built of bricks and cement.
Housing and squatting in the Third World should be viewed in the light of the
circumstances and reservations outlined above.
9.5.2 Extent of squatting
In Third World cities, shortages of suitable housing and related services are
directly responsible for the rise of squatter settlements. This tendency may also be
observed in Africa where squatters constitute an even larger percentage of urban
populations. By 1999, up to 90 per cent of the new dwellings in Lusaka were being
erected in squatter or informal settlements. In Gaborone (Botswana), 70 to 80 per
cent of the inhabitants are classified as low-income earners (less than R300 per
month) who find shelter in squatter settlements. Officials in Harare (Zimbabwe)
claim that low-income earners account for 69 per cent of the housing need in the
city (De Beer 1991). As pointed out earlier, this process of urbanisation must
inevitably have far-reaching socioeconomic implications in regard to job
opportunities, and for the authorities in charge of urban areas as a whole.
In South Africa the squatter situation is comparable with the rest of Africa. If we
define squatting as illegal and haphazard living in crude structures made of
unsuitable materials, with inadequate services, then South Africa has an estimated
squatter population of 2,2 million families (Department of Housing 2000:2UF).
This figure is estimated to increase by 20 400 families annually (Department of
Housing 2000:2UF).
Factors such as drought-related unemployment in rural areas, overpopulation of
the homelands, the abolition of influx control in 1986 and the political liberation in
1994, all contributed to accelerated urbanisation and an increased demand for
housing in the cities of South Africa. The economic recession of the eighties,
exacerbated by international sanctions, contributed to unemployment and
increased urban poverty. In addition, the authorities were unable to develop
adequate land and services in the cities. The above should provide you with a clear
picture of the causes of squatting. As a result of the shortage of housing in formal
townships, newcomers to the city (together with those people who left their
backyard dwellings) have created new townships Ð squatter camps.
135
Crossroads near Cape Town is one of the first squatter areas to have developed in
this fashion. Today, virtually every large town in South Africa has a squatter
settlement: Mshenguville in Soweto, Wheeler's Farm near Vereeniging, Swanieville, Zevenfontein. You may add to this list from your own environment. According
to Smit (2009:09) there are at present about 220 squatter settlements around
Cape Town and 200 in Gauteng. Rationally, it should be accepted that as a result of
migration, natural population increases and deteriorating national economies,
Third World countries will be faced with an increasing demand for affordable
housing in urban areas for the foreseeable future. Squatting will increase rather
than decrease. Outdated and expensive housing strategies will have to be replaced
by more practical approaches.
9.5.3 Housing strategies
We have already seen that rapid migration to cities in the Third World has given
rise to a shortage of housing. Gilbert (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:97) distinguishes five
strategies or, more correctly, approaches to the housing question:
(1) Residential segregation is naturally not a strategy, but rather the consequence
of a political or ideological school of thought and, as such, offers no solution
to the housing question. Gilbert (Gilbert & Gugler 1984:98) points out that
race-associated segregation dating from the colonial period is at present being
replaced by segregation dictated by income and social status.
(2) Urban renewal and slum clearance are often expensive undertakings which go
hand in hand with either alternative (and unaffordable?) housing or total
neglect of the ``uprooted'' community. The social price paid for such a
programme is often incalculably high. The demolition of District Six and the
resettlement of its people in the Mitchell's Plain complex is one South African
example of slum clearance.
(3) Government housing is the strategy most commonly followed by Third World
governments to solve the housing problem. It is an expensive undertaking, and
the people for whom it is meant often cannot afford such housing.
Furthermore, it frequently happens that established communities are broken
up for the sake of settlement in this type of housing. The so-called low-cost
housing provided in terms of this approach is still too expensive for those who
are supposed to benefit from it.
(4) Rent control measures offer possible short-term advantages as part of a
housing strategy, but in the long term, say Gilbert and Gugler (1984:103),
``they have either cut the rate of new construction and maintenance or have
encouraged the development of illegal rationing systems''.
(5) Site-and-service schemes and upgrading programmes are probably the best
solutions in the long run. Third World governments realise that they will never
be able to solve the shortage of housing and the growth of squatter settlements
with large-scale housing projects Ð there are simply no funds for such
undertakings.
There are, in fact, two feasible alternatives. The first would be to assist existing
squatter settlements by providing and upgrading services. The second would be to
develop new residential areas on a site-and-service basis, where individuals would
be allowed to provide their own housing.
136
Site-and-service schemes and upgrading programmes are also known as the selfhelp approach, which is actively encouraged by the World Bank. All over the world,
individuals and families have been involved from the earliest times in creating their
own accommodation.
One may add that authorities should also allow people to obtain land ownership.
Ownership imparts a sense of permanence and enables people to obtain loans from
financial institutions. Authorities themselves should also assist people in obtaining
financing by making available subsidies on loans or subsidising the purchase price
of land (known as a capital subsidy). In this way, the authorities can play an
enabling role by creating the means whereby people can help themselves.
The above discussion indicates that self-help housing involves far more than a
labour contribution: people who cannot lay bricks (or do not have the time to do
so), but select a building contractor whom they pay to do the bricklaying, are also
practising self-help housing. The freedom of the middle-class home buyer to choose
and negotiate should also be extended to (poor) squatter residents.
People live in squatter settlements because they are poor, and they cannot be
expected to afford middle-class housing, which is beyond their reach because it is
constructed to standards they cannot afford. If self-help housing, as in site-andservice schemes and upgrading projects, is to succeed, building standards have to
be adapted. They should be appropriate (in other words ensure health and safety)
and affordable (by allowing alternatives to conventional building materials).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVITY 9.5
Make a list of the various housing strategies discussed in this section and write one
sentence about each one. Then identify the strategies followed in your area by
referring to appropriate examples.
------------------------------------------------------------------9.5.4 From squatter settlement to informal settlement
The concept of ``informal settlement'' is sometimes used in the literature as a
synonym for squatter settlements and spontaneous settlements. The more recent
literature, however, attaches a positive connotation to the concept of informal
settlement. Such a settlement may thus consist of shacks, but is usually legally
authorised (or is, at the very least, not under threat of being demolished).
Classifying a township as an informal settlement implies the application of a
strategy of site-and-service schemes and upgrading. When a squatter area is
legally recognised and improved by means of an upgrading project, it changes from
a squatter settlement to an informal settlement. Where a new town is developed
from the outset according to the site-and-service principle (eg Orange Farm), it is
known as an informal settlement.
Although this may seem like a game of semantics, one needs to understand and be
able to use this distinction in order to present an argument that is academically
pure. You will notice in the daily press how often Orange Farm, for instance, is
137
referred to as a squatter settlement, which is a totally inaccurate perception.
Whereas squatting refers to the illegal occupation of land (land which is in many
cases not suitable for safe occupation), informal settlements are legal and are
characterised by the efforts of individuals, communities and authorities to upgrade
the residential environment.
9.5.5 Some examples of urban upgrading
It is evident that many of the shanty towns (or informal settlements) within the new
metropolises of the developing world are growing both larger and shabbier. These
settlements pose one of the most serious development problems of all time. While
no poor developing nation has sufficient resources to permit a decent standard of
living for all, it is noteworthy that some recently poor nations have become
relatively prosperous, and that living standards for all citizens have risen quite
remarkably in some circles. In the face of considerable odds, the World Bank, the
United Nations and several international aid agencies have been experimenting
with a number of schemes aimed at alleviating the worst conditions (Webber
1985).
We look first at the case of Calcutta. Three to four decades ago, in the face of
deplorably crowded and unsanitary living conditions, the Metropolitan Planning
Organisation proposed slum improvement Ð not slum clearance and renewal as
was traditional in Europe and America. Minimal public facilities were installed, at
a low cost, in slum areas. These facilities included neighbourhood water taps and
toilets, open street drains, minimal paving of walkways and minimal lighting.
These reforms improved living conditions for people within the slum districts of the
city. With low-interest loans supplied by the International Development Agency,
this programme was intended to serve over one-and-a-half million residents of
Calcutta.
The essential policy decision, as Webber (1985) stresses, was to accept lower
standards for services and facilities than those regarded as minimal in middle class
areas Ð to adopt standards in line with the financial capacity for supplying
services and facilities.
The Calcutta experiment has led governments in other parts of the world to follow
their example. A particularly striking case is the Kampung Improvement
Programme of Jakarta, which had, at the time of writing (2010), improved
living environments for more than 3,5 million people Ð approximately half of the
city's entire population. This considerable effort cost only $37 per person helped. A
subsequent evaluation of the scheme found that residents attributed ``better health,
better access to education, improved neighbourhood security, and overall welfare''
to the project (Webber 1985).
In parallel efforts, the major aid agencies have been cooperating with municipal
governments around the world in developing site-and-service schemes that enable
families to build more adequate housing than they would otherwise be able to
afford. In similar fashion, a number of cities in developing countries have made
considerable improvements to transport, water and drainage systems and the rest
of the urban infrastructure, making the best use of scarce resources in attempting
to keep up with the rising demand from new migrants, and the demand from
existing residents for better conditions. Improvements have generally not been
138
dramatic, though it is clear that a few countries have performed very impressively
given the odds against them. Most notable are the Eastern Asian cities of
Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei and Seoul.
We may consider Singapore's rapid economic development as a specific example.
In a relatively short space of time, a once-dependent colony has been transformed
into an innovative industrial and commercial world city. Admittedly, Singapore has
decided logistical advantages. Nevertheless, the government there has transformed
what was virtually a city slum into a modern city of contemporary houses and upto-date industries and businesses. As Webber (1985) argues, it did so by using both
city improvement and citizen improvement as instruments of economic development. In addition, says Webber (1985):
Singapore has shown that urbanization is itself a powerful agent of
industrialization and modernization, thus disclaiming the anti-urban ideology
that shapes policy in many developing countries. They have inverted the
theory holding that industrialization induces urbanization; in Singapore,
urbanization induced industrialization.
Most of the dilapidated housing disappeared. In addition, most Singaporeans have
now acquired marketable occupational skills and are employed in the building
materials industries, the construction industry, and also the many new electronics,
banking, and other manufacturing and commercial establishments that either
moved there or developed locally. To some extent, Singapore has developed by
exploiting its poverty (Webber 1985). It has grown by linking urban redevelopment
with human development Ð by undertaking extensive efforts to educate its
population and improve its people's living conditions and life opportunities. As a
result, poverty in Singapore has diminished considerably and the people are
experiencing a degree of social mobility rare in the developing world.
9.6
WATER SERVICE DELIVERY
It can be said that service delivery to poor communities has become one of the
cardinal focus points of local government strategies in the South. Water service
delivery as well as housing remain central in measuring how well local government
is meeting the needs of the poor this despite the fact that the responsibility for
designing these policies is usually located at national level (Habib & Kotze 2003).
It must also be noted here that access to clean water is generally conceived of as a
right and an economic good.
Tempelhoff (2009: 19) maintains that of the 969 million inhabitants of Africa, 350
million still do not have access to water. In South Africa 5 million people,
according to Tempelhoff, still do not have proper access. It is an accepted fact that
by 2013 Gauteng will have a serious water shortage. The government is therefore
at present discussing the extension of the Lesotho Highlands Project with the
government of Lesotho. If the project continues, it will only be completed by 2019
Ð six years after the water shortage has struck Gauteng (Tempelhoff 2009:19).
Tempelhoff (2009:19) reports that Mr Trevor Manuel, South African minister of
the presidency, has said at a recent water deliberation that government leaders now
realise, after many years, that water is the cornerstone of all development, and that
139
policy-makers are now aware that water supply underlies each and every
development challenge.
Read the report in the Reader by Nide Segal (2009:1), ``Does South Africa face a
water crisis?'' for more clarity on South Africa's impending water crisis. Segal
(2009:1) gives a ``big picture'' assessment of the state of the water sector in the
country. The study was carried out from March to June 2009. The importance of
water to human survival and the competition for access to water, locally, nationally
as well as internationally, make water a sector of exceptional and increasing
complexity. South Africa is rated as one of the driest countries in the world with an
unusually high intensity of water usage. The problem is compounded by extensive
poverty and underdevelopment (Segal 2009:1)
Direct confrontation with government over service delivery is gaining momentum in
South Africa, as is evident by the sporadic national and local mobilisation around
services in 2005 and in 2007. A new wave of protest over escalating service
delivery charges was being witnessed in many provinces in 2008 as well (Fin
24.com.8 May 2008). The situation has unfortunately not stabilised and the
intensity of protests has increased even more.
9.7
FACING THE CHALLENGES OF URBAN GROWTH
From ``growth poles'' and ``new towns'' to controls on industrial location, plans to
curb and guide urban expansion have frequently produced disappointing and costly
results, especially in the developing world. A growing number of economists and
planners are stressing alternative strategies. They argue that, instead of drawing
up models for urban growth and trying to implement them, national authorities
should focus more on economic incentives and policies that influence the decisions
of businesses and people about where to operate and live. Such policies may
address the following:
(1) tariffs that protect certain industries
(2) terms of trade that discriminate against agriculture
(3) government structures that centralise decisions about regional and local
development
Usually the unintended effect of these incentives and policies is to stimulate greater
concentrations of people in the largest cities. Research over the past decade
indicates that conventional efforts to engineer urban growth often fail because they
do not take sufficient account of broader issues, including the effects of incentives
and policies such as these. As urban economist Hamer (1986) points out:
The size and pattern of cities in a given region or country are very difficult to
pre-plan in a detailed fashion from the centre. Urban economic development
usually takes place in a fairly opportunistic, open-ended way. It is shaped by
the general level of economic development, national policies, geographic
constraints Ð and by individual decisions of millions of businesses and
households on where to locate and how to grow.
Incentives that prompt businesses and people to locate in one city or another are
often created by policies that are not recognised as having spatial effects. And
frequently, the results conflict with official government policies aimed at
decentralising urban development. It is quite likely that reforms in such areas as
140
tariffs, agricultural pricing and government regulations, would do more to promote
urban growth than the more explicit spatial schemes. The following points are
particularly noteworthy:
(1) Tariffs and other trade barriers are often imposed to protect relatively
disadvantaged industries Ð often as part of an effort to encourage local
manufacture of previously imported goods (import substitution). Such tariffs
frequently stimulate development in the largest cities, since industries
receiving trade protection tend to be dependent on imported components,
highly skilled workers and access to government officials Ð all of which are
concentrated in major metropolitan centres. Generally speaking, a shift away
from protectionist trade policies benefits secondary cities (Rondinelli 1983b).
(2) Various measures (such as price controls and import substitution policies) that
discriminate against the rural sector lead to a skewed pattern of urban
development. Depressed rural incomes inhibit business activities in smaller
rural towns. When rural incomes are relatively low and the alternative of
working in a nearby town has been removed, migration to the largest cities
will be accelerated.
(3) Heavy state involvement in the economy and in the regulation of business
activity provides strong incentives for businesses to locate near the centres of
officialdom. The need for daily access to tax, customs and licensing officials
contributes to the concentration of economic activity at these centres. This is
particularly true of medium-sized businesses, which are large enough to
require compliance with regulations, but too small to locate elsewhere and
keep a small branch office in the capital to deal with such matters.
(4) Where banking and financial institutions are highly centralised, businesses in
secondary cities generally find it considerably more difficult to raise finance.
Moreover, local savings are likely to be drawn into the major financial centre
to be used to finance continued expansion there, rather than in outlying areas
with growth potential.
9.7.1 Investments in infrastructure
Policy reforms at national level may help to create a climate supportive of broadbased growth. However, if regional centres have poor access to national and
international markets, inadequate local services and an insufficient supply of
skilled workers, economic activity and growth will remain confined within a few
cities. Research conducted in Sao Paulo City showed that the availability of public
services (especially electric power and telecommunications links), easy access to
roads and an abundant supply of skilled labour were among the priorities of firms
in deciding where to locate.
Government investment in transport and telecommunication networks to connect
regional centres that have good growth potential to national and international
markets can play a critical role in stimulating development outside of metropolitan
areas. Without such networks, opportunities for growth are severely limited, even if
trade and other national economic policies are supportive of broad-based growth.
A number of urban economists have warned that the establishment of industrial
infrastructure should be accompanied by the development of other kinds of physical
infrastructure.
141
9.7.2 Role of local services
At the local level, the quality of city management and the accessibility of public
services are crucial in enabling a secondary city to take advantage of new
opportunities for economic growth. Reliable public utilities Ð water, electricity,
sewage disposal and transportation Ð reduce the cost of business operations and
make a secondary centre more attractive as a site for new or expanded economic
activity.
In addition, good local services, especially education, are vital in enabling an urban
centre to attract and retain skilled workers and professionals, who usually prefer to
live and work in the primate cities where such services are readily available.
In most cases, changes in the financial relationships between the municipal or local
authorities and the central government are required, if secondary cities and
regional centres are to acquire the means to expand and improve local services and
to exploit the benefits of local economic expansion. A highly centralised system of
planning and financing municipal services reinforces the concentration of most
infrastructure services in the capital city and other major centres.
9.7.3 Need for greater local autonomy
A shift towards greater local autonomy and responsibility for planning and
financing investments in infrastructure leaves cities with a far greater degree of
flexibility to respond to new opportunities for growth. At the national level, bodies
such as ministries and state agencies which have a major effect on regional
development are usually poorly equipped to coordinate their policies. Mechanisms
for the evaluation and coordination of a wide range of policies and expenditures Ð
from the positioning of a new highway, to agricultural pricing policies and the
provision of local finance Ð can dramatically facilitate regional development.
9.8
CONCLUSION
In this study unit, we looked at a number of urban development policy guidelines.
To be able to achieve balanced urban development, innovative combinations of
policy alternatives will be needed. We also discussed the provision of urban services
and housing as an example of the arrangements needed to reduce urban service
deficiencies in the face of rapidly growing urban populations. What was apparent
was the need for collective action in finding solutions. A bias in favour of
indigenous self-help rather than imposed solutions came to the fore Ð the
community should be involved and should use their own initiatives to minimise
massive shortages in housing and other urban amenities.
142
9.8
LEARNING OUTCOMES CHECK LIST
Use this check list to test yourself on this study unit.
Outcomes
Can do
Cannot do
(1) I can distinguish policy options regarding
urban development.
(2) I can explain the problem of squatting.
(3) I can list and explain the advantages and
disadvantages of various housing strategies.
143
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