Practical Action response to the Commission for Africa's Consultation Document
On 11 November 2004 the Commission for Africa published its consultation document, Action for a strong and prosperous Africa. ITDG [now Practical Action] commends the Commission for the depth, breadth, sense of urgency and the focus on eventual action of the Consultation Document, but feels that document needs to address:
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ways to build Africa's scientific, technological and skills base to exploit opportunities in the knowledge-rich global economy and a significant period of grace to build this before being subjected to open markets
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ways to ensure that local people are able to shape this agenda
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ways to foster global action to help Africa adapt to climate change and global action to reduce greenhouse gases to sustainable levels that permit poverty reduction.
In order to do this, we suggest six points for attention:
Response to the Commission for Africa's Action for a strong and prosperous Africa, Consultation Document
ITDG [now Practical Action] , 17 December 2004
Preamble
We commend the Commission for Africa for its efforts to seek a wide consultation on its work and also commend the Commission for the depth, breadth, sense of urgency and the focus on eventual action of the Consultation Document.
The Commission needs to address three fundamental issues that are missing from the Consultation Document:
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Ways to build Africa's scientific, technological and skills base to exploit opportunities in the knowledge-rich global economy and a significant period of grace to build this before being subjected to open markets
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Ways to ensure that local people are able to shape this agenda
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Ways to foster global action to help Africa adapt to climate change and global action to reduce greenhouse gases to sustainable levels that permit poverty reduction.
1. Support the development of Africa's scientific, technological and skills base
Africa's ability to develop itself and its people is hampered by both internal and external dynamics. One of the major obstacles to Africa's development is the structure of global markets and the speed at which successful countries and global corporations are developing and exploiting 'manufacturing value-added'.
In the new knowledge-rich global economy Africa needs support to 'respond vigorously to markets in an increasingly competitive and technology-oriented environment'. Simply opening markets will not be enough. Africa need to build the knowledge, technology and skills if it is to attract the necessary foreign resources to exploit manufacturing value added markets.
To do this will take decades and Africa requires a substantial grace period before being exposed to the mercies of open competitive markets. The current speed of liberalisation will not allow Africa to build the necessary technological, managerial and institutional capabilities.
For scientific and technological (S&T) development to be pro-poor, poor people need to be involved in the decision-making process of which science and technology is developed and how it is used. The Commission needs to explore ways in which decisions on science and technology can be made more democratic so that they serve the needs of African society.
2. Support Africa's ability to adapt to climate change and foster global policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
There is a notable absence of reference to both local and global environmental impacts on Africa in the Consultation Document, and will particularly affect the continent's poorest people who tend to live in the more marginal lands and rely on natural resources for their livelihood.
The local environment must be considered in all aspects of African development. For example, one environmental and natural resource issue is the direct effect of urbanisation, namely the supply of charcoal to growing cities. This has already had a devastating impact on forestry in West Africa, and is increasingly a problem in East Africa. It causes local pollution ? both indoors and outdoors ? and contributes to global warming, as both the production and burning of charcoal is usually very inefficient.
To tackle the possible negative effects of climate change on Africa action is required at the global level both to fund Africa's ability to adapt to climate change and to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the North:
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Cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialised countries in the order of 60 - 80% (relative to 1990 levels) by the middle of this century, far beyond the targets of the Kyoto Protocol
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Commensurate new funds and other resources made available by industrialised countries for African adaptation to climate change
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Effective and efficient arrangements to respond to the increasing burden of climate-related disaster relief
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Development models based on risk reduction and incorporating community-driven coping strategies in adaptation and disaster preparedness
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Small-scale renewable energy projects promoted by governments and community groups which can help to both tackle poverty and reduce climate change if they are replicated and scaled-up
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Coordinated plans, from local to international levels, for relocating threatened communities with appropriate political, legal and financial resources.
3. Address the needs of urban slum dwellers
The Consultation Document refers to the movement of rural people to the cities but fails to reference the growing problem of urban slums in sub-Saharan Africa even though:
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Almost 190 million Africans live in slums
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More than 70 per cent of Africa city dwellers live in slums
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African slums are some of the most dangerous places in the world with infant mortality rates sometimes worse than rural areas
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By 2030 53 per cent of Africans will live in cities, up from 37 per cent today.
Our experience of many years working with African slum dwellers, local authorities, national and international bodies shows that key to addressing the slum problems are:
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City investments need to be focused on the needs of poor slum dwellers
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Urban land tenure and housing policies need to change towards pro-poor slum upgrading
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Lessons from successful community-based pilot projects need to be shared and their replication adequately financed so that they reach and improve the lives of many more slum dwellers
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Urban governance needs to be altered radically to enable a genuine partnership between all stakeholders.
The Commission should address the problems of African slums in a new action area under HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, CULTURE AND INCLUSION.
4. Support small-scale agriculture
Agriculture is restricted to the second bullet point under 8 (i) The investment climate for growth, including infrastructure. Given that two-thirds of the poorest people live in rural areas and depend to a considerable extent on food production for their livelihood, much more emphasis is needed on the role of policy in supporting the small-scale agricultural sector.
The Commission needs to promote agricultural development policies and processes, including related science and technology, to underpin sustainable agriculture that maintains the production of food and livelihoods, living landscapes and ecosystem services. This is particularly relevant in the face of climate change.
National and international policies do not always converge with local priorities; where there are conflicts, these need to be resolved in favour of the poor.
The Commission needs to support processes that explicitly aim to strengthen the voices of poor people in setting agendas for scientific and technological research as well as in framing policies and regulatory frameworks for food and agriculture. In order to do this the Commission should:
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Open up agriculture policy processes to more diverse forms of knowledge. This is not a choice between local knowledge and scientific expertise, but to recognise the legitimacy of a variety of systems of knowledge, and to give them all a place in the decision- and policy-making process.
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Embrace participatory decision-making approaches. The Commission should promote the involvement of poor people in policy making processes and agenda setting for science and technology research and development. This is particularly important for the people normally excluded from planning and decisions.
5. Make markets work for the poor
Under 8 (i) The investment climate for growth, including infrastructure there is a need to ensure that , with net losses rather than gains. This is particularly obvious for non-traditional exports.
Africa's domestic demand for food staples is estimated to be about US$50 billion and although only part of this is traded, it does show there is a very large domestic market with potential, say, for import substitution. The Commission's recommendations do not appear to adequately address this.
With the growth of African cities there is increasing potential in national markets and yet the challenges for many marginalised farmers remain how they:
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achieve efficiencies through better collaboration
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improve their market linkages
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advocate for a better operating environment (for example improved rules and regulations governing their trading activities)
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get better access to appropriate and affordable services.
Under 8 (iii) Employment the Commission should put more emphasis on efforts to engage with micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) rather than its emphasis on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Poor people are more likely to be involved in MSEs than SMEs.
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Between 17-25 per cent of working age population in poorest developing countries are employed in MSEs
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In sub-Saharan Africa, this figure is typically double the number employed in formal large-scale enterprise and the public sector
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In general, 75 per cent of MSEs are located in rural areas.
Encouraging private sector business links involvement with SMEs is welcome but only if the SMEs are geared up for it.
6. Deliver pro-poor services
It is disappointing that the only references to essential services, such as water or energy, are as 'infrastructure development'. While national and regional infrastructure development should aid overall economic development in Africa, the focus should also be on the delivery of services. .
The report supports the NEPAD strategy for infrastructural development, which is focused on regional development for economic development across Africa. However, it is essential that regional programmes work alongside national programmes for service delivery to extend services to the wider population. There is a need for funding, resources and capacity building to ensure long term delivery of sustainable services at a national and local level.
When promoting infrastructure development the Commission should follow the lead of the World Dams Commission and recommend that national and regional bodies assess all alternative options for the delivery of services. The planning and implementation of infrastructure projects in Africa should follow recognised best practice for consultation and compensation, as for example set out in the guidelines proposed by the World Dams Commission.
In addition, the Consultation Document does not give enough recognition to the cross-sectoral gains to be made between service delivery and achieving the MDGs. For example, supply of water has obvious impacts on health. In addition, clean energy for cooking can reduce the massive health impact caused by indoor air pollution (which causes over 1.6 million deaths each year). Access to services enhances gender equality by freeing time spent by women on water and fuel collection.
