Lying on Questionnaires

http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_40/696631/141002-thomas-eric-duncan-jsw-1049a_b994520e4e773f52311a0ea9e0bc4395.jpg

People in the United States are alarmed that an African infected with the Ebola virus, Thomas Eric Duncan, managed to pass U.S. immigration without detainment or quarantine. Unknowingly to Duncan, he had contracted the virus in Liberia and died in the United States from the disease. His temperature was taken both at his departure gate in Monrovia, Liberia and the arriving gate in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas but what is disturbing for most Americans is that he marked ‘No’ on a screening questionnaire as to whether he had been in contact with patients, alive or dead, diagnosed with Ebola or showing symptoms of the disease. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea and vomiting. After five days of his arrival to the United States, he showed these symptoms and regressed to the point of kidney failure before dying two weeks after arriving in the United States. 

Why did Duncan fail to admit on his questionnaire that he had helped an Ebola infected patient in Paynesville City, just outside of Monrovia, days before his flight to the United States? Well, Duncan’s passing makes all theories speculative at this point, but those who have worked with African immigrants in Europe and North America know that absolute transparency with immigration officials brings difficulties, foils plans regarding visiting family or work opportunities and can lead to detainment and worse, deportation. Western immigration protocols do not create an atmosphere where individuals coming from developing nations are at ease to honestly discuss  their health, their financial means or their plans when arriving to a wealthier country. And because of this, many coming from poorer nations do their best to omit details that will cause problems at the immigration gate or even lie in order to receive entry into the country.

Duncan came to Dallas to visit family: his son and the mother of his son. It is safe to assume he did not wish to harm them nor anyone he came into contact with on his travels to the United States. But the risk he took in helping a neighbor in Liberia who contracted Ebola cost him his life, and now has Americans in a panic regarding those he came into contact with and the current screening of people coming from West Africa. It is very likely West Africans, and others coming from the developing world, will be confronted with a more suspicious immigration control and as I argue, pushed to conceal any information that will raise alarms to authorities. It is the systematic discrimination by Western immigration controls, that made liars out of visitors and immigrants from developing nations long before the Ebola virus became a threat.   

Kendall Jones and the Spector of Colonialism

Source: http://www.bookwormroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Kendall-Jones.jpg

The controversy over a 19 year-old US citizen, a student attending Texas Tech University, Kendall Jones visiting South Africa and Zimbabwe to hunt and kill big game such as lions, leopards, rhinos and later posting her conquests on Facebook is alarming in ways that people are not discussing. Yes, I agree with those protesting that it is horrible to view her postings as these are animals that have not recovered completely from their threatened or endangered status, and despite the fact that she paid the necessary fees to legally hunt and kill these animals, her publicizing it through Facebook only encourages others (both legally and illegally) to hunt/poach these animals. This is the issue that the media, her supporters and those in protest are talking about. But there is more at hand here. 

For one, the comparison of her to Theodore « Teddy » Roosevelt and his achievements during an African safari is an inappropriate comparison. The circumstances of Roosevelt’s era and Kendall Jones’s are not the same. 100 years ago, elephants, lions, rhinos, and leopards were not endangered or a threatened species. They became one or the other by the 1960s, and while their numbers may have increased and hunting is allowed under strict regulations (granted conditions that Kendall Jones abided by), this does not prevent poachers and other illegal acts from occurring. Elephant ivory is in great demand in the production of souvenirs and jewelry, rhinoceros horn is used in Asian traditional medicine and in the making of ornamental knives in Oman and Yemen, the pelts of cheetahs and leopards are highly prized as well as the meat from all African animals to supply an exotic meat industry. Other animal parts are in demand for traditional medicinal use, sold at local apothecaries. 

Source: http://watchloud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/kendall-jones-rhino.jpg 

Second, Teddy Roosevelt was hunting big game in the wild; Kendall Jones was hunting in a game park where the animals are fed at specific locations, conditioning the animals to appear for hunters in order to facilitate a kill. Despite the fact that these animals are dangerous, they are certainly not living the same lives as their ancestors. It is true there is a certain amount of danger in moving through a wild animal’s habitat and these animals are not domesticated like sheep, yet they are placed in situations where they are brought in for the slaughter. One can argue whether this situation is a form of domestication, but one cannot dispute that lions, elephants and rhinos are limited in their escape routes and the hunter’s bullet has greater chance of ending their lives. 

Source: https://achangingwildworld.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/kendall-jones-8.jpg 

What is perhaps, the greatest consequence of Kendall Jones’s callous actions and pride in presenting them on Facebook will be response of people both outside and in Africa. It was already mentioned above that such grandstanding will encourage other game hunters like her and poachers to follow in her tracks. This creates problems for the conservation effort to bring these animals’ populations up to a healthy number. Non-Americans sympathetic to animal rights movements will point to the arrogance and audacity of Americans in displaying these slain animals. And the average African, as well, will only view this as a typical act of Neo-colonialism, where privileged White people can take, consume, waste and kill any resource in Africa without repercussion. After all, they have watched for sixty years now, their states and authorities go to great length to attract such individuals and groups (like Kendall Jones and her family), foreign donors and corporations for income.  

Kendall Jones defends her actions by pointing out that her costs in hunting these game go for conservation efforts of the same species she killed. This justification overlooks the possibility that the money she spent in Africa could have been used in more productive way. It could have been used directly through her touring game parks and safaris without the purpose of hunting, essentially shooting photographs, not bullets or arrows. It could have also gone indirectly in aiding conservation efforts by helping out local African communities that neighbor game parks. Money could have been used in supplying basic needs like the construction of a well, supplying medicine and vaccinations to a near by hospital or the installation of a solar energy project. But then such actions would deprive Kendall Jones of displaying narcissistic, ‘macho’ photographs of her and her victims on social media. Well, she could have had photos with local Africans, farmers, nurses and community leaders, but with no blowback from the people outraged by her conquests. 

Bilan de la Mauritanie

I recently concluded a three month research project in Mauritania. As someone who lived and worked in Mauritania as a Peace Corps volunteer twelve years ago (1999-2001), I noticed the changes as well as the maintenance of some parts of Mauritanian society, both the good and bad. At the risk of imposing my own cultural biases, I present them here to reflect on the good, the bad, the blessings, and the chronic ills that I observed from August to October 2013. 

Things that changed in Mauritania … for the Better

(1)   Solar power is expanding. It is obviously present in the recent construction of cellphone towers, but it is also replacing gasoline-powered motor pumps in the gardens and is seen powering more and more street lights in urban areas (observed in the cities of Nouakchott and Akjoujt).

(2)   People’s diets are diversifying. Mauritanians, especially Moor groups who were resistant in eating foods from outside their communities in the past, are eating more fruits, vegetables, fish and now even chicken (which was a taboo in Moor society in the past). However, there is a catch to this. See No. 1 in Things that changed in Mauritania … for the Worse.

Peanuts, Fruit of the Baobab and other Wild Fruit (Atâr, Mauritania)

(3)   Mentioned above but worth elaborating on more is the expansion of fish markets to remote/peripheral neighborhoods in regional towns and to villages (not all but the number is growing). Fish with rice is growing as the main meal and if households have the means the dish includes tomatoes, yam, cabbage, eggplant, bell pepper, cayenne pepper, and/or lime.

(4)   With the exception of the Tiris Zemmour region which has not seen rain in the past two years, the rains are more frequent and abundant. During my Peace Corps experience there were moderate droughts in the Adrar Region. During this recent research I saw and abundance of rain in the Dakhlet-Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Inchiri and Adrar regions. I did not go to the South, Central and Eastern Regions of Mauritania but from what people told me and what was broadcasted on television they witnessed record rainfalls.

Water caught between the rocks (North of Loqsier Terchane, Mauritania)

(5)   The media has improved by leaps and bounds. Thanks to satellite and dish receivers, Mauritanians are viewing programs from the Arabian Gulf, Turkey, India and other parts of North Africa/Middle East. Some of these are dubbed into Arabic; others have Arabic subtitles. There is a downside to this. See No. 6 in Things that changed in Mauritania … for the Worse.

(6)   Improvements have come to transportation, although there still is room for improvement here. Transport from cities between urban areas involves an air-conditioned van. The Peugeot 504s are almost extinct except for the run between Nouakchott and Nouadhibou which involves some hard bargaining and patience for an all-day commitment to travel. There are now also Toyota Hiluxes that travel between Nouakchott and Zouerât.

(7)   Cellphones are affordable. Every Mauritanian has one or two … or four! The universal ownership of cellphones put téléboutiques out of business but if one does not have a phone and needs to make a phone call, generally, anyone on the street will help. Should the number be the same carrier as the cellphone owner’s service that makes it much easier (as the cost is low).

(8)   Mauritanians are more rigorous about washing their hands with soap both before and after their meals. There are public announcements on television that promote this practice.

Things that changed in Mauritania … for the Worse

(1)   The cost of food has risen and with it, the dependence on imported foods is increasing. This is not to say that Mauritania was once a self-sufficient food producer. It has a heritage, through the Trans-Saharan trade, of importing foods from the North and the South. But the benefit of people diversifying their diets (see No. 2 in Things that changed in Mauritania … for the Better) brings in foods that for some are a luxury and for many unobtainable. Furthermore, with many people moving to urban environments for better opportunities, few remain in the countryside to engage in food production. This cripples local food production while contributing to the dependency on imported foods. 

(2)   People are not as hospitable as they were before to outsiders. A few reasons may be contributing to this. One, urbanization may have the consequence of unraveling a sense of community and the norm of welcoming strangers. Two, tourists, aid workers and other foreigners may have taken advantage of Mauritanian hospitality one too many times without any effort at reciprocity. Three, the vilification of Islam in most Western media equating conservative Muslims, which most Mauritanians are, with terrorism may be diminishing the desire to interact with foreigners.

(3)   The change in climate, although bringing more water, pasture and cultivatable land to the countryside, is devastating to urban environments, particularly Nouakchott’s original neighborhoods of Tefragh Zeina, Ksar, Cinquième and El Mina that have no sewage and lack topography. The result of more and heavy rainfall results in stagnant water, damage to electricity poles and cables, not to mention the increases in mosquito and fly populations. Residents of urban environments face the risk of electrocution, damage to their homes from flooding, exposure to molds, and outbreaks of malaria, cholera, and other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and flies.

(4)   With a moratorium on tourism because of the scare of terrorism, some working in the tourist industry have grown more aggressive in landing clients and in increasing incidents, steal or trick tourists out of their money. This is not to say that touts did not exist in Mauritania before, but the frequency and exposure tourists have to hustlers is growing more frequent at places where tourists arrive, particularly borders and transportation parks. Legitimate tour operators also suffer from this as they lose clients and tourists who have bad experiences are unlikely to return to Mauritania.

(5)   Processed foods are starting to replace natural ones. For example, the drink Bissap, which is sold in all corners of Mauritania, is not necessarily prepared the way as it was in the past. Before, and admittedly some still continue this practice, it is prepared by boiling water, adding flowers from the Hibiscus sabdarrifa plant to the boiling water, cooling the concoction, straining the solid parts out and adding sugar. Today, however, there are merchants selling Bissap using the same name but actually preparing powdered fruit drinks like the brand name “Foster Clark.”

Hibiscus Plant (Oum Labouir, Western Sahara)

(6)   Women of all Mauritanian groups are using more and more bleaching crèmes on the faces and the rest of their skin. There is nothing wrong or unattractive about having a dark complexion but the commercials for beauty products do their best to make dark complexions seem unnatural and unappealing. They promote their products as removing blemishes, and more importantly, as ‘fairness treatments.’ The use of bleaching crèmes by Mauritanian women is probably, sadly, a negative consequence of the expansion of the media (See No. 5 in Things that have changed in Mauritania … for the Better).

Things that did not change in Mauritania … and Shouldn’t

(1)   The absence of spices in cooking. With the exception of Fish with Rice, most Mauritanian dishes are prepared with Saharan salt (which does not contain Iodine) or sugar, and, in a few exceptions for a savory dish, pepper. This may sound repulsive at first but look at the other cuisines around the world that use a variety of spices, sometimes so many in one dish that one does not know the true flavor of meat, chicken, fish or vegetables. The minimal use of spices makes Saharan food unique, and for people visiting Mauritania it is a reminder of what food tastes like.

(2)   Leben (yoghurt) and Zrig (a curdled milk drink). When I mention these two I do not mean the powdered or canned milk versions (Relative to No. 5 in Things that changed in Mauritania … for the Worse). I mean the curdled camel’s or goat’s milk, and in regards to Zrig, diluted with water and seasoned with sugar.

(3)   The music Moor culture produces. A claim like this should receive some blowback from my former Peace Corps peers who had to endure agonizing taxi brousse rides listening to the driver’s love of women wailing and erratic riffs of an electric guitar. But placing cultural bias aside, it is a unique music, unlike other genres in the world, and I have listened to this music enough to know there are talented musicians that convey spirituality through their art form that moves other Mauritanians.

(4)   Mauritania’s ethnic diversity. Within its borders are White and Black Moors (Bidan and Haratin respectively), Wolof, Hal Pulaar/Peulh, Soninké (Sarakolé), Bambara, and a handful of Tuareg (Kel Tamacheq) in the Eastern regions of the country. Add to this other African groups like Moroccans, Nigerians and Ghanaians in the large and regional towns and it makes for a rich mix of languages, clothing, music, food, dance and splendor.

(5)   The use of Khenev (traditional toilet) waste or town sewage in the gardens as fertilizer. I used to be vehemently opposed to this when I was a Peace Corps volunteer but after learning, through my PhD studies, about the chronic problems of waste management worldwide, I have to commend places like Atâr that use the fecal waste of Khenevs in gardens and Zouerât,  using the city’s sewage run-off for the same purpose. As long as the produce from these gardens is properly washed and/or thoroughly cooked using sewage to produce food is a benefit to the local communities.

Mint fertilized with Black Water in the Gardens (Zouerât, Mauritania)

(6)   The usage of things other people generally throw away. This includes packaging, plastic containers, thread, wire, cable, tin and aluminum cans, broken appliances, etc. (the list goes on and on). Africans, more than other societies, can look at something that is considered not useful or waste and do something practical with it. However, there are Africans, influenced by globalization, who cease such behavior as they see it as shameful or the actions of poor people, but the drive to consume and waste has to change in other societies. This is a lesson that Africa can offer to the rest of the world.

(7)   The knowledge and use of wild plants as food and medications. While those in the cities have forgotten or do not know this practice, those in the countryside still do. This is not to say all wild foods are tasty and or nutritional or that all traditional medicines work, but some do, and efforts should be made to maintain this knowledge and use in diet and health.

Things that have not changed in Mauritania … and Need To 

(1)   Poverty. Easier said than done, especially when the rest of the continent is in the same state. But poverty contributes to the other chronic ills plaguing Mauritania like slavery, poor political representation, and even contributing to the dismantlement of local food production. To elaborate on this last point, look at the standard of living for a mechanic, car washer, janitor or a guardian in the urban environments of Mauritania compared to the small scale farmer or herder in the countryside. In addition, improving people’s conditions and standard of living can drive Mauritanians to eradicate other social problems (See below).

(2)   Ignorance and little knowledge of the outside world. This is a two-way street, and foreigners who visit Mauritania but disregard the norms and customs of the country are failing to do their part in ending this ignorance. But in regards to Mauritanians, and particularly those inhabiting the northern regions, little is known of the outside world and this often leads to xenophobic behavior.

(3)   Racism where Bidan are discriminating against Haratin and other Black Mauritanians. This is also interlinked with poverty and ignorance (See above) as well as racism (See below), but there needs to be a recognition among all Mauritanians to stop judging people by the color of their skin and recognizing that all people have merit and the right to receive respect. Bidan are not defined by their skin color, either. One is Bidan if one’s father is/was Bidan. There are a good number of Bidan in Mauritania who resemble Haratin/Black Mauritanians in their complexion.

(4)   Slavery. As it was reported to me during my interviews, slavery is not abusive as it was in the 1970s but it still persists. Every Haratin knows their master and every Bidan knows their slaves. There are both Bidan who have liberated their slaves in the past and there are Haratin who have broken their ties to their masters. But unfortunately, there are Bidan who try to maintain their hold over their slaves and there are Haratin who seek out their masters in order to survive through working for them. Ignorance and poverty.

(5)   Poor political representation. Mauritania had a brief encounter with dramatic democratic reforms in the local and national elections in 2007. Previously Mauritania claimed to be a democratic country but in practice it was run by a Bidan oligarchy. 2007 changed this and Haratin/Black Mauritanians began winning local elections and filling key posts. But the coup d’état in 2008 put an end to this ‘wind of change.’ Except for a few individuals who refused to step down, local and national offices were reclaimed by the former the Bidan elite.

Bureau of Parti de la Justice et le Mouvement Démocratique (Atâr, Mauritania)

(6)   Superiority-inferiority complex. This is always a losing battle for me, both when I was a Peace Corps volunteer and also during my research in 2013, but Mauritanians need to stop viewing everything that comes from the West (and now even the Arabian Peninsula) as the best and things that come from Mauritania (and the rest of Africa for that matter) as the worst. It is hard to have an earnest dialogue, one free from colonial relics or imperialism, with such a complex dominating Mauritanian mentalities.

(7)   Attitudes regarding litter and waste. It is not just Mauritanians, and even the continent of Africa, but also the rest of the world. Even the industrialized nations, although they have controls in place for litter, they are still the producers of many of the disposable products that are thrown away in the developing world. But in Mauritania’s case, the age old belief in throwing waste to the desert and letting the wind, sand and sun take care of it has to stop as there is too much inorganic waste in the countryside and the problem is growing.

(8)   Domestic animals eating garbage in urban environments. The tragedy of this is some animal owners promote such behavior by breaking up cardboard boxes and feeding it to their animals. In an effort to support small scale farming and foraging by herders, people in urban environments who own livestock could purchase animal feed from these food producers. 

Eulogy for an Interpreter, a Friend and a Con Artist

The man pictured up above on the left (and in other photos of the slide shows entitled ‘Interviews’ for December 2006, January and February 2007) was my first interpreter when I started my research in Mali. I use the past tense here, with heavy heart, because I was informed recently that he was killed in Tin Hama (located in the Ansongo Cercle of Mali) in 2012 by the Islamists. What exactly transpired between him and the Islamists remains a mystery but my recollections of him may shed some light as to what could have gone wrong. No matter what, however, I find it a loss and regret that he died prematurely during this tumultuous time in Mali.  

His real name will not be used here. I will refer to him as ‘Ag Bahanga,’ the last name of the Tuareg Rebel leader Ibrahim ag Bahanga from Tin Zaouatîn, Mali. I use this name because some of his friends in Gao, Mali often called him by this name when seeing him on the streets.

I met Ag Bahanga in October 2006 through my collaborator. He appeared quiet and shy at first but after a few tea sessions at my collaborator’s house and negotiating on a salary for assisting me in my interviews he opened up. I learned that he was from the Gourma Region of Mali (In Tillit and the regions surrounding) and that his heritage was Kel Tamasheq. He knew Kel Tamasheq, Songhaï and French very well and also a little Peulh. We communicated in French and he sometimes taught me words in Songhaï and Kel Tamasheq languages. At the end of October and into November we interviewed pastoralists and ex-pastoralists in Gao and even walked eight kilometers outside of Gao to find a pastoral encampment called Billalkawoul.

As an interpreter, Ag Bahanga was fantastic. He had an interest in my research, that being looking at food security for the region as a whole and the changes in pastoral livelihoods. He often invited me back to his room for tea and to discuss the interviews after they were over. It was during these sessions that I learned that the Kel Tamasheq commonly name places after the plant species found there in order to manage their herds, seek out wild foods during periods of stress and find plants used in traditional medicine. This was what brought me into studying ethno-botanical issues for the Sahara and Sahel. He even helped me collect firewood for tea and warmth when the chief of the Billalkawoul encampment demanded such. He didn’t have to, but between us grew a feeling of solidarity.

Ag Bahanga, however, was not perfect. I certainly learned this later in our experiences as we traveled in December 2006 – February 2007 to Ansongo, Ménaka and Anderamboukane to interview more groups. First, in Ansongo, while visiting some relatives of his, he had a dispute with a younger cousin. Angered, he began strangling her while other family members and I begged him to stop and pulled both of them apart. I had a discussion with him later that night on the rooftop of his relative’s house. I counseled him to control his anger as such outbursts would be detrimental to our presence and relationship with the communities we were about to visit.

In Ménaka, however, Ag Bahanga did something that ended our researcher – interpreter relationship and freindship. When we first arrived there at 3 o’clock in the morning, we stayed with a friend of his during his school days, a very kind man who welcomed us to stay with him and his family for a week-and-a-half. Practically everyone we met in Ménaka showed a genuine curiosity and were very generous with us. One family in Essakan II (a neighborhood of Ménaka) actually gave me a goat. Ag Bahanga and I both agreed to give the goat to his friend who provided us lodging, as a sign of appreciation for the hospitality.

The day when we were leaving Ménaka, we were given the goat and we brought it to his friend’s house. His friend was not there but his wife was. I heard Ag Bahanga talk to the wife in Kel Tamasheq. I thought this was a little odd as other times he talked to her in Songhaï, as his friend and she were both from Songhaï communities. Also, my comprehension of Songhaï was, at the time, better than Kel Tamasheq. We left the goat and then went to find a group of friends giving us a ride back to Gao. Our friends were not at their house so it was necessary to wait. Ag Bahanga said he needed to go to the market to purchase some cigarettes so I stayed. I waited for our friends to return.

After 45 minutes our friends returned, but Ag Bahanga had not. We all left for the market looking for him. I was the one who found him acting oddly as he had a big smile on his face and seemed more joyous than usual. We caught up with our friends and drove back to Gao. I paid him for the interviews and returned to my residence.

I couldn’t sleep that night. Things just didn’t add up and I was constantly thinking over what had transpired in Ménaka before we left. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong but I could sense something was. I didn’t own a cell phone so I could not call people. But I drew up a plan. I met with Ag Bahanga a few days later and told him that I received an emergency email from my advisor and that I needed to travel to Bamako immediately. This was a lie. Instead, early one morning I travelled back to Ménaka to see what had happened.

When I returned to Ménaka, I met up with his friend from school. He and his wife did not have the goat. After talking to his wife that day when Ag Bahanga and I were returning to Gao, she had said that Ag Bahanga asked her to only look after the goat, and that he would be back soon to take the goat. All of us realized that he had found a buyer for the goat at the market and made the transaction when I was waiting for our friends to return at the other house. I felt bad over the whole situation as Ag Bahanga did more than deceive me. He profited from the people who had welcomed us and shown us hospitality. I could not continue to work with him.

I found another interpreter in Ménaka and conducted more interviews. Later, when I returned to Gao, I met with Ag Bahanga and told him my funding was cut and that I did not have sufficient funds to pay him for future interviews. This, although necessary, ended our day-to-day interactions.

I did not see him around town soon after this, partially because I was conducting interviews elsewhere but also because he was pursuing other opportunities outside of Gao. I would see him once more in Gao, face-to-face, before I concluded my research in Mali. I had an altercation with a crazy, homeless person who attacked me on the streets and he aided me after the incident.

When I had the opportunity during the summer of 2007 to make photos of my research, I printed off photos of my interviewees and Ag Bahanga (which, as mentioned above, can also be seen in the slide shows entitled ‘Interviews’ for December 2006, January and February 2007). I wasn’t sure when I was going to return to Mali but I wanted them just in case I had the chance to visit again.

I did visit Mali soon after. I traveled to Niger in October 2007 but ran into difficulties in conducting research there because of the MNJ rebellion. Despite my efforts I was pushed to leave Niger by January 2008. I chose to visit Mali again. I handed out pictures of my interviewees in Anderamboukane, Ménaka and eventually Gao. Some of my friends asked to see other photos I still possessed. When I showed photos of Ag Bahanga to them and if they knew him, they made comments that he drinks and uses drugs. I knew that he drank. I would sometimes see the beer and liquor bottles at his place when visiting. I also suspected in the past he used drugs, but then this only added to his complexity. During this visit, I couldn’t find Ag Bahanga in Gao as he was likely running a scam in another Malian town, but I did find his brother. I handed the photos to him to pass on to his brother when he returned.

I was told last month (June 2^nd) of his demise. You will be missed ‘Ag Bahanga.’ I did not like your temper, your chemical addictions, and the tricks you pulled on my interviewees, but these became valuable lessons, and the introduction you gave me to Tuareg society was invaluable. I hope your spirit is resting in peace and should a day of judgment come, I hope that Allah shows great mercy for your transgressions.           

         

Criticism in Development … how academics can alter policy and the consequences of its deconstruction

I have attacked many on this blog who hold the reigns of African Development: Western Powers (like the USA, China, European Union, and France), International Lending Institutions (namely the World Bank and IMF), Non-Governmental Organizations, African Governments, and even local communities (although my allegiance often lies in this camp). But in this post I am going after a group that I belong to, namely academics. They have less power than most groups in African Development but still, from time to time, shape the policies and direction through their investigation and criticism of past and current trends.

IRIN recently printed an article entitled, Aid Policy: Resisting the mantra of resilience (Available at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96549/AID-POLICY-Resisting-the-mantra-of-resilience ). In this report an academic by the name of Christophe Béné from the Institute of Development Studies is named, but there are others like him who began critiquing the use of ‘resilience’ in African Development. Like other terms in the past (sustainability, vulnerability and poverty alleviation to name a few), resilience is expanding in definition and perhaps overused in both development and academic circles. Béné and others, however, find the expansion abusive and leading to a barrier of improving the quality of lives for many. While I agree with Béné and the others that this is occurring, I hold concern that their critiques can be used by those in development circles to scrap efforts at improving resilience in local African communities that need it.

As an example, I cite the following passage from the IRIN news story, “… The wartime collapse of public services in West Africa in the 1990s initially had less impact on the poor – who never had electricity, were already dependent on well water, and had no need for automobile fuel. Those in the countryside were better able to survive a lack of rice because they knew how to make use of wild food sources. Yet this kind of resilience does not improve the quality of life [emphasis added].” This passage is subjective and very much based on Western models of development, i.e. the quality of life of West Africans would improve if all of them were sedentarised, wage laborers who owned automobiles and used their salaries to purchase imported rice and to pay their electricity and water bills. It is very suggestive of the development models international lending institutions and some governments tried to push on African communities starting in the 1960s and continuing in some places even today.

It is not my intention to place local African communities in a display case. African societies are dynamic and change but in an age where the citizens of industrial nations are waking up to the health and environmental consequences of a mismanaged, wasteful and technologically-driven global food production system by promoting diverse, locally-produced, organic, fair-trade, heirloom foods shouldn’t development policy makers in Africa do the same? Resilience has its place in African Development. Béné and others are right in saying that African Development should not be simplified to one ‘buzz word’ when attempting to improve the living standard of Africans, however, Béné is wrong when he says, “Resilience is a very technical, neutral, apolitical term.” Resilience is in fact a means in which Africans resist not only natural hazards when they occur but also development programmes that are not compatible or welcome in their society. It is very much a political strategy.