Wege und Ittwege der Entwickslungspotlitik by Das Experimentieren an der Dritten Welt Toni Hagen

Wege und Ittwege der Entwickslungspotlitik
Das Experimentieren
an der Dritten Welt
Toni Hagen
Verlag Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Zurich
J988, 38 Swiss Francs
Review  by Claus  Euler
The "Third World" continues to get mired ever deeper in crisis even as the economic structures to exploit the national resources become cemented. There is increasing ecological awareness in the capitals of developing countries, but such awareness seems to have no chance against political pressures. The lives of creatures — humans, animals and plants — are sacrificed on the attar of the shortsighted and ruthless consumer needs of the industrialised countries and  "Third World" elites.
At the end of the 1980s, aid givers and aid lakers find themselves confronted with the shattered remains of a failed development aid policy, which seems to have created its own momentum and is thoroughly incapable of learning from mistakes. Such is also the case with aid provided by Switzerland to the developing countries. "Mittelabflusswang", is one of the absurd words in development vocabulary. It refers to the need to disburse, or get rid of, aid money. Scepticism about the whole development assistance effort spreads even as opinion leaders call for a "Marshall Plan" to save the "Third World".
It is in the context of the ecology of development and the utility of foreign assistance that Toni Hagen´s recent book on Swiss aided projects is most useful. The 352-page paperback, written in German, evaluates 230 projects from 24 countries around the world. 84 of the projects evaluated are those run by United Nations organizations and 79 are implemented by private non-govement organizations. Included are 20 projects from Bangladesh, India and Nepal. These last three are the only South Asian "partners" in Swiss development cooperation,
Toni Hagen, a Swiss geologist who has been "in development" since the early 1950s and has been highly decorated in Kathmandu for his contributions to Nepal´s development efforts, finds that the development aid his country provides is wanting. The Swiss development aid law which insists that aid should  reach the poorest of the
 
poor in the developing countries ends up in the waste-basket, concludes Hagen. And the bigger and more expensive the projects, he says, the more they fail.
Hagen evaluates the aid projects in 11 chapters in the first half of the book and presents case studies in the second half. He includes sections on criticism of the whole concept of development aid, the principles of successful development, and lessons to learn from the 230 projects evaluated. For easy reference, in 32 pages, Hagen also presents figures and short characterizations of the results of his study. This section can be used for an orientation before delving deeper into the book.
Regarding projects in Nepal, Hagen finds that four of the Swiss aided projects were "very successful" and five were either "doubtful" or outright "destructive". He comes out in favour of the oldest and one of the most successful demonstration projects of Swiss development aid: the "Cheese Project" in the Langtang hills north of Kathmandu. Started in 1956 with an investment of only U$66 per family, the scheme has, for 25 years, since the Swiss experts withdrew in 1964, provided 2,000 families with a yearly income of U$100.
Hagen reports that in 1985, 10 of 16 dairy stations were still operating, processing 866 tons of yak milk a year into cheese for the Kalhmandu market. Hagen ascribes the success to good economic conceptualization at the start and a smooth transition from Swiss to Nepali management. While it is true that few Nepalis can afford to buy the cheese which is thus produced, it was a small scale project to begin with and the Swiss Government did not expect more than what the project has been able to deliver. Hagen is extremely critical of the Swiss aid managers for succumbing to "Mittelabfiusszwang", forgetting successes like those achieved at Langtang, and looking for bigger and more prestigious projects.
Despite his long association with development aid to Nepal, Hagen does not shirk from criticizing projects he believes are misdirected. His views on the Kathmandu-to-Jiri road and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development   (ICIMOD)  in Kathmandu, which has brought Hagen a lot of criticism from supporters, are also included in this book. Both projects get a "doubtful success" rating from Hagen.
This book is packed with facts and statistics which, fortunately, have been presented in a usable structure and format. However, he does have a tendency to make generalized comments that seem to be loo quick and judgmental. This also leads to ambivalence in the analysis. For example, in the concluding pages, he appeals for "boycotting everything which disturbs the social structure in the third world" and "finally destroys the environment and living conditions". At the same time, he seems to be encouraging decision makers to go about their business as usual. "If we save one human being in the third world, we already have a better world,"  he says.
Despite its few drawbacks, the book on the whole is thoroughly researched, well structured and a useful addition to the emerging development literature which questions the givens of past decades.
Claus Euler is with the Institute for Ecology and Action Anthropology, Zurich. He is presently working in Bangladesh