The Ethics of Aid

The title from this post comes from an article we discussed at one of the conferences in Gulu. It calls into question just how much good Aid really does for developing nations. This Aid could take the form of economic, food, clothing, or even military. In his book "A Continent for the Taking," Howard French says,

"Uganda had posted an 8 to 10 percent growth rate throughout the 1990's...because the growth was brought about largely through massive flows of aid from the United States, Britain, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The almighty international financial institutions had become a government in absentia for the entire African continent in the post-Cold War era."

On paper the economies of many developing nations can seem to be showing signs of growth, but this is an illusion. You have Western powers handing money to corrupt governments and the people never see any benefit whatsoever. If you work in many African governments, there is no need for you to work with your own people to develop your economy and infrastructure because you know that the aid money is coming in every year. This leads to a cycle of corruption on the part of developing governments on the one hand and a cycle of irresponsibility of the part of big governments, banks, and corporations on the other. This is why it was no surprise to me that while we were in Uganda the members of parliament gave themselves a raise from 15 million schillings a month to 20 million schillings a month, or around $8,000. Meanwhile teachers and other professionals are struggling to survive amidst rising food and gas prices on a mere 200,000-400,000 schillings a month or $150-$350. The question would be why do the economic powers of the world continue to condone or turn a blind eye to this obvious abuse of power?

Meanwhile, the average person in the west hears the word aid and assumes that it is a good thing (I know I did). But when you start to think about donating food and clothes to these countries you begin to see that it is only putting a bandaid on something that needs surgery. In 2008 my class raised money for an orphanage in Kenya. Along with money, we sent over some boxes of clothes, which I assumed was a fairly good idea for children in an orphanage. However, when people in the west send all these unused and unwanted clothes to the people in developing countries, it knocks the bottom out of the prices for their locally made textiles and never gives them a chance to develop there own economies. So the people who make clothes in Uganda for instance, have to rely on tourists and wealthier Ugandans to make money. Why would the people by clothes if they can get them for free?

Likewise, food aid also knocks the bottom out of the price for locally grown crops keeping farmers always struggling to make it in the globalized world. For instance, the U.S. subsidizes corn from Idaho and sends it over to countries that have plenty of people who can grow corn. On top of that, the seed that gets sent as "aid" is often genetically modified which makes the farmers unable to harvest the seed from that crop because that seed won't produce the following year. This breeds dependence for farmers who have to buy new seeds every single year. This isn't to say that people don't need food aid. Right now in several East African countries there is a famine going on and people can not farm because of lack of rain and are in need of food. What I am saying is the west needs to quit giving handouts to people who have the means to farm and who have been able to grow their own crops for thousands of years.

With a new context to understand global aid, I asked many of our Ugandan teachers what they thought was the best way for a person in the west who genuinely cares about people to help developing countries? The answer was almost unanimous across the board: By-pass the corrupt governments and work directly with the people on projects that help them live a sustainable life and develop their own country. This takes a bit more effort on the part of westerners to do some research into the projects they are giving money to. A good place to start would be education and micro-economic projects. An education gives all of us a better understanding of our world so we can all begin work to weed out corruption, war, greed, self-interest, and begin to substitute these things for peace, justice, compassion, and a selfless love. Invisible Children has a great scholarship program that supports kids in their learning and keeps them accountable for doing their best. IC also has micro-economic programs that give people skills, dignity, and the profits from their labor. My hope is that those of us who have the resources and means and the love in our hearts to help will put forth that effort and begin to give a lasting aid to people who deserve to have basic needs met and who deserve to be loved.