Annual report by the chairman of the economic development advisory panel

tJOINT COORDINATING COMMITTEE Onchocerciasis Control Programme in the Volta River Basin Area Ofice of the Independent Chairman c/o World Health Organization l2ll Geneva 27, Switzerland Tcl. 346061 TclcxZlll6 2782l- J.C.C.-C.C.C. COMITE CONJOINT DE COORDINATION Programme de Lutte Contre I'Onchocercose dans la R6gion du Bassin de la Volta Bureau du PrCsident Indlpendant c/o Organisation Mondiale de la Sant€ l2l1 Gendve 27, Suisse Tel 34 60 6l rLtcx NFx 27 82I JCC3. 5 12 November 1976 JOINT COORDINATING COMMITTEE Third session Ouagadougou, I-3 December 1976 Provisional agenda item 8 Following its review by the Steering Committee, the Independent Chairman submits for the consideration of the Joint Coordinating Committee, at its third session, the annual report of the Chairman of the Economic Development Advisory PaneI. t- ANNUAL REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY PANEL 1. Introduction l.l Since this is the first annual report of the Economic Development Advisory Panel as an established body it is appropriate, before coming to the record of activities, briefly to recall Ehe objectives assigned to the EDAP. According to the Protocol of Agreement of l1 February L975, the Panel's responsibilities are, among other things, to give the Joint Coordinating Committee, through the appropriate intermediate bodies, its opi.nion on the economic and social aspects of the development of the regions involved in the Onchocerciasis Control Prograrune, and to produce an annual report on i.ts conclusions and recommendations. L.2 It will also be remembered that the statutory provisions provide for the holding of at least two meetings per year. In accordance with these provisions Ehe Panel met on 15 and 16 June at Geneva, and again in Paris on I and 2 October. 1.3 These meetings were occasions for members of the Panel and the observers representing various bilateral and multilateral instituLions to consider the complex problems posed by the development of oncho-freed areas. It proved necessary from the start - for reasons of method - to group the various questions around a number of subjects for reflection such as: health organization, food, farming methods, migration, etc. The present report, which claims to be a faithful record of the Panel's thinking, will therefore deal in turn wi.th the main subject,s examined, and where appropriat,e, some of the conclusions reached. 2. H€llh organization 2.L Of the numerous problems posed by the areas freed or to be freed from onchocerciasis, one of the most important is t,hat of health and the organization of health services. During it,s examination of the quest,i.on the Panel stressed Ehat it was necessary not only to ensure that the oncho-freed areas were protected against possible re-infestat,ion, but, also to build up an appropriate health infrastructure which took acount of the risks of contagion and propagation inherent in populati.on transfers. Some members proposed that the health organization should be specifically adapted to rural conditions, that it should be simple, practical and effective and should have absolute priority. Reasons advanced in support of this are t,hat over-ambitious health projects which the states concerned could not pay for must be avoided. It is a question of doing what is most urgently needed. 2.2 As t,o Ehe prioriEy to be accorded to the health sector, this is mainly based on the idea that the maximum must be done to close the gap between urban health infrastructures and those of countryside. This objective is particularly important since the countries concerned are mainly agricultural, and it is from the rural populations - the vast majority - that these countries derive the bulk of their resources. 2.3 It was also proposed that the populations should themselves be associated in the process of improving their health conditions. This would mean that the authorities would have t,o ensure the basic education of their populations by teaching them the most elementary rules of hygiene. By improving hygiene, providing drinking r^rater and creating bet,ter housing conditions it is hoped to reduce risks of disease. But to be fuIly effective, health educati.on should form part of an overall prograrune for the development of the village corununities. In other words, to ensure progress in hygiene and health something more than health education alone must be aimed at. 2.4 Whatever the system envisaged, the costs involved would sti1l be particularly heavy for the countries concerned. The Panel noted with satisfaction that all the bilateral and mult,i- lateral institutions taking part in the development of the region would have become aware of the size of this problem. It is known that some of them are already participating, in the framework of sectoral prograrmnes, in the financing of certain health infrastructures in rural areas. , 3- 4.7 Small-scale family farming has the advantage, when certain stabilit,y condltions are satisfied, of offering bett,er opportunities for a harmonious development, on both the economic and social planes. Furthermore t,his kind of land tenancy facilitat,es and rei.nforces the attachnent of the farmer to his locality, which would be no small advantage in a region where the general tendency is towards migration. 4.8 Faced r^rith the alternatives of extensive agriculture and smalI-scale farming, the panel considered that it would be unrealistic Eo make a categorical choice. Furthermore, a number of technical studies rernain to be done in the field which should make it possible to have all the elements for assessment. Nevertheless, subject to the findings of those studies, it would seern that a judicious combination of the two types of farming might have certain advantages. In fact, while it is true that a priori a number of social and political con- siderations militate ln favour of small-scale, family type farming, it nevertheless renai.ns true that, in certain cases, large industrial-type farms might be a way of achieving the rapid increase in producti.on expected from the development of the new lands. Furthermore, with a mixed systeo, the large farms, whether cooperatives, private companies or state-owned companies' can serve as models for the family farms, which can benefit from their technologicalfall-out, especially as regards selection of seeds and breeds, market organization, and so on. 5. Migration 5.1 Migration flows are of capital importance for the region since they will be necessary to populate the disinfested areas. This is of course a well-knovnr world-wide phenomenon often caused by the pauperizaEion of the rural areas. The poor regions are abandoned in favour ofbetter-off regions. The Mediterranean basin offers a number of examples of this. It is still true, however, that the phenomenon, in the case of the valleys of the Volta, must be closely watched, since the success of the projects for developing the oncho-freed areas depends largely on them. This aspect of the question has not escaped the Panel?s attention. 5.2 A preliminary analysis of the situation shows that the migratory processes in the valleys of the Volta cannot be adequately understood without detailed study of the political, economic and social structures in which they have their roots. The Panel will work on thi-s in its comi.ng meetings, but the following observations may already be made. 5.3 So far as the econooic development of the disinfested areas is concerned, the firstdifficulty will be to persuade migrants to come and settle in the regions in which their Presence is considered to be useful for development. In other words the question of keeping checks and controls on the migratory flows arises. It is well-knovm that there is at the moment so-called spontaneous migration - particularly towards the valleys of the Black Volta - which, if not brought under control, could compromise the development projects for the regi.on. For when the tiroe comes account will have to be taken of the presence in the area of the settlers who were the first to arrive. A further point is that, without supervision, this unregulated occupation of the land might have caused irreversible ecological deterioration of Ehe region. 5.4 The second difficulty will be that, once the farmers are seEtled on the 1and, they must be made to stay there. The attraction of the large tovms for rural populations in Africa is well known. It is also known Ehat considerations of a religious nature bulk large among the factors which can moti.vate a farmer to settle dovm once and for all on the land or move on. This of course i.s not something that applies only to the Volta region. Families of farmers have often left the land on which they had just settled because the oracles revealed to them that their newly acquired land could bring them bad luck, or that their ancestors \"rere demanding their return to the village of origin. This means that the problern of keeping the farmer on land foreign to his region and customs is not easy to solve. The Panel considered, however, that if a minirnum of infrastructure (housing, waEer points, first-aid centres, etc.) were made available t.o the irunigrant, and above all if a policy for producerst prices favourable to the farmer were applied, this might constitute the beginnings of a solution. In any case, it was pointed out, the lowest incomes on therrnew landsttwould have to be at least equal to the average of the lowest \dages earned in urban areas. -5 I 6.8 The cattle-raising sector is only one example among many other spheres of activit.y which call for close cooperation among the states in the region. Attention could likewise be drawn to the problems involved in market organi.zation. Price disparities between one state and another can give ri.se to a parallel market. Here, too, a price arrangement would seerodesirable. Similarly, if the regionrs waLer resources are to be exploited to the ful1, collaboration will be required. 7. Plannins the development of agro-industries in the disinfested regions 7.L Access to these areas is difficult at the moment and it is not yet possible to evaluat,etheir potential wealth in mineral resources. Consequently, those responsible for the PrograflIrne to develop the areas freed from onchocerciasis are primarily placing their hopes in agriculture and the setting up of agro-industries, so far as the economic development of Ehe region is concerned. 0f course, the goverrunents concerned remain responsible for selecEing the crops to be Promoted, as for oEher developmenE activities. It is to be hoped, however,that the relevant decisions will take the fullest possible account of the results of thetechnical studies which are to be carried out at regional or local levels. 7.2 As regards the a8ro-industries, the Panel noted with interest a number of documents onthis subject PrePared by FAO, although it could do no more than undertake a prelirninary analysis for the time being. Ilowever, it would seem that the development of agro-industriesin the region might be regarded as a two-tier operation from now on. 7.3 on the first level would be found all family or group activities for the processing of raw foodstuffs. What, might. be ca11ed a small rrartisanat" for the processing of localproducts already exisEs at village leveI. The part played by women in the foodstuffsprocessing sector is particularly import,ant. This ttartisanattr, which uses exgremely old methods, produces foods that primarily satisfy the taste and eating habits of local people.AttemPt,s to industrLaLLze this activity should therefore seek essentially to improve it,s efficiency by simple technological means geared to t,he particular requirements. 7.4 At the second level, where more resources would have to be mobilized, the aim shouldbe to produce more sophisticated foodstuffs primarily for naEional consurupti.on, or even forexport. Owing to the infrastructure required, however, it would not seem that this type ofindustry can be set uP just anyohere. It cannot be established until raw materlal supplyproblems have been solved. Likewise, as the peasants of the region are unused to producEi-on work which has to conform to industrial sEandards, they will have to be trained. These areall problems which w111 be studied during future sessions of the panel. The role of women inthe develoPment of agro-industries and in other economic developmenE sectors in the areas freedfrom onchocerciasis will also forrn the subject of a thorough study. 8. s ti.ons and final reurarks 8.1 The Advisory Panel expressed the desire for closer cooperation between itself and theother bodies responsible for the 0nchocerciasis control programrne and for the development ofthe disinfested regions. It ldas suggested in this connexi.on that EDAP should be representedat the meetings of each of the organizations concerned, and that there shourd be a continuous exchange of information and documents between Ehe Panel and the other institutions engaged inthe operation. 8'2 The Advisory Panel has taken careful note of the fact that the sponsoring agencies havelaunched a vast Prograrme for the collection of data on the climaEe, hydrology, geology, eEc.of the regions Eo be disinfested, which are shortly t,o be conrnunicated to the Jointcoordinating corunittee. The ultramodern methods employed - aerial photographs, coverage bysatellites - will certainly give particularly dense, tomprete and uselul results. we "i. ,..yfort'unate in this resPect since, as r^ras already pointed out at the first meeting of the paner,it is urgently necessary that avaiiable informaEion on the region should be collected, completed and stored in a daEa bank to which all those concerned with the development of thedisinfested lands should have access.