As Thomas pointed out in a comment in a previous blog post of mine, aid to the third world is not working as many want, or even believe it does. He wrote;

“Aid and trade blocks have been used systematically by the west to keep foreign markets down and protect own industry. Yet it has no problems with selling its own goods in the third world, thus keeping it further down.

Trade not aid is a mantra heard from Africa and the third world, not from Europe.”

I Agree 100 % with him. (but not with the fact that shutting down Norad would help solve this problem.)

Aid gone wrong

Time reports in the their next issue that Ethiopia is a clear example of this being the case;

“Over time, sustained food aid creates dependence on handouts and shifts focus away from improving agricultural practices to increase local food supplies. Ethiopia exemplifies the consequences of giving a starving man a fish instead of teaching him to catch his own. This year the U.S. will give more than $800 million to Ethiopia: $460 million for food, $350 million for HIV/AIDS treatment — and just $7 million for agricultural development.

Western governments are loath to halt programs that create a market for their farm surpluses, but for countries receiving their charity, long-term food aid can become addictive. Why bother with development when shortfalls are met by aid? Ethiopian farmers can’t compete with free food, so they stop trying. Over time, there’s a loss of key skills, and a country that doesn’t have to feed itself soon becomes a country that can’t. All too often, its rulers use resources elsewhere — Ethiopia has one of Africa’s largest armies.”

what is the problem?

“Why do we get aid so wrong? Because it feels so right. “The American people,” says U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Yamamoto, “are simply not going to sit tight while they see children dying.” Nor should they: a starving man needs to be saved first, before he can be taught to fish — or farm. But as the world rallies again to Ethiopia’s aid, donors face a dilemma. “We’re not getting to the real problem,” says Yamamoto.”

Time sums up the piece like this;

“The sobering lesson: even the best efforts to eliminate hunger are expensive, slow and uncertain of success. Depressing as it may be, this may not be the last time Ethiopia needs help.”