Development In Practice

Editor's Notes

• #5: Offer my clients ways of mobilising natural resources in ways which deliver on commercial or economic ambitions without undermining social or ecological resiliency. Areas of expertise : Natural resources governance, Minerals, e.g. policy, governance, political economy, CSR smallholder and subsistence production systems, e.g. ASM Conflict minerals Sustainable supply chains Community-driven development Development Programme Planning & Management Programme and project design, implementation, evaluation. Research design, implementation and analysis oriented at strategic decision-making. Inclusive community development planning, research, and consultations. CSR strategy and assessment Ethical product development, e.g. fair trade minerals Multi-stakeholder processes, stakeholder engagement & corporate responsibility Fundraising Core lenses : Human Geographer Sustainability theory and praxis Political economy & political ecology Participatory methodologies 10 years working on natural resources & development; 8 years in the field
• #6: Who pays me Vs. Who I serve
• #10: Livelihood strategies: full-time / part-time, year-round or seasonally, permanently or temporarily, by itself or in combination with other livelihoods, e.g. farming Rush mining happens in response to new mineral finds, escalating diamond prices, or a deteriorating economic context, and is characterised by unstable communities which are prone to conflict, often bringing more harm than damage to the local environment and communities; Temporary ASM is fuelled by emergency situations, e.g. Zimbabwe, DRC, characterised by high population flows in initially unstable communities that may disappear after time or evolve into long-term settlements; Isolated, remote ASM activities have little or no involvement with nearby communities, e.g. bush mining in the perimeter of Kono District in Sierra Leone; Seasonal ASM within the agricultural cycle is possibly the most common type of ASM and normally involves stable communities; Traditional year-round ASM activities are generally associated with stable communities for whom ASM forms part of a traditional diversified livelihood.
• #11: Livelihood strategies: full-time / part-time, year-round or seasonally, permanently or temporarily, by itself or in combination with other livelihoods, e.g. farming Rush mining happens in response to new mineral finds, escalating diamond prices, or a deteriorating economic context, and is characterised by unstable communities which are prone to conflict, often bringing more harm than damage to the local environment and communities; Temporary ASM is fuelled by emergency situations, e.g. Zimbabwe, DRC, characterised by high population flows in initially unstable communities that may disappear after time or evolve into long-term settlements; Isolated, remote ASM activities have little or no involvement with nearby communities, e.g. bush mining in the perimeter of Kono District in Sierra Leone; Seasonal ASM within the agricultural cycle is possibly the most common type of ASM and normally involves stable communities; Traditional year-round ASM activities are generally associated with stable communities for whom ASM forms part of a traditional diversified livelihood.
• #12: Livelihood strategies: full-time / part-time, year-round or seasonally, permanently or temporarily, by itself or in combination with other livelihoods, e.g. farming Rush mining happens in response to new mineral finds, escalating diamond prices, or a deteriorating economic context, and is characterised by unstable communities which are prone to conflict, often bringing more harm than damage to the local environment and communities; Temporary ASM is fuelled by emergency situations, e.g. Zimbabwe, DRC, characterised by high population flows in initially unstable communities that may disappear after time or evolve into long-term settlements; Isolated, remote ASM activities have little or no involvement with nearby communities, e.g. bush mining in the perimeter of Kono District in Sierra Leone; Seasonal ASM within the agricultural cycle is possibly the most common type of ASM and normally involves stable communities; Traditional year-round ASM activities are generally associated with stable communities for whom ASM forms part of a traditional diversified livelihood.
• #13: Livelihood strategies: full-time / part-time, year-round or seasonally, permanently or temporarily, by itself or in combination with other livelihoods, e.g. farming Rush mining happens in response to new mineral finds, escalating diamond prices, or a deteriorating economic context, and is characterised by unstable communities which are prone to conflict, often bringing more harm than damage to the local environment and communities; Temporary ASM is fuelled by emergency situations, e.g. Zimbabwe, DRC, characterised by high population flows in initially unstable communities that may disappear after time or evolve into long-term settlements; Isolated, remote ASM activities have little or no involvement with nearby communities, e.g. bush mining in the perimeter of Kono District in Sierra Leone; Seasonal ASM within the agricultural cycle is possibly the most common type of ASM and normally involves stable communities; Traditional year-round ASM activities are generally associated with stable communities for whom ASM forms part of a traditional diversified livelihood.
• #16: Bad governance and the resource curse Supply chain complexity + poor state capacity + poor legislation  bad governance & corruption Protection rackets, shadow state, predatory state  diamonds retard development Violence and insecurity Insecurity of title  defend access to productive sites through violence Value of diamonds and gold  theft & murder Rush situations breed criminality and immoral behaviour Trading and finance Credit  debt Miners get poor prices (credit, lack of competition, lack of knowledge, price fixing, middle men) Health and safety Poor understanding of risks or risk management Faith in religious practices Accidents extremely common Protective gear inadequate, machinery unmaintained Environmental health issues Child labour Western conceptions vs. reality Gender issues Women often confined to less productive / support positions Rush mining Environmental Damage Poverty Trap
• #20: POVERTY is as much cultural as it is economic DEVELOPMENT: What does it mean? Western concepts: State-led; Industry-led African concepts: Food security; Household resiliency; dignity; choice; not farming ECONOMIC GROWTH: the issue is how it is achieved (what route a country chooses) and what ultimate ends it's supposed to serve. Taking a view of 'growth is development' is so dangerous, as it induces the view that growth is good at all costs . We see growth as an end, not a means . How much growth is enough? Countries aim for as much as possible. Unrealistic economic growth ambitions encourage governments to favour drastic actions (e.g. in the interests of big, foreign mining companies rather than nurturing their own nascent sectors). These actions create long-term damage to social and ecological resiliency for short-term economic and political gains . This damage is often traumatic for the affected communities, individuals, and ecosystems. F ocusing on (as much) growth (as possible) as the ultimate indicator and driver of development often erodes the socio-cultural and ecological commons on which longer-term economic and social wellbeing rest, and thus it is actually impoverishing when you take a holistic perspective. I favour approaches which seek to build on and develop longer-term economic and socio-cultural resiliency and
• #21: What happens when a development project comes to town? Political and economic opportunism Partial engagement Privileged few get to feed into, direct, and benefit Expectations get created People give their time – very precious Different clients require different outcomes Different stakeholders See development differently Have divergent goals, beliefs, interests Different concepts of time, entitlement, justice Have different capitals at their disposal, e.g. HUMAN: skills, knowledge, physical ability FINANCIAL: savings, liquidity, loans SOCIAL: political influence, identity markers NATURAL: access to land and resources PHYSICAL: access to telecommunications, roads, electricity, etc. i.e. They have different risk profiles and different potentials Unbalanced communication flows
• #22: Unachievable laws Reality vs. the law legal is not possible  insecurity of tenure, corruption, short-termism Unachievable time-scales Unrealistically short Funding fashions go by political time-frames Extremely damaging e.g. CBFF, PDA, LGL Imposition of external models Can lead to outright failures Inadequate problem identification and comprehension Lack of integration of local interests, values and beliefs in problem-solving Minimal risk planning Inadequate local ownership and capacity building Or cultural imperialism Imposition of structures to please western consumers’ concepts of development, e.g. some certification / advocacy campaigns
• #23: Timothy Mitchell, Rule of Experts – technopolitics gives language to fall back on that gives the illusion of expertise.