Global Development: Views from the Center

Celina raises good questions about the Millennium Villages. Many of my colleagues at CGD had similarly skeptical responses. Better information about the progress and costs of the Millennium Villages will be crucial if lessons from this experiment are to inform development efforts more broadly. Questions about scale and evaluation are crucial and deserve carefull and serious consideration, not just hand-waving.

But personally I find the argument that Africa needs a Green Revoluion similar to India's hard to dismiss. I also find the implied alternative -- that little or nothing can be done until institutions and governance improve --to be circular and self-defeating. The real question, it seems to me, is how to transform a vicious circle into a virtuous circle. Large-scale, intergrated rutal development with significant support from donors--if necessary by by-passing corrupt or incompetent governments--may be an important part of the solution.

And is it really so bad to educate Americans about development with a photo essay in People Magazine, or by involving celebrities like Angelina Jolie? Skeptics in the development community sometimes seem to be motivated at least a little by envy: "We have been doing this hard work lo these many years without recognition. Who does Jeff think he is anyway, to waltz in with Angelina and declare that it all could be done with a little more money and will power?"

I don't like being preached at any more than my colleagues. And Sach's talk had more than its share of off-putting fire and brimstone (check out the video! http://www.cgdev.org/content/calendar/detail/6531 ). Yet the problems are so huge. As Sachs reminds his listeners, millions of people die prematurely each year for lack of a few basic inputs that they need to improve their lives.

In a situation such as this, surely more money, and more people thinking about different ways of solving these problems can't be a bad thing.

Meanwhile, for a solid, well-argued alternative to the Millennium Villages for breaking the cycle of dispair in Africa, don't miss David Wheeler's presentation at CGD today titled Time to Build a Trans-Africa Road Network: New Analysis of the Costs and Benefits, and Preliminary Suggestions on How the Donors Could Make it Happen http://www.cgdev.org/content/calendar/detail/6483/

Angelina isn't part of this really big idea (not yet, at least!) but the calculations of rate of return on a regional road network are so compelling that one is tempted to believe that the political barriers to making it happen could actually be overcome.

Jeffrey is a fine speaker with an encyclopedic memory that makes discussion with him or questions to him somewhat daunting for us mere mortals. And he writes quickly.

I am not sure he has been in rural India in listening discussions with women's and men's groups, ineffective bank mangers, local politicians and their "vote banks", armed radical groups, local govt officers, good NGOs, the many astute Indian analysits and writers or etc - as just a researcher or consultant, not as Jeffery Sachs.

Sure, "green revolution" in Africa! (has he been in the field in Africa - see above re India). Need a "little" more detail please! The solutions he proposes indicate, for me, that he has a somewhat steep learning curve in front of him. Indirectly it's verging on insult to the many decades of experience of many persons all over the world who have worked these issues since the 60's or earlier. None of their lessons, literature and expereince seems to have been consulted. Even as murky as it is.

You can delete the following if you wish ( I log on CGD for new cutting edge data and analysis and writing - your're very good on this. I sense that Jeffery as a Board member has pulled some weight and got into programming proposal details and PR - not, in general a good idea. organizationally. His presentation is not up to your usual standards of research or proposed solutions.)

Robert Mitchell
A slow writer
Canada

(I have been 35+ years in the trade)

Robert - that's a bit harsh. If you read the blog post about Jeffrey's talk, it is more than a little sceptical about the Millennium Villages. It says, for example, "there is an element of publicity stunt here", and gives reasons why the project is unlikely to be scalable.

Furthermore, the Center for Global Development is hosting the launch of the new book by Bill Easterly, who is a fellow of the Center, which explains in detail why he takes a different approach to Jeffrey Sachs. You can hardly accuse the Center of going along with Jeff Sachs because he is on the board.