World Student Community for Sustainable Development

by Medard Djatou

Forty years after independence, African countries continue to show signs of breathlessness on socio-economic development, despite aid from Western countries, international NGOs, and international lending bodies. Faced with their countries’ underdevelopment, characterized by extreme poverty, the failure of the fight against certain diseases like malaria, poliomyelitis, and AIDS, African decision-makers had turned themselves towards industrialized countries for aid. In the process of looking for solutions to Africa’s problems, Western countries and international NGOs were obliged to “transplant” to Africa certain projects and theories that were successful in Europe. This is one of the major reasons the United Nations World Commission for Environment and Development conceived the concept of “sustainable development.” Two questions constitute the main preoccupations of this paper: What is “sustainable development,” and which “sustainable development” for Africa?

What is “sustainable development”?

The concept of “sustainable development” is frequently used in speeches at international meetings. It originated from environmental dangers that threaten the planet, caused by rapid industrialization and the abundant exploitation and pollution of the environment. Sustainable development is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987:01).

Sustainable development seems to be an answer for Africa, which, despite its enormous human and natural resources, continues to negotiate its economic takeoff. It is because of human and natural resources that Europe became a greatly-industrialized continent. So how can “sustainable development,” through European principles, contribute to the well-being of Africans? Is the aim of sustainable development to keep those populations in poverty?

Does Africa need “sustainable development” projects conceived according to European socio-anthropological realities instead of African realities? This anxiety has been expressed by Tibor Mende (1972:31), who affirmed that “in most cases, underdevelopment is lived nowadays by non-Westerners, but most of those who analyze symptoms or construct theories on its origin or on ways to eliminate it are Westerners or Occidentalized intellectuals.”

To date, sustainable development is essentially focused only on the environment, which enriches a small group of privileged collaborators who belong to the high social class. The poor, who are the most affected by environmental impact, receive nothing from the great exploitation of the environment (e.g., for timber and energy resources) that plays a central role in their culture in health, nutrition, religion, and rituals.

Which “sustainable development” for Africa?

In its development process, Africa needs “sustainable development” that comes from an internal dynamic and which will take into account Africa’s socio-cultural realities. This is possible through the conception of projects that are appropriate for Africa and the completion of socio-anthropological studies before every project in order to bring out the real and essential needs of the affected population. Investments, which do not respond to the needs of beneficiary populations, are in vain because they cannot be sustainable.

In Cameroon particularly, many projects have failed because of the lack of previous socio-anthropological studies: They were not focused on the needs of the people. During the 1970s, for example, the Cameroon government decided to undertake a project in the far north of the country with the help of international donors. The project consisted of digging toilets in households in an area where people were suffering from endemic cholera, diarrhea, and dysentery. A few years after the completion of the project, a commission to the area to evaluate the project was surprised by the fact that only children were using the toilets. Husband and wives continued to ease themselves in the nature. This was because, according to a local cultural belief, wives must never know where their husbands ease themselves, and vice versa. Husbands, therefore, usually wake up early in the morning to ease themselves in the bush and the women follow later. The use of toilets was thus not in conformity with local culture and that is why the project failed. If a socio-cultural study had been done before the project, the planners could have learned of this belief.

Another example is a project conceived by the Cameroon government, with the help of international organizations, to stabilize Pygmies (the oldest human group in Africa, characterized by their short height) and bring them out of the equatorial forest where they live. A large, costly project was focused on the construction of a camp equipped with water, electric lighting, a school, and a hospital, located at the boundary of their forest. The Pygmies agreed to stay there free of charge, but a few months later they abandoned the camp and returned into the forest. This is due to Pygmies’ cultural believes and norms. Their life is based on a nomadic system and, according to their culture, the forest is considered as ancestral and sacred. They use many forest resources and, after a certain time, they change the living area. If socio-cultural studies were done beforehand, the project could have been successful — for example, by thinking of the preservation of the Pygmiesâ€^TM forest environment when building the camp.

Most NGOs that work for “sustainable development” collaborate with social sciences specialists who have been away from development projects for some time. That is why Mbock (2002) noted that, in Africa, the results of social sciences research are kept in libraries and at universities; they are not used, so they do not have an influence on social living. The promotion and exploitation of social sciences research are necessary for the sustainability of development projects in Africa, because this research will help bring about “development that develops.”

The “transplantation” of development projects from the North to the South does not contribute to the real and actual development of African populations, but instead encourages their impoverishment, marked by debts, unemployment, and the exodus of youth from the South to the North. Even the transfer of technologies needs preliminary socio-anthropological studies because habits and socio-cultural mentalities of people differ from one continent to another and from one country to another. Tibor Mende drew public attention to that aspect of development when he affirmed that “research must be done in order to make Western technologies applicable to local conditions”; if not, Africa will always go “from aid to recolonization” (1972).

Conclusion

At the beginning of the 21st century, initiatives aiming at “sustainable development” appear to be the cornerstone in the struggle for the development of Africa. Such a philosophy should take into account the socio-cultural realities of local populations; doing so will benefit the projects undertaken. Socio-anthropological studies are highly important in the planning and undertaking of development projects.

- Medard Djatou, Cameroon

Bibliography

Albertini, J.M. Development and Underdevelopment Mechanisms (in French). Paris: Ouvrières Ed., 1981.

Eco-net. “Sustainable Development: Debate on Education for Sustainability.” www.sustainabledevelopment.dk.

Kabou, A. And if Africa is Refusing Development? (in French). Paris: Lâ€^TMHarmattan, 1991.

Mbock, C.G. Social Sciences and Poverty: An African Version (in French). In proceedings, June 2001 regional colloquium, Yaounde, 2002.

Mende, Tibor. From Aid to Recolonization: Learning from Failure (in French). Paris: Du Seuil Ed., 1972.

World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.