Poverty Reduction Strategy and Pastoral Development

Abstract

In 1986, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted what is known as The Declaration on the Right to Development, which has since become an important instrument for indigenous populations throughout the world in their struggle to choose their own form of development. In this Declaration, the right to development is defined as “ an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, control, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully recognized” (General Assembly Resolution 41/128, Dec.4, 1986). The UN has also established a Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) under the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which in turn is under the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The WGIP has been meeting every year since 1982 to promote the rights of indigenous populations. It is well known that most of the world's indigenous populations are in Africa, constituting, in the main, pastoralists, hunters and gatherers, of which the pastoralists, present in many African countries, are in the majority. However, as has happened to many declarations and resolutions of the UN General Assembly and many of its summits, African governments have hardly ever respected the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development, which means that many of them have failed to respect the right of pastoralists to determine their own form of development. Most of the governments condemn pastoralism as an uncivilized mode of life and one that must submit to changes, often imposed from without. Pastoralists are also victimized by multi-national corporations and local “developers," who are destroying the last frontiers of the world’s remaining natural resources, not to speak of the abject poverty they are subjected to as a result of this “development" intervention. Corporations and governments are still out to exploit and destroy these resources, all in the name of economic growth and development. The issue of pastoral development in Ethiopia still has a long way to go before it is officially recognized as being worthy of serious attention. Lack of official recognition of the issue negatively affects policy formulation. A great deal of effort needs to be exerted to influence policy through advocacy. It is for this reason that the Pastoralist Forum Ethiopia (PFE) resolved to organize an annual national conference on pastoral development in Ethiopia. In its first national conference, it deliberated in the main on the heretofore-adopted macroeconomic policy that affects pastoralists. At the beginning of February this year, exactly one year after we held our first national conference on pastoral development in Ethiopia, a few members of the Pastoralist Forum Ethiopia (PFE) attended a workshop in Isiolo, Kenya, on the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (l-PRSP) of the Kenyan government and pastoral development in Kenya. The efforts of Kenyan pastoralist organizations and other NGOs to have a chapter on pastoral development included in the final PRSP that the Kenyan government would present to the World Bank prompted us to do :he same in Ethiopia. Further inquiry revealed that the Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation of the Ethiopian government had prepared the country's l-PRSP, of which we managed to secure a copy. We found out that the l-PRSP was completely devoid of anything having to do with pastoral development. The complete neglect by the Ethiopian l-PRSP of the question of pastoral development prompted a discussion at the PFE meeting, and it was decided to organize he second conference on pastoral development around the general theme of Poverty Reduction Strategy and Pastoral Development. As things stand now, the PRSP has become a global issue not only for debate and discussion but as one that needs concre'.e action to protest against many governments in the South about their adamant refusal to include civil society in the consultation process, a condition stipulated by the World Bank for eligibility by Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) for debt relief. However, in the process of the dispute and debate, the whole issue of poverty reduction and development strategy seems to have been replaced by political programmes and/or five-year economic plans. What should a development strategy constitute? Is it a mere declaration of intentions as to what to achieve in a given span of time, or of having a shopping list of items in a fantastic economic plan? Economic plans or macro-economic policies are declarations of intent on the part of a given government answering the question what to achieve in a given span of time Development strategy, on the other hand, answers the question of how these plans and policies can be attained and at what pace, taking into consideration all local, regional and global conditions, and, most above all, identifying priority objectives as preconditions to the attainment of other components of the plan. At a macro level, a strategy should first of all identify the major areas of strengths and weaknesses (economic, social and political) of the country. This exercise of identifying strengths and weaknesses is absolutely essential. Miether we like it or not, there are processes that are not only prevailing on but also detrimental to the lives of billions of people the world over, of which the globalization process is the most important. First, we must accept globalization as the unavoidable context for our analysis of the conditions of our own existence. Secondly, as the globalization process is increasingly complemented by egional integration and regional initiatives, it is also unavoidable for us to analyze the regional situation vis-a-vis our own overall situation. Economic, social and political processes in any given country are increasingly interwoven with similar processes at the global and regional levels. Such an approach undisputedly establishes our position in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and that will indeed help us chart the right path towards appraising what we have at hand, including livestock wealth in the hands of oastoral communities, the emerging class of entrepreneurs, the Diaspora, and so on. What are the main hurdles that a development strategy has to do away with in order to eradicate poverty? The hurdles that have to be dealt with concern both structure and policy, and they may broadly be discussed under three headings.