Trickling up, down, sideways

on vexed problems of development

Trickling Up A Strategy for

Development where the People

at the Bottom Matter Most. By Dennis Oliver. Published by Lotu Pasifika Productions, Suva, 1983. $F4.65.

Dennis Oliver claims in his in troduction that this book has been bubbling around inside him for a long time. The book results from his questioning of strategies for economic development of Pacific isands. His prime attack is focused on the “trickle-down” theory.

This theory posits that rapid

economic growth takes place if there is a central plan and control of the economy as a “top-down” process. The cumulative benefits of this economic development are expected eventually to “trick le down” automatically, or to be “delivered to the people at the bottom”. Oliver, believing that

central institutions congenitally suffer a hardening of the arteries,

proposes an opposing approach.

This is the “trickle-up” theory

which requires major injections

of training and community or ganising at the village level, where the masses of people are.

Oliver’s general theme is that small community groups have far more potential to reap greater benefits with significantly smal ler costs “if only they would get up and go”. He claims that there is a need to make people the central actors in development in stead of treating economics and technology as the core issues.

Many of those interested in de velopment would agree with this many would share Oliver’s concern that the people who most need economic or other benefits are the very ones at present ex cluded from them. But the de velopment process is a dialectical

one, the people are both the

subjects and objects of

development.

Between pages 75-85, the author sets out the main tenets of a

people-centred approach to de-

velopment. Many of these, such as “growth comes from within each person, and all persons have talents waiting to be discovered and used,” are worthy of consideration. Oliver does not claim that aid to the top should be entirely eradicated. On page 23 he argues that the “size of the injections at the bottom when measured collectively should at least equal the total of injections now made at the top.”

He gives an example: One university scholarship for an Islander to study in a donor country is equal, in monetary terms, to the hiring and mobilising of one rural worker who could service 300 people. The simple equ-

ation is given: one university scholarship equals 300 rural peo ple. The inherent value judgment is that the rural worker is more

worthy than the university

educated Islander. This is a sim plification, for depending on the discipline in which the Islander was educated, he or she may be able to create benefits for many more than 300 people. Such a simplification is not an isolated case. As one reads through the book, a concern arises that Oliv er views the “trickle-up” theory of development as really the only one worthwhile. Nowhere is the full complexity of the problems

of development presented.

Oliver depicts the community

as a homogenous entity. There fore, problems of reaching the various components of the com munity are ignored. But any one community is fraught with divi sions and rivalries. These may be

economic, political or religious;

they may entail rifts between young and old, rich and poor, and even between men and wo men. So the identification of a community with which to work is the beginning and not the end of the problem. The ideal com munity, which is eager to partici

pate in development, rarely

exists.

It is not simply that colonial powers have fostered an attitude

of dependence, leaving many

communities unwilling to take responsibility for their own de velopment. The degree of par ticipation varies from one coun try to another, one island to another, and even one village to another. While some degree of

participation exists everywhere,

such factors as the quality of

leadership, geographic accessi

bility, the degree of village cohe

sion or division (usually along kinship lines), the distribution of wealth and commercial oppor tunities for individual profit all these factors can affect the extent and intensity of involve ment in collective community

efforts. Although working

through local structures is laud able, it’s not all that simple.

Certain questions need to be ask ed. Who is it that leads these structures? Is it leadership or domination which is being exer cised? Which section of the com munity does the structure repre sent? Each community will be different, and so varied ap proaches are needed to effect

their development.

Oliver, of course, is referring specifically to communities in the Pacific. He draws his exam ples of development, both bene ficial, ineffective or downright damaging, from his personal ex perience in Fiji and Samoa where he worked with a notable Non-

Government Organisation

(NGO). Yet one is struck by his sometimes inappropriate general isations about the Pacific, in which there exist a variety of ecologies, social systems and political structures. Further, the author sometimes reveals a lack of appreciation of the social structures and values of the par ticular islands in which he worked.

For instance, Oliver asserts

that the development projects

which operate most successfully

in Samoa were those run by women’s and youth groups, two sectors, according to him, ex cluded from traditional leader ship (p. 11). Yet the women of Samoa possess a degree of power quite unmatched by women in some other Pacific societies. It is because of this power, which the Samoan women have always held, that they so eagerly adapted to organising activities for achieving specific community development goals.

Oliver castigates the education systems fostered in the Pacific by Western development and sees the availability of courses related to practical needs as being far more viable. He gives a long list of values Pacific Islanders have learnt from attending “school.”

Among these is that recall is the highest form of intellectual achievement; that quiet obedi ence is more desirable than hon est criticism; that sharing know ledge is very bad. But these values have not resulted exclu sively from Western education; they often emanate from the indi genous mores of the Pacific Islanders.

Oliver, between pages 86 and 106, gives several case studies of programs which sought to reach “grassroots” level and, accord ing to him, succeeded. These programs included courses such as Farmers Management Train ing Program and the Motor Mechanic School. There is no doubt that NGOs play a valuable role at the community level; their work serves to complement the inputs made at the top. Ultimate ly, some programs such as edu cation, health and social welfare are better served by local au thorities. Others, such as public works, are more suitable to be delivered by central authorities.

Development cannot be isolated to the local level. Even local industries must find a market.

This usually means integrating with national markets. Exten sionist activities may promote higher yields without considering the progress of commercialisa tion, and so farmers soon lose their incentive to produce more.

Marketing channels, technical advice and capital can often best be acquired through official channels.

Many alternative modes of de velopment between the “top

down” and “bottom up” proces ses have been presented. One such model is that proposed by Eric J. Miller of Tavistock Insti tute of Human Relations in Lon don. He speaks of a negotiating or contractual relationship bet ween government and the villa gers, and claims that this model takes into account divergences as well as commonalities of interest within communities. Certainly,

continuing dialogue between

project implementers and poten

tial beneficiaries is always necessary.

In conclusion, there is no one

path to beneficial development.

Strategies must be continually tested and modified to adjust to individual and changing cir cumstances. In some societies the “trickle-up” strategy will be the most suitable if certain pre conditions exist such as local leadership and village cohesion.

Other societies are best served by the “trickle-down” process.

And there are many alternatives in between. Oliver’s book Trickl ing Up, although not depicting the inherent complexity of de velopment, does reveal the valu able work typical of NGOs in promoting development ac tivities at the “grassroots” level.

Sandra Rennie.

Trickling up? The Mobile Outboard Motor School (MOMS) in Fiji travelled from village to village teaching fishermen and farmers how to make basic repairs to their outboard motors.