Message-ID: <9612022025.AA21827@lan.vita.org> Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 15:25:21 EST From: DEVEL-L Administration <mailto:devel@VITA.ORG> Subject: Your VITA Newsletter for December. To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
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December 1996 Volume 6, No. 12
IN THIS ISSUE
INFORMATION WATCH
Toward Symmetry of Information
LITERATURE REVIEWS
A Close Look at Slash-and-Burn
Rebuilding Lebanon
Improving Oral Rehydration
ORGANIZATIONS
Together Foundation
VITA PROJECTS
Rehabilitating Meat Industries in Chad
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pests in Agriculture
Third-World Conference
* * *
DevelopNet News is published monthly by Volunteers in Technical
Assistance (VITA) in Arlington, Virginia, USA. For additional
information, please see the end of this newsletter.
* * *
I n f o r m a t i o n W a t c h
TOWARD SYMMETRY OF INFORMATION
In 1996 the Nobel Prize in Economics went to William Vickrey and James
A. Mirrlees, an American and a Briton, "for their contributions to the
economic theory of incentives under asymmetric information." No doubt,
some readers of this newsletter recognize the importance of asymmetric
information to technology transfer in international development. Others
may not fully appreciate its key importance.
What is asymmetric information? How is it relevant to the transfer of
know-how and international development in general? Traditionally, eco-
nomics has concentrated on how to make the buying and selling of goods
more efficient. But Mirrlees and Vickrey pointed out that "the trans-
mission of information was equally crucial for modern economies, espe-
cially in cases where there's an incentive for people not to tell the
truth . . . " For the developing world this means that where nations lag
in developing their information infrastructure, they also tend to lag in
spurring growth and meeting the demands of a world economy.
The Quality of Information
Universal access to information is not a zero sum game in which the gain
to some is a loss to others. Its promise for the future is that its
availability adds value to virtually everything we do, and it opens
opportunities to create wealth. Good information makes for better deci-
sions in business, government, the professions and in our personal
lives. Agricultural production provides one example from many that are
available.
The world is currently experiencing a food shortage which by the year
2000 is expected to reach 5 million metric tons (MMT). Malnourishment
and hunger are increasing in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia.
Closer examination shows, however, that the same projections indicate
that while developing countries will have a deficit of 190 MMT, devel-
oped countries will experience a 185 MMT surplus, thus "accounting for"
the 5 MMT shortage.
How can food production be so different from one group of countries to
another? The ability of developed countries to generate food surpluses
is largely a result of well used agricultural and resource management
practices that more or less guarantee a longer-lived payoff. Surpluses
also result from the availability of critical information on adaptive
on-farm trials of new crops and new cultivation practices that promise
farmers higher and more stable yields. By comparison, agricultural prac-
tices in developing countries are inadequate and outdated, largely the
result of an inability to obtain information about effective management
and cultivation.
The use of good communications technologies to effectively and evenly
disseminate high quality information almost always increases economic
activity. Studies in Kenya, the Philippines and elsewhere have shown
that investment in telecommunications generates wealth several times the
amount invested. The ability to interact with people and institutions
around the world stimulates intellectual, cultural and economic ferment
and promises to spark an explosion of creativity in the developing coun-
tries as it has elsewhere. Improved information and communications capa-
bilities even on a modest scale can also lead to improvements in envi-
ronmental conservation, enhanced health care delivery, and accelerated
trade and investment.
Communications Infrastructure
Can asymmetry in information be overcome? Some authorities urge that
developing countries take immediate advantage of the latest technologies
and skip intermediate stages. Not all developing countries can do this.
In some parts of Africa, basic telephone services are lacking for 70% of
the population. Other common obstacles include prohibitive pricing of
information and communication services and a policy environment that
discourages private sector investment. These inhibit the establishment
of value-added communications services. Obstacles slow growth of African
economies by channelling demand away from new technologies designed to
disseminate information more effectively.
In fact, efforts to strengthen the information infrastructure in the
developing countries now meets with mixed success. The good news is that
privatization and competition in telecommunications are sweeping the
developing world, permitting an expansion in services and dramatic
increases in the flow of information. In the Philippines, for example,
the announcement of competition in 1993 led to a 1,530% increase in the
annual installation of main lines. In China the introduction of a second
national carrier resulted in the doubling of the growth of the public
network in three years.
The bad news is that privatization and competition are also sweeping the
developed world and threaten to dry up the availability of capital
needed for the expansion of telecommunications service in the developing
world. According to the investment-counselling firm Merrill Lynch, Euro-
pean companies will try to raise $41,000 million, Asian-Pacific compa-
nies $27,000 million, and Latin American carriers $2,600 million. A
leading financial newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, warns that the
sheer size of this 1990s gold rush could have debilitating repercus-
sions. It will strain, if not exhaust, the capital available for tele-
communications investments.
Quality and Appropriateness
Even if infrastructural constraints are overcome, however, the inform-
ation that reaches the developing world must be of high quality and
appropriate to its needs. In trying to reduce information asymmetry
great care must be taken to promulgate information that is timely and
practical, easy to understand and appropriate to the developing world.
Agricultural production again provides a good example, this time illus-
trating the roles of information quality and appropriateness in reducing
asymmetry. In the United States alone, there are 72 public institutions
of higher education that provide a vast array of agricultural informa-
tion through their agricultural experiment stations and extension serv-
ice programs. Similarly, information is generated by regional, interna-
tional, and professional organizations as well as private nonprofit
institutions. The Agricultural Research Centers Directory and encyclo-
pedias of associations list over 15,000 such information centers. Pre-
dictably, a large portion of this information is limited to academic or
theoretical documents, or is written in a way that is difficult to use
and understand.
Overcoming Obstacles to Symmetry
The efforts of developing countries to strengthen their information
infrastructure are uneven, with some making major investments and others
ignoring their evident deficiencies. The varying quality of the efforts
carries its own dangers. Without some framework and guidelines to follow
in the information dissemination process, the rich countries of the
world, along with the high growth emerging markets, may use digital
technologies to get richer while the poorest countries fall further and
further behind. Furthermore, as a recent report of the African Academy
of Science cautions, rather than enhancing democracy and empowering
individuals, information dissemination networks may actually help create
new information elites.
Despite these problems and dangers, the information highway is probably
inevitable. Governments, investors, development donors, and nongovern-
mental organizations need to use their special capabilities to dissolve
asymmetry in information and prepare the way. This could include pro-
viding equipment, training, and policy orientation to improve the qual-
ity of information, reduce the cost of its transmission, and speed up
its communication and dissemination.
Source: Vicki Tsiliopoulos <mailto:vickit@vita.org>.
L i t e r a t u r e R e v i e w s
A CLOSE LOOK AT SLASH-AND-BURN
Sam Fujisaka and others, 1996. "Slash-and-Burn Agriculture, Conversion
to Pasture, and Deforestation in Two Brazilian Amazon Colonies." Agri-
culture, Ecosystems, and Environment, volume 59, nos. 1-2, pages 115 -
130.
In tropical deforestation, Latin America leads Africa and Asia because
of national policies that encouraged road building and the development
of ranches and of colonization projects for the poor. In the last dec-
ade, policy changes have slowed deforestation. Sam Fujisaka (Centro
Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, Cali, Colombia) and his col-
leagues interviewed farmers in two Amazon colonies, Theobroma and Pedre
Peixoto, about their land use practices.
Settlers in the two localities had come from many different locations in
Brazil, most of them in search of land and "a better life." They arrived
six to eight years ago and by 1993-1994 had cleared a third to nearly
half of their land for agricultural use. The parcels they were allotted
were about 80 ha, rectangular, and fronting an access road. By the time
the farmers were preparing for the 1994-1995 cropping season, "some 40%
of the settlers' land in the two colonies [was] deforested, with more
than half of the cleared areas devoted to pasture." Farmers used chain-
saws, axes, and machines to clear primary forest (two to three hectares
per year) using family labor. The slashed material was dried and burned.
Interestingly, these settlers rarely mentioned that the ash improved
soil fertility, but traditional slash-and-burn farmers "universally per-
ceive burning in terms of nutrient management and pest control." Rice
was planted in the first year, later to be replaced by maize and cassava
and, still later, by maize and beans. Then, most farmers converted their
lands to pasture.
The authors say that alternative clearing and cropping practices could
further retard deforestation while maintaining the farmers' quality of
life. Careful attention to policy alternatives could contribute to the
rescue of tropical forests worldwide.
REBUILDING LEBANON
J. J. Rood, 1996. "Lebanon -- Rebuilding a Country." Land and Water
International, Volume 85, pages 7 - 10.
For 5,000 years, Lebanon has endured earthquakes and wars. The recent
end of the longest civil war in its history brought the start of recon-
struction, after exposure to great destructive forces, human suffering,
and loss of infrastructure. Lebanon established a Council for Develop-
ment and Reconstruction in 1977, and it was revived in 1991. The Coun-
cil's program now involves more than 25 funding agencies and some 700
contracts, with a sectoral range including water and wastewater, elec-
tricity, solid waste, and public works. The United Kingdom, Ireland,
Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and the European Union are taking part in the
projects.
J. J. Rood (NEDEC team leader, Beirut) reports some significant achieve-
ments to date: The average availability of electricity has been
increased from 6 to 24 hours a day. Sold waste management has been
rehabilitated in large cities and a comprehensive waste management plan
is being implemented. Roads are being improved or rebuilt. Rehabilita-
tion of 1,200 public schools is almost complete. Major contracts for
rehabilitation of the conventional telephone system are in full opera-
tion. In addition, work is progressing on development of a new airport,
a new seaport, a conference center, and a university.
IMPROVING ORAL REHYDRATION
Kenneth H. Brown, 1996. "Introduction: Special Issue on Cereal-Based
Oral Rehydration Therapy for Diarrhoea." Food and Nutrition Bulletin,
volume 17, no. 2 (June), pages 93 - 97.
A dramatic discovery about 20 years ago made it easy and cheap to save
millions of lives that would otherwise be lost to cholera. The method
was oral rehydration therapy, which means giving lots of oral rehydra-
tion solution (ORS; water, glucose, and salts) to persons suffering from
catastrophic water loss in diarrhea. Since that time, research workers
in many countries have provided better understanding of diarrheal
diseases. But diarrhea remains a major cause of sickness and death in
low-income countries. Some 1,500 million children suffer from it every
year, and 4 million children die of it.
A main reason that ORS is not more effective is the difficulty in teach-
ing people in remote areas how to make it. Parents typically lack exper-
ience in measuring anything at all, with the result that the ORS is made
up wrong and may make the patient worse rather than better. According to
Kenneth H. Brown (University of California, Davis) the principal problem
is with the salts (usually of sodium): small measurement errors can
result in disastrous departures from the wanted osmotic behavior of the
final solution. Needed: a salt substitute for which small measurement
errors are not important. The materials that have worked best are rice
solids: starch and other high molecular-weight material from starch. And
rice solids are easy to find in many parts of the world where diarrhea
is also common.
These studies have made it possible to extend the use of ORS to remote
areas and help oral rehydration therapy to approach its goals of saving
the lives of millions of children.
O r g a n i z a t i o n s
TOGETHER FOUNDATION
A private operating foundation, the Together Foundation is committed to
assisting nonprofit organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and UN
agencies with their computer, information, networking, database and
telecommunications needs. In addition, the Foundation promotes explora-
tion of issues of information technology, the organization and delivery
of information, leadership training, and sustainable development.
The Foundation was established in 1989. It created the Best Practices
Database for Human Settlements in partnership with the UN Centre for
Human Settlements for the Second World Conference on Human Settlements,
held in Istanbul, Turkey, in June 1996. That database is available on
CD-ROM, on Windows and DOS diskettes, and on the World-Wide Web at
http://www.bestpractices.org/.
Information: William Sims, Executive Director, Together Foundation, 55
East 75th Street, New York, New York 10021. Tel. +1 (212) 628-1939, fax
+1 (212) 628-4265, e-mail <mailto:info@together.org>.
V I T A P r o j e c t s
REHABILITATING MEAT INDUSTRIES IN CHAD
The Republic of Chad used to be one of the biggest meat exporters and
livestock producers in Africa. Until fighting broke out between Chadian
political factions in 1965 the country's meat exports to Gabon and the
Central African Republic met more than 50% of those countries' needs. It
even exported meats as far as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab
Emirates.
With the outbreak of the civil war, nations that had imported Chadian
meat turned to Europe, Latin America, and South Africa for procurement.
By 1984 when major warfare had begun to calm down Chadian meat producers
were faced with a different kind of problem. Although Chadian meat is
tasty and well appreciated abroad, the country could no longer satisfy
international packaging and processing requirements, for all packaging
facilities had been destroyed.
"The lack of a packaging industry in Chad has rendered the meat less
competitive in the international market" says Evariste Kebba, Director
of VITA's private enterprise development program in Chad. "At a time
when the European response to mad cow disease could have helped the
country create an even larger market for its products, the lack of pro-
cessing and packaging standards and facilities prevented Chad from
earning much-needed foreign exchange."
VITA/PEP, VITA's project in Chad, plans to help rehabilitate this
industry. The World Bank gave the project a line of credit worth $1.5
million to help finance the export of Chadian livestock goods. "Utiliz-
ing this line of credit entails more than just lending out money and
providing the minimal technical assistance that goes along with that,"
says Kebba. "We are talking about adding value by helping to transfer
technology and rebuild a whole industry."
For the rehabilitation, VITA will use the services of one or more Volun-
teers. They will go to Chad, assess conditions, and then work with local
producers to design a strategy and provide the training necessary to
reinvigorate the industry.
Information: Mohammad Shah <mailto:mshah@vita.org>.
A n n o u n c e m e n t s
PESTS IN AGRICULTURE
Plantes, with the help of IOBC and Agropolis International will host the
4th International Conference on Pests in Agriculture in Montpellier,
France. The conference will feature plenary sessions on integrated pest
management and new developments in plant protection. Specialized ses-
sions will focus on a number of issues including predators and their
biological control, nontarget effects of agrochemicals, environmental
considerations in pest control, soil and seed treatments.
Information: Association Nationale de Protection des Plantes, 6 Boule-
vard de la Bastille, F75012 Paris; tel. +33 (1) 4344 8964; fax +33 (1)
4344 2919.
THIRD-WORLD CONFERENCE
The conference, entitled "Connecting Theory and Practice for the Emer-
ging Global Changes of the 21st Century," will be held 19 to 22 March
1997 at The Swissotel, Chicago, Illinois, It will examine theoretical
and practical issues, e.g., poverty, education, and health, that affect
the entire spectrum of Third World / diaspora societies. If your
research, policy, creative and practical work or development interest
critically examines emerging global changes, send two copies of an
abstract or prospectus (300 words or less) to the address listed below
by 13 December 1996.
The conference topics include Critique of the Globalization Process,
Leadership Role of Women, Health, Human Resources/Population Issues,
Culture and Creative Expression, Reconceiving the State and Economy, The
Environment and Ecology, Innovative Educational Approaches, Technology
and Social Change, and Urban/Community Development. Submissions are
encouraged from all disciplines, intercultural, multidisciplinary pan-
els, comparative studies, and presentations of works or projects in
progress, particularly from college and university faculties. Activists
and nongovernmental organizations in development, global, and Third
World studies are also invited to submit abstracts. Accepted and com-
pleted papers are eligible for publication in the 23rd Annual Proceed-
ings of the Third World Conference.
Abstracts to: Roger K. Oden, University Professor of Political Science,
23rd Annual Third World Conference, 1507 East 53rd Street, Suite 305,
Chicago, Illinois 60615-4509. Other deadlines and information: +1 (312)
241-6688; fax +1 (312) 241-7898; e-mail <mailto:r-oden@govst.edu>; URL
http://www.ECNet.Net/users/groden/3rd_world /3rd_world.html.
* * *
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* * *
DevelopNet News is an electronic newsletter published monthly by Volun-
teers in Technical Assistance (VITA), a private, nonprofit, interna-
tional development organization located in Arlington, Virginia. The
newsletter needs your stories: you are invited to send them to the edi-
tor in electronic form. Your redistribution of DevelopNet News is
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President: Henry R. Norman <mailto:hnorman@vita.org>
Editor: Vicki Tsiliopoulos <mailto:vickit@vita.org>
Editorial Assistant: Rafe Ronkin, VITA Volunteer <mailto:rronkin@vita.org>
VITA specializes in information dissemination and communications tech-
nology. It offers services related to sustainable agriculture, food
processing, renewable energy applications, water sanitation and supply,
small enterprise development, and information management. It has pro-
jects in 6 African countries.
VITA's publications, on a variety of practical subjects, are designed to
assist persons and organizations in developing countries. You can
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