Message-ID: <368DFAB1.65DC@AfricaOnline.Co.Ci> Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 11:53:37 +0100 From: Reid Harvey <mailto:ceramics@AfricaOnline.Co.Ci> Subject: An Island Economy To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Several days ago I wrote a kind of challenge, asking subscribers to liken themselves to Robinson Crusoe, describing how they would or would not go about developing a resource rich island. I did this because of a conviction I have regarding sound ways to bring about development. And I was hoping to see how others viewed the model in light of the problems faced in development.During the 1970's I worked in Liberia, doing an art glass project, as well as a bit of ceramics. At the end of eleven years there I went back to university, ending up with a degree in ceramic industrial design. I did this because I wanted to work in low income countries, assisting people in developing micro-industries of the kinds that would make them self generating. I reasoned that it was the high temperature industries, ceramics and metal, that were at the starting point of nearly all industry.
In Liberia I had observed a cycle of raw material export and finished goods import that afflicts much of sub-Saharan Africa. Too often young Liberians would ask me why they couldn't manufacture anything, other than baskets, matches, light industry stuff. Often the answer that came from developers was that there was an economy of scale at work. A steel mill built in a country like Liberia could supply their entire needs for one year within one day, so why build it there?
As time went by I found that these developers were thinking of an investment and business approach and not an educational one. But this attitude somehow became pervasive to the point that to this day aid agencies and donors are not aware of what is made possible by the high temperature processes. Or if they do know this they are not aware that it can all be done on the smallest scale.
(Note: We ceramists have not done a good job getting the word out, that ceramic materials comprise 96% of the earth's crust. That ceramic products are as diverse as the heat resistant, refractories used to construct foundries; or such building materials as paving and construction brick, tiles of all kind, drainage pipe, sanitary ware, and water filters; glass and cement are other examples. High tech ceramics include: fiber optics, super conducters, thick and thin films for computer applications, electrical ceramics or transformation toughened, engine blocks. It could be said that any economy aspiring to have industrial capabilities must pay close attention to its ceramic capabilities.)
I chose the model of an island to see how the point would be taken because of my belief that here in sub-Saharan Africa, where infrastructure is often very poor, developers need to think as islanders would. Very often we cannot depend on imported, outside inputs. For example, a year ago, working in Guinea on a water filter project we found that a lot of village water pumps had been abandoned when certain basic parts got broken.
The water pump could be fixed if aid agencies and donors had a plan to support metal industries: foundries and machine shops. And a whole lot of other machinery could be produced as well. It is my conviction that not to support basic training in high temperature industries is to forever block people from reaching sustainability and self generation. To perpetuate, albeit inadvertantly, the cycle of raw material export and finished goods import.
This is not to say that aid agencies and donors are not doing good work. There are thousands of worthwhile projects being undertaken and I have to say that I believe many low income countries will eventually pull themselves up. But the development community needs to take a fresh look at the kinds of projects that are being promoted. I am not saying that ceramics is the be all and end all, only that it is a very small field of knowledge that requires careful scrutiny.
Thanks for listening, Reid Harvey, on a soapbox today