The controversy about aid
Many years ago Adlai Stevenson warned that aid policies should not be base just on anti-communism and military power, but should represent a challenge to the richer countries to encourage. Aid and inspire the aspirations of half of mankind for a better life.
Another criticism of aid focuses on its tendency to encourage the growth of the modern sector, to concentrate on programmers and projects that further accentuate the “urban bias” as Lipton call it. This was certainly true in the early days when development was associated with industrialization. It is less true today as far as development assistance is concerned, but it is still very much the case with private investment of the flows, particularly with multinationals.
The encouragement of the modern sector has led to increased inequalities of income in the developing world, and the creation of new elites, including the industrial elite. The employee receiving wages and other benefits is in a position of advantage in contrast to worker in the informal sector, particularly when he works for a multinational company. This type of assistance can lead to what Griffin and Enos described as “anti-development” from the point of view of masses. For example, the improvement of peasant farming on with the majority in many countries still depend maybe neglected in favor of a large-scale irrigation scheme which only benefits a few of the richer farmers and which is so complicated that it requires a sophisticated bureaucratic management.
Most developing countries already have schools and universities based on the Western model and these systems are further reinforced by the provision of foreign teachers, consultants, textbook and equipment.