Poverty alleviation and
rural development are two intricately linked issues in Third World countries. However, in his book, Rural Development – Putting the Last First, Robert Chambers observes that due to misperceptions by those he refers to as “outsiders” or “rural development tourists” these two issues are still far from being conclusively addressed.
These “outsiders” are both local and international rural development programme
workers who are neither rural nor poor. Their impact on rural development and poverty alleviation has, so far, been hampered by six fundamental biases.
Spatial biases:
- Vehicular mobility determines the scope and reach of development workers. They, therefore, tend to restrict their visits either to rural areas which are in close proximity to urban centres or which are along existing road networks. It is, therefore, the relatively better off, roadside rural population who feel the effects of these development programmes at the expense of the poorest of the poor, whose regional distribution is concentrated in the remoter areas.
Project bias:
- Because those concerned with rural development and rural research are linked to networks of urban-rural contacts, their attention tends to be diverted to those areas where projects are already on-going; which is atypical to real rural situations.
Person biases:
- The persons with whom “rural development tourists” come into contact with and from whom they gain their impressions and information are biased against rural people. This is because of a number of reasons:
(a) Rural elites, i.e. rural people who are less poor and more influential.
(b) Male: because of traditional gender bias, although it is the female members who understand the subsistence rural economy, since they do most of the work, it is the male members of rural households who are more likely to come into contact with development workers.
(c) Users and adopters: development workers are more likely to visit rural users and adopters of their facilities/innovations than non-user/adopters.
(d) Active and present: the young and active tend to be more visible than the old and the weak. Those who can’t attend public meetings, maybe because of sickness or hunger are ignored.
4. Dry
season biases:
- The majority of rural people depend on cultivation. The most difficult season for them is usually the wet season. This is usually the season when “rural development tourists” avoid visiting the rural areas because of the inaccessibility of the roads and the diseases associated with the season. They therefore don’t see rural hardship at its peak.
5. Diplomatic
biases – politeness and timidity:
- “outsiders” are often reluctant to ask questions which might be construed to be offensive to the rural populace and, therefore stick to “safe” questions. Rural people on the other hand, often fear that being forthright with their urban visitors might mean an end to whatever future projects that might come their way. So both sides miss the opportunity to get to the roots of the rural development problems.
6. Professional biases:
- Because they are specialised professionals, “outsiders” usually don’t understand the linkages of deprivation. They usually are on the lookout for whatever fits their ideas and leave once they find it.
Chambers concludes that it is imperative that “outsiders” reverse the
learning process about rural conditions by putting the last first. This they should do by learning from the poorest; learning indigenous technical knowledge and learning by working with the rural poor. Only then will they begin to make a lasting impact on rural development and poverty alleviation
Other publications by Robert Chambers are:
Settlement Schemes in Tropical Africa (1969)
Managing Rural Development (1974)
Seasonal Discussions on Rural Poverty (co-editor) (1981)
More summaries about the Rural Development - Putting the First Last