The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer

Peter Weingart, Susanne Koch

Description

With the rise of the �knowledge for development� paradigm, expert advice has become a prime instrument of foreign aid. At the same time, it has been object of repeated criticism: the chronic failure of �technical assistance� � a notion under which advice is commonly subsumed � has been documented in a host of studies. Nonetheless, international organisations continue to send advisors, promising to increase the �effectiveness� of expert support if their technocratic recommendations are taken up. This book reveals fundamental problems of expert advice in the context of aid that concern issues of power and legitimacy rather than merely flaws of implementation. Based on empirical evidence from South Africa and Tanzania, the authors show that aid-related advisory processes are inevitably obstructed by colliding interests, political pressures and hierarchical relations that impede knowledge transfer and mutual learning. As a result, recipient governments find themselves caught in a perpetual cycle of dependency, continuously advised by experts who convey the shifting paradigms and agendas of their respective donor governments. For young democracies, the persistent presence of external actors is hazardous: ultimately, it poses a threat to the legitimacy of their governments if their policy-making becomes more responsive to foreign demands than to the preferences and needs of their citizens.

Sujets

• African studies

Informations

• Publié par: African Minds
• Date de parution: 13 décembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781928331407
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer

The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-making in South Africa and Tanzania

Susanne Koch & Peter Weingart

AFRICAN MINDS

A NOTE ABOUT THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS This open access publication forms part of the African Minds peer reviewed, academic books list,the broad mission of which is to support the dissemination of African scholarship and to fosteraccess, openness and debate in the pursuit of growing and deepening the African knowledge base.The Delusion of Knowledge Transferwas reviewed by two external peers. Copies of the reviews are available from the publisher on request.

First published in 2016 by African Minds 4 Eccleston Place, Somerset West 7130, Cape Town, South Africa [e-mail] www.africanminds.org.za

2016 African Minds

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ISBN: 978-1-928331-39-1 eBook edition: 978-1-928331-40-7 ePub edition: 978-1-928331-41-4

ORDERS: African Minds 4 Eccleston Place, Somerset West 7130, Cape Town, South Africa [e-mail] www.africanminds.org.za

For orders from outside Africa: African Books Collective PO Box 721, Oxford OX1 9EN, UK [e-mail]

Contents

List of tables List of figures List of abbreviations Acknowledgements

Introduction Perpetuating dependence: Expert advice as tool of foreign aid

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Knowledge transfer to young democracies: Issues of legitimacy, sovereignty, and efficacy

Accessing the world of development aid: Study design and fieldwork

South Africa and Tanzania: Two different types of ‘donor darlings’

Multiple actors, colliding interests: The main players of the aid game Recipient governments and bureaucracies Donor countries and aid organisations The epistemic community of development experts

Intricacies of expert advice in the aid context The linkage between aid and politics Structural flaws pertaining to expert employment Unequal relationships

Retaining autonomy of agenda-setting in dealing with advice: Structural conditions Financial strength Administrative capacity Local knowledge base

v vi vii xi

1

7

26

34

43 44 50 65

80 80 113 121

137 138 150 165

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

References Appendix

The impact of expert advice on policy-making in young democracies: Sector studies Tanzania education: The hijacked agenda South Africa education: Exploiting outside expertise to create a local vision Tanzania health: The normality of foreign involvement South Africa health: Rebuilding relationships with local and external experts Tanzania environment: Opportunistic adaption South Africa environment: On top of the game It’s not all about the money: Synthesis of findings

There is no substitute for local knowledge: Summary and conclusion

178 179

209

236

257 282 308 330

339

347 381

List of Tables

Table 1: Top ten recipients of aid worldwide based on net ODA received 1980–2014 50 Table 2: Rationales legitimating aid in donor policies 52 Table 3: Advisory activities, types of support and impact levels 74 Table 4: Monthly salary bands of advisors, consultants and government staff 134 Table 5: Aid as share of government expenditures 2010/2011 (%) 141 Table 6: External resources as share of total health expenditure in South Africa 144 Table 7: Environment-related expenditures (TSh million) 145 Table 8: External resources as share of total health expenditure in Tanzania 148 Table 9: Government and donor expenditures on HIV/Aids in Tanzania 149 Table 10: Sectoral strength in terms of finances 150 Table 11: South Africa and Tanzania as assessed by governance indices 154 Table 12: Staffing levels of South African line departments 2011/2012 156 Table 13: MoEVT staff by educational level 161 Table 14: Sectoral strength in terms of administrative capacity 165 Table 15: Research and development indicators for South Africa and Tanzania 168 Table 16: Scientific output by subject area in South Africa and Tanzania 1990–2013 169 Table 17: Sectoral strength in terms of the local knowledge base 177 Table 18: HIV/Aids expenditures in Tanzania in 2007 247 Table 19: Expert support to the NHI process through SARRAH 2010–2013 274 Table 20: Local and foreign resources in GEF-supported CAPE projects 318

v

List of Figures

Figure 1: Figure 2: Figure 3:

Figure 4: Figure 5: Figure 6: Figure 7:

Aid flows to Tanzania and South Africa 1992–2012 Actors and interests in aid Donor typology based on aid rationales and decision- making structures Aid to selected sectors 1990–2012 Spending patterns in health-related aid 1990–2010 Aid targeting global environmental objectives 2002–2012 Aid as share of GNI in South Africa, Tanzania and sub- Saharan Africa

vi

35 44

63 83 84 86

140

List of Abbreviations

AfDB AIDS ANC ART ARVs AusAid BMZ

BTI CAPE CBD CEPF CFR CHAI CIDA CPIA CSIR DAC DANCED Danida DBE DEA DEAT DEO DFID DHET DoH DPG DPG-E DPs ED-DPG EDP

African Development Bank Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome African National Congress Antiretroviral Treatment Antiretroviral Drugs Australian Agency for International Development Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) Bertelsmann Transformation Index Cape Action for People and the Environment Convention on Biological Diversity Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund Cape Floristic Region Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative Canadian International Development Agency Country Policy and Institutional Assessment Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Development Assistance Committee Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development Danish International Development Agency Department of Basic Education Department of Environmental Affairs Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism District Education Officer Department for International Development Department of Higher Education and Training Department of Health Development Partners Group Development Partners Group on Environment Development Partners Education Development Partners Group Essential Drugs Programme

vii

EMA EMA-ISP

EMIS ESDC ESDP EU GBS GEF GERD GFATM GIZ

GMOs GDP GNI GNP GPE GTZ

HAART HCT HEDP HIV HR HSRC ICAI ICT IDA IDC IHI IIAG IK ILFEMP

IMF IPCC IPD IRA JAST JICA

Environmental Management Act Environmental Management Act Implementation Support Programme Education Management Information System Education Sector Development Committee Education Sector Development Programme European Union General Budget Support Global Environment Facility Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Agency for International Cooperation) Genetically Modified Organisms Gross Domestic Product Gross National Income Gross National Product Global Partnership for Education Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (German Agency for Technical Cooperation) Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy HIV Counselling and Testing Higher Education Development Programme Human Immunodeficiency Virus Human Resources Human Sciences Research Council Independent Commission for Aid Impact Information and Communication Technology International Development Association International Development Cooperation Ifakara Health Institute Ibrahim Index of African Governance Indigenous Knowledge Institutional and Legal Framework for Environmental Management Project International Monetary Fund Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Institutional Profiles Database Institute for Resource Assessment Joint Assistance Strategy for Tanzania Japan International Cooperation Agency

viii

LEAT LGA MAC MDGs MKUKUTA

MNRT MoEVT MoH MoHSW MRC MSDGC MUHAS NACOSA NAP NBSAP NCTP NEMA NEMC NGO NHI NIMR NSP ODA OECD PAF PEDP PEPFAR PES PFM PHC PMO-RALG

PMTCT PRSP PRC PS RDP REDD

Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team Local Government Authority Ministerial Advisory Committee Millennium Development Goals Mkakati wa Kukuza Uchumi na Kupunguza Umaskini Tanzania (Tanzania National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty) Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism Ministry of Education and Vocational Training Ministry of Health Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Medical Research Council Ministry for Social Development, Gender and Children Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences National AIDS Committee of South Africa National AIDS Plan National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan National Care and Treatment Plan National Environmental Management Act National Environmental Management Council Non-governmental Organisation National Health Insurance National Institute for Medical Research National Strategic Plan for HIV&AIDS and STIs Official Development Assistance Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Performance Assessment Framework Primary Education Development Plan/Programme US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Payments for Environmental Services Participatory Forest Management Primary Health Care Prime Minister’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper People’s Republic of China Permanent Secretary Reconstruction and Development Programme Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

ix