Wiki chache zilizopita, tulikuwa na mjadala hapa kuhusu Dambisa Moyo na ujumbe wake kuhusu athari za misaada ya maendeleo katika ukuaji wa uchumi wa Afrika. Leo nimetazama hotuba ya mchumi mwingine mashuhuri kutoka Ufaransa, Esther Duflo, mshindi wa mwaka huu wa medali ya Clark, almaarufu kama 'the baby nobel'.
Prof. Duflo anafanya utafiti unaojaribu kufahamu ufanisi wa misaada hii katika kupambana na umaskini. Kwa kutumia field experiments ameweza kuainisha umuhimu wa baadhi ya misaada hii katika kupambana na umasikini. Baadhi ya tafiti hizo ni; umuhimu wa ugawaji bure wa neti zenye dawa ya mbu, mapambano dhidi ya minyoo mashuleni katika kusaidia upatikanaji wa elimu, umuhimu wa incentives kwenye miradi ya chanjo, n.k. Hapa mjadala sio uwepo wa misaada au la, bali ni namna gani tunaweza kutumia kwa ufanisi fedha au rasilimali za miradi ya upambanaji wa umasikini.
She's right, it takes a little bit of monitoring and evaluation to define your impact.
ReplyDeleteBut can some of Africa's previous examples provide insight for potential future aid-based disasters?
Mkapa last week said, we need to stand on our own feet! I support that view.
ReplyDeleteI personally admire Duflo's work. Innovative social science research.
ReplyDeleteNot to discredit Ms. Duflo, but randomized controlled experiments aren't her innovation and the plaudits should go to the entire MIT Poverty Action Lab.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem is that each conclusion Duflo reaches, is specific only to the area in which they conducted the experiment. So deworming may only be the most effective solution in Kenya (or East Africa) but perhaps not India or other countries. It could be too expensive to do such field experiments in each part of the world.
There are quite a few other such labs out there, and I think quite notably we should listen to people like Sendhil Mullainathen at http://ideas42.iq.harvard.edu/