Tosin Omiyale asks if development aid is helping to achieve long-term change in Malawi
In the Republic of Ireland, charity
matters and
international appearance are of great importance. Just as the United
States of America fosters global
prosperity through development assistance, Ireland has also been in a
core
position of reducing hunger in the developing states by 2015. Working out how much it
costs to feed the hungry in Lesotho,
Malawi, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Uganda is like
guessing how
many pints of beer are drank monthly in Ireland
Essentially,
it is beyond the money spent. It is more the
pleasure and the sense of pride that Ireland gets in improving the
livelihoods
of the poor. To give you an idea, Ireland coughed up €900 million in
2008
through the Irish Aid scheme to some sub-Saharan states, East Timor and
Vietnam. Now, the sudden economic recession in Ireland will interrupt
the period of 38 years that Irish aid has invested in financing major
public
projects in the African beneficiary states. These include programmes on
education, health, water, sanitation, HIV, AIDS and governance.
More disturbing is the fact that the millions of poor people receiving aid in the African countries are again threatened by poverty. The recession prompted a 24 per cent budget cut in foreign aid, revealed by the Irish government last year. Concern Worldwide, an Irish charity organisation, explained that the foreign aid cut will make more people vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition in the beneficiary states. Over 500 hundred staff members in Concern were laid off following the closure or suspension of programmes in 20 African countries as a result of the government aid cut.
Trocaire, another Irish charity organisation in Ireland, confirmed that planned development programmes in places such as Malawi, Uganda and Ethiopia were either suspended or closed down. Trocaire referred to the situation as a “big loss to the world's poor.” Concern and Trocaire carry out free development programmes in some African rural communities through the financial assistance of the Irish government and the compassionate Irish public.
The hard truth is, that, out of a keen desire to help the poor, the African recipient independent states are bound to Ireland. When Ireland prospers economically, the enormous impact is seen in the improved livelihoods of poor communities in Africa. Now, in economic recession, the same beneficiaries are again threatened by poverty. Umi Kasiya, a Malawian immigrant in Dublin, recalls lying close to his brother, Mandala, over a small spread of fabric straw on a concrete floor. Their bodies touched end to end so that his back felt Mandala’s weak body covered with a severe fever.
Mandala later died; a victim of starvation. “Dying was becoming frequent in our community,” said Umi, referring to the children who did not survive hunger in Kaganya, Malawi. The hunger crisis was partly the situation that Ireland responded to in Malawi in 2002. Separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi, the south-eastern African state fell into a devastating food security crisis in 2002 that left about 3.5 million people threatened by starvation.
The glimpse of life in Malawi does not suggest a dream land, but it thrived despite bad governance, flood, drought and rural communities stricken by HIV and AIDS. The lack of flood preparation in Malawi led to the scarcity of food. The Republic of Ireland, a former recipient of aid assistance from the EU and swimming in the impetuous wealth of the so-called ‘Celtic Tiger’, was quick to respond to the distress call in Malawi. To ignore the call would mean looking at itself in the mirror, looking away, and forgetting too soon what it looked like during its own period of famine.
Unto the country that much aid has been given, much is expected. It seems about time the crumbs that fall from the Irish table are fed to Malawi's poor. Irish aid started an emergency aid programme to Malawi in 2002 and has continued supplying aid consistently to its developing economy.
In 2009 Irish government aid was estimated to have spent €15 million in development assistance funding to Malawi, including the direct support of its annual budget and farming. Farmers in Malawi celebrated the accomplishment of an irrigation channel that might double their chances of harvest to three times in a year.
“I have nine children and we now have more food on our plates. I also attend a technical farm support programme by Irish donations,” said Belinda Kuyana. Alas, the Irish relief program that soared high in the economic bubble blew up under the pressure of the resulting recession. Hence, the recession in Ireland reflects negatively in the national budget of Malawi. Dependable Irish aid, a financial boost to the Malawian budget, also suffered a cut.
Thus, the Malawian government is forced to draw back on some of its public spending because of a cut in its national budget which was triggered by the economic recession in Ireland. The needy in Malawi must continually hope for the prosperity of Ireland, because in it holds a future free from hunger.
Many economics experts have argued that foreign aid concentrate its resources on ‘short term programmes’ rather than the development of rule of law, trade, democracy, human rights, gender equality, transparency and reconstruction of infrastructure, which a country needs in order to be independent of foreign aid. Either way, Irish assistance will be needed for an extremely long period of time. Confidently, Irish Aid reaffirms its support to Africa’s poor, despite the current economic situation.
“Yes, Irish Aid will continue even if the millennium development goal for poverty alleviation in developing countries by 2015 is not met.
“An aid programme does not begin and end in any particular year. It consists of a series of rolling programmes which are carefully planned and executed over a period of time. Our aid philosophy is rooted in our foreign policy, in particular its objectives of peace and justice.”
As Maggie Collins, a public information officer with Irish Aid, states, “the development cooperation policy and programme reflects our longstanding commitment to human rights and fairness in international relations and are inseparable from Irish foreign policy as a whole.”
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