Dr. Joseph F. Stepanek has written a riveting story about the third world -- a powerful development mandate on behalf of the world's poor people. Twenty-five years of field work in Asia and Africa have forced the author to write a book that is the first of its kind about development and foreign aid - comprehensive, candid, and constructive. Few authors have attempted to marry economic and political issues in order to promote poor-world ownership and development sustainability Stepanek's mandate sets a standard by which future assessments of development will be judged. No redirection of development theory and practice, or reform of foreign aid, will be effective unless the challenges he raises and addresses are squarely faced.
Current publications on development, africa development and foreign assistance are usually politically correct, patronizing, money-driven, or simply critical. This book balances these extremes by illustrating what works and can work well. It engages the reader in topics that are often skirted by other authors: it analyzes mismanagement, corruption, and aid dependency; it discusses democracy as a requirement for economic growth and public participation; and it balances aid failures with constructive prescriptions.
Development has alleviated poverty in many countries during the 50 years since the end of the second World War, yet half of mankind remains poor; a fifth are very poor. Poverty is not a state of nature but can be ascribed to manmade institutions that reflect self-serving and self-indulgent ideologies, poorly tested theories and policies, weak governments, and even poverty alleviation programs that are questionably designed and poorly administered. Ten chapters document ways forward for this world, mostly an African one, in the new millennium.
Joe Stepanek's thesis has two parts: first, poverty cannot be alleviated without challenging all of its root causes; and second, well-designed development strategies and foreign assistance programs can create growth and reduce poverty. Western governments, international banks, and donor agencies must re-examine how they design and administer foreign aid.
Stepanek is optimistic, yet candor dogs his heels. Helping the poor world overcome its continuing poverty is a daunting task -- but not impossible. Africa's own leaders have seldom given their own people a place in the sun. Africans must be given a chance. The final Chapter 10 summarizes and reassesses the prescriptions offered along the way. Stepanek believes that the United States must continue to be a firm and creative voice for effective foreign aid.
Stepanek covers a lot of ground, he tells a simple story, but real issues are not easily simplified. His contributions as a whole are two-fold: First, Africa's future can be seen with optimism, provided candor and seriousness guide attention and resources. Second, he explains how America can continue to lead development in the still-poor world while at the same time keeping responsibility and ownership where it belongs - with Africans themselves.
Joe Stepanek served AID for twenty-five years, first as economist, and then as director in Tanzania and Zambia. Following five years in Bangladesh, he published Bangladesh - Equitable Growth? Pergamon Press, 1979. Joe and his wife Caroline now live back in their home at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in Boulder, Colorado.CONTACT the Author:
He can be reached at 720 11th St. Boulder, CO 80302; Telephone 303-544-0881; Fax 303-494-0879; and via E-mail: jcvstep@infionline.net.
The book's web page is: www.stepanek.org
The book's audience includes development and foreign assistance experts, students, scholars, and institutions in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and in the developing world. The book can also be used as a supplemental or collateral text for courses in economics, agricultural economics, political science, sociology, anthropology, African studies, and for global issues, africa development, development administration, food security, green revolution agriculture, and comparative democracies.
 USAID-Bangladesh, 1977 The author, Joe Stepanek, the late Nizam Uddin Ahmed, on author's left, and Dhaka AID Staff. |
 USAID-Tanzania, 1991 The author, Joe Stepanek, and Dar es Salaam AID Staff |