Showing papers in "Development and Change in 1989"

Analysing Decentralization Policies in Developing Countries: a Political-Economy Framework

Abstract: The demand for public services and physical infrastructure in developing countries is growing steadily as populations increase, and as expectations of achieving better standards of living are raised by national development plans and international assistance programmes. Local services and infrastructure not only contribute to social welfare but also enhance the productivity of labour, allow markets to work more effectively, and create opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship (World Bank, 1975; USAID, 1982). But in many developing countries local services and infrastructure are either provided by central governments ineffectively and inefficiently, or by community organizations and private businesses only sporadically (Moris, 1976; Ayubi, 1982; Harris, 1983). Local institutions often lack the incentives, adequate funds, technical expertise, and management capacity to provide services. Thus in many developing countries there are few services of any kind in areas outside of the national capital (Rondinelli and Ruddle, 1978). Furthermore, the maintenance of physical infrastructure that does exist is notoriously poor in developing countries, and as a result services and facilities deteriorate quickly (Tendler, 1979). The World Bank reports that roads it financed during the 1960s and 1970s are deteriorating so fast that many will be unusable before the borrowing countries can repay the loans for their construction. The cost of needed road maintenance in developing countries is now approaching US$40 billion (Roth, 1987b). The problems of providing and maintaining public services and infrastructure have brought increasing calls for decentralization and

Market Development, Government Interventions and the Dynamics of the Smallscale Fishing Sector: An Historical Perspective of the Senegalese Case

Abstract: Senegal is Africa’s third most important fish producer, after southern Africa and Morocco (Weber and Durand, 1986). Thus Senegal’s artisanal fisheries are economically important not only within Senegal, where they account for two-thirds of the 250,000 tons of fish landed each year (between one-third and half of total commercial value), but in Africa as a whole. Their output is remarkable, considering their use of trsditional means of production (similar to that of the Ghanaians another large, though less important, fishing centre); the vulnerability of Senegalese waters to industrial exploitation; the relative lack of population in the fishing areas (Sutinen et al., 1981); and the fact that canoe fisheries play a significant role in supplying fish, crustacea and cephalopodea to the industrial and export sectors (Chauveau, 1983a, 1983b; Deme, 1983). The condition of maritime fisheries in Senegal contrasts strongly with a general state of economic recession in the country. At the height of the 1980-1 groundnut crisis the export value of fishing products exceeded that of groundnuts; the two are now more or less equal. About 10 per cent of the population live directly or indirectly on small-scale fisheries, and the 30,000 active fishermen supply over half the animal protein consumed in the country. The inland regions are at a clear disadvantage in terms of access to fish, despite an