In The Ills of Aid, Eberhard Reusse draws on his thirty years of experience with international development aid programs to diagnose the problems afflicting these programs and to suggest ways to improve them. Throughout the book he demonstrates that unrealistic interventionist paradigms - that is, erroneous Western notions of Third World realities that misidentify needs for intervention - are at the root of most inappropriate development policies. Reusse bases his analysis on detailed case studies of two rural development programs in Africa: the UN's "war on waste" and "cereal banks" for small farmers. He shows, for instance, that the "war on waste" was based on the wrong assumption that post-harvest losses totaled up to 40 percent of all crops in Third World countries, whereas they were actually closer to 5 percent. But even after donors had the opportunity to discover their mistake, some programs remained unchanged for decades. To cure the ills of aid, Reusse advocates fundamental changes, including more direct accountability to the primary funding base - the international taxpayer - and the privatization of aid.

About the Author
Eberhard Reusse worked for three decades for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and other international and bilateral development programs, including numerous World Bank investment missions.

Reviews
"A powerful analysis of what is going wrong in international development assistance.... It should be read by all who are engaged in development work in governmental or non-governmental institutions and organizations." - Development and Cooperation



Book Information
ISBN 9780226710143
Author Eberhard Reusse
Format Hardback
Page Count 127
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 369g
Dimensions(mm) 24mm * 16mm * 2mm