How inclusive programmes towards poverty alleviation can be designed. Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo http://youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom http://www.africancentreforcommunity.com Copyrights 2014 African Centre for Community and Development. All rights reserved.

1. How inclusive programmes towards poverty alleviation
should be designed
Author:Arrey Mbongaya Ivo
African Centre for Community and Development
Date: 27/08/2014
Copyrights2014 African Centre for Community and Development. All
rights reserved.
Http://youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom
Http://www.africancentreforcommunity.com

2. Introduction
 There are many poor people across the world. There has been vari-
ous instruments that have been launched to help these people get out
of poverty.
 However many of these instruments towards poverty alleviation and
the improvement of well-being have been failing (Gow and Morss,
1988) .
 Despite economic growth in many parts of the poor world and in Africa
in particular, many people still remain in embedded poverty while
there is growing inequality across sub-populations.
 This necessitates that instruments to alleviate poverty and business
devices may have to be revised in order to impact more on their tar-
geted audiences.

3. The Present Mindset
 Many instruments assume the poor and vulnerable are a voiceless lot without
any skills for survival hence must be taught best strategies for survival and for
prosperity
 Most projects to alleviate poverty are designed out of Africa or the poor com-
munities concerned hence they are top-down
 There is a presumption among aid givers and donors that the poor are a pas-
sive and lazy lot.
 The most popular tools to fight poverty are time -bound. They must be so to
enable rapid accountability to donors as well as to launch other necessary
projects.
 There is a popular trend that assumes aid is the best way to alleviate poverty
and to improve on the lives of the poor and vulnerable.
 There is a presumption that compassion does not go with business, profit
making and poverty alleviation.

4. Debunking the Present Mindset
 The poor are not a passive lot (De Haan and Zoomers, 2005). They are active
and proactive stakeholders with powerful strategies for survival. They make up
the informal economies of most fast growing economies.
 Projects that are designed out of Africa and developing countries are failing
(Gow and Morss, 1988, Cusworth and Franks, 1993) as designs are not done
with a mastery of local contexts and environments
 Instruments to fight poverty or to improve on well-being must not be time-
bound. They could be processes (Toner and Franks, 2006) as well as pro-
grammes. They depend on local contexts and needs.
 Aid is useful but cannot be the main instrument for social development. It is
politicized, serves the interests of donors and has not worked in many areas.
 There can be business and development with a human face if the poor are not
treated as victims but as proactive people with skills. If their skills are explored
and they are empowered benefits can go to both the donors, businesses and
the poor.

5. Case Studies
15-Year-Old Kelvin Doe in Sierra Leone who from the trash bins for spare parts could
build batteries, generators and transmitters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOLOLrUBRBY
Nigerian-American journalist Dayo Olopade author of The Bright Continent: Breaking
Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa is also a major contributor in the fight of
debunking the myths and mindsets about Africa that sometimes play negatively on the
outcomes of projects and businesses aimed at poverty alleviation.
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2014/03/06/africas-entrepreneurs-are-young-and-restless
Enyo Kumahor on Frugal Innovation and Technology in Africa
http://www.infoq.com/interviews/kumahor-frugal-innovation
Successful Quail farming in Kenya for nutritional benefits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NyO06onVn4
An Arrey Ivo video on Pig & Poultry Farming with Funwi Family
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ7c_02FkzA

6. Advantages of Change in Mindset and learning from
the Case Studies
 The poor will be put in focus. Their skills will be explored for their benefits and
the benefits of their immediate environments and the world.
 Projects and businesses will be designed based on the needs of the people
hence will be more humane, effective and cost saving.
 Involving the poor in the design also leads to inclusion, participation and fair-
based approaches that arguably can impact more positively than the tradition-
al time-bound top-down failing projects. This leads to local ownership of
projects.
 More so, the more the poor and vulnerable are included in mainstream eco-
nomics there is a greater chance of reducing inequality that helps to fuel social
conflicts, radicalization and embedded poverty.
 Businesses can still be successful if they use compassion devices for the
poor. Discarding the notion of aid as the best way to fight poverty will lead to
more inclusion of dynamic users with innovative ideas despite their stations
which is vital for meaningful sustainable development

7. Proposals
 For the poor to be more powerful actors in development donors and
corporations should work with local organizations and the poor in de-
veloping environments to identify needs and skills so as to make more
targeted projects and business instruments.
 Businesses and donors must change the mindset of aid, or of giving
handouts as finite solutions to poverty. They must be more flexible,
holistic and inclusive in their approaches. They should help in estab-
lishing educational and vocational centres in developing economies in
order to train new leaders and vulgarize skills needed for transforma-
tion, development and effective poverty alleviation.
 Humanitarian organizations must work with local civil society organi-
zations and not just create websites which have these organizations
signed up as evidence of collaboration. Working with local organiza-
tions as partners includes putting them in the design and resources
for poverty alleviation and business development

8. Conclusion
 The poor are not passive partakers in the economy or
transformational processes in communities across Africa
and the globe. They are just operating in resource scarce
environments and in many ways out of power structures,
decision making and policies aimed at even their own well
being. Involving them in businesses and devices for
poverty alleviation and changing mindsets will lead to bet-
ter actions based on informed data, experiences and local
contexts and needs. Better knowledge of local contexts
leads to better actions for sustainable development, par-
ticipation, local ownership, growth, poverty alleviation and
business.

9. References and Bibliography
Arrey, M.I. 2010 How Africa should approach her Sustainable Development. Published online in
http://www.slideshare.net/ArreyCup/how-africa-should-approach-her-sustainable-developmentppt-
by-arrey-mbongaya-ivo-5028298
Arrey, M.I. 2009 Outreaching to Orphans. Published online in
http://www.africancentreforcommunity.com/Outreaching%20to%20Orphans%202009%20by
%20Arrey%20Mbongaya%20Ivo.copyrights2009%20Arrey%20Mbongaya%20Ivo.%20All
%20rights%20reserved.pdf
Gow, D. D., y E. R. Morss. 1988. The notorious nine: Critical problems in project implementation.
World Development 16(12): 1399-1418.
de Haan, L. and Zoomers, A. (2003): Development geog­raphy at the crossroads of livelihood and globaliza-
tion. In: Journal of Economic and Social Geography 94 (3), 350–362. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9663.00262
-2005): Exploring the frontier of livelihood research. In: Development and Change 36 (1), 27–47. DOI:
10.1111/j.0012-155X.2005.00401.x
Cleaver, F. and Toner, A. 2006. The evolution of community water governance in Uchira, Tanzania: The
implications for equality of access, sustainability and effectiveness. Natural Resources Forum 30(3): 207-
218.

10. References and Bibliography
Toner A, Franks T. 2006. Putting Livelihoods Thinking Into Practice: Implications for Development Man-
agement Public Admin, Dev. 26, 81-92 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)
DOI: 10.1002/pad.395
Videos
Dambisa Moyo discusses Dead Aid with an MP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Pkk2sq9Cg
Global Ethics Forum: A Conversation with Dambisa Moyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A740Sd27DU8
An Arrey Ivo video on Pig & Poultry Farming with Funwi Family
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ7c_02FkzA
The Miracle of One Goat by Arrey Ivo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoB-dXj5Xqk
Copyrights2014 African Centre for Community and Development. All rights reserved.

11. Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo
 Copyrights2014 African Centre for Community and Development.