Global Futures Initiative

Luckily, as a practitioner, I see many more people within the aid industry seeking to challenge and abandon the vestiges of “expertise infusion” left over from modernist and racist perspectives of development. But unfortunately I also still see a system that imposes incredibly risk-averse behavior on the people within it, which thwarts learning and innovation.

I’ve worked with over 300 grassroots organizations in sub-Saharan Africa in my career. Most were linked to local churches, schools, or clinics or were independent groups that assist families not reached by government or international agencies. They are there, directly working on the ground, whether outside support is available or not.

On the other hand, in working with large corporate aid agencies over the years, I also continually experience the limitations of large-scale, donor-controlled, project-based funding – recognizing the profound need for community-driven development initiatives that are genuinely responsive to local needs. While nascent organizations and small, often informal movements may lack the accountability mechanisms and sophisticated procedures that would make them more recognizable or esteemed in the development sector, they have important competencies that distinguish them from other actors and make them a vital missing link to sustainable development, such as their resourcefulness, responsiveness, contextualized knowledge, flexibility, and engagement with local government.

There is a tremendous discrepancy between the resources that are mobilized or acquired by donors, governments and international organizations for global development, and what percentage of the money actually reaches communities and effective local leaders. Ordinary citizens are not seen as the drivers of development, and thus are not considered the setters of priorities, nor the controllers of resources. Clearly these under-resourced folks have knowledge and expertise that is invaluable to us all as we navigate the paradox of development.

We must begin by asking key questions of ourselves: How can we place accountability to people who are poor first? How can funding and reporting mechanisms be altered to shave the layers of bureaucracy that each take their share of funding before it reaches the community level? How can we ensure a more genuine and inclusive discourse on development with citizens in the developing world?

People, under the direst of circumstances, can and do pull together. My hope is that in the next decade, the humanitarian and development aid sector will have finally recognized this. 

Jennifer Lentfer is the Senior Writer on Oxfam America’s Aid Effectiveness team, editor of Oxfam's Politics of Poverty blog and a lecturer at Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication.