Building from Local Dynamics for African Renaissance
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Stellingen behorende bij het proefschrift van Dirk Roep getiteld 'Vernieuwend werken; sporen van vermogen en onvermogen' in het openbaar te verdedigen op 3 november 2000 om 16.00 in de Aula van Wageningen Universiteit 1. Hetgeen bij vernieuwend werken komt kijken kan alleen in volle omvang worden doorgrond indien het wordt begrepen als het werkendeweg opbou• wen van het vermogen om een relevant geacht geheel van'op elkaar inwer• kende natuurlijke en sociale ordeningsprocessen anders te laten werken met het oog op het vestigen van een nieuwe soöo-materiële orde (dit proef• schrift). 2. De ingrijpende vernieuwing van landbouw en platteland sedert begin jaren negentig komt voort uit een doodlopend moderrdseringstraject (dit proef• schrift). 3. De gevestigde orde belichaamt bovenal een onvermogen om te vernieuwen (dit proefschrift) 4. Vernieuwen is een dramatisch proces (dit proefschrift). 5. De landbouw moet meer dan ooit haar eigen voortbestaan legitimeren. 6. Een onafhankelijke geest is bittere noodzaak om tegenwicht te bieden aan blinde volgelingen. 7. Een universiteit die haar onafhankelijkheid prijs geeft, verliest haar geloof• waardigheid. 8. Het langs technologische weg vervolmaken van de mens leidt ertoe dat de mens steeds onvolmaakter wordt 9. Wie zijn bestaan wil verlichten moet zich ontdoen van zwaargewichten. 10. Bergafwaarts gaat sneller. Listen to the Cradle Building from Local Dynamics for African Renaissance Case studies in rural areas in Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana Dominique Hounkonnou LANDBOUWCATALOQUS 0000 0873 7575 Promotoren Prof. Dr. Ir. N. G. Röling Hoogleraar Landbouwkennissystemen in Ontwikkelingslanden. Wageningen Universiteit Prof. Dr. P. Richards Hoogleraar Technologie en Agrarische Ontwikkeling Wageningen Universiteit Promotiecommissie Prof. Dr. B. de Gaay Fortman Chair, Political Economy Institute of Social Studies, The Hague Prof. Dr. Ir. L. de Haan Hoogleraar Ontwikkelingsstudies Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen Dr. Ir. M. Mensah Chair, Board of Trustees, ISNAR, The Hague Prof. Dr. C M. J. van Woerkum Hoogleraar Communicatie en Innovatie Studies Wageningen Universiteit Listen to the Cradle Building from Local Dynamics for African Renaissance Case studies in rural areas in Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana Dominique Hounkonnou Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit, Prof. Dr. Ir Speelman, in het openbaar te verdedigen op dinsdag 18 december 2001 des namiddags om half twee in de Aula Hounkonnou, D. Listen to the Cradle Building from Local Dynamics for African Renaissance Case studies in rural areas in Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana ISBN 90-5808-580-5 Copyright © 2001 by D. Hounkonnou Front cover: The Whistle of the Bonou farmers' group (Benin). (A traditional Whistle Club is the cradle of the group) Back cover: Adji players in Kotokpa Photos: D. Hounkonnou To the late Father Robert Niehe who devoted most of his life to Africa. To the late Joseph Hounkonnou, my father. You left when I was about to start this work I missed your guiding hand which had always steered me, but you had taken care of the foundations... I hope I will have your blessing for the next steps... To my mother, the late Anne Woli Boton-Agbakou: I was nearing the completion when you moved on. You had always insisted on humility and this is the greatest lesson I have learned from what you teasingly called my travelling again"... Preface Why listen?... Recently, while considering alternative titles for this book, I happened to learn a story which strongly encouraged me to keep the current one. It seems that, in one of the meeting rooms of the Kampala Conference Centre (in Uganda), there is a painting of some African Heads of State in which our most honourable representatives have been painted without ears! When asked why, the artist simply replied: "Well, they do not need ears, because they do not use them... they do not listenl' Some people might find the artist's opinion overstated ... but this illustrates quite clearly the frustration of local people having been overlooked for decades by national decision makers as well as 'development* institutions. National scholars, researchers, extension agents all face the same frustration, as the national authorities 'do not have ears for them', but rather listen to foreign 'experts' or advisers! Listen to the Cradle comes from similar frustrations. From frustration accumulated over more than 20 years of professional experience at both national and international levels. From the feeling that development action is too disconnected from local realities. A long standing project... The idea to start out on this 'adventure' was born a long time ago, in fact, back in 197811 was then on a short training programme in Bordeaux. During that period, with my colleagues - a group of about twenty participants from francophone countries - we happened to visit the SNIAS* where aircraft (the Airbus) were being produced. In short, when I was asked to give my impression on that visit, unlike some of my friends who were rather impressed by the robots that we had seen at work, I told our supervisor that I was rather thinking of the women and men who have been dismissed from employment in industrial countries in general, because of the high level of mechanisation or automatisation. I went on to stress that although part of the productivity gained is helping to pay for these people's subsistence allowances, this could never compensate their frustration for not contributing to the 'construction of their society'. I concluded that this might be called industrial development, but certainly not social or human development, and that African countries, given their attachment to human values, should not blindly copy Western development models... In the end, I was just told that I was 'philosophising' or dreaming... but my motivation for alternative development paths was def• initely born! Currently, there are more and more reasons to 'dream' of alternative development paths... The post-independence option for a fast industrialisation led African countries to blindly - and badly - copy Western development models. Due to their social and ecological consequences, these models are being severely questioned in their 'home countries'. In many cases (material) 'development' has happened indeed and continues to happen, but the price is high, unfortu• nately on the quality of life. This is giving rise to various social movements and to some grad• ual policy shifts... Therefore, it is time for African countries to realise that they were not only making bad or inefficient copies, but certainly also - to some extent - copying the wrong things! They are more and more forced to 'dream' and seriously think of alternatives ... Soci&e National* dlndusMe Aironautique et Spoliate, which later became MrospaOate. landing'from the dream, back to reality... Today, thanks to some key people, with this book, I have the feeling that my 'dream' has start• ed to materialise and that I have begun to wake up back in reality... When I left CTA at the end of 1996 (after twelve years of service), I first explored with two other universities the possibility to embark on a PhD programme before meeting Professor Niels Roling in Wageningen. He welcomed the idea with enthusiasm, then he quite quickly brought me back to reality... with a 'but... how can we make this a subject for PhD research?' Of course I did not have a clue! To make a long story short, today I can only express my deep gratitude to him for connecting so quickly to my passion and for helping me to design the first steps along the road he accompanied me on, for four years. His connection (and motivation for this research) came to the full when he took the trouble, after a mission in Togo in 1999, to visit the two main villages I was studying in Benin. His visit has been a 'turning point' - which I realised when he told me 'I really see now what you are talking about...'. This strengthened my own determination and conviction. Niels, thanks for being 'the Mzee', with your continuously inspiring attitude and your humility. Right from the beginning Niels told me that an anthropologist should be involved. He then advised me to discuss the matter with one of his colleagues I had never seen before, Professor Paul Richards ... The meeting went quite well. Today, however, I can confess to Paul that hav• ing seen him, shortly after that first meeting, in the position of an opponent challenging a PhD candidate in a defence ceremony in the 'Aula', I started wondering... But Paul, let me tell you one of the most important things I owe you : you helped me get rid of my initial roman• ticism about local traditional values and discover the importance of power struggle in local organisations. Thanks to you I later discovered, in the field, that the 'cultural erosion' we used to deplore can also, in certain circumstances, release resources to some (otherwise disadvan• taged) sub-groups of actors, allowing, for example, access of rural women to arable land. Thanks so much, Paul. Another professor who strongly encouraged me to undertake this research, and whom I used to call 'my hidden promoter', is Professor Ki-Zerbo. From the first time I met him to discuss the subject of this research, he confessed that he would not have time to be a co-promotor, but invited me to come and discuss whenever I wished. This book owes a lot to his long experience in African development history and to his well-known and respected wisdom. It has been hon• our and a privilege for me to learn from him. The local people... I have to express my deep gratitude to the farmers I met - and stayed with - during my field work, particularly those of Bonou and Kotokpa (in Benin), of Sapon£ (Burkina Faso) and of Yamfo (Ghana).