Bricks, Mortar and Capacity Building Afrika-Studiecentrum Series
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Bricks, Mortar and Capacity Building Afrika-Studiecentrum Series Editorial Board Dr Piet Konings (African Studies Centre, Leiden) Dr Paul Mathieu (FAO-SDAA, Rome) Prof. Deborah Posel (University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) Prof. Nicolas van de Walle (Cornell University, USA) Dr Ruth Watson (Newnham College, Cambridge) VOLUME 18 Bricks, Mortar and Capacity Building A Socio-cultural History of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation By Inge Brinkman in cooperation with Anne-Lot Hoek LEIDEN • BOSTON 2010 Cover picture: ‘Queen Juliana bids the first JVP team farewell, 1963.’ Source: SNV photo archives, Blue, hoge gasten. Photographer: ANEFO, Amsterdam, 1963. ‘Korrir connected with Abele’.Source: SNV, Picture used as SNV logo around 2004/2005. Photographer: unknown. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brinkman, Inge. Bricks, mortar and capacity building : a socio-cultural history of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation / by Inge Brinkman ; in cooperation with Anne-Lot Hoek. p. cm. – (Afrika-studiecentrum series ; v. 18) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-18741-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. SNV (Organization)–History. 2. Nonprofit organizations–Netherlands–History. 3. International agencies–Netherlands–History. 4. Economic assistance, Dutch–Developing countries. 5. Technical assistance, Dutch–Developing countries. 6. Economic development–Developing countries. I. Hoek, Anne-Lot. II. Title. III. Series. HD2769.2.N4B75 2010 338.91492'01724–dc22 2010022614 ISSN 1570-9310 ISBN 978 90 04 18741 2 Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all right holders to any copyrighted material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. Contents List of photos and figures vii Foreword ix . Introduction . Merchants and ministers: Understanding SNV’s background . SNV’s start: Bricks, mortar and the transfer of knowledge (–) . The years of radical commitment: Democratisation and secularisation (–) . Expertise expected: The professionalisation of SNV (–) . Building capacity: SNV at the millennium (–) . Final remarks Interviews Written sources Abbreviations and glossary Appendix : Ministers and State Secretaries for Development Cooperation Appendix : SNV chairpersons/directors Appendix : SNV countries Appendix : SNV activities Appendix : SNVers Appendix : SNV finances Appendix : Chronology Index List of photos and figures Photos . SNV logo, Lusaka, Zambia, . Making new knives from old iron, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, . Queen Juliana bids the first JVP team farewell, . Team II setting off for Colombia, . JVP float at the annual celebration of independence, Korhogo, Ivory Coast, . ‘Gerard Wesseling (Community Planning, Kasempa) with a farmer who asks for agrarian advice’, Zambia, . ‘Marcel Krom talking to a local counterpart’, Dockyard, Mwanza, Tanzania, . SNV’s B Objective: ‘Bram Schutte in Burkina’ . ‘Gerrit Ponjé at work as a woodwork teacher’, Lower Technical School, Tabora, Tanzania . ‘SNVer Pierre de Kock is having a concersation with staff of the city hall in Gedaref’, Sudan . ‘SNVer René Stam teaching concrete technology to builders’, Bluefields, Nicaragua, . ‘Full attention for the cheesehead who just arrived at the airstrip of Jinka (Gamo Gofa) together with his parents’, Ethiopia . Boating, Zambia, s . Jan Pronk giving a speech on the occasion of SNV’s th anniversary viii list of photos and figures . Local staff visiting Rheden during their introductory course in The Nether- lands . SNVers hosted in Palmira, Lomerio, Bolivia, . Learning to dance, Colombia, Note We have made every effort to contact all the photographers listed above and copyright agreements have been signed with most of them. However, we have unfortunately been unable to trace a few of them. Figure . ‘So you are the representative of the target group!’ Foreword This book offers an introduction to the history of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, which has now been in existence for over forty years. Though commissioned by SNV, the African Studies Centre had a free hand in outlining and implementing the research and many people helped to make this endeavour a success. Not everyone can be mentioned here by name but we would like to assure you all that your participation was much appreciated and that the ASC is extremely grateful to you. It is not customary for historians to thank their sources but as this study is partly based on oral material, the first acknowledgment goes to all the people who talked to the research team about their experiences with SNV.All interviewees are thanked for contributing to this project! The research team visited several countries in order to gain a detailed picture of SNV’s activities. We acknowledge the hospitality and assistance of SNV Guinea- Bissau, SNV Mali, SNV Cameroon, SNV Tanzania, SNV Zambia, SNV Bolivia, SNV Nepal, and SNV The Hague. We would especially like to thank the local support staff in the countries the team visited for their friendly welcome and all the assistance they so generously provided. Research into SNV’s past in these countries was undertaken by Raúl Fernan- des, Younoussa Touré, Saibou Issa, Yusufu Lawi, Marja Hinfelaar, Clara Lopéz and Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff. Their contributions to this project are highly appreci- ated and we want to thank them for the positive and fruitful exchanges we enjoyed with them. xforeword At the African Studies Centre, Inge Brinkman and Anne-Lot Hoek carried out the research very conscientiously. Jan-Bart Gewald, who initiated the project, and Mirjam de Bruijn, the head of the (then) Agency in Africa theme group, also gave useful feedback and support, as did Jan Ubels of SNV. We are grateful to Ann Reeves for her editorial work and to Mieke Zwart for doing the layout. The ASC also wants to acknowledge the assistance of staff at the archives ofthe Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IISG (International Institute of Social History), KIT (Royal Tropical Institute), PSO Capacity Building in Developing Countries and KDC (Catholic Documentation Centre). Though many people have supported the project, the ASC carries full respon- sibility for this publication and the authors alone are to blame for any mistakes. Leo de Haan Former Director African Studies Centre October Photo .. SNV logo, Lusaka, Zambia, . Source:SNVphotoarchives,Blue,Zambia,SNVers. Photographer:Unknown. 1 Introduction Stating the case Within Third World Studies in general, and African Studies in particular, cultural encounters have always been pivotal in research. Over the years we have learnt a great deal about the interaction between colonisers and missionaries on the one hand, and those colonised and (possibly) converted on the other. In African Stud- ies, there are debates on colonial stereotypes about ‘Africa’ and ‘Africans’, colonial violence and African resistance to colonialism. The history of missionary soci- eties has likewise received ample attention. The missionaries’ relationship with the colonial state, their influence in areas of religion, medicine and education, their reaction to local beliefs and practices, and local interaction with the mis- sions have been the subject of many historical and anthropological interpreta- tions.1 The situation is very different in Development Studies. The history ofthe ‘Development Era’, as it has been called, dates back to the s, with some 1 For an overview, see Frederick Cooper, ‘Conflict and connection: Rethinking colonial African history’, American Historical Review , (l): –; Henry Bredekamp & Robert Ross, eds, Mission and Christianity in South African History (Johannesburg, ). chapter development organisations having been in existence for over fifty years. Yet few studies to date have been devoted to the history of development. The advantages and disadvantages of ‘development’ have been intensively debated but little is known about the history of development practices and the changing ways in which development institutions have operated over time. If there is any mention of the past at all, it is usually limited to statistics and comments about its bureaucratic, formal history. Interpretations that view the history of development in terms of a cultural encounter are few and far between. SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, a Dutch development organisa- tion that started its activities in the s, is no exception to this general rule but this study hopes to offer an interpretation of its history. The aim is to present SNV’s history through the eyes of those involved in the organisation and the people in the communities