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FAO FOCUS: PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMMES |
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Partnership Programmes |
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Interview with Mr Ramadhar, Chief of FAO's TCDC Unit
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Mr Ramadhar |
TCDC has been gaining momentum for reasons associated with the developments in the whole technical cooperation field. There has been a growing realization on the part of developing countries that they can find solutions to their problems through mutual collaboration, and that this cooperation can lead to concrete results and longer term sustainability. Also, for their part, developed countries have realized that if development cooperation results are to be sustainable in the long term, they must be in keeping with the local conditions, cultures and traditions.
In brief, I would say that the momentum of TCDC depends primarily on the developing countries themselves, it is they who have to set the pace and the direction of TCDC. They have been doing this through a number of mechanisms. TCDC is more valid today than ever before because resources for technical cooperation are dwindling. This is also the result of the experience of the international community regarding development patterns and approaches that have been adopted so far. Now there is an urgency to look for new modalities and directions and innovative ways of delivering technical cooperation, so that the pitfalls of the past can be avoided.
What lessons have been learnt? How have the approaches changed in the light of experience?
First let me tell you that TCDC is an integral part of development cooperation and the changing international scenario. It is not something that can stand alone. It influences and, in turn, is influenced by these developments. The lessons that have been learnt during the last 20 years underscore this, that in order to be effective and to be tapped more fully, TCDC must be fully integrated with the national policies and planning of the developing countries.
Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, former president of Tanzania, now Chairman of the South Centre (a Geneva-based organization serving the developing world) has talked, in the South Commission Report, of creation of a South consciousness. This means that all segments of a population should be involved in the process of technical cooperation and TCDC should become a cornerstone of national development policy. Unless this is done, the full potential of TCDC cannot be tapped.
So I would say that countries that have explicit TCDC policies and programmes have benefited quite a lot and they have been very active players. On the other hand, countries with financial and institutional constraints and inadequate national mechanisms to support TCDC have not benefited that much. It requires coordinated commitment to policy and planning, as well as general popular support, institutions and mechanisms. But this is something that should not be limited only to the governments. The private sector, NGOs, Chambers of Commerce - all of these have to be involved in the process, and they can play a very important role in TCDC promotion and implementation.
Have some countries or regions taken particular advantage of the opportunities offered by TCDC?
Without mentioning any particular country or region, I would say that one definite trend that has emerged during the last couple of years is the establishment of regional bodies, groupings and structures that have become the pivot of technical and economic cooperation among developing countries. Countries have joined together to establish structures and mechanisms and are promoting cooperation amongst themselves. For example, we have the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Association of Southeast-Asian Nations (ASEAN). Then there are a number of networks and regional associations in other parts of the world also. In Africa, there is the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). In Latin America you have the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).
FAO has very good relations with many of these organizations and bodies and has been providing them with technical support within the fields of its competence. Without any reflection on other countries, I can mention some examples of countries that have been moving forward, both as providers and recipients of expertise: in Asia - Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines; in the Near East - countries like Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Morocco, Tunisia; in Africa - Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Zimbabwe; and in Latin America and the Caribbean - Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Jamaica, Venezuela.
Where do we go from here? Are we likely to see TCDC playing an increasingly important role in development cooperation, or will it remain the younger sibling of North-South technological transfer?
TCDC will continue to play an increasingly important role in development cooperation. Let us understand that South-South cooperation is not antithetical to North-South cooperation - it is complementary. This was clearly recognized in the Buenos Aires Plan of Action of 1978 and has been reiterated since by the recommendations and decisions of the UN, including FAO governing bodies. TCDC is not a matter for developing countries alone, but is the responsibility of the entire international community.
At the last High Level Committee meeting on TCDC in New York in early May this year, TCDC received unanimous support from all the member countries, developed and developing. There was clear recognition that the TCDC modality should be increasingly used in all programmes and projects, including those being assisted bilaterally and not only those assisted or implemented by international organizations. There may be an instance of a donor country helping another country where the expertise component can be provided using a TCDC modality. I would like to call it a triangular arrangement - funding coming from a developed country and expertise coming from country A to benefit country B. And in this way it contributes to national capacity building, which is the basic objective of technical cooperation - capacity building for both the country providing expertise and the country on the receiving end. When a country receives expertise, it upgrades its capabilities. When a country provides expertise, the visiting expert is exposed to a different situation and, in passing expertise, learns many things through interaction with the technicians of the beneficiary country.
In many ways, TCDC was a radically new way of doing things. Have people taken time to adapt and accept it?
Yes, anything new takes time to understand and adopt. I think this question is very basic to the promotion of TCDC and its implementation. One of the problems that TCDC has faced historically has been the lack of information on the availability of expertise and lack of information on mechanisms and procedures. The answer to this is the orientation and training of people to make them aware of TCDC procedures and its advantages.
If you take the programme launched by FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf in 1994 on the Use of Experts for TCDC, it also took some time to materialize. Now, 106 countries have already signed on to participate. It took a while for the countries to understand the scope and objectives of the programme and to take advantage of these. For our own colleagues in headquarters and in the field, it also took some time. But now, since we published our brochure outlining TCDC procedures, established our presence on the Internet and increased our interaction with both government people and our own colleagues at different levels, there is much greater awareness both inside and outside of FAO as to how to go about promoting and implementing this programme. So, it takes time, but it has to be a concerted effort on the part of everyone. Countries have seen the benefits of the programme. More than 500 TCDC/TCCT experts have been used during the last two years and countries are coming up with more and more requests.
Could you cite one or two examples of projects that demonstrate the strengths of TCDC particularly well?
I would like to mention a visit to Belize by an expert from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI, based in Saint Lucia and the United States Virgin Islands). The visitor was an expert in the development of sea moss, which is used in the preparation of food and drinks in Belize as well as in many other Caribbean countries. In Belize, the expert examined the existing situation on the development of the sea moss industry, met sea moss retailers, vendors and others engaged in its processing, collection and cultivation and advised them on how they could improve their activities. This was a case of transferring an appropriate knowledge that could be adopted by the local coastal communities. So this is one example. Here, an NGO provided expertise on a TCDC basis to another country, directly benefiting the local people - the sea moss farmers.
Another example is the case of an Indonesian expert who went to Bangladesh and advised people there on the development of an environmental extension training module. Indonesia had done very good work in this field and Bangladesh benefited from this assistance. The visit was requested by Bangladesh and FAO played the role of facilitator, of catalyst. The result of the expert's work was presented at a seminar in Beijing and was highly commended.
I would also like to give an example of a Tanzanian expert who went to the Gambia to assist with pesticide registration work going on there. Unlabelled, uncertified pesticides are causing a lot of problems in developing countries, and this expert helped the Gambians register and certify potentially dangerous pesticides. Another example is that of the Islamic Republic of Iran which has been actively participating in the TCDC/TCCT programme. It has received experts in rice breeding and fishing harbours from India and in apple cultivation from Peru, to mention only a few. A number of other TCDC experts requests from Iran are being processed for assignment.
We should always remember that every country has something to offer and something to receive. TCDC is based on reciprocity, mutual interest and equality, in which no country is great and no country is small. Finally, I would like to reconfirm my perception that the future augurs well for TCDC. The future for the developing countries and the countries in transition lies in their mutual collaboration to achieve national and collective self-reliance, with the full assistance and cooperation of the entire international community, including the developed countries.
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