This final chapter is not a summary, because all the preceding sections and chapters are already very condensed. Its aim is to highlight certain aspects of development programmes in upland watershed areas and the people of these areas.
It must be acknowledged that past experience is most often disappointing, mainly because it was the government who "acted" and "paid", while the people concerned, the members of the local communities, were mere tools and not participants or partners.
All the activities which precede development programmes in mountain areas are extremely time-consuming. We must reckon on counting in generations to be able to assess a lasting change in attitude and habit, in the behavior of individuals and communities and to appreciate future trends. Indeed, most programmes make the great mistake of wanting to go too quickly.
| Development is a process which starts very slowly, and is hampered by failures and setbacks, before making headway. |
Technical advances and economic progress allow Man to develop and the development of Man favor progress.
Where watershed management was combined with measures to reduce unemployment, as in Tunisia, there was no follow-up and most of the structures and other accomplishments have not been looked after.
Planning usually leaves much to be desired; the needs of the people concerned are often ignored.
Experiments have shown that to ensure that the upland watershed areas, upstream of the reservoir, are protected, a budget equivalent on average to 10 - 25 percent of the cost of construction of the dam itself is required, in spite of efforts being made to make erosion control measures profitable.
By means of intensive methods of information the whole population must be made aware of the gravity of the problem and must accept the sacrifices involved in solving it. This is the case in South Korea.
Certain obstacles oppose harmonious development in mountain areas. They can only be eliminated through a change in attitude and behavior of groups of the population who control the use of basic production requisites (soil and water as well as input supply networks and marketing outlets.
They are listed in their order of origin and according to type:
Traditional societies are often static; they strive to conserve a balance which was the main objective of many generations.
"The logic of traditional life is not that of development".
Indeed, change implies a rapid redefinition of situations. And the situation has changed. The population explosion had tragic consequences: it upset the balance Man Natural resources.
Thanks to modern technology, it will be possible to re-establish the balance for one or two generations by improved utilization of renewable resources. But afterwards? Measures to maintain this vital balance between production and people will have to be taken.
Some experts are counting on schooling for girls and on their participation in development activities as a means of re-establishing the balance.
As for the young men, they often leave their family and village because they feel frustrated, since' for reasons of tradition, they cannot participate in the development of their community as they would like.
The main one is that crop and livestock farmers, the users of the forest and other producers are denied or given insufficient access to the basic factors of production: soil and water.
Redistribution of these requisites in the producers' favor or the drawing up of equitable contracts between land owners and farmers to ensure the latter long-term use of the requisites are essential to stimulate production.
Land occupation agreements vary considerably from region to region. They are often very complex and must be clarified before any measures affecting the land ownership or development systems are taken.
State lands abound in mountain areas. Sometimes management of these lands has been handed over to the local authorities in the interest of the people. This is the case in Nepal. In Honduras, they are managed by cooperatives and farmers' institutions. But these are exceptions to the rule. Most of these lands, which are usually wooded or given to grazing, are over-exploited.
Governments are aware of these constraints. Laws have been drawn up to overcome them; agrarian reform programmes have been prepared and bodies set up to implement them. In spite of all this, progress is slow, as the "rich" continue to fight to conserve their privileges.
Furthermore, agrarian reform programmes are not restricted to ensuring producers access to soil and water. They also include measures to enable farmers to obtain maximum profit from their activities.
To attain this objective, farmers must:
| Cooperatives and other similar institutions enable producers, especially small farmers, to have access to the above-mentioned services on the best terms. |
Modern technology has a vast assortment of means at its disposal which makes it possible for work on an immense scale to be implemented. Access to these means is costly, however, and is beyond the reach of the people of the upland watershed areas. The real obstacle is therefore lack of funds.
With time, perseverance, good will and with the united effort of those concerned, physical and technical obstacles can be overcome. Large-scale soil conservation and water improvement schemes have in the past been carried out both in the alpine zone and in vast mountain regions of Asia and Latin America.
Unless the people concerned participate actively, unless they furnish a collective effort, the effect of development operations are short-lived. They have been successful only when the community structures have been sound, their institutions well-organized and when the level of schooling and literacy is relatively high.
The youngest sections of the population, who have received schooling, are often the most accessible.
It is not easy to set up cooperatives and other similar institutions with economic aims. As long as they are not capable of operating normally, they are an obstacle rather than an aid to development.
Schooling for young people, the elimination of adult illiteracy, oriented towards specific objectives, i.e. production, improvement of products, modernization of structures, etc. must be encouraged in every way possible. They must not only be considered as complementary to development activities, but as fundamental components of the programmes.
It must always be borne in mind that the community will have to continue the work on its own.
As far as the administration is concerned, it will have to be at the service of the technicians, and must help rather than hinder them. Offices must be set up in the areas in which development activities are underway; decision-making powers in financial and administrative matters must be delegated to the officers in charge.
Lack of trained personnel constitutes a serious obstacle.
There are advantageous side-effects:
as well as disadvantageous ones;
Every activity in the programme must be assessed: extension, institutions, structures, training, elimination of illiteracy, administration as well as technical measures. A critical analysis of the methods applied must also be conducted.
The assessment must also be subjective and must take into account the attitude of the people (by economic and social groups to the programme, the degree of participation in the different activities, the economic and social development of individuals and communities.
Students and university lecturers often participate in these assessments as part of off-campus activities run by institutions of higher education. This was the case in Pakistan.
In this way, the country's future senior level officers are brought face to face with the problems posed by conservation of the natural renewable resources and by the development of the mountain watershed areas. If this contribution is to benefit the programme, it must be well-prepared, i.e. the universities must take part in the programmes from the planning stage and follow-up must be continuous and not just occasional.
Optimization of the use of the mountain environment's resources and protection of the downstream values as in the densely populated Himalayas of Nepal, can only be obtained by mass people's participation.
G. Gosselin in "Développement et traditions dans les societés rurales africaines". ILO, Geneva. (Return)
Some countries, India and Egypt among them, have adopted such measures; other countries will not find them acceptable. (Return)
