by John Toscano

Created on: May 05, 2008

Every time I write an article about anything to do with Africa, I feel I have to begin by reminding readers that to talk of Africa as a single entity is very misleading, as this is an exceptionally diverse continent, culturally, ethnically, linguistically and in many other respects. To talk of "African problems" or "African poverty", as if there were principles that are unique to and transcend the entire continent, is to risk ignoring this great diversity and, in so doing, create solutions that are too general and therefore simplistic. In fact, by tending to view the entire sub-Saharan region as a single unit and therefore remaining oblivious local differences in culture, a number of well-meaning aid projects have failed and rebounded catastrophically on the people they were intended to help.

I believe that many worthwhile attempts to offer aid and support in Africa have failed because of a failure to recognize diversity and cultural differences. By way of illustration, there can hardly be a better example of a misconceived project than the ill-fated attempt by the Norwegian Development Agency to develop a fishing industry on Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya.

The agency had seen that the Turkana's pastoral communities were making almost nil use of a huge lake teeming with Tilapia, an exploitable species of fish and decided to initiate a plan to start a fishing industry. Unfortunately, they didn't bother to properly consult the Turkana or even ask them what they thought about fishing as an alternative livelihood to keeping livestock. They went ahead and built an expensive plant to freeze the fish, as well as providing equipment and training to help get the newly converted pastoralists started as fishermen.

Not surprisingly, the whole project was a gigantic flop. The processing plant consumed a great deal of electricity and, in view of the remoteness of Lake Turkana and its immense distance from the capital Nairobi, this could only be provided by generators. Once processed and frozen, the fish then had to be kept cold on the long haul overland to a city where they could be sold. The result was a product that cost more than its sale value and an industry that would collapse unless subsidised.

Meanwhile, the entire Turkana community was disrupted by this alteration to their traditional lifestyle. Fishing had always been regarded as a rather lowly way to earn a living and the move away from the more highly regarded pastoral life had all sorts of unexpected repercussions,

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