Mennonite
Central
Committee

Report on "Globalization: Africa as a Global Centre"

March 23- 25, 2004, Machakos, Kenya (Garden Hotel)

Executive Summary

A seminar jointly sponsored by the Fellowship of Churches and Christian Councils in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA) and MCC on the theme of "Globalization: Africa as a Global Centre" was convened at the Garden Hotel in Machakos, Kenya, March 23-25, 2004. Earlier seminars of a similar nature were convened by MCC in Honduras and Nepal. These seminars have been"invitations to reflection" extended to friends and partners of MCC around the world.

In the Machakos seminar the focus was twofold. On the one hand, there was a recognition and review of widely held perceptions regarding the nature and the impact of globalization. On the other hand, there was a recognition of Africa as a constituent element of the global matrix.

Three African initiatives were examined. These were:

1. a Nairobi-based micro-finance bank, informed in its operations by the principles of indigenous African saving patterns;
2. a continental ecumenical body, the All Africa Conference of Churches, as a custodian of the African religio-cultural heritage; and
3. a complex of low-tech, high value sand dams as an example of community-based development (with applicability to many parts of Africa).

During the seminar, these arbitrarily selected examples from Africa were then examined in some detail by means of "global lenses."

Twenty nine participants came together from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Eritrea. They represented a range of local and continental (African) church-related agencies, regional advocacy groups and national development agencies as well as MCC personnel from both North America and Africa. Participants were challenged to reflect on Africa's contribution to the global process and to give consideration as well to the influence of industrialized countries on the African continent while at the same time examining the ethical underpinnings of both dynamics.

Welcoming remarks and introductions

Karimi Kinoti, FECCLAHA

Ms. Karimi Kinoti, executive director of the Fellowship of Churches and Christian Councils in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA), opened the seminar with a welcome to all participants. Ms. Kinoti thanked the participants for attending the seminar and taking this opportunity to discuss the issue of globalization and what it means for people of the African continent. She also provided a brief introduction to FECCLAHA, a regional ecumenical facility working in close collaboration with the Nairobi-based All Africa Conference of Churches.

Ms. Kinoti then invited each of the participants to introduce themselves. Following her introductory remarks, she welcomed Harold Miller, MCC Sudan co-representative, to introduce MCC as an organization and to introduce the "Globalization Problematique" for purposes of orienting participants to the nature and content of seminar deliberations.

"Situating the Problematique"

Harold Miller, MCC Sudan (Read paper)

Mr. Miller introduced MCC as a binational (Canada and United States) service agency of the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches. He explained that the constituent member churches of MCC have roots in the "radical" wing of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century as it transpired in the countries of Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Together with the Quakers/Friends and the Church of the Brethren, these churches are recognized as the "historic peace churches." MCC was formed in 1920 to assist Mennonites in the Ukraine (Soviet Union) in the wake of famine and the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

As introductory backdrop to theme of the seminar, several lines of inquiry into the Western understanding of globalization were noted. Among the important words/concepts related to the early theoretical discussion of globalization is the word "biosphere," a term commonly used and understood today, referring to the thin layer of life (bacterial, animal, plant, human) covering the surface of the earth. The word was coined by a Swiss scholar in 1875, but it appeared in academic literature for the first time in 1926. Scientists of the day were greatly exercised by appropriate working definitions of the concept, debating respectively the determinist (Marxist) interpretation of the concept vs the volitional (human choice) interpretation of the concept.

At the centre of this creative debate was Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest/paleantologist (expert on fossils), who studied and wrote passionately both as a theologian and as a scientist. As a theologian he reflected much on the "cosmic Christ," the creator spirit of the universe as depicted in chapter one of St. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians in the Bible. As a scientist he wrote of the evolution of life and the "complexification" of animate and inanimate matter, of the earth, of the human community and eventually of collective human thought. (His epic work in this regard is contained in his book "The Phenomenon of Man.") In an effort to conceptualize the accumulated collective thought of the human community, Chardin coined the word "noosphere" (noo being the Greek word for mind), the sphere of the mind.

Inspired by Teilhard's thinking and especially by his concept of the noosphere, the famous Canadian communication theorist Marshal McLuhan already in the 1950s coined the now familiar phrase, "the global village." In the subsequent development and growth of global communication systems, the language and concepts with regard to globalization have exploded exponentially into greatly diverse lines of inquiry and reflection.

Today there are myriad reminders of our global connections, many of them technological in character. Throughout the seminar proceedings, participants were reminded, repeatedly, that concepts and understandings related to globalization are not a monopoly of the Western, technological world. They are everywhere embedded in the profundity of African proverbial wisdom. In "Ukambani" (the geographic and ethnic venue of the seminar) there is the saying: "When an mKamba mets another mKamba, s/he has met all waKamba." Extrapolated to broader application, the proverb from Ukambani suggests that : "When a person meets another person, s/he has met all persons in the world." And further, "When you honor/despise another person, you have honoured/despised all persons in the world."

"Africa: The Primordial Home of Life and the Challenge of Globalization"

Rev. Dr. Mvume Dandala (Read paper)

Rev. Dr. Mvume Dandala, South African by birth and nationality, is General Secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches.

Rev. Dandala began his keynote address by suggesting that the notion of Africa as the primordial home of life is not easily dismissed. Africa is the beautiful mother of humanity. Christianity came to Africa under the shadow of European history. Today' global imaging of Africa is focused on endemic poverty and armed conflict. Such popular imaging fails to capture the continent's rich human heritage.

The Reverend went on to discuss Africa in the context of the All Africa Conference of Churches' (AACC) mandate. As one of the institutional custodians of the continent's religious heritage, the AACC is concerned that Africa reclaim her place in the world by drawing attention to the importance of the origin of life on the continent: "Africa shall rise again and claim its place in the world."

Rev. Dandala decried the "systematic programming of African people" by Western information sources. He opined that these sources play an unwelcome role in directing African choices and values toward Western-style consumerism. He cited the example of presenting cooking recipes to African audiences even though Africans have been conversant with cooking of nutritious food for millennia.

The presenter then turned his attention to the issue of tourism in Africa. He pointed out that such visitations translate the continent into a place of "sunshine pleasure," by means of which tourists, at worst, ignore African people or, at best, perceive them merely as part of the landscape. In his view, the church is called to pinpoint the injustices that characterize the globalization process. So for example, corruption is very much linked to the phenomenon of globalization. He cited studies which indicate that 70 percent of the world's power and wealth is controlled by only 2 percent of the population.

This wealth configuration reflects a global ethic based on an unacceptable moral order. Single-minded economic domination by a superpower or by industrialized countries is an engine of negative globalization. Africa must come to terms with its wounded past. But for wounds to be healed, the pervasive European influence in Africa and the economic domination over African peoples and economies must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

In concluding his keynote address, Rev. Dandala expressed the view that the church must call for "moral accounting" by means of which Western corporations would be obligated to "give back" to Africa a dynamic equivalent of what has been unjustly extracted over past centuries from the continent.

Response to Rev. Dandala

Prof. Cyrus Mutiso, SASOL

Prof. Mutiso, called upon by Ms. Kinoti to respond to the keynote address, began by calling for an acknowledgment of the existence of pre-colonial African Christianity. In this regard he cited the presence of ancient Christianity in Egypt, northern Sudan and Ethiopia, which made its appearance in Africa long before the advent of Western colonialism and Western Christianity which accompanied it.

He challenged Rev. Dandala with regard to his call for an "analytical African church." How can the African church be "analytical" when it is burdened with little or no interest in development? In his (Mutiso's) experience, privilege and power in Africa is derived, typically, through the instrumentality of the church, among other modernising or Western forces.

In view of its powerful position, the African church should give attention to the admonition of Franz Fanon, the famous anti-colonial advocate when he called for "class suicide" (voluntary surrender of disproportionate power) by the African church.

Response by Rev. Dr. Dandala

Rev. Dr. Dandala thanked Prof. Mutiso for his critique. He accepted that many churches in Africa do not appreciate and support development. He observed that earlier on the church in Africa played a great role in development, conceptualized, admittedly, largely within the framework of colonial governance. Why, he asked, cannot the current church in Africa play a similar but more relevant development role? According to Rev. Dandala, the "analytical church" must become a reality in Africa.

"The K-Rep Bank Story"

Kimanthi Mutua, K-Rep Managing Director

Mr. Mutua made a PowerPoint presentation on the history and achievements of the K-REP Bank, drawing attention to the unique local or indigenous character of this initiative. He proceeded to cite lessons learnt from the K-REP experience and noted the special contribution made by this micro finance facility toward identifying "Africa as a globalization centre."

Following his presentation, Mr. Mutua proceeded to field questions and comments from the seminar's participants.

• Concerns were raised about the short turn-around time provided for the repayment of loans available to farmers from commercial banks. Typically, commercial bank loans must be repaid within a three-month period, while a six-month period would be much more realistic. When asked about K-REP’s practice in this regard, Mr. Mutua reported that K-REP loan repayment regimes are seasonally based, from planting to harvest time.
• Are micro-finance institutions really capable of assisting people to escape poverty and improve their lives? Mr. Kimanthi replied that micro-finance systems are based on the building of a broad asset base as opposed to mere allocation and consumption of loans.
• What is the nature of the collateral required by K-REP? The K-REP micro-finance loan system is based on the indigenous and ubiquitous African "round-robin" saving pattern, which relies on peer pressure rather than material collateral for purposes of encouraging or facilitating loan repayment.
• With regard to default rates in the micro-finance system, Mr. Matua pointed out that the average default rate of commercial banks worldwide is approximately 35 percent, whereas in the micro-finance industry the default rate is approximately 10 percent. In the case of K-REP, the loan default rate is 5 percent.
• K-REP interest rates vary between 11 percent and 40 percent. Interest rates for micro-finance institutions are usually higher than the rates charged by commercial banks, this because of the more intense administration required of relatively small loans, because micro-finance loans are not tied to material collateral and because micro-finance loans are open to all "wananchi" (citizens), including those without material collateral.
• To which extent, if at all, does K-REP service or channel the remittances of overseas Kenyans? And to what extent do those remittances offset the cost to Kenya of the so-called brain drain? Mr. Mutua acknowledged that the K-REP Bank does not at this time have the facility at its disposal to compare nor to service these two dynamics, though he did indicate that K-REP is developing a ‘product’ which would eventually be able to channel remittances, hopefully into creative, developmental directions. However, for the moment he observes that the brain drain does exist and will continue as long as economic opportunities are not commensurate with the aspirations of well trained young people from the African continent.
• Who owns the K-REP Bank? K-REP employees own 10 percent of the bank, a figure which will be increased to 15 percent in the near future. There are plans underway to float the bank's shares in the Nairobi Stock Exchange and in this way to offer the bank's clientele an opportunity to buy K-REP shares and thus to share ownership.
• Which ethical or regulatory regimes provide guidance for the operations of the K-REP Bank? K-REP itself has undertaken initiatives to stimulate discussion on this subject. In the absence of a full-orbed regulatory regime for the micro-finance industry, K-REP and other agencies active in this field are obliged to follow broadly accepted banking regulations. In general, K-REP takes its cues from the "corporate" world, trying always to revise or reconstruct adverse corporate practice toward the greater benefit of under-capitalized Kenyans.

Plenary discussion

Resource person: Rev. Dandala

During a plenary session, the focus was on the relevant conceptual categories from which or within which Africa can critique the globalization process or make a positive contribution to it. In Africa by far the largest portion of the century just ended was devoted to the project of political liberation from European colonial hegemony. Words and concepts such as struggle, freedom, liberation and independence were common parlance during that period.

But when it became apparent in the early 1990s that the apartheid regime in South Africa was about to yield to majority rule, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, then President/Chairman of the All Africa Conference of Churches, became uneasy with the prevailing language. He insisted that the "promised land" was in sight and that the operative language needed to be changed accordingly. As AACC Chairman, Tutu commissioned Prof. Mugambi (professor of religious studies at the University of Nairobi) to prepare a conceptual paper on the religio-political concept of "reconstruction," a venture which subsequently spawned articles, books and very considerable academic and theological discourse.

If reconstruction (based on images and metaphors from the Bible — Nehemiah — in the context of the return of the Israelite exiles) constitutes the contribution from African theologians (or from the church) to a globalizing Africa, the notion of "renaissance" as promoted by South Africa's president, Tabo Mbeki, can be considered its political counterpart. These are but two examples of the many words, concepts, slogans, mantras, doctrines and personalities which/who have guided the emergence of the African continent over the past one hundred years. If in 1900 the African continent was under the rule of European colonial powersÿ it can be argued that its political independence a hundred years later constituted a remarkable achievement.

Today the prevailing patterns of globalization present a decidedly different challenge. Which strategies must be mobilized on the African continent to counter, effectively, the adverse effects of globalization and to make a positive contribution to a more equitable global whole? Rev. Dandala agreed to address the challenge and field questions in an afternoon plenary session.

Rev. Dr. Mvume Dandala (responding to questions/comments)

According to Rev. Dr. Dandala, one of the tasks being undertaken by the All Africa Conference of Churches is to develop an African Charter of Truth, drawing on the pattern set by the pivotal South African treatise known as the "Kairos document." To this day, that document provides a major reference point in the life of the South African churches as they faced and dealt with the "falsehood" of apartheid.

What then, for the purposes at hand, is the nature of "African truth"? Some common African truths (realities) such as military regimes are unacceptable. The truths which concern us are those which we identify as life giving, those to which we can call African leaders (political and ecclesial) to account. The great truth challenges of the African continent encompass the call to reconstruction and reconciliation, the identification/recognition of who we are and an acceptance of wounds which must be healed.

The truth of Africa must identify the recorder of our history. Does our history begin and end with conquest? Can Africa claim her place in the world if she has no positive history? No memory of herself? If she keeps running away from difficult issues? Truth requires that Africans name, claim, regain and analyze the African heritage and the African identity. Otherwise we Africans are lost forever.

Africans are not empty pots; we know what we need. Why do we accept pre-packaged aid or development initiatives designed elsewhere? Can people who have lost their cultural and spiritual values find them again in and through the church in Africa? Nation building consists of more than appropriating the public property left behind by the colonial ruler or the apartheid regime.

People of the church in Africa are called to leave the protection of their cathedrals and become salt and light in the world. It is a mistake to "go to the people" on the assumption that God has not already touched them. We go to people to assure them, to see, to identify the God who is already among them. It is a heresy to separate matters of the spirit from matters of justice, for justice is a spiritual value. If we are not relevant to issues of justice, poverty and hunger, Jesus will say: "I was hungry and you left me hungry."

A "Truth Charter" would affirm the inviolable truths of the Christian tradition; it would reach out to collaboration with governments and other organizations which claim to serve the people; it would assert the unacceptability of military regimes; it would address the rights of women and children; it would address fundamental economic issues and identify instruments such as the collateral-free lending being pioneered by the K-REP Bank.

This presentation was concluded by summary questions, answers and comments.

• How do Africans begin to articulate the essential truth values? Africans must re-claim the historical memory of themselves; they must claim their right and responsibility to "name" the instrumentalities of their past, present and future contexts.
• Africa is not an empty container to be filled from elsewhere. Belief systems and values from the African religio-cultural heritage must be identified, reclaimed and put into practice. In this regard, the writings of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere have not been sufficiently commented upon by African writers and thinkers. So far Western commentators have had the upper hand in this regard.
• What accounted for the peaceful transition from apartheid in South Africa? The church became involved and at critical junctures was able to "pass the peace" in ritually acceptable forms which moved the whole community forward, on occasion in the most dramatic fashion.

Introduction to sand dams field visit

Joshua Mukusya and Sammy Mutiso, SASOL

The following presenters provided an introduction to the sand dams of Ukambani, the locale of the wa-Kamba people. In this seminar sand dams, collectively, are viewed as one of three examples of African initiatives with potential global significance.

Mr. Joshua Mukusya, a seasoned development leader and pioneer champion of widespread sand dam construction, has served as a prime mover over the past two decades within the community-based Utooni Development Project. He presented an introductory paper titled "Utooni Development Project." The construction and proliferation of sand dams features strongly in the experience of the Utooni Development Project, located in the Machakos District of Kenya. Mukusya's paper is included in the appendices to this report.

Mr. Sammy Mutiso, a senior staff member of Kenyan nongovernmental organization SASOL, presented a paper titled "Kitui Sand Dams: A Development Paradigm." In the paper he explains the theoretical and practical experience generated during the construction of several hundred sand dams in the Kitui District of Kenya.

Films on the sand dams

The first day of the seminar ended with the screening of two short films on the sand dams of Kitui, both produced by Ukweli Films of Nairobi. The films included technical information regarding the construction and function of the dams in addition to information on the economic and social benefits accruing from the dams to the communities in which they have been built.

Day Two - Field visit to Kitui

Seminar participants left the Garden Hotel at 8 a.m. for a field visit to Changwitha Location, Central Division, Kitui District. They arrived at the sand dam site at 9:45 a.m. and were warmly welcomed by the community leaders.

The aim of the field visit was to provide opportunity for seminar participants to see how the sand dams have been constructed and to hear the views of the beneficiaries. Members of the beneficiary groups explained how the sand dams were constructed and which benefits have been realized from the project.

• Mr. Peter Mbussy Nzau, Chairman
  Mr. Nzau welcomed participants and. thanked SASOL for bringing the visitors. Since the sand dams have been constructed, members of the project have easy access to clean water. He noted that SASOL provided financial and technical assistance for the dam construction while the community provided labour. He recalled that the total cost of one sand dam was Kenya Shillings 870,350 (approximately $10,000 U.S.) of which the community gave a total of about Kshs. 560,000, well above half of the total costs. On the basis of this experience with sand dam construction, the community is now aware that they have enormous resources at their disposal, a potential which had not been articulated or mobilized in this way before. He then proceeded to inform the visitors of the precise costs/value of respective SASOL /community contributions related to the sand dam construction.
• Ms. Grace Muinde, Group Member
  On behalf of women in the community, Ms. Muinde expressed appreciation to SASOL and other partners who supported the construction of sand dams. Now they can obtain clean water without walking long distances. Women and girls are now freed from the drudgery of water collection to engage in other economic and social activities. Tea made from dam water now tastes like tea should taste.

Questions

• How many days are required to construct a dam? Twenty-one people worked for 100 days to construct one sand dam.
• Which crops are grown around the sand dams? These include maize, cassava, pawpaw, beans and sweet potatoes, among others.
• How many families benefit from one sand dam? Approximately 21 families, each family on average comprising seven members, are benefitting from one sand dam.
• Is the water in the sand dams treated with chemicals? No.
• Does the owner of the land guarantee easy access to the water of the sand dam constructed in his/her farm? All members of sand dam group (those who helped construct) have absolute access to the water in the dam. Neighbors who did not assist with the construction of the dams have access to the water of the dams by means of agreed monetary payments.

Community members explained the steps taken in identifying the site to build a sand dam:

• The community forms a group and a committee.
• The group designs by-laws.
• The community shows willingness and gives consent for the construction to take place.
• The community identifies the site for the dam construction.
• The Sasol technical team does a feasibility/viability study of the site.
• Construction work begins.

Seminar participants visited the farm of Mr. Peter Mbussy Nzau, where they were able to see how he is preventing soil erosion by the use of well-managed terraces and how he is harvesting water by means of a tank into which run-off water is accumulated.

The team also visited the sand dam near Mr. Gregory Katungu Mutia's farm plot. He informed the team that in addition to being active on the dam project, his group is also engaged in a savings project to which every member contributes ksh. 20 periodically. So far savings of Ksh. 10,000 have accumulated by means of which the social needs of members can be addressed or repairs to the dam can be made.

After the visit to the dam sites, the group moved to a hotel in Kitui town for lunch and further discussion of the sand dam project. Prof. Mutiso provided an outline of the organizational structure of SASOL. The structure includes eight board members, six of whom are in Kitui District and two of whom are based in Nairobi. An executive committee provides overall guidance, implemented by four managers. Currently the project has completed more that 400 dams. An additional 300 dams are being planned for construction in south Kitui and Yatta over the next five years, provided sufficient funding becomes available.

Prof. Mutiso noted that projects of this kind cannot be implemented without political risks and interferences. At one point the former government of Kenya arranged to have all his own and family bank accounts "frozen."

In a plenary question/answer session the following points were made:

• What is the relationship of the SASOL sand dam project to the government of Kenya? The project reports to the Kitui District Development Committee. In turn there is administrative support from the District Commissioner. However, there were problems with the department of engineering at the district level with technicians requesting (illegal) payment before services are rendered.
• How is the project publicized through the Kenya media? Citizen TV has aired the sand dam videos on several occasions, but other stations, including the state-sponsored stations have been asking for monetary incentives before any publicity can be undertaken.
• How is the project linked/connected to the global system or to the larger world? Unlike the K-REP micro-finance bank, this project is not filling a pre-determined or pre-designed economic space. It is a proactive undertaking in which practical, on-the-ground experience informs both theory and meta-theory.
• What are the gender dynamics of the project? Gender relationships are informed by Kamba culture and community dynamics in which women are highly respected leaders. Indeed, foundational aspects of water availability and management are to this day under the control of the Kathambi women, the custodians of the highly regarded wa-Kamba community’s female/femine traditions.

Day Three

Presentation by Elizabeth Eilor, AWEPON

Ms Eilor launched her presentation by eliciting from seminar participants words, concepts, images which in some manner express the phenomenon of "globalization." The following images were shared by participants:

• WTO (World Trade Organization)
• Coca-Cola
• External influence in various countries
• Oneness of the "living earth"
• Exploitation
• Collapse of industries
• Liberalization
• Peaceful demonstrations against negative aspects of globalization being countered with violence

Ms. Eilor proposed that globalization has to do with economics, global markets and aspects of governance. And she posed these questions: Who are the globalizers — i.e. who are the driving personalities and which are the forces supporting or driving globalization? And who are the people being "globalized"?

She ventured that globalization is a weapon being used by trans-national organizations to create "free markets" through which they have a free hand to do whatever they wish, including the accumulation and monopoly of power. To this end powerful governments (e.g. U.S.) are accompanying (aiding and abetting) trans-national corporations. The Iraqi war has everything to do with the basic principles of negative globalization.

She then posed the question: What does globalization mean to Africans? She suggested that globalization has the following effects on Africa:

• "Dumping" of excess consumer goods from rich countries into poor countries
• Privatization of public services for the purposes of "efficiency"
• Poor countries obliged to "increase the attractiveness" of the local economy for foreign investors
• Production in poor countries for markets in rich countries rather than production for local markets
• Rampant consumerism
• Job loss and layoffs
• Reduction of government expenditure for the support of health and education facilities

All these strategies, she stated, are packaged by the donor countries in the form of "poverty eradication" or "poverty reduction" plans. It is in this context and in this regard that African governments have embraced globalization.

Ms. Eilor suggested some counter measures to these trends. The first is to re-visit and re-affirm the pursuit and implementation of Christian ethics, values and morals. It is necessary to "de-mystify" "animal economics" for the benefit of African people; there is a need to say no to globalization. To illustrate her point, Ms Eilor then provided the details of an activist engagement with the recent G8 summit in Cancun, Mexico. Well-organized and coordinated civil society groups from around the world had prepared themselves prior to the Cancun meeting for serious engagement with the official negotiating process. In addition to fastidious organizational preparations, the activists made brilliant use of cell phones, maintaining communication throughout the deliberations between the activists and African government representatives in the inner sanctum of the negotiations. By means of the most careful attention to organizational detail and by means of constant well-regulated communication between activists and collaborating negotiators, the G9 summit was for all practical purposes rendered a failure. A stunning performance with a stunning result.

Lessons learned for would-be activists in this kind of an encounter are the following:

• Get organized ahead of time; produce and distribute position papers.
• Critically analyse official documents presented by participating governments and international organizations.
• Be very clear about the operative definitions being deployed in the negotiations.
• Stay the course on the basis of clearly articulated values.

Response by Thomas Baraza, RODI Kenya

Globalization derives from capitalist principles. It asserts that markets are good for all purposes and for all people. Africans have always traded with each other; trade per se is not a negative phenomenon.

Responses to negative globalization could include the following:

• Resist cultural assaults from the media
• Encourage the church to uphold and live by its highest ethical values
• Insist that Africa control its own economic destiny
• Pursue and encourage development with a human face
• Ensure local, national, continental food security
• Ensure and encourage the engagement of actors such as women and children
• Contain and resolve conflicts in Africa
• Ensure that Africa’s interests are well represented at forums such as the WTO

Ms. Elizabeth Eilor, AWEPON (summary discussion)

Ms. Eilor described Cancun as a culmination of a process of collaboration between civil society groups and concerned governments. In many ways, Cancun is a continuation of the spirit of Seattle, characterized by well-structured meetings with government negotiators and experts. Throughout this process, it became clear that government ministers and their expert advisers were generally or too often ill-prepared to represent the interest of poor nations. The activist engagement with the Cancun meeting was a joint venture between concerned Africans and like-minded people from industrialized countries.

Plenary Discussions:

In plenary discussion the following points were raised/noted:

In view of the fact that WTO works on the basis of consensus, how can the dissenting views of poor nations become integral to an agreed consensus? By greater articulation and dissemination of information regarding national and regional African policies.

How do grassroots people participate in policy making? Civil society groups need to liaise constantly with their respective governments to ensure that the views of grassroot stakeholders are taken into account at national policy levels.

Africans must give high priority to knowledge access and information sharing. Civil societies must develop and exercise advocacy skills at international (global) levels (e.g. Cancun) as well as national and sub-national levels. African initiatives such as micro-finance, sand dams and faith-based entities such as the AACC require persistent, high levels of advocacy support if they are to be recognized and accorded national and international stature and credibility.

Responses to negative globalization call for "naming" our world, taking control of definitions, determining what constitutes or defines a problem’and being engaged with the search for solutions. If we don’t, others will do it on our behalf, to their own rather than to mutual advantage.

Economic issues in the context of globalization revolve around production and consumption; a community must produce enough to meet its needs and to generate a surplus with which to buy what it cannot produce: hence the need to increase what can be produced for ourselves and decrease our need to buy what we cannot produce.

In the globalization process, capital moves freely between countries while labor is restricted from such movement; thus the emergence of "illegal" or "underground" workers.

African economies benefit hugely from remittances sent by the African diaspora. But these resources have not been adequately recognized nor carefully directly to benefit African society at large. Nor have the contradictions and tensions created by the "brain drain" from Africa to industrialized countries been fully appreciated or debated by churches and civil societies in Africa as an element of the globalizing process.

Sand Dams

A participant (Mr. Polycarp Ochillo) identified the "global" aspects of the sand dam initiative. He has agreed to write up his observations in prose form and submit it as an addition to this report.

• shared knowledge
• the location in Kitui, Kenya, world
• conflict prevention
• food security
• health of the people
• employment
• income
• restoration of human dignity
• information is tested through writing of research papers
• innovation
• empowerment
• providing intellectual curiosity
• copyright
• wealth generation
• culture power
• capital accumulation

Gender Issues

Participants noted the unresolved tension between the requirements of respect for indigenous culture and the need to critique negative aspects of local culture.

Reflecting on the sand dam visit, participants observed that men were more visible and vocal than women. In response it was noted that ki-Kamba culture with regard to the role of women is changing, responding to ‘global pressures’. On the other hand, wa-Kamba women exercise considerable power, especially in the control and management of water. Their engagement in the sand dam initiative has been dominant. Wa-Kamba women control 90 percent of the market trading in the district.

A participant from Eritrea informed the seminar that the country is now at peace, that gender issues have been shaped by the extended liberation struggle. Today women comprise 30 percent of the members of parliament and hold four ministerial positions.

A participant drew attention to the fact that the seminar had given scarce attention to the exploration of the relationship between HIV/AIDS and globalization.

The issue of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and their relation to farming was raised. From the Utooni Development Project there was the example of active and conscious refusal to accept GMOs (seeds) and to maximize instead the use of agricultural inputs from local sources, including their own carefully selected composite maize seed stock.

Closing

Ms. Kinoti offered thanks to all who helped convene and conduct this seminar.

This report is based on the work of seminar rapporteurs Simon Kinyanjui and Brian Marete, PO Box 5343-00100-GPO, Nairobi, Kenya. It was augmented and edited by the organizers of the seminar, incorporating comments and observations offered by participants.