May 08, 2007

Overselling Results

by Laura Starita

A constant feature of the international philanthropy landscape is the debate over approaches. On one side of the debate are the “open markets” proponents, who argue that the only sustainable anti-poverty approach is based on business growth and free markets. Others argue that developing countries need massive improvements in public health, education and infrastructure before businesses can grow and compete.

One of the most charismatic figureheads of the latter philosophy is Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, former director of the U.N. Millennium Development Project and author of The End of Poverty. Sachs’ basic position is that disease management, access to clean water, food security and education are all necessary all at once, before sustained development can occur. He is testing these theories in so-called Millennium Villages, one of the most high-profile of which is Sauri, Kenya. Based on theory and two years of evidence from Sauri, Sachs is expanding his Millennium Village program to many other locations across the African continent. Yet a recent article in Harper’s Magazine titled “The Continuation of Poverty” suggests these theories have been tried before (and failed) and short-term results from Sauri are circumstantial, not typical. Even worse, the article claims that the average Sauri citizen is not better off than before.

This article makes two very good points, one intentional, the other not. On the intentional side, it points to the importance of good and sustainable results as the basis for a program’s success and expansion. Sauri is heralded as a success story, yet this success judgment is determined by two years of data, a period in which there were better-than-average rains and the agricultural output was facilitated with chemical fertilizers (which is not part of the general program). It is too soon to say whether the program is a failure, despite the cynical implication of the article’s title. Yet given its lofty goals, it is also too soon to trumpet it as a success.

On the unintentional side, the article shows the conundrum development experts face in balancing practical execution with the international community’s short attention span. The article shows Sachs touring Sauri with international leaders, a.k.a. the money. The money needs to feel like it is getting value, but any project of such a scope needs many years before that value can be proven. Is there any wonder, then, that he’s selling more than he’s actually sown?

The greatest danger for all of us is that Sachs’ overselling makes cynics of a whole generation of possible donors.