There has been much praise recently for the role of mosquito nets in reducing the spread of malaria, and decreasing infant mortality rates worldwide. As a result, poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America have been inundated with donor- funded mosquito net programs that provide free mosquito nets to local communities in an effort to decrease mortality rates among children. While it is clear that disease-carrying mosquitoes are a serious problem and that mosquito nets are an effective form of reducing incidences of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, I question the long term effectiveness of donor- funded mosquito net distribution programs to solve this crisis.
The reason for my lukewarm reception to donor- funded mosquito nets lies in recent studies that have shown that the proliferation of mosquito nets from foreign donors into local communities has run many local suppliers of mosquito nets out of business. Why? Because why pay for something that you can get for free? Even websites targeted at younger people such as Myspace, are touting the importance of mosquito nets and offering their followers a chance to purchase nets for $10 from factories in Pennsylvania. While this may seem like a helpful solution, the consequences are dire. Once viable rural businesses are going bankrupt, and entrepreneurs, whose small and micro mosquito net enterprises once provided a steady source of income, can no longer feed themselves and their families.
In her book Dead Aid, Dr. Dambisa Moyo provides an alternative. Rather than donor agencies acquiring mosquito nets abroad and then giving them away in the recipient country, she posits that a more functional and sustainable alternative would be for aid agencies to purchase nets from local suppliers and then distribute them to communities in need. Doing so would provide markets for suppliers and help stop the spread of malaria and other mosquito born diseases…a win- win for all.
While this is clearly a complex and multi-dimensional issue whose scope reaches beyond the bounds of this article, I raise it because this is yet another example of how charitable aid needs to be reexamined if it is to be effective. The provision of mosquito nets to the poor seems like a great idea. But upon closer examination, the distribution of mosquito nets by donor agencies is thwarting small business development in poor communities and running poor entrepreneurs out of business, exacerbating the very poverty that lends itself to the spread of malaria and other preventable diseases in the first place. It’s time to question every “solution” that arises to solve global issues, and take long term consequences, rather than short-term goodwill into account when shaping what we believe to be smart philanthropy.
(c) Alicia Kingue, 2009. All rights reserved
photo credit: Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment