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SELF-FINANCING, ECOLOGICAL, SUSTAINABLE, LOCAL INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FOR THE WORLD’S POOR

 

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Edition 10: 28 February, 2011

Edition 11 : 15 August, 2011.

 

(FRANÇAIS)

MENU FOR DEVELOPMENT AID MINISTRIES


CREATIVE PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO POVERTY REDUCTION.

This website provides simple, down-to-earth practical solutions to poverty- and development-related problems. It sets out step by step how the solutions are put into effect. By  following the steps, users can draft their own advanced ecological sustainable integrated development projects and apply for their seed financing. Social, financial, productive and service structures are set up in a critical order of sequence and carefully integrated with each other. That way, cooperative, interest-free, inflation-free local economic environments are formed in project areas. Local initiative and true competition are then free to flourish there.

More information :

Click here for a very simple summary of a typical integrated development project.

Click here to see an  executive summary which provides a short analysis of a typical integrated development project.

Click here to see the Model itself, a standard project index. 

Click here to see a full-year e-learning course at post-masters level for the Diploma in Integrated Development ( Dip. Int. Dev.)  The course is available on-line for use by all. Anyone interested can follow the full course free of charge. The Diploma in Integrated Development ( Dip. Int. Dev.) itself is awarded only to students following the course with tutor support, against payment for tutorship on a costs-recovery basis. Diploma graduates qualify to lead integrated development projects and to train others. Just reading the course material provides full information on the concepts and methods the Model is based on. 

Click here to see a new section of the course on how to finance integrated development projects using the CDM mechanisms (Kyoto Protocol)

 

 

POLICY IMPLICATIONS.

 

The structures created during the execution of each project have many policy implications. These are described in the paper Policy implications of an innovative model for self-financing ecological sustainable development for the world's poor.  The social, financial, and service structures of each project alone create permanent occupations for about 4.000 people, which is about 10% of the adult population in the project area. Unemployment there should be eliminated within two years of the creation of the project structures.

 

 

PROJECT STRUCTURES.

 

Integrated development projects are anthropologically justified. Projects under the Model are structured for communities of about 10000 households (50000 users), providing a wide range of goods and services and a local market to consume them. (Aristotle and  the Greek City State). Individual community members remain close to all project structures and are free to participate in them. This type of structure arose about 3.500 years ago.

 

There are about 35-40 intermediate administrative structures each with 1500-2000 inhabitants, with some specialisation of tasks. These are called well commissions. This type of structure arose about 7.500 years ago.

 

There are about 250 local administrative units, each with about 150-250 people. These are called tank commissions. This type of structure formed about 13.000 years ago in Mesopotamia and is based on the family clan or tribe. Many structures in industrialised countries still reflect this three-tiered structure, which is linked with the development of human social contacts and abilities and, possibly, with the size of the human brain. 

 

All structures created in each project area operate on all three anthropological levels. They are created in a critical order of sequence.

 

The first structures to be created are the social structures, starting with health clubs permitting women to organise and vote en bloc at meetings; then the tank commissions, then the well commissions, then the central committee or project parliament. The financial structures follow, starting with the local money (LETS) system, then the interest-free cost-free cooperative micro-credit system, then the cooperative purchasing groups. Once the first two financial structures are in place, productive structures can be set up to make items needed for the planned services, including distributed drinking water and sanitation services.

 

For a short summary, see the Powerpoint presentation on the basic project structures.  For full  details please refer to block four : the structures to be created of the Diploma course.

 

 

FINANCIAL ASPECTS.

 

Each project in non-pastoralist areas costs about € 5.000.000, of which 25% is provided by the inhabitants themselves by way of work carried out under local money systems set up in an early phase of project execution. This leaves a formal money (Euros) initial financial requirement of about  € 3.750.000 per project. Projects in pastoralist areas cost about € 7.000.000 each of which 20% is provided by the inhabitants themselves. This leaves a formal money (Euros) initial financial requirement for pastoralist areas of about € 5.600.000 per project. The difference between pastoralist and non-pastoralist areas is determined by the additional drinking water and food supply requirements of herds in pastoralist areas.

 

For budget purposes, the participation of the local people (expressed in hours of work under the local money system) is converted into Euros at an agreed rate for each eight-hour working day. This rate is usually Euro 3. Where initial seed capital (respectively € 3.750.000  or  € 5.600.000 per project) is not available by way of grant, project applications can be self-financing, subject to an interest-free seed loan repayable in 10 years.

 

Initial capital investments are covered and repaid where necessary by the populations in two ways.

 

The first way is through a menu of 13 applications for CDM finance under the Kyoto Protocol. For full information on this please refer to Kyoto Protocol : Analysis of  possibilities for finance. Indications are that net CDM income per project could be to the order of € 24.000.000, enabling standard projects ( initial capital € 3.750.000) to be repaid by the end of the sixth year of operation on the basis of CDM income for the first five years, and projects in pastoralist areas (initial capital    5.600.000) to be repaid by the end of the eighth year of operation on the basis of CDM income for the first seven years. 

 

The second (backup) way of financing integrated development projects is through the Local Cooperative Development Fund set up in each project area. The beneficiary populations make a monthly payment of (at least Euro 3 per family of five) into this fund. The very poor, sick and handicapped can be subsidised under a three-tiered social security system set up for that purpose. The money in the fund is systematically recycled interest-free to the local users for micro-credits for productive investments amounting in all to at least € 16.000.000 (or € 1.500 per family) over the first ten year period. The fund is organised so that the amount in it is sufficient to repay the initial interest-free capital investment in a single lump sum after the first ten year operational cycle.  In case of payment, the amount in the Cooperative Local Development Fund drops temporarily back to zero. The families continue to make their monthly contributions to the Fund, so the amount in the Fund gradually builds up again during the second ten years period as it did in the first, and is again recycled interest-free for micro-credits for  productivity development until it is needed to pay for capital extensions and capital goods replacements after twenty years. At that  point, the Fund dips back to zero again and slowly builds up again during the third ten-year period and so on in an inherently permanently sustainable way.

 

Interest-free, cost-free, micro-finance is provided through the interest-free cooperative micro-credit structures in each project area. Micro-credit loans typically amount to at least €1,500 for each family in each period of ten years. This is a conservative evaluation based on an average two years’ payback period.

 

For illustrations of the micro-credit system proposed, please refer to :

 

Illustration of the micro-credits system.

How the original grant of seed-loan is used.

Illustration of the interest-free loan cycle.

 

For full details on the economic aspects of integrated development projects, please refer to Block 8 : Economic aspects of  the Diploma Course.

 

Detailed work on the mechanics of the present monetary system and monetary reform proposals supporting the financial and economic aspects of integrated development projects can be accessed at the homepage of www.integrateddevelopment.org in the section New Horizons for Economics : How our Financial System actually works and how to correct it.  This work includes a three-dimensional drawing showing the DNA of the debt-based financial system.

 

 

BUILT-IN PROTECTION FOR FUNDING PARTIES.

 

Innovative means for the protection of the investments made by funding parties have been incorporated in the Model. Exposure of investors at any one point of project execution is limited. This is made possible through the layering, or sequential order of creation, of the various project structures. Work on next following structures does not take place until the preceding structures are in place and in operation.

 

The new capital content of project structures tends to increase with progress in project execution. The first (the social and financial) structures to be set up have relatively low formal money capital content.

 

The second (the productive) structures have an intermediate level of capital content.

 

The last (the service) structures, and especially the distributed drinking water structures, have the highest level of capital content. By the time the service structures are to be installed, most of the work on them can be done under the local money system, operational costs and formal money reserves for maintenance and long-term replacement are already being collected, and local production of items necessary for the service structures is already under way.

 

 

PREPARATORY FORMALITIES.

 

Several formalities need to be completed before a project can proceed to an executive phase. They pass from initial partnership declarations to the formation of a working group whose task it is to set NGOs up for the execution of the project and for on-going management of the project structures. The management NGO is transferred to the local population as soon as the planned project social and financial structures are in operation. Ownership of the structures set up by the project is transferred to the management NGO as the structures become operational.

 

For more details refer to section illustration of  the formal steps necessary to get project execution started.

 

A cooperative formed by a consortium usually including the local council, one or more local NGOs with direct access to the local populations, and one or more national and/or international development NGOs is responsible for project execution. For information on this cooperative see : statutes of the NGO responsible for project execution.  For still more detail see file :  Cooperative for project execution. 

 

 

THE COSTS OF INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT.

 

Formal money interest-free or gift investments of €75 per person would involve a total investment of  €337.500.000 for a country, such as Togo, with a population of 4.500.000 inhabitants for a complete package of basic services for a good quality of life for all. To provide for the poorest 2 billion inhabitants of the earth an amount of  €150 billion would be needed.

 

€150 billion is roughly four times the INCREASE (US$ 48 billion) in the defence budget of the United States in 2002. [1]. It is the cost of six months’ war in Iraq.[2] It is the purchase price of 850 Joint Strike fighters. [3] It is THREE MONTHS’ United States trade deficit (US$ 60 billion per month) [4]. It is half of the subsidies paid to western farmers in 2001 (US$ 350 billion).[5] It is just twice the annual contributions of OECD donor countries for development aid in 2006, including debt relief (US$ 103,9 billion).[6]  It is 6% of the money provided by donor countries for development aid over the last 50 years (US$ 2.300 billion). [7]

 

 (Sources quoted)

 

1. U.S. Military Transformation, Center for Defense Information, Washington, 31 January 2002.

2. Leonhardt D, What US$ 1.2 Trillion Can Buy, New York Times, 17 January 2007.  Associated Press report 9 July 2007 from Washington D.C. citing  Congressional Research Service calculations for $610 billion for U.S. Congress authorised financing of the Iraq war.    

3. Dutch Rekenkamer-JSF an expensive investment, Sdu government  information service, 11 October 2006 (costs Euro 14.600.000.000 for 85 planes).

4. Foreign Trade Statistics, FT900 : U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, U.S. Census Bureau, Release 8 June 2007.

5. Watkins K. Eight broken promises, Oxfam briefing paper 9, Oxfam International, Washington, 2001 (US$ 350 billion in 2001).

6. OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, press release “Development Aid from OECD countries fell 5.1% in 2006”, Paris, 3 April 2007

7. Easterly, William, The White Man’s Burden – Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest have Done so much Ill and so Little Good, Penguin Press, London, 2006.

 

Since the seed money for projects under the Model does not even have to be by way of grant, it is clear that the proposed solution to the poverty issue world-wide is not a financial problem.

 

 

COSTS AND BENEFITS.

 

Integrated development projects bring about a general mobilisation of the local populations in each project area. Real annual benefits are several times the total cost of the initial capital investment in the projects. 

 

Total potential annual benefits amount to more than € 15.000.000 a year plus the benefits of the use of the local money system and of  the fruit, nuts and bamboo shoots and products  consumed. This is 3-4 times the initial capital investment.  Conservatively estimating just 30% of the potential, the project should therefore be returning its total initial capital input costs to the populations annually within two years of completion of all the project structures. This is four years from the start of project execution.

 

The costs and benefits are described in the simple summary of a typical integrated development project.

 

They include :

 

Agriculture and food security : Savings for food importation Euro 6.387.500 per year;  CDM (Kyoto) application fruit and nut trees up to a total of Euro 6.590.000 over 50 years (average € 131.800 a year) plus the fruit and nuts; CDM (Kyoto) application bamboo plantations up to a total of Euro 1.470.000 over 7 years (average € 210.000 a year) plus bamboo shoots and value added from bamboo products; CDM (Kyoto) application Moringa (horseradish) plantations € 646.800 over 3 years (average € 215.600 a year). The expected total annual benefits in the agriculture and food sector amount to € 6.944.900, plus the value of fruit, nuts, and bamboo shoots consumed.

 

Ecology, conservation and energy : Potential sale value of extra standing timber Euro 178.000 per year; savings in fertilisers Euro 217.000 per year; reforestation of local forest lands parks and reserves under the Kyoto protocol for a total of up to Euro 10.500.000 over 50 years (average € 210.000 a year); small scale local production of bio-fuels for local use Euro 550.000 per year; CO2 reduction through reduced use of bio-mass under the CDM mechanism up to Euro 7.476.000 over 21 years ( average € 356.000 a year); substitution of non-renewable with renewable biomass under the CDM mechanism up to Euro 3.822.000 over 21 years (annual average Euro 182.000). The expected total annual benefits in the ecology, conservation and energy sector amount to € 1.693.000.

 

Finance : Reduction in the costs for the purchase of wood (or alternative fuels) for cooking, Euro 730.000 per year; savings in formal money interest and costs in connection with the operation of the Cooperative Local Development Fund, Euro 520.000 a year. No attempt is made to monetise the vast benefits deriving from the widespread use of the local money system set up in each project area.  The expected total annual benefits in the finance sector therefore amount to € 1.250.000 plus the benefits from the use of the local money system.

 

Health : Reduction of costs of medical treatment for water-borne diseases, Euro 500.000 per year; productivity increase due to reduction of illness due to water-borne diseases, Euro 450.000 per year;  reduction in the costs of treating suffering from hunger, due to inadequate hygiene and smoke in and around homes, Euro 250.000 per year; reduction of 50% in the costs of treatment for malaria, Euro 100.000 per year;  increase of productivity due to reduction in the number of cases of malaria, Euro 90.000 per year; reduction in the cost of urgent transportation of sick family members to hospital, Euro 190.000. The expected total annual benefits in the health sector amount to € 1.490.000.

 

Water and sanitation : Water points at 100m. from homes, Euro 1.095.000 per year; benefits from local washing places, Euro 624.000 per year. The expected total annual benefits in the water and sanitation sector amount to € 1.719.000.

 

Women’s rights : Elimination of the need to fetch firewood, Euro 374.400 a year;  introduction of mills, Euro 1.642.500 a year. The expected total annual benefits in the women’s rights sector amount to € 2.016.900.

 

For full information on the costs and benefits of integrated development projects, please refer to Sect. 3 : Costs and benefits analysis  of  Block 8 : Economic aspects of the Diploma Course.

 

More specifically :

 

Costs and benefits analysis  : introduction.

Costs and benefits analysis : details.

 

WOMEN’S RIGHTS.

 

Integrated development projects fully comply with the terms of all international declarations relating to women’s rights. A majority participation of women in the management of all project structures at all levels is guaranteed. The workload on women is strongly reduced. Their health conditions are improved, and they receive full access to all education facilities available in the project area. Use of  the local money system and the cooperative interest-free micro-credit structures set up enable women to increase their income and, where desired, achieve financial independence.

 

For more details, see the file on women’s rights.  Still more information on the relationship between integrated development projects and the rights of women can be found in Section 1: Gender of the course for the Diploma in Integrated Development.

 

 

ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS AND SUSTAINABILITY.

 

Integrated development projects are fully sustainable. Click the file ecological aspects to see how the project concepts allow for energy-neutral structures, a wide use of alternative energy technologies, and the conservation of the natural resources in project areas. More information on the relationship between integrated development projects and the protection of the environment is available in Section 5: Sustainability of the course for the Diploma in Integrated Development.

 

Click on Kyoto Protocol : Analysis of  possibilities for finance to see how a menu of 13 CDM methodologies ensure that projects are CO2 neutral . The methodologies can be applied during project execution whether or not finance is made available under the Kyoto protocol.

 

The on-going management of project structures is also fully sustainable. As social, financial, productive and service structures are created during project execution they are taken over by the local cooperative for the on-going management of the project structures. For full information on the management of project structures, click to see details on the division of responsibilities amongst  the three administrative levels in each project area.

  

 

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND FOOD SECURITY.

 

Integrated development projects cover management of communal lands. Waste recycling structures include the recycling of urine, composted faeces, and other organic solids with grey water. This alone ensures sufficient production of a varied diet even in times of drought and crisis. The menu of 13 CDM methodologies to be adopted includes extensive planting of fruit and nut trees, bamboo (shoots for food), and horseradish for vegetable oils and edible “spinach” leaves during the dry season. A three-tiered system of cooperative plant nurseries and seed banks is set up for local use. Structures for the local production of biomass for mini-briquettes for cooking are created. Water supply structures include distributed clean drinking water, rainwater harvesting, the recycling of grey water, and water conservation methods for forests and  agricultural lands.

 

Click here for more information agricultural production and food security.

 

 

LOGICAL PROJECT FRAMEWORK.

 

For a general overview of a typical project application under the Model see : logical framework.

 

 

REPLICATION POTENTIAL.

 

Each integrated development project  is based on a population of about 50.000 people, and in each project area structures are organised in three anthropologically justified levels.

 

About 20 individual projects are therefore needed for each 1.000.000 inhabitants.

 

By way of example, a sub-regional plan for the integrated development of West Africa under the auspices of the Organisation of West African States (ECOWAS, French UEMOA) excluding Nigeria and Ghana would involve about 2.500 projects. Execution of integrated development plans for Nigeria and Ghana together would involve another 2.500 projects.

 

Depending on accessibility and population densities, detailed district, regional, and national integrated development plans can be prepared for just a few Euro cents per inhabitant. Students and NGO members drafting project documentations automatically qualify to act as project coordinators for the individual projects they have drafted.

 

Each integrated development project sets up an autonomous, interest-free, inflation-free, cooperative local economy system. Subject to availability of finance, there is no limit to the number of projects which can be executed contemporaneously.

 

A perspective for the rapid achievement of the Millennium Goals is therefore created.

 

Click here to see an introduction complete with diagrams to regional planning.

 

Click here to see an introduction complete with diagrams to national planning.

Some examples of regional and national plan proposals.

CONVERSION OF TRADITIONAL PROJECT STRUCTURES INTO FULLY SUSTAINABLE  ONES. 

Many existing development projects have already failed or risk failure because they are not fully sustainable over a longer term. This is often because an appropriate framework of enabling social, financial, and productive structures under which management and maintenance costs and long-term replacements of capital goods can be carried out is missing. 

The social, financial, productive and service structures foreseen in the Model for integrated development projects can be built around structures set up under traditional projects to create  cooperative, interest-free, inflation-free local economic environments in the project areas. This way several thousand employment opportunities can be created in each project area and large amounts of on-going formal money costs saved.  On-going financial leakage from project areas,  typical of traditional development projects, is blocked. The small amount of formal money reaching the project areas is, wherever possible, retained and continually recycled there.