Richard W. Franke

Kerala State, India: Radical Reform as Development:

Kerala State in southwestern India has achieved some of the third worlds best rates of life expectancy, literacy, and infant mortality, despite one of the lowest per capita incomes. Especially notable is the nearly equal distribution of development benefits to urban, rural, male, female, high-caste, and low-caste sections of the populations. An even population distribution, a cosmopolitan trading history, and the development of militant worker and small farmer organizations led by dedicated activists provide the main explanations for Keralas achievements. Land reform has redistributed wealth and political power from a rich elite to small holders and landless laborers. Public food distribution at controlled prices, large-scale public health actions, accessible medical facilities, and widespread literacy combine with and reinforce each other to maintain and expand Keralas achievements. Serious unemployment threatens the Kerala experiment, but Kerala nonetheless offers important lessons to development planners, policymakers, and third world activists.

Kerala State, India: Radical Reform as Development

Kerala State in southwestern India has achieved some of the third worlds best rates of life expectancy, literacy, and infant mortality, despite one of the lowest per capita incomes. Especially notable is the nearly equal distribution of development benefits to urban, rural, male, female, high-caste, and low-caste sections of the populations. An even population distribution, a cosmopolitan trading history, and the development of militant worker and small farmer organizations led by dedicated activists provide the main explanations for Keralas achievements. Land reform has redistributed wealth and political power from a rich elite to small holders and landless laborers. Public food distribution at controlled prices, large-scale public health actions, accessible medical facilities, and widespread literacy combine with and reinforce each other to maintain and expand Keralas achievements. Serious unemployment threatens the Kerala experiment, but Kerala nonetheless offers important lessons to development planners, policymakers, and third world activists.

Mode of production and population patterns: policy implications for West African development.

Recent developments in population theory have made possible a re-examination of demographic evidence from West Africa which suggests that population growth and migration are primarily responses to changes in the nature of the production system. Precolonial, colonial, and independence period data provide a series of correlations consistent with the approach and suggest a possible new synthesis of the West African data. The poorest countries of West Africa are those bordering on the Sahara Desert, known as the “Sahel” region. In response to the drought and famine in that region from 1968–1974, numerous proposals have been made for increased attention to reducing population growth. The analysis presented in this paper leads to the conclusion that population policies other than those attempting to lower the birth rate are called for. These would include relocation of populations previously displaced by colonial labor migrations and the re-integration of herding and farming production systems, both of which policies should be considered as population policies. Data are presented from specific projects underway in Senegal, Mauritania, and Mali, to illustrate the argument.

Decentralization of health services: the Kerala People's Campaign.

The 1996–2001 Kerala Peoples Campaign for Decentralized Planning has provided much new information about the possibilities and potential of decentralizing public health and health care services. Analysis of investment patterns of the various government levels involved in the campaign, supplemented with case study materials, allows for an evaluation of the decentralization project against its own stated goals. These included (1) creating a functional division among government levels appropriate to the health tasks each level can best perform; (2) generating projects that reflect the felt needs of the people, as voiced through local participatory assemblies; (3) maintaining or increasing levels of equality in health, especially with regard to income, caste, and gender; (4) stimulating communities to mobilize voluntary resources to supplement devolved public funds; (5) stimulating communities to create innovative programs that could become models for others; and (6) making the health services function more effectively overall. The analysis supports the conclusion that the campaign achieved each of the goals to a large degree. Shortcomings arose from the inexperience of many local communities in drafting effective projects as well as problems deriving from the fact that some sections of the health bureaucracy could not be decentralized. Lessons of the campaign are already being applied to new programs in Kerala.

Kerala: Radical Reform as Development in an Indian State.@@@The Challenge of South Asia: Development, Democracy and Regional Cooperation.

Kerala, a state in southwestern India, has implemented radical reform as a development strategy. As a result, Kerala now has some of the Third Worlds highest levels of health, education, and social justice. Originally published in 1989, this book traces the role that movements of social justice played in Keralas successful struggle to redistribute wealth and power. A 21-page introduction updates the earlier edition. This book underlines the following positive lessons that the Kerala experience offers to developing countries: Radical reforms deliver benefits to the poor even when per capita incomes remain low. Popular movements and militant progressive organizations with dedicated leaders are necessary to initiate and sustain reform. Despite their other benefits, radical reforms cannot necessarily create employment or raise per capita income. Local reformers are restricted by national politics. Public distribution of food is a highly effective policy in poor agrarian economies. Devoting significant resources to public health can bring about low infant mortality, high life expectancy, and low birth rates even when incomes are low. Widespread literacy and educational opportunities can help create a more just and open social order. Meaningful land reform can reduce inequalities and give resources to the poor. Wage and working-condition laws can help effect more equitable resource distribution even in a poor economy. Greater socioeconomic equality can lead to lower levels of violence and a healthier social and political environment. Women can benefit from radical reforms not aimed at them, but special attention must eventually be given to their needs. Progressive forces, including Communist parties, can play a major positive role in benefiting very poor Third World citizens. Radical reforms can shield the poor against recessions. Contains over 200 references. (TD)

Food and famine: Looking for answers

White, Philip, and Nancy Selvey, eds. Current Topics in Nutrition and Disease, Volume 10: Malnutrition—Determinants and Consequences. New York: Alan R. Liss, 1984. xvi + 494 pp. including references, index.

Seeds of Famine: Ecological Destruction and the Development Dilemma in the West African Sahel

96.00 cloth. Robson, John R. K., ed. Famine: Its Causes, Effects, and Management. New York: Gordon and Breach, 1981. x + 170 pp. including photographs, references, index.

Local democracy and development : people's campaign for decentralized planning in Kerala

30.95 cloth.