My bed nets post has gotten me thinking more about the issue people are raising with the status quo of aid today - that it inhibits the ability of local capacity to develop and to find local solutions to the problem. 

There's a lot to be said for this argument.  Western NGOs sweeping in like white knights and moving on to the next development fad du jour, particularly when they wipe out local producers, leave developing countries without the capacity to solve their problems over the long term.  And certainly no one's going to argue against the importance of the information that the people on the ground have access to, which is critical to finding innovative solutions to these problems.

But what I don't agree with is the idea that these organizations aren't doing a lot of good today, or that Africa would be better off if they just disappeared.  The fact of the matter is capacity and resources in developing countries is an enormous constraint to solving these problems.  I can't help but ask myself, how long would it take for local capacity on par with what Western NGOs are doing today to develop?  How many people might die in the meantime?  Where would the money come from? 

I'm inclined to believe there's a balanced approach that meets short term needs while building local capacity for the long term.  There must be ways to solve these problems while better integrating the two sides. 

I think the solution lies in getting capacity building higher on the agenda for donors.  Multilaterals, foundations, and NGOs employ people with valuable skills that can be transfered to the local population.  In Liberia for example, capacity below the minister level is limited.  The Scott Fellows program brings in young professionals just graduating from master's programs to support the ministers and transfer skills to rest of the government.  (I know there are issues with technical assistance, which I have not studied enough.  I need to reconcile this with my intuition here).

I know I'll be thinking about making sure that local capacity to innovate is built in parallel to technology infrastructure in Liberia this summer.