The organizations described above engage in a wide range of activities. Here are three detailed descriptions of typical development projects.
The Sustainable Mariculture Development Project in Tanzania
To support the ability of local people to establish stable food supplies and create steady employment, many development projects focus on agricultural issues. In 1999, USAID began an 18-month project to assist people in poor coastal regions of Tanzania in mariculture (marine agriculture) activities. People had begun to farm edible seaweed and shrimp, but problems cropped up over issues such as pollution and sharing of coastal space between various farming groups.
The project established by USAID provided funds for a detailed study of the specific problems and opportunities of Tanzanian mariculture activities and produced an integrated management plan that would allow the government to regulate these activities in a way that allowed for their growth while protecting the environment and the rights of individual farmers. With these findings, in 2005, USAID worked with the Tanzanian government and farmers to implement a new National Coastal Strategy.1
Provision for Steel Bridges in Rural Bangladesh
Physical infrastructure, particularly transportation, is also a key element in economic development. Farmers must be able to move their food to market, people must be able to travel from their homes to their places of work, and vital supplies must be able to move between points within a country. Rural development in Bangladesh has been a focus of the Bengali government in the past years, but because of poor road and bridge infrastructure many areas become inaccessible during rainy seasons.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) stepped in to provide transportation accessibility for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s population. JICA granted money for the procurement of 154 steel bridges. This was a much-needed lift for much of the Bengali population, whose dependence on the bridges can mean the difference between supplies and starvation during monsoon season. In 2002 it was estimated that more than 1000 bridges were still needed to make rural areas accessible year-round, but many of the direst areas received the help they needed through this program.2
Nura River Cleanup Project for Kazakhstan
Many recent development projects have been directed toward dealing with environmental problems associated with industrial contaminations. In particular, the states of the former Soviet Union suffer the effects of toxic contamination caused by years of poorly regulated industrial activities. This pollution can severely harm the development of a region as it makes living in certain areas dangerous to the local population and can cause frightening increases in human, animal, and plant diseases.
The Nura River Cleanup Project for Kazakhstan, funded by the World Bank, aims to improve the lives and futures of people living in the vicinity of the Nura River by reducing the high levels of mercury found in the water and surrounding soils. Specifically, the project allocated $40 million during 2003 and 2004 to excavate contaminated soils and move them to secure storage facilities, improve a local dam to allow for better control of river flow to reduce further water contamination, and set up systems to provide continuing maintenance of contamination levels in local water and soils. By making the area safer for local people, the project will contribute to economic and social development in the region.3
Currently, the Nura River cleanup Project has a projected cost of $67.8 million and is expected to end on June 30, 2010. The focus on environmental safety has shifted to more diversified interests in the area, including industry, trade, agriculture, irrigation and drainage, sanitation, flood protection, and administration. The project is expected to create safer communities in the area and allow people to develop without fear of safety or contamination.4
However, at the same time, concerns over the project remain. Implementation for the project is slated to begin in the fall of 2009, but there have been few signs of progress in the past five years. Very little social programming and community awareness about the project have been provided by the World Bank or local agencies. The lack of public participation on the project can lead to several more issues down the road once the execution phase is in progress, like poor mitigation and less effective change in water sustainability and safety for the people of Kazakhstan.5
Here is another example of a development project:
1 USAID Water Team “Sustainable Mariculture Development.” 2 “Transportation: Bangladesh.” 3 World Bank “Nura River Clean-Up Project.” 4 ibid. 5 Dana Sadykova “Mercury Rising: The World Bank and the Nura River Clean-Up."
1 USAID Water Team “Sustainable Mariculture Development.”2 “Transportation: Bangladesh.”3 World Bank “Nura River Clean-Up Project.”4 ibid. 5 Dana Sadykova “Mercury Rising: The World Bank and the Nura River Clean-Up."
