Book Reviews 95
destroyed. Their mode of production is invalid. The future has to lie both in
urbanisation,and in rural revival, built on very different productive forms. The Horn
of Africa is in no hurry to discover these new forms. It may well be that in socialism
some of die answers will be found, despite Markakis's doubts. The vast intellectual
and economic powerhouse of die west will undoubtedly play a part too. The solution
will still be African. Until dien, Markakis's description will hold true: die "starving,
homeless multitude were now counted in millions" (p xv).
Reviewed by Renfrew Christie, University of Cape Town.
Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugees, B E Harrell-Bond, OUP,
Oxford, 1986 (440pp, price not given).
This book is an appraisal of assistance programmes to Ugandan refugees who crossed
into Southern Sudan in 1982. The publication of die book was very timely in view of
die currency of refugee issues in Africa, and die rapid increase in die incidence of
forced migration. The vast majority of refugees and displaced persons in Africa are in
rural areas and had, until recently, escaped die scrutiny of researchers and academics.
This book is one of dlose rare instances of such scrutiny.
Although many voluntary humanitarian aid agencies have rallied to help in
instances of tragic involuntary mass movements of people, the assistance offered in
such cases has rarely been questioned. Usually, questioning such seemingly necessary
aid could be regarded as inhuman, since one would be asked whether one would
rather see death due to hunger than humanitarian aid. What is being questioned in
this book is definitely not the advent of aid itself, but how it is delivered and the extent
to which the recipients are involved in decisions that affect their lives.
The tide of this book is most telling and makes no pretence to neutrality. The
stance taken, right from die start, provokes even the 'converted' to furdier question
die benefits of aid. The perspective adopted is dear and the frankness is humbling.
The book is divided into two parts. The introduction (27 pages) gives a clear and
succinct background to the study and clearly exposes some of the assumptions diat
have hitherto dominated discussion on the behaviour of refugees and responses to
need by aid agencies. The introduction, therefore, puts die reader in a frame of mind
to absorb the remainder of the detail.
Part of the book describes the 'patterns of flight' by Ugandans, the characteristics
Df their settlements and the demographic features of the refugee population. Part two
of the book looks at die reaction of aid agencies and die impact of die delivery
systems. In this book, the author destroys the major assumptions on refugee
behaviour and exposes die subdeties of human need in contrast to the intentions of
aid agencies. The revelations from die study could be quite disturbing to those who
believe strongly in the intentions of humanitarianism and those who have given
selflessly to diis cause.
The book is of practical value not only to researchers (who could find inspiration
in the innovative methodology) but also to practitioners and implementers of aid
agency policies. For die latter group the book may be threatening in that it questions
dieir selflessness. The writer, however, maintains diat diis was not die major
intention of die book. It is stressed in several parts of the book that if cutting back of
96 Book Reviews
aid results from the reporting of the research findings, then the book would have
failed in its endeavour to alter the modes of delivery.
The involvement of refugees themselves in gathering data, and the focus on participatory
methods, is an innovation which is both new and progressive. Dr
Harrell-Bond is, however, very frank about the methodological weaknesses inherent
in some of the methods of research used. This awareness of limitations of research
brings credibility to the major findings of her study.
The appendices contained at the end of the main text (74 pages) are as informative
as the text itself, especially the inclusion of the message of ICARA II which gives
added value to the book and places it in proper perspective.
Although this book contains a lot of valuable research experience and findings, its
length could reduce readership among the less academically oriented relief workers,
most of whom would benefit immensely from the findings of Dr Harrell-Bond's
study. Some of the detail makes inspiring reading to social scientists, but may put off
those that seek clear indications of ways to improve their service delivery. Parts of the
book express very personalised experiences of the author and these may not appeal
very much to those that do not share similar frames of reference.
The above comments are, however, not intended to discourage readership but
instead to indicate how intrigued the present writer was at reading through the book.
It was a rewarding experience and the book is recommended to anyone who cares
about the participation of recipients of aid in decisions about the delivery of assistance.
Reviewed by Stella Tendai Makanya, School of Social Work, Harare.
Conservation in Africa — People, Policies and Practice, David Anderson and
Richard Grove (eds), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987 (355pp, £35,
US$54,50 hbk).
This book's stated aim is to take an inter-disciplinary look at the practice and policies
of conservation in Africa. By so doing it hopes to shed some light on the important
social context of conservation. The book provides a solid case for the interrelatedness
of conservation and human development and searches for a model that is
complementary rather than competitive in approach.
Contributions from sixteen writers are split into four sections each with an
introductory chapter. The chapters in Part One deal with past and present conservation
ideologies in Africa; from the introduction of conservation legislation in the
Cape Colony in the mid-nineteenth century to the present debates about the need for
new forms of conservation policy. Part Two of the book considers conservation in the
context of wildlife and game parks, and in relation to African pastoralists who make
use of those same rangelands. Part Three looks at conservation priorities for rural
communities, with chapters dealing with indigenous and imposed resource management
systems. Finally in Part Four, conservation is considered in its present
relationship to development and a plea is made for more local democratic participation
in the management of the resources which are held 'in common ' (soil, water,
grass, trees, wildlife).
Environmental crisis and demographic collapse are scarcely new to Africa, despite
the western media image of an Africa that has changed from 'Tarzan's Garden of
Eden', a century ago, to the brink of a population and resource crisis today. The