EDITORIAL
THISISSUESEESTHE completion of a process that began two years ago, to
make the Journal of Social Development
in Africa more reader-friend-
ly. The editorial board has kept the bright orange colour of the cover
but introduced two new elements. The cover displays a dawn sky in a
forest, symbolizing development and
msasa (brachystegia
a bright future. The logo on the back cover consists of our acronym
over a carved wooden Asante seat from classical Ghanaian culture. The
seat, called Sankofa Dwa, with a backward-looking sankofa bird, depicts
"learning from the past". These two elements symbolize the aim and
hopes of contemporary African scholarship. To ensure the contents
can still be quickly scanned by readers, we have placed them on the
back page against an orange background.

spiciformis)

We have also added an explanded "Notes for contributors" at the

end of the journal.

We are in the process of inviting new members on to our editorial
board and editorial advisory board. While warmly thanking outgoing
members for their work and contribution to the journal over the past
years, we are pleased to welcome the following new members:Dr.Victor
Muzvidziwa to the editorial board and Profs. RichardWintersteen,Lynne
Healey and Lena Dominelli to the editorial advisory board. The editor
would like to thank these new members for their help in the preparation
of this issue.

Another change to be noted isthat the Journal of Social Development
in Africa is making preparations to produce an on-line version on the
Internet. This is intended to be available on subscription to all our
current subscribers, but, in keeping with our aims of promoting African
scholarship,
the Internet version will be freely available to African
university libraries. We hope this process will be completed in 2002.

This issue of the Journal of Social Development

in Africa contains
two articles that examine different aspects of development. One, by
Kenneth Dipholo, provides an overview of changes in development
theory in the last few decades. The first model of development, based
on a discredited belief that fast overall macroeconomic growth would

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create conditions for social development, was met with unparalleled
lack of success and is accused by many of being largely responsible for
the unprecedented poverty in Africa today. Dipholo outlines the merits
of the alternative notion of participatory development but warns that
together with the difficulties
entrenched interests in local bureaucracies,
of implementing participatory development
seriously, may prove an
obstacle to this new model of development.

in providing the charitable services

The other, by Kalada McFubara, considers reasons for the lack of
performance of indigenous and local non-government
organizations
and compares their situation and their relationship with foreign non-
governmental organizations. Local non-governmental organizations are
not successful
required by the
community. McFubara analyses the reasons for this and offers a remedy.
He believes that structural
relationship would render these local organizations more accountable
to their clients and thus, more trusted. As a consequence, he believes,
they would develop more appropriate attitudes and forms of activity
that would help local communities and enlarge their resource base.

reorganization

of the client-recipient

Keitseope Nthomang and Joseph Rono analyse two social problems.
Nthomang shows that the fact that the Bushmen in southern African
countries, particularly in Botswana, are not accorded "indigenous"
status is part of a process. Colonial and post-colonial governments
have ignored the special circumstances
and needs of the Bushmen
people and thus have contributed to their marginalization. He takes the
case of land policies to show how biased attitudes have led to the
dispossession and empoverishment of the Bushmen and suggests that
a post-nationalist state could reverse this trend.

Joseph Rono provides an overview of the social effect of structural
adjustment programmes on Kenyan society over the last two decades,
contributing to a large degree to social problems over a wide range of
topics, including inequality, the growth of poverty, unemployment,
the
re~uced levels of education and health offered by the state, and rising
cflme, ethnic rivalries and tensions.
~ane~i~bert provides an account of problems that may be encountered
In training programmes imported from the North to the South. Her

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JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 17 NO 1 JANUARY 2002

experiences as a facilitator at a workshop on counselling skills training
in Lesotho have led her to believe that such training, dependent as it is
on certain theories of the "self', may not be wholly generalizable or
useful to Third-World practitioners in the field. Gilbert points out that
different cultures may hold very different theories of "selfuood" and
training that is not sensitive to such differences may prove more of a
hindrance than a help. A sensitive approach to the concepts embedded
in local languages, to styles of physical interaction and forms of etiquette
may help to bridge the gap between the concepts imported and the
concepts and practices on the ground. Above all, however, Gilbert
emphasizes that such training workshops must proceed on the basis of
total respect for the local culture and for local practices and practitioners.
Training must provide support to enable workers in often very difficult
situations to trust themselves and their own judgements and to take
only what is useful for them from the alien culture.

K. Nakazito and M.B.K. Darkoh have studied incipient industrializ-
ation in Lobatse, Botswana. After a review of the literature, whose
general conclusion is that clustering of small-scale firms in Third World
Countries gives them collective advantages in marketing, producing
and training,
the authors provide empirical data on the extent of
clustering and co-operation among these small producers in urban
Botswana. Their own conclusion is that, at this stage of industrialization,
there is little evidence
these enterprises are taking
advantage of clustering.

to show that

Finally, David Kaulemu provides the first of what is hoped will be a
flood of articles explicitly exploring the moral problems embedded in
development work. Kaulemu argues that the value-neutrality claim of
social science is false, as all social research and practice is founded on
implicit moral underpinnings. The moral values underlying programme
evaluation need to be understood-at
the very least, because social
policy aims at change for the better. We have, therefore, to know what
we mean by "the better", We also need to know how to evaluate
interventionist programmes in the light of our own goals and what was
in place before intervention. Kaulemu outlines three modem moral
theories that offer outlines of what a morally desirable action might

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5

consist of and shows that a moral philosopher might be, as he says, a
good companion, in the process of subjecting moral rules, themselves,
to scrutiny.

Acknowledgements
The editor thanks the fol/owing for their assistance as consultants
and referees for the production of this issue of the Journal of Social
Development in Africa: Prof Michael Bourdi//on, Mr. Chipoyera, Mr
Chirwa, 1. Hampson, SJ, Dr Kadenge, Dr Kamete, Dr Matthews, Ms.
Mate, Dr Muzvidziwa, Prof Mukoneweshuro and Mr Edward Shizha

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JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 17 NO 1 JANUARY 2002