Product Description

Foreign aid is now a $100bn business and is expanding more rapidly today than it has for a generation. But does it work? Indeed, is it needed at all? Other attempts to answer these important questions have been dominated by a focus on the impact of official aid provided by governments. But today possibly as much as 30 percent of aid is provided by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and over 10 percent is provided as emergency assistance. In this first-ever attempt to provide an overall assessment of aid, Roger Riddell presents a rigorous but highly readable account of aid, warts and all. Does Foreign Aid Really Work? sets out the evidence and exposes the instances where aid has failed and explains why. The book also examines the way that politics distorts aid, and disentangles the moral and ethical assumptions that lie behind the belief that aid does good. The book concludes by detailing the practical ways that aid needs to change if it is to be the effective force for good that its providers claim it is.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196688 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 536 pages

Hilde Frafjord Johnson, former Minister of International Development of Norway
"For anyone who wants to know more about development assistance, this is a "must- read". Roger Riddell provides us with a nuanced and honest outline of past and current aid-flows, their complexities, trends and possible impact. Does aid really work? His answer is a conditional, cautious - yes. And he presents some bold proposals to address some of the systemic weaknesses. It was strong international leadership that delivered the aid-reforms of the 90's. The question is
whether the current leaders in development are ready for this debate?"

Review
This volume is a valuable resource and an important contribution to the literature on foreign aid. (Social and Behavioral sciences )

Riddell provides a compelling and thorough account of the intricacies of foreign aid (International Affairs )

...[an] excellent and significant book... (Alex De Waal, Times Literary Supplement )

...everything anyone might want to know about the subject. (Nigel Grimwade, Times Higher Education Supplement )

For anyone who wants to know more about development assistance, this is a 'must- read'. Roger Riddell provides us with a nuanced and honest outline of past and current aid-flows, their complexities, trends and possible impact. Does aid really work? His answer is a conditional, cautious - yes. And he presents some bold proposals to address some of the systemic weaknesses. It was strong international leadership that delivered the aid-reforms of the 90's. The question is whether the current leaders in development are ready for this debate? (Hilde Frafjord Johnson, former Minister of International Development of Norway )

In this impressive new study, Riddell has surpassed even his distinguished Foreign Aid Reconsidered. It includes a rare and much-needed analysis of emergency and voluntary assistance. Complete and authoritative, the book will have a long life as the definitive account of its important subject. (Professor Robert Cassen, London School of Economics )

This book is a heroic achievement. Not only has Roger Riddell mapped out with great clarity the arcane world of international aid, in a way that will help the practitioner as much as the general reader, he has also produced visionary and challenging recommendations for reform of the system. (Sir Michael Aaronson, former Director General of Save the Children UK )

Sir Michael Aaronson, former Director General of Save the Children UK
"This book is a heroic achievement. Not only has Roger Riddell mapped out with great clarity the arcane world of international aid, in a way that will help the practitioner as much as the general reader, he has also produced visionary and challenging recommendations for reform of the system."

Customer Reviews

A solid overview of the available evidence
This book provides a strong overview of the available evidence on whether foreign aid really works. Roger Riddell is rigorous in his assessment of the data and gives an in-depth analysis of the history of aid, looking at the political dimension, the role of technical assistance, official development aid, NGOs, and the problems facing humanitarian assistance.

One of his key findings is that the available data are far too weak and prevent us from making any firm conclusions about whether aid really does work. Indeed, few long-term and far-reaching evaluations of aid's effectiveness have been carried out, with the majority of data available being about the short-term achievements of discrete projects. As Riddell points out, this is a huge gap considering the vast amounts of aid that are being disbursed.

Furthermore, the section on NGOs is particularly interesting, as Riddell covers areas such as how much NGO project aid reaches the beneficiaries; the importance of capacity building; and the wider impact of NGOs through advocacy, lobbying and campaigning. The picture he paints is a mixed one of NGO work leading to some successes, but of lack of coordination and lack of data hindering this.

I was disappointed that the book did not cover in more detail the case for building a market economy in developing countries. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly apparent that creating a successful and healthy market economy is a key way for lifting millions out of poverty, but that most NGOs and official aid programmes have not succeeded in doing this or have just ignored it. This may partly be because of their lack of engagement with the business sector and their lack of experience in business skills. Yet the emerging social enterprise sector is showing that the combination of business and social principles is providing a strong blueprint for success in tackling poverty.

As a related point, the book should also have covered more the issue of dependency, whereby huge influxes of aid into poor countries have at times distorted the incentive system and led to a weakening of any entrepreneurial spirit. As many development practitioners will confirm, 60 years of aid appear to have created a vast network of local NGOs, government bodies and projects that are entirely dependent on foreign funding. It is our firm belief at SolarAid (www.solar-aid.org) that only the development of a well functioning market economy will overcome this and lead to the creation of myriad small, medium and larger busiensses needed to pull millions out of poverty.

In summary, and despite the above critique, this is a well researched book, which should be essential reading for anyone interested in this area of foreign aid. It will be an excellent reference book for students, academics and practitioners and deserves to be widely read within the development sector.

Do You Really Want to Understand Foreign Aid?
There are lots of books available on and around the subject of foreign aid. As a layperson wanting to better understand this complex and contentious subject, it really is I think, a question of be careful what you read.

'Does Foreign Aid Really Work?' provides a comprehensive and impartial overview of the subject.

I found this book extremely interesting, thought provoking and well constructed.

If there is anything less positive to say it might be that, if you are looking for a light read to 'dip into the subject', this may not be for you. However, I believe that taking this approach would be a false economy in terms of spending time reading some less comprehensive and perhaps partial alternatives.

A slightly lighter read but also excellent in my view is 'The Bottom Billion' by 'Paul Collier'.