Development in practice: paved with good intentions, 1975-1992

 
Component identifier:
Series 1
Content Summary:

The Magarini Settlement Project was first proposed in 1976 to settle 4000 families of the Giriama people onto 60,000 hectares of land in Kilifi district, Coast Province, Kenya. It was to be Australia's largest aid project in Africa, taking advantage of Australia's expertise in dryland farming techniques. Its aims were to alleviate poverty, reduce landlessness among the Giriama people and increase agricultural output in a sustainable way. To support settlement, an extensive road network was to be provided, with ground water reticulation taking water to within 500 metres of every settler's 13 hectare plot.

The project proceeded in three stages. Phase 1 (resource investigation) was undertaken in 1977-1979, although there were immediate difficulties with finances, variable soils and the availability of water. By 1980, members of a joint Kenya-Australia review of the project considered the project to be fatally flawed. The project continued through phase 2 (implementation) until 1982. In 1983 the Foreign Minister Bill Hayden asked the economist Professor Helen Hughes to examine the affair and withheld funding for phase 3. With adjustments to the project design, phase 3 proceeded from 1985. In Oct 1986 a mid-term review was conducted which identified design and implementation difficulties and led to a joint government review in February 1987. The Joint Review Mission (JRM), of which Bryant Allen was a member, concluded that changes to the direction and emphasis of Australian assistance were warranted. In 1988 the Australian Government withdrew from direct involvement.

Bryant Allen, Doug Porter and Gaye Thompson document the fate of the Magarini Settlement Project in their monograph Development in practice: paved with good intentions, which was published by Routledge in 1991. In the book they maintain that the project had adverse outcomes for the Giriama and contributed to land degradation. The series has been arranged into two sequences. The first comprises files maintained by the authors including data on rainfall, research notes, articles, Joint Review Mission papers, correspondence, drafts, interview transcripts, illustrations and chapter outlines. Interviewees include Bob McCown, Paul McGowan, Henry Nix, Coral Bell, Kevin Stephens, Helen Hughes, Doug Campbell, Anthony Vale and Bill Hayden. The second sequence comprises unpublished reports and official reviews and documents which were used as source material for the book. Authors include the Australian Development Assistance Bureau and consultants engaged by them such as McGowan and Associates and Coffey and Partners.

Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were donated to the Library by Bryant Allen in 1995 and 2000.

Contents

Access and use

Parent Restrictions:
The collection is available for reference.
Parent Terms of Access:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: