The role of foreign aid in Third World development: an overview with special reference to New Zealand aid to agriculture in the South Pacific

Abstract

With the naivety characteristic of youth, I decided at the beginning of the 1980 academic year to solve the 'serious' problem of selection' by simply covering the entire subject. In spite of misgivings expressed by those older and wiser than myself, I have thus attempted in this dissertation to describe and constructively criticize the immense subject of development aid. Having completed the task in as much detail as has been possible in the short time available, if nothing else I have learned that next time I will be sure to make a very specific choice of subject, however difficult the decision.

In order to give as full a coverage of the topic as possible, it has been necessary to journey into the many disciplines that are related to the whole question of poverty and development. With scant competence in any of these, and because of the prodigious size and scope of the subject, the resulting treatise lacks any real depth and can only be regarded as an introductory essay.

Part One attempts to describe development aid in its present form, and assess and explain its impact on poverty and backwardness since it began its crusade against these evils. In Part Two, the conclusions of Part One are affirmed in the more specific study of agricultural development in the South Pacific islands, with special reference to the role that New Zealand's aid to the region has played and can play in that development. In both parts, the depth of enquiry is little more than superficial. Nevertheless, it is expected that the uninitiated at least will find considerable food for thought in what is hopefully a balanced and comprehensive treatment of a vast and complex subject.