Research has shown that poverty is a man-made phenomenon. Historical interventions to redress its rampant manifestation, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, very much remain a serial flaw of misplacements in the hands of wrong architects and premised on the unholy misconception that aid will lead to both poverty alleviation and economic development of Africa.
Looking at the historical landscape of the poverty debate in Sub-Saharan Africa, one cannot help but notice the silence or scarce mention of entrepreneurship as the engine for growth in the alleviation of extreme poverty. Therefore the Africa Redemption International Conference (ARIC) was conceived from the premise of a long and hard look at the serial and regrettable failures of the three salient beaten-trek interventions of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS), Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Earlier interventions focused more on economic growth and paid little attention to social development. With the advent of MDGs, attention somewhat shifted towards resulting in poverty being reduced by more than half between 1990 and 2015. Critical success factors including infrastructure development, domestic resource mobilization, and institutional capacity building, among others, have largely been overlooked by most of these instruments. The architecture of poverty reduction strategies has, for far too long, been the work of foreign agents with little, if any, of Africans themselves.
It is generally on this very basis that the ARIC Conference was convened with the objectives to:
a. Bring academics, practitioners and policy-makers into one unique place to deliberate on issues that keep Africa behind any other parts of the world in emerging out of poverty.
b. Allow policymakers to chart a way forward and share that with the broader body of light-minded Africans who want to seriously take the country of scourges of poverty
c. Allow academics to analyze, articulate and recommend what they perceive Africa needs to do in order to overcome its stagnation that has earned its Mantra of a Dark Continent.
d. Invite development activist in the world and Africa, in particular, to share their isolated experiences with a broader community of stakeholders willing to amplify their good practice efforts to other parts of Africa where they are needed most.
e. Showcase domestic innovators of all sorts
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Foreword
Acknowledgement
Executive Summary
Figures
Tables
Chapter 1 Introduction and Background
Conference Objectives
A Brief Perspective on Poverty and Development
Organization of the book
Chapter 2: Faith-Based Non-Governmental Organizations (FBNGOs) and Development in South Africa
Chapter 3: Expanding the Prospect of Rural Prosperity in Nigeria: The Place of Education
Chapter 4: Transforming Despondent Youth and Would-Be Criminals into Prospective Entrepreneurs
Chapter 5: Community Share Ownership Trust (CSOT) Vehicle for Broad-based empowerment and eradication of rural poverty in Zimbabwe: Political Rhetoric or reality
Chapter 6: Sustainable Rural Development and the Question of Social Capital in Nigeria
Chapter 7: Conclusions and Recommendations
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
- ADP Agricultural Development Program
- BoT: Board of Trustees
- CIA: Central Intelligence Agency
- CPR: Common Pool Resource
- DFFRI Directorate For Food Roads & Rural Infrastructure
- DFID: Department of Foreing and International Developmeny
- FAO: Food and Agricultural Organisation
- FARD: Family Assessment and Resources Development
- FBDO: Faith-Based Development Organisations
- FBNGO: Faith-Based Non-Governmental Organisation
- FBO: Faith-Based Organisation
- FDI: Foreign Direct Investment
- FTLR: Fast Track Land Reform
- GDP: Gross Domestic Product
- HPP: Harambee Prosperity Plan
- IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development
- IMF: International Monetary Fund
- IRTI: Islamic Research and Training Institute
- MDGs: Millenium Development Goals
- MTC: Mobile Tele-Communication
- NC: National Certificate
- NDP: National Development Plan
- NDP: National Development Plan
- NDP4: National Development Plan Four
- NEPAD: New Partnership for Development
- NGO: None Governmental Organisation
- NGO: Non-Governmental Organisation
- NHDI National Horticulture Development
- NMB: National Management Board
- NPO: None-Profit Organisation
- OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
- PBO: Public Benefit Organisation
- PPP: Private Public Partnership
- PPP: People, Projects & Paisa
- PPP: Purchasing Power Parity
- RMB: Regional Management Board
- SANZAF: South Africa National Zakat Foundation
- SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
- SPSS: Statistical Package for Social Scientists
- SSA: Sub-Saharan Africa
- UNDP: United Nations Development Programs
- UNESCO: United NationS Educatipn, Scientific and Cultural Organization
- WB: World Bank
Foreword
Allow me to thank you for doing yourself a great honour and service, just for striking a rare opportunity of reading this book. As a reader, I can assure you a priceless return on your investment of both your time and money as you are about to unearth one of the hidden secret set of pragmatic views, opinions and approaches suggested and practiced by fellow Africans for their own solutions in the quest for prosperity as they set on a journey from poverty.
As an academic institution with a clear mandate of contributing to the improvement of the quality of life of humanity, I cannot be more proud to have been part and parcel of bringing together academics from different parts of the continent of Africa to harness their rare-to-get contributions to development and poverty alleviation as vividly articulated in this books. In my view, the book is one of the greatest legacy the University of Namibia, and most particularly, Dr Kavei and his community of fellow academicians will leave as an offering to the insatiable discourse of our departure from poverty, unrelentingly.
After reading this book, be rest assured to agree with the cross-cutting view that poverty is just a state of mind, it is surmountable, not any body’s mistake to find or be born in it, but surely a great mistake to die poor. In other words, we may have resided in poverty as part of our growing and coming, but poverty is no body’s residence – not for the new breed of Africans anymore.
Once again, as an institution of high learning, UNAM’s best weapon against poverty is in the mind. It is our considered view that with education we will be able to convert a poverty-ridden mindset to a prosperity-accomplished one. We are a living testimony for having taken hundreds and thousands of men and women out of poverty using education. I pledge to you, the University I represent shall always be at liberty to fully employ its arsenals in relentlessly waging this war. UNAM is an integral part of society and therefore cannot remain aloof when Africa is burning in its desire to redeem itself from the century-old shackles of poverty. In a way, though not the only or last one, this book is our pledge to the African Dream crafted in the Africa Agenda 2063 – Africa We Want. Furthermore, I submit that this books is a befitting pledge to the government of Namibia in its declared war on poverty dubbed the Harambee Prosperity Plan.
Finally, it makes me a happy African, to see you flipping a page-by-page in running down the views and opinions of others like you whom you all ought to be commented for contributing to a last continent standing – when all else is exhausted.
Acknowledgement
This conference was a joint initiative between the Rundu Campus and the Faculty of Economics and Management Science. It would not have materialized without the persistent drive and commitment of the Rundu Campus Management under the leadership of Dr Gilbert Likando for the Campus and Dr Jacob Nyambe for the Faculty of Economics and Management Science. At a higher level, to host such an event of its magnitude, permission and impetus was obtained from the visionary leadership of the University Vice Chancellor Profesor Lazaru Hangula who instructed all the various Units to rally behind this flagship initiative.
To make the wheels of the actual conference turn and make traction, credit will always be granted to the Conference Steering Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr Gurvy Kavei. As such it is worth to spare a moment in mentioning the names of those who turned the wheels, as follows.
- Ms Mathilde Shihako - Overseer
- Dr Gurvy Kavei – Chairman
- Mrs Annastacia Mutorwa – Conference Secretary
- Ms Pachalo Msiska – Committee Member
- Mr Gerson Sindano – Committee Member
- Ms Rauna Haitembu – Committee Member
- Mr Christopher Shafuda – Accommodation and Traveling
- Ms Kretha Mbambo – Committee Member
- Mr Simon Namesho - Committee Member
- Ms Regina Kandjimi - Committee Member
Instrumental to the successful hosting of the Conference was the National Council on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) by providing accreditation to unlock critical participation of delegates from some countries who would otherwise not make it. Local corporations from Rundu, in the name of Street House, KGL Trading and Hotel Rundu deserve a profound thank you making things easy for the organization of the conference. At the bottom line of its all, the authors of articles in this book are the true champions. We take our hats off for their invaluable contributions.
Executive Summary
Research has shown that (Sen, 1979; Anand & Sen, 1997; Anand & Sen, 2000) poverty is a man-made phenomenon. Historical interventions to redress its rampant manifestation, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, very much remains a serial flaw of misplacements in the hands of wrong architects and premised on the unholy misconception that aid will lead to both poverty alleviation and economic development of Africa. Looking at the historical landscape of the poverty debate in Sub-Saharan Africa, one cannot help but notice the silence or scarce mention of entrepreneurship as the engine for growth in alleviation of extreme poverty. Therefore the ARIC Conference was conceived from the premise of a long and hard look at the serial and regrettable failures of the three salient beaten-trek interventions of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS), Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Earlier interventions focused more on economic growth and paid little attention to social development. With the advent of MDGs, attention somewhat shifted towards resulting in poverty being reduced by more than half between 1990 and 2015. Critical success factors including infrastructure development, domestic resource mobilization, institutional capacity building, among others, have largely been overlooked by most of these instruments. The architecture of poverty reduction strategies has, for far too long, been the work of foreign agents with little, if any, of Africans themselves. It is generally on this very basis that the ARIC Conference was convened with the objectives to:
a. Bring academic, practitioners and policy-makers into one unique place to deliberate on issues that keep Africa behind any other parts of the world in emerging out of poverty.
b. Give an opportunity to policy makers to chart a way forward and share that with the broader body of light minded Africans who want to seriously take the country of scourges of poverty
c. Allow academics to analyze, articulate and recommend what they perceive Africa needs to do in order to overcome its stagnation that has earned its Mantra of a Dark Continent.
d. Invite development activist in the world and Africa, in particular, to share their isolated experiences with a broader community of stakeholders willing to amplify their good practice efforts to other parts of Africa where they are needed most.
e. Showcase domestic innovators of all sorts desirous to put Africa on the map as an inevitable frontier of emerging technology, hopes, markets and opportunities to shape world economic growth.
With a clarion call for papers based on this objectives, the conference attracted more than 30 scholarly researched abstracts. Subsequently, four non-academic and 29 academic papers were presented at the actual conference which took place at Rundu, Namibia from 18 to 21 October 2016.
After a rigorous double-blind review process, only a few articles ended up being selected for publication. This book presents four non-academic articles mainly focusing on policy perspectives and six scholarly papers proposing solutions to the scourge of poverty. The cherry of the conference lies mainly in the pudding of the scholarly reviewed papers which points out five (5) approaches to eradicate poverty. These are:
- Poverty eradication is not simplistic and requires a proactive ‘complexity-aware’ approach to development, where faith-based organizations have a potential to make a difference if their approaches are integrated and mainstreamed into broader government development agendas. Chapter 3 - Faith-Based Non-Governmental Organizations (FBNGOs) and Development in South Africa. By Jonathan Makuwira and Badroen Ismail, School of Economics, Development Studies and Tourism.
- A key leverage point in eradicating poverty further requires education support so as to influence the attitudes of locals in accepting new agricultural production techniques and methods that will enhance production and engender prosperity, more so in rural areas. Chapter 4 - Expanding the Prospect of Rural Prosperity in Nigeria: The Place of Education. By Akume, Albert. T., Dept. of Public Administration CASSS, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State-Nigeria
- Educational and psycho-dynamic interventions with the help of local political leadership, can transform a pervasive culture of despondency, criminality, hopelessness, drugs and substance abuse into successful entrepreneurs based on innovative measures using natural resources. Chapter 6 - Transforming Despondent Youth and Would-Be Criminals into Prospective Entrepreneurs. By Bethold Kaurivi, University of Namibia
- Another measure to eradicate poverty is by developing and enhancing Community Share Ownership Trusts in rural communal areas where temporary corporate entities such as mining companies can pay dividends to communities in which they operate through legally-binding land rentals – a highly viable equitable wealth distribution arrangement. Chapter 7 - Community Share Ownership Trust (CSOT) Vehicle for Broad-based empowerment and eradication of rural poverty in Zimbabwe: Political Rhetoric or reality. By Claudios Nhokwara, Harare Polytechnic, Zimbabwe
- If left on their own without any form of governmental intervention, rural communities will certainly find their own feet. It is this form of social collective capital that is usually ignored and not embraced or taken into account by central developmental state in addressing challenges of poverty. When such social capital is coupled with state efforts on rural development, the poverty eradication tide could be much higher. Chapter 8 - Sustainable Rural Development and the Question of Social Capital in Nigeria. By Akume, Albert. T., Dept. of Public Administration CASSS, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State-Nigeria.
From a policy perspective, the Minister of Economic Development and Planning Commission suggests four steps of financing Africa’s development from its own domestic resources
Figures
Figure 3.1: Number of non-profit organisations as a comparison to faith-based non-governmental organisations in South Africa
Figure 5.4: The cause and Effect relationship
Figure 5.5: Image (2016, October, 14)
Figure 5.6: Chimwamurombe slides (personal communication. October, 13, 2016).
Figure 5.7: Eiseb School Gardening Project
Figure 6.2: Shareholding arrangement on rented agricultural land
Figure 6.3: Resolutions against corruption in land redistribution
Figure 6.4: Challenges faced by tenants
Tables
Table 3.1: Time series of funds collection by SANZAF in South Africa (Million ZAR)
Table 3.2: Time series of expenditure and cost as % of zakat collected
Table 3. 3: Trend in the financials of Awqaf SA (‘000 Rands)
Table 5.1: Omaheke Region Headcount Rate, 2001 - 2011 (upper bound poverty line)
Table 6.1: Distribution of respondents by perception on proposed criteria on land redistribution
Table 6.2: Terms and conditions for land rental
Chapter 1 Introduction and Background
ARIC is an acronym standing for Africa Redemption International Conference. The picture you see in the front resembles some of the participants that came to the conference. For this very picture, its significance is that it resembles (from left to right): The Keynote Speaker and development activist Ms Mallence Bart-Wiliams from Sierra Leone; Ms Florance Aboas a young female, pragmatic Namibian; Hon. Dr Beky Odjo – A Policy Maker, adult leader, Mr Petrus Simon – a young ingenious male Namibian boy, Ms Aifani Tahulela – a young, insatiable academic female activist from South Africa, and Dr Gurvy Kavei – Namibian academic and conference convener.
The point is beyond the picture you see. The point is: these are people from a vastly diverse background with regard to their professions, age, gender, countries, let alone the dressing. But! They have one thing in common. They are black. They are African and they share a fight over a common enemy – poverty and underdevelopment.
The University of Namibia, most particularly the Rundu Campus will go down history lane to have been one of those few academic institutions to step up to the stage where decision on how to rid the African continent off the scourges of poverty and underdevelopment are juggled.
For a larger part of the past century – conceptualization, manifestation and executions of solutions against poverty in Africa have always been the work and responsibility of none Africans, and those sitting in ivory towers thousands of miles from the tectonic fault lines of poverty itself. Africans have always taken a backstage, or never there at all, to the promulgation of ideas meant to redress poverty. Notwithstanding that, such efforts ought to be recognized.
First, from the 1980 – the 1990s came the Washington-based Bretton Woods Institutes (The International Monitory Fund and the World Bank)’s highly controversial Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS). Following SAPS controversies around dismal effects on minimizing poverty, diminishing role of aid delivery, conditionality-infested approaches that undermined involvement locals and recipient governments (to mention a few), a second wave of thrust by the same Bretton Wood Institutions was the Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) the and the Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) towards the end of the 1990s. The intentions was largely to clear the mess and loot left by SAPS interventions, albeit with little impact still ((Placeholder1)). Much remains to be admired. Africa participation in the architecture and execution of these interventions took a backstage for most of the time and focus on social inclusivity of highly limited nature with the continent still dubbed the dark continent of miseries and despair. Subsequently came the UN-led Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 1990 with 8 ambitious Goals to half poverty in the world by the end of 2015. By the time of the ARIC Conference, results were indicating that poverty was more than halved in the world, although Sub-Saharan Africa still remaining behind all the seven regional blocks of the world on poverty reduction. According to a report by the UN Department for Public Information (2015, July 6) Sub-Saharan Africa’s poverty rate did not fall below its 1990 level until after 2002. The poverty rate in the Sub-Saharan Africa between 1990 and 2015 fell by 28 per cent, and today, 41 per cent of the population is living on less than $1.25 a day. A fourth-generation post-2015 global development agenda - The Sustainable Development Goals, were launched on 25 September 2016 – a month before the ARIC conference.
At this point, the University of Namibia took a moment to pause and ask the question: Did all these past efforts culminate into what is desired to rid the continent of poverty? If not, could a local solution, with a full African blend of participation and involvement, be ushered? Desirous to answer these rather insatiable questions, and in the thick of the new AU’s Agenda 2063 (for the Africa we want), coupled further with the advent of the UNDP Sustainable Development Goals, the University found it appropriate to convene the ARIC Conference with a high level involvement of the academic community.
For an event such as this, Namibia was indeed a perfect and timely venue as the then incumbent President Hage Geingob had declared an all-out war on poverty, symbolized by the formation (among others) of a Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare. To underline its seriousness, the Poverty Eradication Ministry was mandated to eradicate (not to reduce) poverty in the country. How the Namibians planned on doing this was something worth sharing with the entire world, especially by unpacking the then government’s flagship Harambee Prosperity Plan, rolled out by the Office of the President. Even if she may have had the guts to take the bull by its horns, did Namibia really have the commensurate capacity and know-how to do just that? If not this conference provided a perfect litmus test for everyone to learn from each other, especially from those that went through similar development path elsewhere such as Zimbabwe, Nigeria and so forth.
Holding this conference in Rundu was also the most considerate act taken by the organizers. Kavango region (in which Rundu is the growth capital) is one of those parts of Namibia chronically afflicted by poverty, year in year out. As shown in the Namibia poverty map below, poverty is more prevalent in Kavango Region with a count of 53.2% above all regions in the country. Not only that. Between 2001 and 2011, the Region experienced one of the slowest rate of poverty reduction of -4.8 while other regions such as Ohangwena, Omusati, Omaheke experienced faster rates of poverty reductions; -27.5, -22.2 and -15.5 respectively. Furthermore, by tenets of the 2011 population census, Kavango had 118 823 people remaining in poverty. Of this, 33851 people (28%) lived in Rundu as the only regional urban centre by then. It is on the basis of these realities of poverty in the country, and Kavango (in particular) that it was befitting and an honorable act to hold the conference at the heartbeat of poverty - Rundu.
Conference Objectives
At a general level, the conference had the following objectives:
a. Bring academic, practitioners and policy-makers into one unique place to deliberate on issues that keep Africa behind other parts of the world in emerging out of poverty.
b. Give an opportunity to policy makers to chart a way forward and share that with the broader body of light minded Africans who want to seriously take the country of poverty
c. Allow academics to analyze, articulate and recommend what they perceive Africa needs to do in order to overcome its stagnation that has earned its Mantra of a Dark Continent.
d. Invite development activist in the world and Africa, in particular, to share their isolated experiences with a broader community of stakeholders willing to amplify their good practice efforts to other parts of Africa where they are needed most.
e. Showcase domestic innovators of all sorts desirous to put Africa on the map as an inevitable frontier of emerging technology, hopes, markets and opportunities to shape world economic growth
A Brief Perspective on Poverty and Development
Research has shown that (Sen, 1979; Anand & Sen, 1997; Anand & Sen, 2000) poverty is a man-made phenomenon. Historical interventions to redress its rampant manifestation, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, very much remains a serial flaw of misplacements in the hands of wrong architects and premised on the unholy misconception that aid will lead to both poverty alleviation and economic development of Africa. Looking at the historical landscape of the poverty debate in Sub-Saharan Africa, one cannot help but notice the silence or scarce mention of entrepreneurship as the engine for growth in alleviation of extreme poverty.
Therefore the ARIC Conference was conceived from the premise of a long and hard look at the serial and regrettable failures of the three salient beaten-trek interventions of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS), Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Earlier interventions focused more on economic growth and paid little attention to social development. With the advent of MDGs, attention somewhat shifted towards resulting in poverty being reduced by more than half between 1990 and 2015. Critical success factors including infrastructure development, domestic resource mobilization, institutional capacity building, among others, have largely been overlooked by most of these instruments. From this point of view, it was therefore a deliberate intention of the ARIC Conference to bring such hitherto subtle issues to the fore. In particular, the Conference subthemes for discussions included the following:
- Policies & Governance
- Technology & Machinery
- Land, Water & Agriculture
- Trade & Natural Resources
- Attitude/Culture & Knowledge
- Energy & Infrastructure
Unfortunately, not all the sub-themes received adequate count of articles, and thus some had to be dropped or merged with others to cater for what was at hand that moment. Furthermore, and as will be seen later, not all the papers received and presented at the conference could be accepted for publication in this conference book. Therefore, the compendium of articles in this book consists only of those that made it through the rigorous editorial process, especially for the academic ones. That however, does not flinch, for a minute, focus of the book from the original Conference theme – Shifting of Mindsets from Poverty to Prosperity. The focus stays and this how the rest of the book is outlined.
Organization of the book
This book is a simplified synthesis of some of the articles that were presented at the conference. Papers went through a rigorous double blind review process. As such, not all of the papers made through to this book. In line with the objective of drawing practitioners, policy makers and academics to deliberate on issues of poverty eradication, the articles are in two sets – academic and nonacademic articles. The reader is not compelled to read the book chapters in any sequential order. Each chapter can be read on its own. However, it is very important to read chapter one as it sets the scene and gives the background to the conceptualization that lead to the hosting of the ARIC Conference where the various papers were presented.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction and Background.
2. Chapter 2: Faith-Based Non-Governmental Organizations (FBNGOs) and Development in South Africa
3. Chapter 3: Expanding the Prospect of Rural Prosperity in Nigeria: The Place of Education
4. Chapter 4: Transforming Despondent Youth and Would be Criminals into Prospective Entrepreneurs
5. Chapter 5: Community Share Ownership Trust (CSOT) Vehicle for Broad-based empowerment and eradication of rural poverty in Zimbabwe: Political Rhetoric or reality
6. Chapter 6: Sustainable Rural Development and the Question of Social Capital in Nigeria
7. Chapter 7: Conclusions and Recommendations
Chapter 2: Faith-Based Non-Governmental Organizations (FBNGOs) and Development in South Africa
Badroen Ismail1 and Jonathan Makuwira2
Introduction
The marginalisation of religion in the development policy, practice and research has left a scholarly gap in our understanding of the nexus between religion and development (Dugbazah, 2009). Fortunately, over the past two decades, the study of religious organisations and their contribution to the broader development agenda have slowly become an area of academic pursuit (Abiola, n.d.; Clarke, 2006; Gibson and Tidwell Jr, 2013; Makuwira, 2014). In many African societies, it is becoming increasingly clear that development cannot be removed from faith, as the latter is part of most Africans’ identity. Furthermore, religious activities not only affect the social and economic development of a country but also the ability of government institutions to provide basic social services to their citizenry (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2012). While governments try to reconfigure their roles amid increasing pressures for financial austerity, faith-based communities have continued to make significant inroads in filling the void left by the actions of such governments (Merz, 2012). As a result, the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) sector has become increasingly visible in the provision of basic social services.
Historically, both secular and faith-based NGOs have always been actively engaged in humanitarian and relief activities. This was particularly the case in the World War era when the post-war reconstruction efforts of the war-ravaged Europe spilled over to other parts of the world in the name of development (Korten, 1990). However, much research emphasis was placed on the important contribution that the mainstream Christian NGOs made to the development discourse, while the role of other faith-based NGOs was relegated to the fringes of the development lexicon (Clarke, 2006; McDuier-Ra and Rees, 2010). This is particularly the case with Islamic NGOs. According to Aminu-Kano and FitzGibbon (2014), development, as understood within the Islamic faith, stems from creating an environment where people are enabled to enjoy spiritual, moral, social, and economic wellbeing propagated by the principles of justice, equity, freedom, human rights, social solidarity and sustainability. While these principles exist in contemporary mainstream development discourse, Kroessin (2008) argues that there is very little information in the public realm about the ways in which these fundamental principles are operationalised in Islamic development programmes.
This paper originates from a project whose purpose was to develop a better understanding of the contribution that the Islamic NGOs make to development in South Africa. This paper documents who the prominent Islamic NGOs in South Africa are, where they work, their motivation for engaging in development, who their constituencies are, their approaches to development, their engagement with other stakeholders, what kind of opportunities and challenges they face, and what can be done to strengthen their capacities to effectively contribute to South Africa's National Development Plan (NDP). Therefore, this paper is not just a theory-based analysis of the literature on Islamic NGOs and their overall contribution to development but it is also about practice. While in the broader sense it seeks to initiate a conversation that contributes to an emerging body of knowledge and scholarship around the extent to which Islamic and/or Muslim NGOs (faith-based or actors) contribute to development, we aim to highlight the successes and challenges faced by two prominent Islamic NGOs and how they engage some of the issues in development. We conclude the paper by identifying lessons that may inform development practitioners in the mainstream development practice and, simultaneously, tease out how these Islamic NGOs on the one hand, and broader Faith-based Non-Governmental Organisations (FBNGOs) on the other, can be strengthened to continue supporting development endeavours in their respective constituencies.
Faith-based (Development) Organisations
The concepts of faith-based organisations (FBOs) and faith-based development organisations (FBDOs) have to be understood within the wider context that frames the mutually reinforcing ideas of “faith” and “development”. While the focus of this paper is about Islamic NGOs as faith-based organisations involved in the provision of social services, the extent to which they identify themselves as faith-based organisations matters. There is thus a need to clarify the parameters. Proponents of this view argue that faith, as a platform for facilitating development, has the potential to influence norms and values in communities where religion is an important dimension of culture. According to Goldsmith et al. (2006), faith-based organisations are perceived to have comparative advantages over their non-faith-based counterparts in that they are generally trusted by their communities, particularly when leadership is used as an element to guide the development processes. They are also believed to have easy access to human and financial capital in the form of volunteers and donations in view of the fact that they are seen as community and cultural pillars in areas where they have long been located. Faith-based NGOs are typically more readily holistic in nature because of their perceived higher calling.
While there may be different definitions of faith-based organisations, Clarke and Jennings (2008, p. 6) define it as typically “any organisation that derives inspiration and guidance for its activities from the teachings and principles of the faith or from a particular interpretation or school of thought within the faith”. Some commentators (cf. Vidal, 2001; Deneulin and Bano, 2009; Clarke, 2006, 2011) argue that FBOs are normally better understood when they are classified according to three typologies, namely (i) congregational affiliated with a structure of worship; (ii) congregational with national networks; and (iii) freestanding but often incorporated separately from congregations and national networks. While the three typologies lay the foundation for understanding FBOs, the missing link has always been the definition of those actively involved in the provision of basic social services, broadly coined as development based faith-based NGOs. In view of this, there have been efforts to encompass faith-based NGOs that identify themselves as driven by a belief system which is motivated not only by the desire to fulfil the obligations of doctrinal philosophy, but also to improve the conditions of the millions of underprivileged and marginalised people, irrespective of their religious affiliations (Hoffstaedter, 2011; James, 2011).
It is not surprising that the depth and breadth of coverage of faith-based NGO service provision has attracted much attention during times of humanitarian relief in crises and less conventional forms of services delivery during the conventional development programme delivery. While the scale of FBO service provision varies from context to another, evidence suggests that faith-based organisations command a lot of attention when it comes to their engagement as conduits of development aid. For example, Tadros (2011) notes that in the Democratic Republic of Congo, aid channelled through faith-based organisations to facilitate the provision of health service provision accounted for 50 per cent as compared with 40 per cent in Kenya and Lesotho, and 55 per cent in Uganda.
In South Africa, different sources provide different statistics of the growth of the NGO sector, let alone, faith-based NGOs (National Development Agency, 2008; Kumaran et al., 2012). According to the Statistics South Africa, of the 83,390 organisations that are on the Department’s database, 9819 are religious or Faith-Based Organisations (Statistics South Africa, 2017). A provincial analysis of these non-profit organisations (NPO) compared to faith-based non-governmental organisations (FBNGO) in South Africa is provided in Figure 3.1 below.
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure 3.1: Number of non-profit organisations as a comparison to faith-based non-governmental organisations in South Africa
Source: South African Department of Social Development, 2016
According to Haynes (2007), the total number of Islamic non-governmental organisations providing education rose from 138 (out of a total of 1,854 NGOs) in 1980 to 891 (out of a total of 5,896) in the early 2000s, highlighting the significant role faith-based NGOs play in basic social service provision in South Africa.
Islamic NGOs
While the broader debate on the role of NGOs has been dominated by Western ideological position as well as theorising, the role of Islamic NGOs has not been given much attention. Yet, the little scholarly work that exists shows that the Islamic NGO sector is equally active in its contribution to development (Salih, 2002; Kroessin, 2008). A review of the literature on Islamic NGOs in Africa (cf. Cochrane and Nawab, 2012; Sounaye, 2011; Sadouni, 2012; Odumosu, Olaniyi and Alonge, 2009), reveals that the sector continues to contribute to development although with challenges, as is the case with other secular and faith-based NGOs. A study undertaken by Abubakar (n. d.) into Islamic NGOs in Ghana, for example, found that, while most Islamic NGOs have noble intentions to contribute to development, they are fraught with capacity challenges and their overdependence on donor funding stifles their creativity and focus.
The advent of development innovations and popular participatory approaches such as rights-based approaches to development, participation, capacity building, empowerment, asset-based community development just to name a few, have also brought with them ideological tones which most secular and faith-based NGOs grapple with. Petersen (2014) notes that there is a notable conflict between Muslim aid organisations and the discourse of human rights in the rights-based approaches to development. Similarly, Duh (2014), in his study into Muslim faith-based NGOs in Kenya and Somalia, found that, despite sharing the same basic principles of Islamic ethic (para. 52), Islamic FBNGOs in these two countries have different development objectives and methods of operation, in part ascribed to the different schools of thought followed.
The work of Ahmed (2009) on networks and diversity in Islamic NGOs in Sub-Saharan Africa sheds a little bit more light on the complexity of the matter. Ahmed (2009) observes that, while most Islamic NGOs are increasingly being engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and charity work, they are also active in converting their beneficiaries to their own religious faith. The hybridity is not confined to Islamic NGOs but also other faith-based NGOs who, in their mandate, remain silent on proselytization.
Motivation
As earlier noted, several interpretations abound about the factors that motivate FBOs to do what they do. For Islamic NGOs, the Noble Qur’an is the guiding lens through which they draw their inspiration. According to Duh (2014, p. 6) the Noble Qur’an urges Muslims to be “one community of believers helping each other and cooperating in what is Ma´ruf (what is righteous including helping to ease the suffering of the poor) and forbidding what is Munkar (forbidding all what is wrong including injustice and human rights abuses). Solidarity through faith and fighting human rights abuses are not new to the mainstream development thinking. These principles are equally espoused by secular NGOs. However, what is silent is the operationalisation of the ‘community of believers’ from a development perspective. As is the case with broader development and poverty debates, Islamic sacred teachings define poverty in seven different ways. These include (i) Masakin (the needy who possess some provisions but cannot meet all their basic needs); (ii) Fuqara (the poor who have no income); (iii) Kufar (non-Muslims: spiritual poverty); (iv) Al-riqab (captives who were wrongly imprisoned); (v) Al-yatama, Al-shuyukh, Al-aramil (orphans, elderly and widows); (vi) Al-dein (those who are in debt); and (vii) Travelers who are in need of assistance to get back to their home (Duh, 2014, p. 6).
A scrutiny of these categories supports one major thesis, namely that poverty is multidimensional. It also supports the argument that poverty is not just a lack of material things but, from a faith point of view, a spiritual issue. Alcock (1993) adds that while poverty may be manifested when people lack employment in order to meet material needs, poverty is gravely exacerbated by ‘social exclusion’. Hence, the motivation among Islamic NGOs that their development work be underpinned by an agenda to fight social exclusion. As such, care must be taken when interpreting the tension between the current global debate about ‘rights-based approaches to development’ and the ‘faith-based’ moral platform which guides the work of Islamic NGOs.
According to Petersen (2014), there are two main motivating factors premised on the Noble Qur’an. The first is based on Qur’anic belief in what is commonly known as “Ties of compassion and sympathy ”. The underpinning principle in this Islamic value is rooted in the philosophical foundation that in the eyes of God or Allah (s.w.t.)3, all humans are equal. Therefore, our sensitivity to the suffering of others, such as the elderly, widows, the poor, the exploited, slaves and other socially and economically or politically oppressed people, need equal attention. The second motivating factor for Islamic NGOs’ quest to contribute to development is based on “Solidarity for one another ” (Sons of the Umah). While the direct interpretation of solidarity and support on the basis of religion affiliation is open to further reinterpretation, the principle’s essence rests on a much greater meaning than what it sounds to be. The Noble Qur’an (Chapter 17, verse 70) affirms that a real Muslim, rooted in their traditional faith, has an obligation to treat and show equal love to all humans. Deneulin and Bano (2009, p. 88) make it succinctly clear when they note that “In Islam, as in Christianity, caring for others in need is not a requirement that the development age has laid on religious communities; it is part of how Islam understands itself. There is a close connection between worship and development-related activities because ensuring social justice is a critical part of being a good Muslim.”
In the context of Islamic NGOs who are funded by other donor agencies, the underpinning rationale is that of zakat – the alms-giving practice among the Muslims. Themsani and Matthews (2013, p. 54) point out that zakat “implies co-operation, interdependence and responsibility among group/society”. Interpreted within development thinking, zakat affirms the principles of justice from a materialistic perspective while, from the spiritual side, it affirms equity and equality by placing the giver and the receiver on the same level. In our contemporary development discourse, zakat becomes a trough which is dominated by power dynamics between the giver and the receiver. In this case, it can be argued that development aid should not be seen as something the wealthy were endowed with in order to ‘help’ the poor. In Islam, it is understood as the opposite – aid is a right endowed by Allah (s.w.t.) to the poor and a duty imposed by Allah (s.w.t.) upon the wealthy. A closer scrutiny to this Qur’anic viewpoint not only challenges the conventional view of Western aid and its distribution but it equally takes the concept of distributive justice beyond its conventional wisdom. It basically eschews a top-down, paternalistic and dominant practices in aid giving. It also challenges the current thinking in aid partnerships where the partner with resources (donor) often dictates the terms of assistance whereas the recipient is obliged to accept the conditions. Therefore, based on the interpretation of zakat in Islam, it is contended that development agendas can, and should be, implemented bearing in mind three basic principles: (i) safeguard peoples’ freedom of conscience; (ii) respect the equality of humans; and (iii) foster social interdependence (Qutb, 2000; Themsani and Matthews, 2013).
The Islamic NGO sector in South Africa
Islam in South Africa is a minority religion, practiced by approximately 1.5% of the country’s estimated popuation of 54 million people. According to Vahed (2016), most of the Muslim population are descendants of the Malay community and the Indian community. The Muslim community in South Africa is known for its proactive, vibrant and developmental role in the country throughout its history of 350 years. The community is known to have established many successful organisations. These non-state non-profit organisations have been born out of a realisation that the community must profess and practice benevolence through building a network of professionally managed institutions if it has to thrive and prosper in a multi-racial and multi-cultural society as in South Africa. It is in this context that the country’s Islamic community, primarily divided into the Shafii and Hanafi madhabs, established a dynamic Islamic NGO sector that is primarily based on philanthropy, (e.g. zakat, sadaqah and awqaf); cooperation (e.g. qard and kafala); and contemporary not-for-profit Islamic microfinance institutions that seek to make a dent on poverty (Vahed, 2016).
A directory of Muslim organisations in South Africa compiled by Murshid Davids in 1996 estimated that there were approximately 1328 Muslim organisations that collected and distributed zakat and provided a diverse number of services essential to the community (Davids, 1997). These included social welfare and relief-giving agencies, community based organisations, and theological and humanitarian aid organisations focusing on local and international needs. The major organisations in terms of zakat collection include Jamiatul-Ulama and the various Darul-Ulooms (with Darul-Uloom Zakariyyah perhaps enjoying the biggest share); international relief providers, such as, Islamic Relief SA; Gift of the Givers and the Al-Imdaad Foundation; and the South Africa National Zakat Foundation (SANZAF). The operations of the two most prominent Islamic NGOs are discussed in the form of case studies in the sub-sections below.
Zakat and Islamic NGOs in South Africa
The history of Islamic NGOs in South Africa that collect zakat dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. The key actors were the ulema whose primary concern for Islamic education, burial societies, and halaal services led them to establish Darul-Ulooms as abodes of Islamic teaching and scholarship. A parallel development took shape in the form of Islamic NGOs established by businesspersons. These focused primarily on serving the welfare needs of the Muslim community, including establishing orphanages and feeding programs. Despite their differences and origins, Islamic NGOs were dependent on the same source of funding to perform their work, i.e. donations received from businesspersons. Unlike the Ulema-based NGOs who enjoyed more support because of their control over masjids (currently around 1000 masjids in South Africa), independent Islamic NGO’s were largely reliant on voluntary donations of like-minded individuals and did not always have access to large resources unless they were established and financed by a family backed business. This scenario still exists today.
The primary source of income for Islamic NGOs come from compulsory zakat payments and voluntary s adaqah (charitable spending) and fi-sabilillah (for cause of Allah s.w.t.) received from pious Muslims. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam that has been mentioned, along with daily salah (prayers) over seventy times in the Noble Qur’an. Just as salah is the most important act of worship which has to be performed bodily, so is zakat the main act of worship which has to be performed monetarily. Those who fulfil this duty have been promised abundant reward in this world and hereafter. Intelligent guesstimates by observers of the Islamic social finance sector place the potential zakat collected in South Africa to be approximately R1 billion or about USD100 million (IRTI, 2015). The actual collection is believed to be around R500 million or USD50 million. With the exception of SANZAF, financial information is not readily available at the portals of the major collectors. Therefore, estimates may be suffering from gross inaccuracy. However, given that SANZAF alone collected R140 million in 2016, the estimate of total zakat collection in a country of over 1300 institutional collectors as indicated above is rather conservative (IRTI, 2015).
Estimating the impact of Islamic NGOs to reduce poverty
South Africa is a middle-income emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; and a stock exchange that is Africa’s largest and among the top 20 in the world. However, economic growth has decelerated in recent years, slowing to just 1.5% in 2014 and expectations are that GDP growth for 2017 would be less than 2% (CIA, World Factbook, 2016). Unemployment, poverty, and inequality - among the highest in the world - remain a challenge for the country. Official unemployment is roughly 25% of the workforce, and runs significantly higher among black youth (CIA, World Factbook, 2016).During 2000-2015, South Africa registered an average annual inflation rate of 5.85% (CIA World Factbook, 2016). The country has one of the highest GINI coefficients in the world, increasing from 57.77% in 2000 to 67.4% in 2006 and dropping slightly to 63.14% in 2009 (CIA, World Factbook, 2016). The GINI index estimates the degree of inequality in the distribution of household income of an economy. The higher GINI index indicates more unequal income distribution and vice versa. However, in terms of poverty reduction, South Africa has made good progress, reducing poverty to half in the last decade (CIA, World Factbook, 2016). The head count ratio (HC) based on $1.25 poverty line decreased form 26.2% in 2000 to 13.8% in 2009 (IRTI, 2015). The head count ratio under the $2 poverty line dropped from about 43% to about 31% during the same period. HC under $1.25 poverty line are considered very poor and under poverty line of $2 are considered poor. HC estimates under national poverty line dropped by 15 percentage points from 38% in 2000 to 23% in 2006 (IRTI, 2015). Given the extreme levels of poverty and hardship that exist in the country, the role of Islamic NGOs assumes great significance. As mentioned earlier, the primary objective of Islamic NGOs is to meet the needs of the poor and to address the ever-rising levels of poverty in the country. In this context, it is important to estimate to what extent major Islamic NGOs have been able to meet the resource requirements for poverty alleviation. We proceed first by estimating the resource gap for poverty alleviation and then move on to measure the potential Islamic social funds that could be tapped to meet the resource gap.
The resource gap has been estimated by using the poverty gap index, which is defined as the mean shortfall below the poverty line, expressed as a percentage of the poverty line. The World Bank (2016) has used the recently updated poverty lines of US $1.25 a day in 2005 PPP terms for hard core poor and US $2 a day for the relatively poor, which represents the mean of poverty lines found in the poorest 10 to 20 countries ranked by per capita consumption. This reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence. The poverty gap index does not provide the total income (consumption) shortfall explicitly. For this purpose, the estimated poverty gap indices based on international poverty lines of $1.25 a day and $2 a day have been converted into percentage of GDP for each country under study.
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Where, P1 is poverty gap index, N is total population, Z is poverty line and Yi is the income (consumption) of the i -ith household. The poverty gap index has been re-arranged to get the absolute resource shortfall to bridge the poverty gap for South Africa.
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For calculating estimates of zakat potential as well as complete methodology see Shirazi (2006) as well as Shirazi and Fouad (2010). Table 3.1 presents estimates of zakat potential for South Africa. In South Africa, Muslims represent a small proportion of the total population. Consequently, zakat potential is very low. With a Muslim minority of 1.5% of the total population of South Africa, Islamic NGO would only be able to collect approximately USD 189 million (0.03% of GDP) under Z1, USD 383 million (0.06% of GDP) under Z2 and USD 431 million under Z3 (0.07% of GDP) in 2013. Comparing zakat potential with the resources required to reduce poverty, it is found that South Africa can easily generate resources for poverty alleviation. In South Africa, the money required for poverty alleviation is 0.001% of GDP, whereas corresponding potential zakat collection is 0.07% (Z3) of GDP.
Table 1: Estimates of zakat potential and resource shortfall for poverty reduction
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Source: IRTI (2015)
Case study 1: South Africa National Zakat Fund
The South Africa National Zakat Fund (SANZAF) began its operations in 1974. In 1976, SANZAF had collected and disbursed USD $1,400. A merger with the Cape Zakat Fund in 1979 provided further strength to the organisation. SANZAF was formally registered as a Section 21 Company in 1988. It was registered as a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO 007-160) with the Department of Social Development of the Government of South Africa in 1999 and then as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO 930001714) with the South African Revenue Services in 2005. The latter status allows donors to qualify for up to 10% deduction on their annual income tax against their zakat (SANZAF, 2016).
SANZAF’s vision, mission, structure and governance
SANZAF aspires to be a leading faith-based NGO with operation excellence in transforming the lives of the communities it serves. Its vision is to become a model Muslim organisation, serving with integrity and transparency; the premier zakat collecting and distributing agency in South Africa; and deliver a service par excellence to their various constituencies. Its mission is to “facilitate the empowerment of needy families through the efficient collection and effective distribution of zakat and other sadaqah in a proactive and cost effective way through projects – with dignity, sincerity and a shared responsibility.” (SANZAF, 2016).
SANZAF has a federalist type structure. Yet, decisions are taken such that the interest of the organisation as a whole are considered above the interests of individual regions. The Trust Deed is the principle document that guides the organisation. Structurally the organisation comprises three tiers, namely a Board of Trustees (BoT), the National Management Board (NMB) and the Regional Management Board (RMB). Each board operates with different mandates and enjoys a degree of autonomy from the other.
As at 31 March 2016, SANZAF had 30 offices in five provinces and over 120 full time paid staff. Its Board of Trustees comprises professionals who serve entirely on a voluntary basis, except for one staff member who is also a member on the BoT. It emphasises strong oversight at branch, regional and national level and seeks to implement good governance principles with monthly reports and regular meetings. In terms of transparency, the organisation is independently audited and strives to produce Annual Report and Audited Financial Report within 90 days of year-end. All its financial data are freely available on the web. This has resulted in a high level of social acceptance (through creative public education and awareness campaigns) and in a steady growth of funds collected as presented in Table 3.2 below.
Table 3.1: Time series of funds collection by SANZAF in South Africa (Million ZAR)
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Source: IRTI (2015) and SANZAF (2016)
SANZAF is one of a handful of Muslim NGO’s that offer tax-benefits to its donors due to its status as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO). It also satisfies criteria relating to the country’s Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). In 2016 SANZAF distributed and expended a total of R151 million (previous year R112.5 million), representing an increase in distribution and expenditure of 34.5% over the previous year. Zakat distribution increased by 37% to R115.2 million (previous year R84.2 million). Through this growth of 37%, SANZAF was able to assist in empowering more local communities through poverty alleviation, education, skills development and disaster relief. The total income for 2016 was approximately R140 million (previous year R113.1 million), representing a 24.1% increase.
In terms of cost control, the organisation continuously monitors its administrative and operational costs and seeks to minimise it, given the need to restrict the percentage of zakat that can absorb such expenditure to a cap of one-eighth. Table 3.3 shows how the costs as a percentage of zakat have steadily declined over the years, as total zakat mobilisation has grown. Gross Administration Cost (as a percentage of Total Income) decreased from 18% in 2012 to 16.6% in 2016. Its record of accomplishment has been quite impressive so far, as it consistently managed to keep its costs low while expanding its portfolio of programs, activities and national footprint. However, with 30 offices countrywide and a staff complement of 122 it is expected that greater administrative costs would be incurred.
Table 3.2: Time series of expenditure and cost as % of zakat collected
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Source: SANZAF (2016)
SANZAF’s contribution to poverty alleviation
Poverty alleviation involves the provision of basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter to those who have no means of fulfilling these needs. This is a core function of SANZAF, but is an integral part of SANZAF’s skills development and educational assistance programme. It also extends to helping restore a poor person’s faith in Allah (s.w.t.). The programme is also designed to restore the dignity of the poor. Over the past forty years, SANZAF has transformed itself from a largely welfare-orientated to a more developmentally focused organisation. This forward-thinking move was driven largely by its own desire to transform its beneficiaries from recipients (mustahiq) to payers (muzakki) of zakat and was borne out of a realisation that handouts (welfare) were not sustainable in the end.
In the matter of distribution of zakat, SANZAF is committed to utilising the bulk of its resources directly on and for the benefit of the poor and needy. While in the initial stages, priority was given to meeting the basic needs of beneficiaries, such as the provision of food and clothing, payments of rent, water, etc. SANZAF has been seeking to reposition itself as a developmental organisation aiming to make a permanent dent on poverty through education, training and economic empowerment.
The journey itself was not an easy one, especially in the early years when resources were limited but also because zakat was not understood and appreciated as an empowerment tool. It is now committed to allocate at least 60 percent of its collections towards developmental initiatives. The organisation now spends 25 percent of its income for education alone. In the 2016 financial year, SANZAF spent R20 million (compared to R17.11 million in 2015) on tertiary education, benefitting 1317 and 1083 students respectively). Through financial support received from SANZAF, a total of 108 students graduated in various disciplines in 2015.
There were no notable empowerment initiatives until 1998 when SANZAF introduced the Family Assessment and Resources Development (FARD) program. FARD was the first serious initiative by SANZAF that was designed to break the dependency culture among its beneficiaries. It sought to find a balance between the immediate and long-term needs of beneficiaries by providing them with their basic household needs if they commit to an empowerment program. The FARD program was cautiously adopted by most donors. However, as South Africa emerged from the isolation years of Apartheid (1990), so the Muslim professional class grew considerably. These new professionals were being exposed to community development experiences, both outside of the Muslim community and in other parts of the world and it became easier to convince them of the organisation’s development philosophy. Gradually, through education, donor attitudes towards the use of zakat for empowerment changed for the better. SANZAF, however, continues to assist qualifying beneficiaries, specifically the elderly and sickly. Currently 50% of its beneficiaries are wholly dependent on some form of regular welfare assistance, either because they are not trainable (due to health reasons), or they do not qualify for government welfare grants due to age, etc. The organisation also assists with medical expenses and generally any basic household needs and in settling legitimate debts wherever possible.
Adopt-a-Granny Initiative: SANZAF’s popular Adopt-a-Granny initiative, now in its third year, forms part of Operation Winter Warmth Campaign and is already in full swing. The initiative not only aims to satisfy the material needs of the elderly by providing them with appropriate clothing for the winter months, but it also seeks to extend a hand of compassion and love to them so that they are made to feel special. SANZAF is partnering with over 20 high schools nationally (i.e. over 1200 learners)to treat some 630 grannies to a shopping spree,making this initiative among the largest volunteer-driven programmes of its kind. SANZAF spent in excess of R500 000 on the initiative and each granny was allocated an amount ranging from R500 to R1000 to purchase clothing items of their choice assisted by the learners. Each school has identified and "adopted" 20 grannies from their surrounding communities, and matched two learners per granny to accompany them on a subsidised “shopping spree”. The Adopt-a-Granny initiative hopes to achieve several things, including: (i) creating awareness of the needs and plight of the elderly; (ii) building socialisation skills among learners; and (iii) affording the grannies an opportunity to exercise choice by allowing them to choose what they need and want, thereby giving our elderly back their dignity.
Emergency Relief: The Muslim community has always responded to the needs of not only local projects but very positively to the cries of calamity of grief-stricken Muslims internationally. In terms of providing emergency relief for the poor and the destitute, SANZAF initiated their Operation Winter Warmth Campaign which aims to assist the most vulnerable sectors of the community during the chilly winter months. As part of the campaign learners and families from various schools and local communities receive winter packs and a warm meal. Similar distributions take place across the country, with each SANZAF office catering to the most pressing needs within their respective regions.
Bursary Program: SANZAF runs one of the largest bursary funds amongst Muslim NGO’s in South Africa. Hundreds of students have been assisted through the bursary program. With throughput (graduate) rates above 90% in some areas, the Bursary Program is one of its flagship programs. In 2016, SANZAF invested over R16 million in bursaries.
Entrepreneurship Training and Funding: SANZAF established an Entrepreneurship Training Centre in 2006. The entrepreneurship program offers candidates an accredited short-course and an opportunity to access capital to start a micro-enterprise on presentation of a viable business plan. It has trained over 1000 candidates (in 7 years) and boasts a success rate of over 60%, i.e. 60% of all funded enterprises are still operating.
Vocational Skills Program: SANZAF assists beneficiaries with tools and/or the cost to attend any vocational training course. The Skills Training programs budget is uncapped and any qualifying beneficiary is assisted with minimum bureaucracy to fast track their aspiration to become self-sufficient.
Case Management Software: SANZAF has developed a customised case management computer program that allows easy management and tracking of beneficiary assistance. The Case Master Program is offered free to all NGO’s (although not all of them use it) and can help reduce duplication of services.
Emergency Aid: SANZAF operates its own and/or supports several independent feeding schemes. They also offer emergency and/or disaster relief services, especially after natural (e.g. floods, winds, etc.) and man-made (e.g. fires, riots, etc.) disasters. Operation Muharram, initiated in the auspicious month before Ramadaan when Muslims are encouraged to increase their sadaqah obligations, allowed SANZAF to collect R3 million and provide financial relief to 23000 beneficiaries in 2016.
Zakat-ul-Fitr: SANZAF operates one of the largest organised collections and distributions of Zakat-ul-Fitr. In the Western Cape Province for example, SANZAF has developed a vast network of close onto 80 Masjids (mosques), which give their collected Zakat-ul-Fitr to SANZAF who, in return, uses it to purchase, pack and distribute groceries to beneficiaries within the precinct of the same Masjids.
Qurbani: SANZAF organises one of the largest Qurbani programs in Southern Africa, facilitating the performance of Qurbani locally as well as in two neighbouring countries, i.e. Malawi and Mozambique. It also collects and distributes Qurbani meat. In 2016, SANZAF disbursed R4.7 million on Operation Qurbani, with 108288 people benefitting from it.
Waqf: SANZAF also manages several waqf (charitable endowment) initiatives, including a Water Waqf and Masjid Waqf. These and other waqfs are directed at serving the needs of poor communities.
Waqf and Islamic NGOs in South Africa
In its simplest form, a waqf is a charitable endowment that allows a person to dedicate his or her property to Allah (s.w.t.) for the benefit of the public good. In conventional terms, this would often be in the form of building mosques, schools and hospitals all aimed at perpetually benefitting local communities. The inherent strength of waqf as a means of poverty alleviation and general social development within the Islamic system of charitable giving, lies in the fact that it is enduring, existing in perpetuity and thus goes beyond other charitable options open to Muslims for religious altruism. Zakat and sadaqah, for example, are useful tools in poverty alleviation and wealth re-distribution, but fall short of providing the capability waqf has in enhancing the lives of its recipients, particularly when looking at long-term benefits. The goal of the benefactors with regards to waqf is therefore wholly different to other forms of charitable giving, with the nature and intent of waqf being designed to provide poor and needy people access to facilities and resources without giving them a direct monetary benefit. One-hundred percent of a Muslim’s donation (in whatever form) is invested in an income producing capital asset, remains intact, and is never spent for any expense.Only the income generated (i.e. rental or profits from the capital investment) is utilised for funding sustainable community and social development projects or programmes.As a donor, the waqif/a may designate the project or programme, or may leave it to the discretion of the Mutawallees to spend on a need or priority basis. Beneficiaries may be Muslim as well as the poor in the broader community.
The history of waqf is no different from the history of Islam. Historically, waqf has thrived in all Muslim communities. In many societies, waqf -based institutions were the sole providers (with no state intervention) of education, health care, water resources, and support for the poor. The list of social services even included welfare of animals. Waqf by individuals was also supplemented by waqf by the rulers in Muslim-ruled societies. The institution witnessed a decline as Muslim rule ended in many parts of the planet with secular states replacing them. Nevertheless, laws of awqaf that were formulated at different points of time in history remain as a reference point in the context of a revival of interest in this institution with mainstreaming of Islamic economics and finance.
The Muslim community of South Africa has a similar history and equally impressive record of accomplishment in creative awqaf. The first waqf in the country is a religious waqf, the Auwal Masjid, Cape Town that dates back to 1798. It is estimated that there are currently close onto 1000 Masjids in the country. South Africa does not have dedicated waqf law. However, its legal framework provides for establishment of public benefit organisations under which Islamic NGOs have been established. Efforts by some Ulama has led to the emergence of NGOs whose primary concern have been Islamic education, burial societies, halaal services, etc. They also established Darul-Ulooms to train Imaams/Moulanas. Today, many of South Africa’s Darul-Ulooms train students from other parts of the world. Many Islamic NGOs have also been set up by businesspersons. These NGOs focus primarily on serving the welfare needs of the Muslim community, including establishing orphanages and feeding programs. Some of the well-known Islamic NGOs include Awqaf SA and Helping Hands. The former Islamic NGO’s operations are analysed as a case study in the following sub-section.
Case study 2: National Awqaf Foundation of South Africa
The National Awqaf Foundation of South Africa (Awqaf SA) was pioneered in 2000 as an independent community-based and owned trust, dedicated to the establishment of the institution of waqf (charitable endowment) and the empowerment of communities. It is a community based charitable organisation aimed at investing endowment funds for various community development programmes. These programmes are aimed at promoting self-reliance and sustainability. Though Awqaf SA was informally initiated in 2000, it was registered as a Trust in 2003 under the Trust Property Control Act 57 of 1988. Subsequently, it was registered as a Non-profit Organisation in 2004 and as a Public Benefit Organisation in terms of the Income Tax Act in 2005. Prior to registration as a Trust, the organisation operated as an Association not for Gain. Awqaf SA has been involved in the development of the widely adopted NGO Corporate Governance Charter. It has also drafted its own Corporate Governance and Ethics Charter.
The vision and values statement of Awqaf SA is “to be the leading civil society waqf institution in Southern Africa having an exemplary financial and human capital asset base providing cutting-edge value-adding initiatives and services to empower people and communities towards the establishment of Social Justice, and excelling in all that we do with the highest standards of ethics and integrity”. The mission of Awqaf SA is “to popularise, mobilise, create, develop, and manage waqf and charitable endowment funds and assets; and to initiate and/or support worthwhile sustainable humanitarian, community development, and poverty alleviation projects and programmes. Awqaf SA is based on the three pillars of People, Projects and Paisa (PPP). Based on these three pillars, the organisation ensures sustainable development on the following basis:
- People are the lifeblood. They give of their wealth and of themselves. They help the organisation in structures, in funding, in advising, and broadly in community service.
- Projects are the delivery instruments and leadership incubators of community development. Through projects Awqaf SA ensures that the organisation achieves its mission and goals.
- Paisa, a Swahili/Urdu/Persian word meaning ‘money’, is the core business of the organisation – the mobilisation of funds in the form of waqf, fi-sabeelillah, and zakat. Without a sustainable means of funding projects, Awqaf SA community development projects will cease to exist.
Waqf endowments and investments
Since inception the organisation has been growing its waqf funds and corresponding investments. It follows a principle of “no capital usage”, hundred percent investment of capital and utilisation of returns alone keeping the awqaf corpus intact. This is in full compliance with the Fiqh principles of waqf. It raises waqf resources through the following products: (i) monthly debit orders (i) given percentage of monthly earnings); (ii) lump sum payments; (iii) Al-tijarah or giving a percentage of profits or equity in a business or transaction; (iv) Al-maal or donations of property; and (v) Al-wasiyyah or bequests through wills. The investment strategy guidelines adopted by Awqaf SA are as follows: (i) Location: Combination of community, provincial, national, and offshore; (ii) Returns: Balance of social and financial returns within constraints of strategy with a bias to maximisation of financial returns; (iii) Diversification/Risk: Spread risk with bias at low risk, diversified portfolio; (iv) Investment portfolio: Combination of property, equity (musharaka, mudaraba) and financial (ijara, murabaha, takaful); (v) Equity participation: Public/awqaf/institutional partnership possibilities; (vi) Currency & Inflation: Hedge / factor into strategy; and (vii) Restriction: Awqaf SA may not invest in unethical or Islamically unacceptable projects. Awqaf SA ensures that 100% of the donated waqf funds are invested and always remains capital. Only the income derived from the underlying investments is spent.
The value of establishing a waqf and the institution of Awqaf in South Africacannot be measured in terms of Rands and Cents only.However, Table 3.4 provides a summary of the sources of funding Awqaf SA has been receiving over the past decade.
Table 3. 3: Trend in the financials of Awqaf SA (‘000 Rands)
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Source: Awqaf SA (2016)
From the financials, it follows that waqf funds received as well as investments have steadily grown in tandem over the years. During the last four years alone, Awqaf SA’s waqf funds received has more than quadrupled. Waqf revenues as well as annual grants and payments have also increased in tandem and steadily. It seems that 2012 was particularly a good year for Awqaf SA. A donor could choose a specific Waqf Fund or Funds at his/her own discretion as offered by Awqaf SA according to the respective community development Waqf sector, such as: Education; Health; Youth; Masjid and Madressah; Microfinance/Investment, Trade and Skills; Media and Publication; Arts, Culture and Heritage; Food, Trees and Water; Ramadaan Iftaar; Capacity Buolding; Hajj and Umrah; Qur’an; Family; Palestine Solidarity; CSWF Corporate Staff, just to name a few.
Tax Status: Awqaf SA is a registered Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) and enjoys various tax benefits. Donations to Awqaf SA, subject to certain limits, are also tax deductible by donors.
Projects & Activities: Since its founding Awqaf SA has engaged in a variety of projects and activities together with its local and international partners. Some of these include:
- Holding NGO Tax Seminars and liaising with government on tax matters on behalf of the Muslim NGO sector;
- Participation in various summits, conventions, commemoration;
- Initiating Waqf Funds;
- Developing policies that foster partnerships, cooperation and working in unity;
- Developing institutional framework of Awqaf SA;
- Conducting Project Management course in partnership with ISWA in Cape Town;
- Contributing to a series of articles on Waqf in Muslim Views;
- Assisting in the development of organisational and institutional waqfs and providing consulting services;
- Provision of Training, Mentorship, and Consulting services on, inter alia, projects, project management, governance, sustainable funding, and sustainable community development, to NGO’s, Municipalities, and Corporates; and
- Funding home-based care programmes for Aids afflicted adults and children in Lesotho in collaboration with Green Crescent.
Governance: Awqaf SA is governed and managed by a volunteer Council of Mutawallees (Trustees) and a Board of Management. These structures are currently being expanded to become more representative of the community. The organisation is also governed by a constitution and various legislation.
Footprint: Awqaf SA has chapters in Gauteng and the Western Cape and a network presence in other provinces, towns and cities in South Africa and in the SADC region.
International Association: Awqaf SA is associated with several international organisations such as the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC); Research Centre for Islamic History, Art & Culture (IRCICA); Islamic Research & Training Institute (member of the Islamic Development Bank Group); Muslim Religious Council of Singapore; IHH (Istanbul); Deniz Feneri (Istanbul) and the Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation.
Conclusions, lessons learnt and future research agenda
The prominence of the faith-based NGO sector in development, and its role in filling the gaps left by governments around the world, is highly recognised. While their impact is debatable, the current state of the sector provides some insights into the ways in which they interact with their various constituencies. As we have highlighted in this chapter, the growth of FBNGOs is a testimony of the need for service. This service comes at the backdrop of history. In the case of South Africa, a country whose past was marred by racial discrimination, the need for a vibrant NGO sector cannot be overemphasised. Noting from how the NGO sector has grown over the years, and its provincial distribution, it can easily be concluded that the growth is targeted to where the greatest need is. The question that ought to be asked is: how do these FBNGOs operationalise their work?
The two case studies provide a glimpse of issues that both faith-based NGOs and governments grapple with. Poverty is the number one enemy of society. However, the manner in which society organises itself to respond to some of the pressing challenges, is the issue that comes out clearly in the two cases. While no conclusions should be made in a case analysis, it is clear that ‘ethics’ undercut what faith-based NGOs do, and how they conduct their development activities. Institutions dealing with development challenges need organisation. By ‘organisation’ we mean developing mechanisms that foster efficiency and effectiveness in the manner they deal with day-to-day business and operations. As is the case with all NGOs, instituting a Board of Governors that shares the vision of an organisation is critical. However, this is just a first step in a series of organisational structures needed to get an institution functional in a meaningful sense. It is also crucial that, at an operational level, the organisation puts in place a human resource that is capable of translating the vision into reality. This is where organisations rooted in a particular faith, strive to get people who also share the fundamental beliefs that underpin such an organisation. For faith-based organisations like Islamic NGOs, it may mean having people who not only understand, belong to, or practice Islam, but also those that share and value the principles of Islam.
The paper further offers insights into human passion. While zakat is an obligatory expression of charity for all Muslims in order to engender prosperity and human decency, it is a powerful anti-poverty instrument. It is a tool for social justice not only because it is a system for financial inclusion but also because it delves deep into contributing to dealing with social ills. As demonstrated by the two cases, its multidimensional focus requires multifarious approaches. Over and above, capacity and empowerment of people in such organisations is imperative. The management of endowments and investment is the case in point. It is becoming increasingly evident that while NGOs are contributing to the public good, they are also prone to malpractices that often slow progress and impact (Gibson and Tidwell, 2013; Makuwira, 2014). Ethical lapses, for example, in financial management, can have devastating effect not only on the image of the organisation but the trust people have to give. There are lessons in the two cases which highlight high accountability and transparency standards which are essential in any organisation.
Zakat itself does not translate into concrete output or outcomes. It requires the participation of ordinary men and women. This is about mobilising people in the development process. Easier said than done, most organisations fail in how they mobilise people to ‘own’ the projects aimed to fight poverty. Even though the cases in this chapter highlight a well-organised process, it is an issue which needs further research. Participatory development methodologies have become a chorus to many in the development world. However, in practice, their operationalisation remain an area that is under-theorised. This brings in a new dimension often ignored in development projects – ‘Sustainability’.
It is clear from the case studies that through strategic philanthropy and/or charity, there is a lot of emphasis on outcome-oriented approaches which, together with capacity and skills development, provide the basis for sustainability. Still silent and in need of further research, relates to the exit strategies FBNGOs use to ensure continuity beyond FBNGO-supported activities. Furthermore, what the cases have highlighted is the participation of a multiplicity of actors which, by inference, may require an in-depth study on how relationships are developed, nurtured and sustained. Not only are studies needed to develop a better understanding of the overall impact of FBNGOs but there is greater need to understand this from a sector-specific approach.
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Chapter 3: Expanding the Prospect of Rural Prosperity in Nigeria: The Place of Education
Akume, Albert. T
Dept. of Public Administration
CASSS, Kaduna Polytechnic,
Kaduna State-Nigeria.
Introduction
Promoting rural prosperity that is equitable is desirable because it allows people to meet basic needs, enhances wellbeing and human flourishing. Prosperity evolves from progressive human activities which if sustained and utilized reinforce prosperity of the whole community. A growing activity does not necessarily lead to social change and prosperity (Pradip, 2008:33). Prosperity entails removing inhibitions that perpetuate poverty. This realization has continued to strengthen the search for workable solution to solve the poverty challenge facing most countries that are threatening global security and stability (Signe, 2015:5). Sadly, some of the identified solutions such as the MDGs, backed international financial support to address the problem, have failed to mitigate it, thereby exacerbating the poverty situation with resultant upheavals (Pradip, 2008:32).
Such upheavals are manifest all over Africa in forms of conflicts and insecurity. In South America, it is evident in revolts against governments while in the Middle East, it is characterized by uprisings and wars. The impact on Europe is seen in the increasing number of asylum seekers, economic migrants and worst still, threats of terrorist attacks. The general impact is that it is over-stretching the finances of developed societies while in developing societies it is responsible for the spreading of poverty and the deepening of inequalities within the rural communities most severely affected. It is believed that if relevant actors genuinely take appropriate action, positive change can occur, resulting in improved capacity building, efficient resource mobilization, successful implementation of goals, and shared prosperity (Signe, 2015:5-6). Tackling the problem of rural poverty that has remained pandemic in developing societies means addressing the question of education (information aggregation, dissemination, and its proper usage) that is grossly lacking in those localities. The objective of this paper therefore is to examine the place and relevance of education in expanding the productive capabilities of rural dwellers in order to guarantee prosperity for the rural poor in rural localities in Nigeria.
Poverty and the Question of Rural Development: Exploring the Meaning and Linkage
Poverty depicts disempowerment. It encompasses material lack, low levels of education and health, exposure to vulnerability and risk, voicelessness, and powerlessness. These issue-areas capture the full range of deprivations that constitute poverty, and for which changing them will empower and give voice to the poor (Ajodo-Adebanjoko and Ugwuoke, 2014:365). The by-product of these elements is poverty. There are four classes of poverty: chronic, transitory, occasional and never poor (IFAD, 2011:15). These classifications nonetheless, poverty can be perceived as a mind-set; lack of access to resources, and human rights, all infringing on entitlement. The nature of entitlement does impact poverty and wealth in any given context (Pradip, 2008:33-36). Rural poverty should not only be conceived in terms of income and non-income deprivations but also of vulnerability to exogenous shocks due to changes in weather, flood, pest infestation, market forces, (IFAD, 2011:17 & 26). In the rural areas, landlessness and lack of education (information availability, adequacy and usage) are associated with greater proneness to both poverty and environmental vulnerability, as also lack of access to infrastructure; however, these associations vary with ethnicity and location (IFAD, 2011:26; Akume, 2015).
To avoid the conflicting disagreement that has trailed the measurement of poverty, this paper adopted the multidimensional poverty index (MPI). The MPI was developed by Alkira and Santos, (2010) using indicators like health, education, and standard of living. These indexes and their upshot indicators align with the indicators of the MDGs (IFAD, 2011:17; Koroneos and Rokos, 2012:144). Using this scale it is incontestable that over 90% of rural communities in Nigeria, as in most countries in Africa are severely poor as 7 out of every 10 Nigerian live on less than $1 a day (NEEDS, 2004: ix). Existing record shows that as at 2010 about 60.9% of Nigerians were living in object poverty. In 2011, the figure rose slightly to 61.9% and by 2012, it stood at 61% (Ajodo-Adebanjoko and Ugwuoke, 2014:362). These figures tell the painful story of rural poverty in the country as the level of poverty remains high (Oshionebo, 2004:304 & 305). Addressing rural poverty means enforcing individual rights which will serve to secure land holding and land value thereby encouraging investment for productive purposes. It equally requires curbing natural and human induced shocks, increasing agricultural production, its diversification, and sustainability.
The argument supporting agriculture in reducing poverty and boosting prosperity is pushed in four fronts that are: i) growth in agricultural productivity can stimulate faster economic growth; ii) able to manage food price volatility and ensure food security, iii) it attracts investment opportunities, and iv) investment generated permits access to technology and high value chain in the sector (IFAD, 2011:5). Where these factors are not in the favour of the sector, there is the consequence of low investment, which serves as disincentive for productivity, low yields, and leading to higher prices that inhibit access to such produce. The result is that it reduces income and undermines food sufficiency and availability. Agriculture fits in neatly for Nigeria because her land space covers 1/7 of the productive areas of West Africa that is capable of growing virtually all types of tropical and subtropical crops. Its mild tropical climate and rainfall pattern that is well distributed across the country adequately support the cultivation of cash and arable crops (Oshionebo, 2004:304). For which rural development cannot overlook but ensure to harness in order to create the enabling condition for rural prosperity.
The obvious truth is that rural development is not synonymous with attempts to raise agricultural output, although the latter is stimulated by the former. It looks beyond the productive system and concerns itself with the infrastructure available to rural dwellers (Killick, 1981). Broadly, the objectives of rural development are to affect a simultaneous improvement in farm incomes and in rural amenities, to raise rural living standards and reduce the worst contrast between town and country (Killick, 1981:145). As such, rural development policy is still anchored in agriculture (Drabenstott, 2004:10), because enhancing agriculture production will boost internal food sufficiency, expand agribusiness, and the capacity to export food sustainably for the benefit of Nigerians. Sadly, that has not been the case (Mustapha and Adamu, 2014:68). The situation is complicated by the diminution of land for agriculture due to climate change and poor farming practices. Specifically, climate change is accounting for a five percent decrease in agricultural land yields in developing societies. This has raised doubts about the capacity of the agricultural sector to help lift the rural poor from the poverty trap (IFAD, 2011:1). This challenges nonetheless, agriculture is a potent source for rural prosperity if proper tools are introduced and used. This is because it provides the pace for diversity that creates opportunities for our varied talents as well as protect us from over reliance on one economic sector (Green, 2010:x).
[...]
1 Department of Economics, Nelson Mandela University
2 Department of Development Studies, Nelson Mandela University
3 Throughout this paper, the abbreviation (s.w.t.) will denote “subhanahu wa ta’ala” (Glorified and Exalted be He), a phrase seen as an act of reverence and devotion towards the Almighty Allah (s.w.t.) (God) among Muslims.
- Quote paper
- Gurvy Kavei (Editor), Ismail Badroen (Author), Jonathan Makuwira (Author), Albert T. Akume (Author), Bethold Kaurivi (Author), Claudios Nhokwara (Author), 2022, Africa Redemption. From Poverty Eradication to Wealth Creation, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1252670
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