SWEET POISON
52 mins
Shepherd boy
I'm hungry all the time. I'm very weak, that's why I begged for money. Then I could buy corn flour and fill my belly. The emergency rations last us a month, then we're hungry again.
Simbo Keita
Calling an African "poor" used to be a dreadful slur, and saying that an African was in debt was an even greater insult. But nowadays, African politicians fight for their countries to be labelled as both impoverished and in debt, in order to get aid money from the World Bank and donor countries. And that's a terrible disgrace for us.
Shepherd
As shepherds we still lived well. But then the drought came. We had grazing land and lots of livestock but the sun ate up all our herds. Then a giant bird dropped food. Only the white people drop food from the sky.
Simbo Keita
Fifty years after gaining our freedom from the colonialists, more than half a billion dollars in aid money has been pumped into Africa.And I've worked on aid projects in Africa for more than 30 years, without achieving any tangible results. We Africans need to ask ourselves the question: Why haven't we developed?
Kenya
Turkananland
Samal Eripon
If those people hadn't come here during the drought, we wouldn't be around today. At one time we had our livestock. Others lived off the lake. Then we became the lake's prisoners. We survived because of government aid. Thanks to that, I was able to marry three women.
Imanuel Imana
Former MP (ENGLISH)
My name is Imanuel Imana, former Member of Parliament, and my father was a chief during colonial times. So they said the chiefs must set an example and take their kids to school. Until Independence we had only one school. They said you don’t speak Turkan. So two of us succeeded, came and worked with the local authority in Turkana. When I was still young about 26 I stood for parliament. The issues at hand are still outstanding, there’s a problem of water, there’s a problem of education, there’s a problem of health services and those are the problems we are still tackling today.
Desmond Millar
Missionary (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Mali
Manatali Region
Simbo Keita
At the beginning of the 1980s they started building a huge reservoir dam. It was supposed to provide energy for Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, because electricity means development. People from 30 villages were relocated on the promise that afterwards they would have irrigated land on which they could harvest rice two or three times a year, that they would have electricity, and that their living conditions would improve.
Kalifa Dembele
But what did they give us? Tiny plots of land! We have very poor harvests. Just a little millet and a little maize. At one time we had huge herds of livestock with many cattle and sheep. We used to harvest lots of crops, especially millet and peanuts. And now? What are we supposed to live on if there's nothing to eat? What can we do? How much power do the poor have?
Simbo Keita
In Manantali, the people feel that they didn't really count. And after the reservoir and dam were built the people here were simply abandoned. I studied agricultural science in Germany in order to help my home country. My plan was to complete my studies and then come back here and help the people of my country. So you could say that I'm a local, black, aid worker.
Tanzania
Village of Muhenda
Simbo Keita
After finishing my studies in Europe, I came here to increase agricultural production via the use of chemical fertilisers, via the use of tractors, etc., so that agricultural production would improve. But the reality was very different.
Muhamedy Gwao Mbogo
My father Mbogo used to grow a lot of cotton and thanks to that we had a good life. But in 1990, my father decided to stop growing cotton. He had two hectares of cotton fields and employed people from the village to work them. At that time the state cotton agency invested in a development project here. Back then, cotton represented progress. But then the world market price for cotton took a nose-dive. The state-owned company continued production for a while, but then the debts killed it. Now we have to live on 600 shillings (0.26 euros) per day.
Woman
We don't expect anything... but we won't make it without aid.
Kenya
Turkanaland
Imanuel Imana
Former MP (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Thore Hem
Norwegian Development Agency (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Imanuel Imana
Former MP (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Desmond Millar
Missionary (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Thore Hem
Norwegian Development Agency (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Imanuel Imana
Former MP (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Simbo Keita
If we had good development aid, we wouldn't need emergency relief. In other words, emergency relief should be given only in the event of a catastrophe. A constant stream of aid turns people into virtual beggars because it destroys their own ability to develop. Development aid is supposed to plan for people's long-term development. Africans are the only people who believe that their development has to be planned by others.
Mali
Manatali Region
Peter Klein
I've lived in West Africa for about 37 years, mostly in Mali. I'm a businessman and have been the Austrian Consul for 16 years. I helped to clear the reservoir basin. This used to be a mahogany forest. I brought out the valuable mahogany trees. I was the main supplier in Mali. And we cut down the tree with German equipment, with German chainsaws.
Simbo Ba
We couldn't comprehend the fact that the water would rise right up to the level of our village. But the engineers came and explained to us that everything here would be submerged, even the trees. And they were right. Everything they said was true: the water came and the villages disappeared.We had to leave our ancestors behind. Even the grave of Nare Makan, father of the emperor Sundiata Keita. We also had to leave behind our totems and altars. It wasn't possible to simply move everything to a different location because these things are not for the eyes of outsiders. We were able to hide some of our shrines in the forest.
Simbo Keita
Life changed drastically during the construction of the dam. Manantali was a tiny village consisting of 10 or 15 huts, and within a few weeks it was transformed into a town with a 30,000 inhabitants... from all over the world. And all these different people brought their own cultures and customs to Manantali, and soon there were bars, alcohol and prostitution. And those kinds of things had a negative influence on the young people.
PROF. MAMADOU DIAWARA
Developmental Ethnologist
Development aid is a business in its own right and if it hadn't been a business, it wouldn't have flourished the way it did. Then we have this pile of debts known as “development aid”. This money isn't a gift. African countries put themselves in debt. And these debts are paid off by ordinary farmers and townspeople. And, of course, huge amounts of money are at stake.
Villager
We also want Mali to get out of the poverty trap. But Mali will only be in good shape... when we're in good shape. If you have to suffer every now and then, that's okay. But suffering all the time drives you mad.
Simbo Keita
The people are very angry with the government because many of the things they were promised after relocation never happened. And the problem facing the region now is that agricultural production is below its previous level, so that people have almost nothing to eat and are even more dependent on outside aid than they were before.
Vore Gana Seck
Environmental Activist (ENGLISH ) BITE MISSING
MUHAMED GUEYE
ECONOMIC JOURNALIST
It's a vicious circle...
...that keeps us in the aid trap. We're given money so that we can buy products from abroad. The money goes back to the West instead of helping Africa. And we can't get out.
Tanzania
Village of Muhenda
Cotton Farmer
The enormous cotton fields were lavishly fertilised and tended with the aid of modern tractors. The cotton was treated with fertilisers and high-quality medicines, and on top of that it was sprayed with chemicals so that its growth would be increased further.
Cotton growing archive
We import these easy-to-use spray pumps from Europe. The batteries come from Japan. One pump costs us 40kg of cotton. In other words, one tenth of our harvest.
Mwanzalima
This project is being financed with money from abroad so that the smallholders can learn modern agricultural techniques. Our aims are to increase yields with the aid of modern techniques, to increase exports of cotton and to generate much more income.
Saidi Mwanzalima (contd) (ENGLISH)
It’s the world market which dictates the price of cotton. This year it can be good. The next year maybe it can fall down.
Keely cut her teeth at Journeyman nearly 20 years ago filming in hotspots like Somalia and Angola. Since then she has been a dedicated in-house editor and writer. She has turned out several respected series and pioneered our mega successful reversion operation. She has always offered filmmakers a safe pair of hands to carry their babies to market, as she understands that cut down doesn’t have to mean dumbed down.
Saidi Mwanzalima (contd) (ENGLISH)
There were some very high costs involved. We expected to be able to pay for them from the sales of cotton. But the costs were rising in such a way as would cause more problems.
Saidi Mwanzalima (contd)
In 1972, for example, a tractor like this one cost us the equivalent of 34 bales of cotton. Today, in 1979, the same vehicle costs the equivalent of 74 bales of cotton.
Cotton Farmer
They left us completely in the lurch. And then we gave up too. We should have made good money, but the cotton was worthless. All we can do now is hope that the price of cotton will rise again. The young people would start growing cotton again.
MOSES NAREEBA
COTTON MERCHANT (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
JAMES SHIKWATI
ECONOMIC CONSULTANT (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Kenya
Lake Turkana
Thore Hem
Norwegian Development Agency (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Imanuel Imana
Former MP (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Jeppe Kolding
Marine Biologist (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Imanuel Imana
Former MP (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Jeppe Kolding
Marine Biologist (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Emerikwaa Okoro
So the factory was useless and the white men were gone. And then the next famine came. It ravaged people and animals alike and even turned the lake into hardened clay. The only thing that kept us alive was the fish. Then the fish moved to another spot and we followed them. There we were attacked by other tribes, and we killed each other. By the lake and on the grazing land we had nothing but problems.
Samuel Lokoro
That's why we're begging you: Come back! Help us again... just like you helped us back then. Now we're completely dependent on famine relief.
Desmond Millar
Missionary (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Bamako
Capital of Mali
Simbo Keita
Simbo Keita
In my own country, Mali, more than 50% of national income comes from development aid. Officially, there are roughly 1,000 NGOs.
MUHAMED GUEYE
ECONOMIC JOURNALIST
I personally know certain aid workers and members of NGOs who have been in this country for ten years. One once rather cynically remarked to me: "The hallmark of a good development aid project is that once it's complete you can begin the next phase."
Simbo Keita
With development aid, Less than 30% of the cash actually reaches the intended recipient. A lot of the money is syphoned off by corrupt means so that the smallholders who are supposed to receive the aid don't actually get it.
VORE GANA SECK
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Mali
Manatali Region
Villager
All the villages were promised electricity, but nothing came of it. We're very angry about the fact that they refuse us access to the electricity supply. They don't regard us as fully-fledged human beings. Instead of writing a letter, I decided to speak to the minister personally. So I travelled all the way to Bamako. I told him that all the other African countries had electricity supplies. Senegal, Mauritania, all the others... Except us! We'll never get out of this mess like this.
Heike Ostermann
This electricity production is for the cities. You could say that here... urban development has taken place at the expense of the locals.
Heike Ostermann (contd)
We came here in 1995. Our target group was the 11,000 villagers who'd been relocated. We got our project off the ground with money that was left over from the reservoir dam. At the time, we had the impression that the young people were benefiting from the move. Many of them were earning money building the dam. On our project, we trained people to be electricians, bricklayers, painters, and we thought: this might be an opportunity for the young people.
Birama
When the Germans were here, the young people worked. But they stopped working when the Germans left. The young people only wanted to be employees. Many of them emigrated to Spain because there was no work here. Just take a look at my situation. Even though all my children went to school. There are hardly any young men left here. Most of them have left.
Sidi Dembele
The only promise they actually kept is that we would be relocated. But that's brought us no advantages. Relocation has only brought us disadvantages.
Heike Ostermann
Doubafing Soucko now works for an irrigation project which has continued subsequent to the German development project. And she's now employed to give the villagers advice on how to work their fields, manage their water, maintain the irrigation channels.
Heike Ostermann (contd)
How are the villagers doing? The ones who were relocated back then? Yes. How did they fare after they were relocated?
Doubafing Soucko
They're hungry for at least six months out of twelve. Some of them grow a little rice. The irrigation system is still under construction. I'd be glad to see the Germans come back.
Heike Ostermann (contd)
Aid workers leave at the end of a project so that the locals can continue the work.
Simbo Keita
One negative consequence of the dam for me is that the locals believe the Europeans should help us, because we, as victims of the dam, have a right to receive assistance. Somehow or other, the warrior spirit, the pride of these people, has also been broken. At the time, people dubbed the dam a "white elephant", and so far the colour of this elephant has hardly changed.
TANZANIA
VILLAGE OF NG'HOBOKO
My name is Nchambi ShiShi. I've been doing fair-trade organic farming for over 10 years now. When the fair-trade people came, I began to grow organic cotton. I hoped it would solve many of my problems, and it has! I'm very happy about that.
Niranjan Patni
Biore Tanzania (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Woman
Daughter of Shi Shi! Why are you sowing the sunflower and cotton seeds in the same row? You're supposed to sow 15 rows of cotton, a row of sunflower, and then cotton again. I've only just noticed it. If you have a small patch left over, plant cotton on it. And sow sunflower seeds around the edges.
Nchambi ShiShi
With the money I earned I was able to build new huts. They've even got tin roofs! And then I bought a piece of land and built a house. I even bought some livestock so I would be able to eat meat. But it was God's will that almost all of them should die. That's God for you. I'll just buy some new ones.
Simbo Keita
It's possible to increase productivity by using state-funded development aid to attract investment from the private sector. Development aid should be start-up assistance to help smallholders sell their crops in the long term. But Africans have to take control of the private sector themselves.
JAMES SHIKWATI
ECONOMIC CONSULTANT (ENGLISH) (BITE MISSING)
Kenya
Lake Turkana
Uday Patel (ENGLISH) BITE MISSING
Fishermen
We'll ask them for the necessary equipment! The Nile perch lives in the middle of the lake. We need motor boats and fuel. And ice boxes for transporting the perch and keeping it fresh. This man should give us these things first. This man is only interested in business. He's only trying to feather his own nest.
Simbo Keita
I’m sure Africans will invest in Africa and make money here. There are Africans with enough money. But due to the political environment, this private sector is afraid to make private investments.
JAMES SHIKWATI
ECONOMIC CONSULTANT (ENGLISH) (BITE MISSING)
Nairobi
Capital of Kenya
Simbo Keita
Simbo Keita
Africa is clearly a very rich place. We have enough people, we have enough young people. We have enough culture, we have enough natural resources, and in our view, the development of Africa can only be achieved by Africans.
Shepherd Boy
I’d like to be a cameraman like you. But when the drought rages like a fire, I’ll come to you as quickly as I can. To the country of the white people! Here there are no cars... motorbikes... planes... or helicopters. And there's no rain. If God doesn't kill all the animals, I'll get married here. If he kills the animals, I'll come to your country.
ENDS