Bono's brave enough to admit this.
Kenyan economist James Shikwati: "for God's sake, stop the aid:". http://m.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/a-363663.html#spRe...
A portion of the corn often goes directly into the
hands of unscrupulous politicians who then pass it
on to their own tribe to boost their next election
campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up
on the black market where the corn is dumped at
extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well
put down their hoes right away; no one can compete
with the UN's World Food Program.
Let me give you an example. In africa there used to be a great many tailors. This was a profession that was viable and quite respected on the continent long after the western world had gone to pre-made clothes. In part this was because the country had not modernized. Then the aid came. The aid came in many forms, but one of the forms was millions upon millions of T-shirts and jeans. The entire profession of being a tailor has been eliminated (of course except for the very rich people.)
I'm not saying africans should be tailors, but pointing out that aid distorts the market, and distorts the economy and can undermine it if it's not well thought out.
This is what Bono was saying and this is one of the lessons that GiveDirectly seems to have learned.
If we go from aid to commerce the tailors won't come back, but billions upon billions of consumer items will flood into Africa. As the country gets richer there is going to be at least a 300 million women who aspire to owning a washing machine, a generator (or other source of power) and indoor pluming. Say what you want about capitalism and industrialization, but short of something like a first contact with the Culture, no other system on the planet can satisfy those needs. And they deserve to be satisfied.