The Writeshop, sponsored by Southern Africa Trust, aimed to draft content for the book, and lay out a plan for its completion. Partnerships to take forward the issues raised were also identified. The event brought in a range of experiences, and asked hard- hitting questions about what has worked and what hasn’t, who has benefited and who hasn’t from development in the last 50 years, but particularly in the last 10 years. It focused primarily on the experience of Southern and Eastern Africa.

Participants at this Writeshop were drawn from Academia, Civil Society as well as Government and contributed to vibrant debate on key issues affecting the course of Africa’s development.

On reflecting on some of the key trends affecting Africa’s development, participants noted the value of capturing development discourse from an African perspective. While the region has experienced high growth rates, exceeding those of North Africa, Middle East and Latin America, glaring inequality still remains an issue. During a scenario exercise that aimed to project the course of development in Botswana, Mozambique, Kenya and Zimbabwe, participants noted that political stability may strengthen – to the extent that society is increasingly mobilised and there is a willingness to challenge political leadership. In all of the scenarios that were presented, the behaviour of the state was critical and emerged as a re-current theme throughout the workshop. Participants had divergent views about the state, given its current role and the role it should be playing, as well as regional variations in the role of the state.

The 4-day programme also involved a field trip to Cato Manor Area Based Management to observe local economic development strategies being used to assist ‘survivalist’ enterprises. The book is aimed at institutions of higher learning, civil organisations, government and researchers. The book addresses various themes which have an impact on the course of Africa’s development:

• Africa – the changing nature of the developmental state since independence
• How do we facilitate effective change?
• What role for the state? from control to enabling
• Whose voice and whose choice? extending the voice and power of citizens in planning and management of development (include influencing policies)?
• Services for all: rethinking service delivery paradigms to reach into communities
• Promoting inclusive growth: supporting livelihoods for the mass of the African population
• What future for smallholder and household agriculture in Africa? ensuring household food security and incomes, especially in the light of climate change?
• Reconnecting citizens and the state: ways forward

A profile of participants at the Writeshop is available here....