Trade or Aid?

Before I left for Goma I was leaning towards the ideology of “trade not aid”, but now that I have been over living in a country that receives over a billion dollars worth of aid per year I am not so sure any more.

I remember arguing in one of my IDS tutorials, what is more important social action or political action? There were great arguments for both sides, however the group of people involved in this small debate concluded that there is a need for a healthy mixture of both. I believe the same goes for trade and aid.

The aid argument has been around for a long time, I have read that there was even great debate over the Marshal plan after WWII. Yet I can say from first hand experience that aid is important to create the means for trade. One cannot expect a developing nation to join the global market place at a competitive level when it is unable to provide for the basic needs of its people.

A nation such as the Democratic Republic of Congo is a great example for this argument. The DR Congo is known to be a resource rich country, however it is unable to gain from its resources because of the constant strife and terror created by armed groups around the mining region. Conflicts have uprooted whole communities creating a large population of internally displaced people who are in great need.

A country like the DR Congo cannot simply cut off all aid and expect to rebound with the help of international trade if there is no means of legitimate trade. Talks and agreements are slowly happening to help make the trade of minerals legal. Until legitimate international commerce becomes a reality in the Congo it is ridiculous to think that aid is not needed.

Now just because I think that aid is necessary it is important to note how the aid is being given to the country. When one thinks about international aid pictures of relief work come to mind such as the Tsunami relief effort and now most recently the earthquake in Haiti. This is unfortunate because aid does not simply mean an expat handing out food from the back of a UN or other NGO vehicle. Aid is not solely a financial donation to a country in need, it can also be an investment in human capital- helping the people in need help themselves. The financial side of aid is needed however it is not right to think that is only way.

Thoughts?