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PROPOSAL FOR NOBEL PRIZE FOR YUNUS

Clinton Suggests a Radical Approach to Development Based on Grameen Bank Model

AT HOME AND ABROAD

S M. AL I
PROUD as we are of the performance of the Grameen Bank, a luoni story of Bangladesh, we should be gratified with the ■ uggcat ion of the US presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. Bill Clinton that Prof Muhammad Yunua. the founder and the chief executive of thia unique institution. should be awarded a Nobel Prize
The Governor of the Arkansae who dealt with the relevance of the Oramecn Bank to his own state, one of the poorest In the United States, made the suggestion during a wide ranging Interview to a team of writers of the Rolling Stone, a popular high circulation U8 magazine, published in its latest issue of September 17.
The clipping of the Interview has just been made available to The Daly Star
In discussing the performance of the Grameen Bank. Clinton spoke on problems facing his state and suggested how a radical ap proach to the banking system could help the disadvantaged groups
He said, "I think, every major urban area and every poor rural area ought to haw access to a bank that operates on the radical Idea that they ought to make loans to people who deposit in their bank."
Then, when asked to elaborate on his radical approach. Clinton referred to the South Shore Bank, essentially a development orl ented institution, which had been tn operation In his state. It's made some mistakes, but on balance, Ils done a lot of good.' he added
Thia is when he made his first reference to the Grameen Bank during the interview.
Said the US presidential candidate. "You know, the South Shore Bank's Good Faith Fund (providing) loans to real low-income people, mostly for self-employment ventures, was based on the work of Muht^imad Yunus at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which until the recent natural disasters, had a ninety-seven percent loan-repayment rate, better than the commercial banks In Bangladesh, even though 1t was making loans almost exclusively to poor people."
Clinton's thorough knowledge of the Grameen Bank took one interviewer, William Greider, by surprise. He asked. I am intrigued because, with a few eccentric exceptions. I think, you are the only politician 1 have encountered who has heard of the Grameen Bank.
Clinton replied, "I think. Muhammad Yunus should be given a Nobel Prize Then, the Governor went into some details as to how he came to know about the Grameen Bank, through the roommate of his wife tn College, and then of his one hour and a half meeting with Muhammad Yunus in Washington
To quote the presidential candidate again, "1 spent an hour and a half with Yunus. I was just blown away. It was obvious what the parallels were. He made enterprise work. He promoted Independence. Not dependence. The idea struck me that whenever the power of the government is used to create market forces - that wprk. it is so much better than creating a bureaucracy to hire a bunch of full time people to give somebody a check."
From there, Clinton moved to other topics outlining his ideas for the regeneration of the
economy and the rwjval of a new spirit, the kind of spirit that once moved the hearts and minds of people during the Kennedy presidency.
The proposal from Bill Clinton to give a No bel Prize to Yunus comes at a time when grass root development In most Third World countries faces one challenge after another. While many approaches are being rejected, donor nations and agencies encounter resistance in selling their prescription for 'structural ad Justment" to countries which cannot — Just cannot — cut out agricultural subsidies or open their dxr» wide open to free Imports
In this scenario, the Grameen Bank provides an option that has gained the widest possible acceptance from all quarters, from the World Bank and UNICEF to national governments and voluntary organisations. Now. a presidential candidate in the United States has emerged as Its latest — and apparently strongest — supporter
The Nobel Prize Committee has so far taken little notice of exponents of Third .World development which aims at the reduction of the poverty level, through direct participation of the poorest of the poor, placed in the low-income groups. It has taken still less notice of people who are also themselves participating in the development process, instead of attending seminars and delivering seemingly learned talks.
The claim of Muhammad Yunus to a Nobel Prize would, therefore, rest on the award committee looking at the work of this Bangladeshi expert from a different perspec Uve
However, it won’t be that unusual a choice as some may think.
In 1970, Norman Borlaug of the United States won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in producing the high-yield variety of wheat that rescued Asia from famine and paved the way for a Green Revolution.
There Is an Invisible link between the work of Yunus and the success story of Borlaug Both are geared to the grass root development tn the Third World by changing the realities which poor farmers and people with hardly any Income had been taught to accept for genera tfons.
There Is another link between these two outstanding men from two different parts of the world.
While Muhammad Yunus continues to expand the network of the Grameen Bank — Its latest newsletter puts the number of Its branches at 961— and inspires countries even In other continents to follow the model, Bor laug. now 78. has now turned to Africa to see If parts of the continent, now facing drought and famine, can have Its own Green Revolution.
Tentatively. Borlaug's answer is "yes', reports Richard Crltchfickl. one of the best writ era — my own favourite for decades — on rural development. Author of Those Days" and "Villages". Critchfieid may also be tn his late seventies.
Borlaugs remedy is simply this: Marshal all available knowledge of African crops, fertilizer use. control of insects and weeds, and use of nwtoture. Then, try all this out in African
The Initial results of Borlaugs experiments tn several African countries arc highly promising. In many places, yields have risen an average of 2.5 times. Borlaug began with wheat and sorghum InSudan and maize tn Ghana. Despite the civil war, the Sudanese harvested 800.000 tons of wheat in March, up from 160.000. Ghana’s maize production has gone up by 40 CT cent. Mexican scientists working with Bor
ug are now operating in Tanzania. Benin and Togo and arc moving into Nigeria and Ethiopia.
In short. Borlaug would do In Africa - he would certainly try his best — what has worked In Asia
Unfortunately. Borlaug encounters some opposition, some of it, sadly enough, stemming from the World Bank.
To quote Crltchficld. "World Bank senior officials are wedded to such vogulsh policies as structural adjustment. Sensible enough In theory. it goes wrong in practice when the bank opposes fertilizer subsidies and argues that more research in needed The Bank funds what It calls its training and visit system of 27 African countries."
Then. CritchfieM quotes none other than Borlaug as telling him during a meeting in Washington. "The World Bank says you can't Justify this field work because enough research has not been done, even though we have demonstrated clearly that we can double, triple, sometimes even quadruple yields." Then. Borlaug adds, sadly and not sarcastically. “They have never lived In Africa. They live In an ivory tower called the World Bank "
This account of the battles Borlaug is fighting In Africa may remind Yunus of what he had faced In setting up the Grameen Bank In Bangladesh, the hostility from commercial banks, the scepticism of the public and shortage of funds, among others
Both Borlaug and Yunus have come a long way In reaching their goals, in saving milltons of people from hunger and unemployment. Maybe this Is why the success of one reminds me of the work of another.
Besides, who knows that in not too distant future, the two may be working together as a team. In changing the grim realities In two of the most Impoverished regions of the world. South Asia and Africa.