Chu 1

Source #4
A. Stokke, O. (1989). Western middle powers and global poverty: the determinants of the
aid policies of Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden (No. 64).
Nordic Africa Institute.
B. Source Validation: This source is a chapter from the book ,Western Middle Powers And
Global Poverty The Determinants of the Aid Policies of Canada, Denmark, the
Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, by Real P. Lavergne and published by The
Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala 1989 in cooperation with The
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
C. How did you find this source?: I found this source on Google Scholar
D. Intended audience: This source is intended for professionals like researchers, other
scholars, and civils service workers to better understand the current trends of foreign aid
policies by donor countries.
E. What arguments/topics does this source discuss?: This source explains the Canadian
foreign aid policy. In Canada, the public opinion of the foreign aid are largely consistent
with the government policy which involves the international and humanitarian objective
of fostering development. Foreign aid is a prerogative of the Cabinet and the Prime
Minister had decisive influence over it. Canada implements aid successfully through inter
departmental consultation and international cooperation displaying respect for
sovereignty and Canada as a non-colonial power. The use of policy environment,
encouragement of policy reform locally, also helps with the future development of
recipient countries. The canadian foreign aid policy also have many issues like
mismanagement with rapid expansion and bad economy for the donor country. The
majority of Canadian aid is food or commodity aid is very ineffective. Canada also
shifted its foreign aid goals to commercial benefits and developmental effectiveness.
F. Minimum 3 quotes, paraphrases, summaries of source text that seem likely to be
helpful in future writing:

Chu 2

a. CIDA's approach to government-to-government aid involves a variable degree of

responsiveness to the priorities of the recipient country government. It is at its
most flexible when contributions take the form of 'program' aid given in support
of a country's balance of payments.
b. A responsive approach also has much to commend it on practical grounds, since
projects are most likely to succeed if they are enthusiastically supported by the
recipient government as well as by the donor.

c. These are projects based on intermediate technology, and they are often projects
in such sectors as primary health and education whose direct benefits accrue
mainly to the poorer segments of society in the recipient country. Tying also
influences the design of projects by favouring Canadian inputs over those which
could be obtained locally or abroad. Such designs tend to be less than optimal in
terms of cost-effectiveness and impose high maintenance costs of various kinds
on the recipient country. The import bias of project designs further serves to
reinforce the dependence of recipient countries on imported technology.