Notes and Comments Growth Employment and Equity: A Comprehensive Strategy for the Sudan (Review Note)

• Published date: 01 September 1977
• Date: 01 September 1977
• Author: H. ZARENDA
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1813-6982.1977.tb00532.x

Notes and Comments Growth Employment and Equity: A Comprehensive Strategy for the Sudan

(Review Note)

(REVIEW NOTE)

H. ZARENDA

THIS STUDY of the Sudan represents the seventh in the series by the Comprehensive Employment Strategy Mission of the

International Labour Organisation.*(1) As was the case with most of their previous reports, there is much that is relevant, not only

to those with a particular interest in the country as such, but to policy makers and students aware of the plight of the Third World

and of its need for development. In addition, in the context of the grave unemployment situation in South Africa, several of the

Mission's conclusions and recommendations for the Sudan appear immediately applicable to South Africa, even though the two

economies may exhibit vastly different structures.

As is stated in the preface to this volume, the Mission was able to benefit from the insights and observations concerning

unemployment and inequality that were generated by their six previous reports. The basic theme underlying all these reports

emerges forcibly in the Sudanese study as well. There is a definite link between economic development, employment and equity.

No strategy for production can afford to ignore distribution. The latter depends, to a critical extent, on the nature of employment

and income created by the composition and location of production and, in turn, the structure and growth of production are directly

affected by the distribution of purchasing power.

A clearer exposition of the relationship between these variables can be found in one of the Organisation's earlier reports.*(2)

Firstly, the I.L.O. argue that the bringing about of a more equal distribution of income would increase the amount of foreign

exchange available for the purchase of imported investment goods needed to expand domestic employment. Under a skewed

income distribution there is a tendency for the rich to consume more imported goods than the poor, and so the greater the

inequality of income distribution, the higher the demand for foreign goods. Secondly, the basic goods that are widely purchased by

low income groups, e.g. food, clothing and manufactures

1977 SAJE v45(3) p314

are essentially goods that utilize considerably more labour - intensive techniques than the production of goods demanded by high

income groups. Thus the employment - generating effects of a unit of income spent in the purchase of wage goods is greater than

in the acquisition of consumer durables. Furthermore, since the lower income groups spend a high proportion of their income on

food, the larger their slice of total income the greater the demand for agricultural goods. This implies a check on the pace of

migration from rural areas and appears all the more viable a development strategy, for the agricultural sector has lower capital needs

than, for example, industry.

In addition to these arguments, there is the problem (verified by the experiences of several countries) that severe inequality can

give rise to economic and social tensions which sooner or later affect the conduct of economic affairs adversely and which, in

extreme cases, have led to revolution.

For these reasons the I.L.O. state in their Sudan findings that any development strategy must include consideration of how to get

an acceptable planned dispersion of incomes to correct marked discrepancies between rural and urban environments and between

people. Unplanned development does not automatically redress such differences - in fact the reverse can well occur in that as

individuals and groups who enjoy a relative advantage in terms of skills or physical assets, and also regions with superior

endowments, tend to advance at a much faster pace than others, the plight of the less favourably endowed is frequently

overlooked.

An interesting aspect of the present study is that, while many of the conclusions of previous reports appear to be confirmed by the

Sudan, the country itself differs markedly from the other countries studied by the I.L.O. in several important respects. It represents

the first study of a country in the Arabic World. It is the first time the organization has concerned itself with a country in the

category of least developed economies. Unlike other countries the Sudan possesses vast areas of un - and under - utilized fertile

land. Income disparities in the Sudan appear much lower than in other countries at similar levels of development. The Sudan

appears fortunate in that it enjoys vast inflows of Arab capital. Open unemployment in the Sudan appears appreciably lower than

in most developing countries - a fact observable even in Greater Khartoum where new immigrants find work quite easily.

But while several of these differences are important, the Sudan suffers from large - scale "pervasive underemployment", and in this

fundamental respect the country shares the basic employment problem of other developing countries. Large segments of the

population do not produce or earn enough to lift themselves out of dire poverty. The agricultural work force (accounting for about

70 per cent of the economically active population) is substantially underemployed, not only during certain seasons but in general,

and productivity is well below the level warranted by the nation's resource endowment. It is this abundant resource endowment

that the Mission wishes to exploit vigorously and it offers a strategy that concentrates on rural development to a far greater extent

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