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Words and Ideas: Commitment,
Continuity and Irreversibility
R. Chambers
All words are pegs to hang ideas on (Henry Ward Beecher, 1887).Part 1 presents writing on settlement schemes in tropical Africa from the late 1960s
and early 1970s. Part 2 reviews subsequent developments with settlement schemes,
and then explores and develops wider contemporary meanings, relevance and
applications for three words and ideas from the earlier experience: commitment,
continuity and irreversibility.
Part I: Learning from Experience
In the 1950s and 1960s, settlement schemes were conspicuous in tropical Africa. Many
of them were politically committing and effectively irreversible. Once settlers had been
introduced they were difficult to abandon. Schemes considered failures became robust
dependent survivors. Many arguments could be mustered to justify continuing support,
although this was often at high financial cost to governments. The Perkerra Irrigation
Scheme in Kenya was one such project which by almost any criteria should never have
been started, and once started, not continued. It performed disastrously but became
increasingly difficult to abandon. In project appraisal, the political irreversibility of
commitment is a neglected aspect of risk, and varies by type of project.
Introduction: Settlement schemes in tropical Africa (2004)
In the sub-Saharan Africa of decolonization and early national independence,
much prominence was given to agricultural settlement schemes. They seemed to
promise win–win solutions to political demands, perceived pressures of population,
and the need to produce more from the land. With many origins, taking many forms,
having high political priority, and being bounded and visible, they were attractive to
Reprinted from Chambers R. 2005. Words and ideas: Commitment, continuity and irreversibility. In
Chambers R. Ideas for Development, Earthscan, London.