From development to agency: confronting the limits of incremental change

I almost accidentally got into international development. My background is in managing higher education, and I got into the field in a way that I did not expect. But once I got there, I was so interested in the problems and challenges that I couldn't leave. What has always amazed me is how deeply rooted systemic problems like power imbalances, cycles of dependency, and dogmatic worldviews make real change so hard. Recent publications, such as Aid at a Crossroads: Why Incremental Remedies Will Not Save International Development (Kinsbergen & Rana, 2025), make these contradictions very clear. We do not have a magic bullet, but if we want to picture a fair and productive future for development cooperation, we have to face these hard truths head-on. In what follows, I use “aid” not only to describe the transfer of money, expertise, or resources, but also as shorthand for the wider system of international development cooperation. This includes its institutions, assumptions, and persistent power asymmetries, which too often sustain the very dynamics they aim to dismantle.

“Trying to fix this system is like trying to fix a car that was never meant to run well.” — Kinsbergen & Rana, 2025, p. 8

The limits of tiny changes

A lot of people in the industry are still focused on little adjustments. The "improvers" want to fill in the holes in funding, make things work better together, and get philanthropic and impact investors to help a system that is falling apart. But Kinsbergen and Rana (2025) were right when they said, "Trying to fix this system is like trying to fix a car that was never meant to run well" (p. 8). These band-aids don't often go to the real problems that aid keeps going.

Governments are looking for more and more partners that can "cooperate mutually and support with expertise, funding, and innovative approaches" that go beyond the old aid paradigm, which many people regard as a way to keep people reliant (Kinsbergen & Rana, 2021, p. 14). This is in line with the African Union's (2022) call for a "paradigmatic shift from donor-driven aid to partnerships based on mutual respect and shared responsibility" (p. 7).

A shift in thinking from reform to reimagination

This conflict between small changes and big changes fits into a larger split. Some people want to fix the roof, while others want to tear down the house and start again. The reimaginers say we need to get rid of the colonial legacies that are built into aid and put local knowledge and sovereignty at the center.

Begum (2025), who is in charge of Oxfam Great Britain, says very clearly that "the international charity sector must be decolonised." The global North needs to send power and resources to the global South. The current model is old and rude. This goes along with the rising confidence of southern partners who are asserting their proper place as "co-creators" of growth, which is a sign of "new self-esteem" (Kinsbergen & Rana, 2025, p. 19).

As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009) reminds us, “The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” Development cooperation has long been shaped by such “single stories” – narratives of poverty, crisis, and rescue that cast the global South as dependent and the global North as saviour. Okonjo-Iweala (2023) counters this with a call for “partnership, not dependency,” while Mbeki (2002) insists that “Africans must shape Africa’s destiny.” Taken together, these voices urge a shift from donor-defined frameworks to approaches that foreground plural knowledge systems, sovereignty, and reciprocal learning. It is not only policy that needs transformation, but the very stories we tell about development."

“Cooperation is moving from a vertical, donor-dominated hierarchy to a horizontal, reciprocal structure.” — Develtere, 2021

Patrick Develtere's research makes this change clearer: international cooperation is moving from a vertical, donor-dominated hierarchy to a horizontal, reciprocal structure. His book International Development Cooperation Today: A Radical Shift Towards a Global Paradigm (Develtere, Huyse, & Van Ongevalle, 2021) shows how countries in the global South are no longer just receiving aid; they are now actively planning their own destinies.

Develtere (2024) also discusses a "fourth pillar" of actors—diaspora groups, cooperatives, colleges, and social enterprises—that operate globally, but outside of bureaucratic rigidity, challenging the conventional approach to aid. He wants genuine leaders to guide this new world with moral clarity.

Table 1: The fundamental contrasts between improvers and reimaginers in development cooperation

Aspect	Improvers	Reimaginers
Main emphasis	Making the current help system better	Taking apart and replacing the assistance system
Power relations	Change power within existing institutions	Radical shift towards local sovereignty
New actors' roles	Philanthropy and impact investing as complementary	Sceptical of market-driven motives
How to get money	Fill funding holes and make things work better	Using local resources as a political act
Geopolitical view	Be flexible and adapt to multipolarity	Embrace multipolarity to rebalance power
Time frame	Short to medium term	Long-term structural transformation

The truth about geopolitics and how ineffective traditional help is

These changes are happening in the middle of complicated geopolitical situations. The context in which international development works is changing because there are more actors and geopolitical tensions are rising again (Kinsbergen & Rana, 2025, p. 33). The African Union (2024) states that democracy is regressing in many nations, which makes it even more challenging for aid to be effective.

One example of these problems is the United States Agency for International Development. Johnson (2024) says it is "effectively done" because of bureaucratic inertia and conflicting orders. Young and Simon (2023) say that its dual mandate makes it less successful by putting geopolitical interests ahead of development. The sudden end of financing for the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief in 2025 is an example of how this tension has real-world implications, hurting the legitimacy of institutions and the strength of health systems (Financial Times, 2025; Smith & Lee, 2024).

These kinds of changes show that conventional donor organizations are pulling back, which is both a risk and an opportunity for new ways to work together.

People can make their own choices within the restrictions provided by society

Even if global development collaboration is big and complicated, I think individual agency is important. Even when I'm working on big projects that don't agree with me, tiny things can make a big difference. This small world, where beliefs, connections, and actions come together, gives room for small steps forward, moral integrity, and change in the community.

To balance systemic inertia with personal effect, you need to be realistic about what you can and can't do, but also take action in areas where you can make a difference. This doesn't lessen the need for systemic reform; instead, it emphasizes how important it is for people to take responsibility in complicated institutions.

Toward a different way to work together

We need to move away from donor-centered philanthropy and toward fair, locally owned, and long-lasting partnerships because of the current situation. The African Union's Agenda 2063 (2015) says that African governments and communities must be in charge of their own development paths, taking into account their own cultural, social, and economic situations. Emerging economies, regional entities, the business sector, and civil society all need to work together in a variety of ways in this future, while also preserving sovereignty and fairness.

Integrated, systemic approaches are needed to solve problems that are connected, like poverty, governance, and climate. African innovation hubs show how partnerships may help local solutions grow. Climate justice, putting vulnerable groups first and adapting to local conditions, must come first. Instead of strict funding cycles and conditions, there should be flexible, trust-based, adaptable, and long-term connections.

Openness, freedom, and learning from each other

Development cooperation is always political, and all the people involved have clear or hidden goals that are geopolitical, economic, normative, or domestic. Using technical language or altruistic stories to hide these objectives frequently makes people more suspicious and keeps power disparities in place. To make real progress, there needs to be openness: a clear admission of different motives and a promise to negotiate on principle, even if it's not perfect, as the basis for partnerships that are fairer and more effective.

Even with this level of openness, the problems we confront seem like "wicked problems" to me, because they are complicated, inter-linked, involve many different stakeholders with different agendas and do not have one solution.  I am not sure that these deeply established institutions and historical power dynamics will ever be completely resolved. This uncertainty does notmake us give up; it makes us humble, persistent, and always prepared to learn from each other, our failures, and the people that depend on this work for their future.

In this way, one of the most important things to remember is that the global North can learn a lot from the global South, especially about how strong community and solidarity can be. These traits are generally not talked about in formal development talks, yet they are nevertheless very important for real and enduring societal change. Thabo Mbeki said, "Africans must shape Africa's destiny." Realizing that vision takes more than good intentions; it takes the bravery to face painful truths and a common commitment to go forward together, accepting the unknown with determination.

References

Adichie, C. N. (2009). The risk of one story [Video]. Conferences by TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

The African Development Bank (2023). Review on the effectiveness of development in 2023. The African Development Bank.

African Union. (2015). The Africa we seek is in Agenda 2063. The Commission of the African Union.

Union of African Nations. (2022). The African Union's unified stance on working together for development. The Commission of the African Union.

Union of Africa. (2024). A report from the continent on how to run a democracy. The African Union Commission.

Begum, H. (January 13, 2025). Not charity, but solidarity: The head of Oxfam wants to end colonialism in the aid industry. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/13/its-about-solidarity-not-charity-the-oxfam-chief-seeking-to-decolonise-the-aid-sector

Develtere, P. (2024). Navigating the shift: A conversation about the worldwide change in how countries work together. Paeradigms. https://paeradigms.org/articles/navigating-the-shift/

Develtere, P., Huyse, H., and Van Ongevalle, J. (2021). International development cooperation today: a big change toward a global model. Press from Leuven University.

The Financial Times. January 15, 2025. The Trump administration stops all US aid programs, such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. https://www.ft.com/content/ed29f87a-91c2-49a0-a69b-942821bd178b

Johnson, M. (2024). The United States Agency for International Development is at a crossroads because of problems with localization and reform. The Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/research/usaid-localisation-reform/

Kinsbergen, S., and Rana, Z. (2025). Making aid better or coming up with new ideas for it? Different views on the future of working together on world development. Paeradigms.

T. Mbeki, 2002. Talk at the summit of the Organization of African Unity. https://www.africa-union.org

Okonjo-Iweala, N. (2023). The future of Africa's economy and the necessity for fair relationships [Speech]. The World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/speakers/ngozi-okonjo-iweala/

Smith, R. and Lee, H. (2024). What the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief taught us about the effects of rapid funding cuts on global health programs. 45–59 in the Journal of Global Health Policy, 12(1).

Tikly, L. (2021). Decolonizing the curriculum interview series [Interview]. Institute for Learning and Teaching in the UK. https://bilt.online/decolonising-the-curriculum-interview-series-leon-tikly-podcast-and-transcript/

Young, A., and Simon, D. (2023). Development or diplomacy? The dual mandate of the United States Agency for International Development and how it affects the effectiveness of aid. 203–222 in the International Development Review, 8(3).