Local-language literacy and sustainable development in Africa

In discussions of Africa in the global North, the term ‘development’ is one of the most often used—though its meaning can be remarkably difficult to pin down. The sustainability of development processes and outcomes is also of current concern in development discourse. If sustainable development can be described in terms of ongoing, enhanced human well-being as well as continued national economic growth, then it requires the full participation of the target community. Development that is ‘done to’ people has little chance of sustainability.The central argument of this paper is that sustainable development, defined as many experts are defining it today, is not possible without attention to questions of language choice and literacy ability. Indeed, experts have recognized that the learning contexts (both formal and nonformal) needed for sustained development in the two-thirds world are currently quite inadequate to the task. Given this fact, the crucial role of language and literacy in truly sustainable development deserves careful attention.In this paper the specific links between language, development and literacy are explored. Examples from across sub-Saharan Africa are then given regarding the impact that is possible when local-language literacy is made part of the broader development picture.