Basic needs or comprehensive development: Should the UNDP have a development strategy?

Abstract

The basic needs strategy turns out, on examination, not to be a development strategy at all. Most versions neglect the most basic of all development needs–the need for structural transformation as well as a quantum jump in modern industry and modern technology. Considerations of equity, indispensable as they are, do not require that consumption goals be placed ahead of all others. A society is entitled to set its priorities for consumption as part of an overall programme for comprehensive change and development, recognizing that a choice may have to be made between the earliest possible attainment of minimum standards of living and a more rapid and secure advance in such standards in future. International agencies should not take strong positions on such matters, and should concentrate their efforts in the areas where their experience and competence lie.