1.7 - Sahel (Switched Off Place - Compulsory Case Study)

Question 1

Why are some locations such as the Sahel ‘switched off’ from globalisation?

Answer 1

Due to physical, political, economic and environmental reasons

Question 2

Where is the Sahel?

Answer 2

Northern Africa - includes Mali

Question 3

What are some political features of Mali

Answer 3

• secular country - freedom of religion is important
• North wants autonomy (to be self-governed), Al-Qaeda control Timbuktu)
• Coup d’état in March 2012 - ECOWAS sending 3,000 troops in

Question 4

What are some economic features of Mali?

Answer 4

• 64% live below the poverty line
• Al-Qaeda placed a ban on visiting historical shrines in Timbuktu
• Gold mining is the 2nd main export

Question 5

What are some environmental features of Mali?

Answer 5

• North is desert, South is fertile savanna
• River Niger is in south = 1700km of land
• subsistence agriculture - cotton, cereal, rice

Question 6

What are some social features of Mali?

Answer 6

• food shortage encourages anger and extremism
• high rate of infant mortality
• 37,000 refugees fled into Burkina Faso

Question 7

What are some technological features of Mali?

Answer 7

• little shelter / water / roads / hospitals in Mali

Question 8

What is the main language in Mali?

Answer 8

French - but conflict drove away hoteliers back to France

Question 9

How many people live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day?

Answer 9

1.4 billion people

Question 10

Why are the bottom billion trapped and unable to switch on?

Answer 10

• conflict trap - civil war = poverty = civil war
• natural resource trap - need to reply on resources and forget governance
• landlocked with a bad neighbour
• poor government in a small country

Question 11

What can TNCs do in Chad?

Answer 11

• Chad has a coastline so trade is possible but their government isn’t helpful.
• 99% of funds has been spent on military not health care
• system have been setup to track aid money based on priority caused by the governed to officially change its policy to ‘security’

Question 12

What are physical root causes of the Sahel being switched off?

Answer 12

• arid conditions / desertification
• the only possible integration is likely to be very shallow - e.g food aid for subsistence farmers or cash crops at the very most - e.g. cotton produces in Mali

Question 13

What are economic root causes of the Sahel being switched off?

Answer 13

• high cost of providing infrastructure when due to poverty there is limited market potential to begin with
• wages will be low resulting in negligible spending power - not viable markets - can’t invest in creating consumer networks

Question 14

Why is it hard to instils global internet infrastructure such as fibre optic cables?

Answer 14

Fibre optics are only just reaching some locations - e.g east Africa - bandwidth is low and costs are high