The Development Gap Flashcards
What were the negative impacts on Haiti’s economic development?
1) the earthquake affected 50% of the GDP - goods and services which previously contributed towards it have been affected, e.g. agriculture or industry, preventing any further economic growth and development in the short term
2) $700m from grants had been spent by the IADB to build roads and provide water - this was all destroyed in the earthquake and therefore the grants were somewhat wasted. Haiti would need to seek more money to repair the damage. Damaged roads prevent trade and aid from reaching their destinations, further hindering development
3) banks were afraid to open due to security fears meant the impacts on GDP and trading were prolonged
What were the negative impacts of the earthquake on Haiti’s social development?
1) looting due to the collapse of the prison and general chaos - the theft of other people’s possessions hinders their standard of living and quality of life
2) many people are now without food, shelter or access to medical care - lacking basic necessities makes it very difficult to advance in life e.g. because food is more of a primary concern than education
3) loss in GDP leads to even less money Bing available for education and healthcare. This will lead to the future population being less educated and more vulnerable if they cannot access schools or hospitals
4) 20% of all jobs were lost after the earthquake
What were the positive impacts of the earthquake on Haiti’s development?
1) it gave Haiti a chance to start again and build safer and more sustainable houses, solving the housing problem for future generations
2) the UNDP used $4m to start paying people $3/day to work for two week periods clearing the rubble and roads as well as collecting corpses. 400 people began work straight away. This $3 will then go to the shopkeepers and start passing the money through the economy
3) The World Bank waived payments on debt for 5 years. This allowed the government to not worry about money from the past but focus on the income received from aid in the present
Key facts about Haiti earthquake and location
Magnitude 7
220,000 - 316,000 estimated death toll
12th January 2010
Haiti is located in Central America in the Caribbean Islands
How do environmental factors affect development? (Give examples and explain why)
1) Natural disasters esp. repeated or combined - countries that have a lot of natural disasters have to spend lots of money rebuilding after they occur e.g. Bangladesh
2) poor farming land (steep or poor soil), limited water supplies, poor climate - all can mean that a country can’t grow and produce as much food. In some countries this can lead to malnutrition (low QofL). People have fewer crops to sell so less money to spend on goods and services (low QofL). This means that the government then has less money from taxes and less to spend on developing the country
3) few raw materials OR don’t have the money to develop the infrastructure to exploit them - make less money because they have fewer products to sell
4) landlocked - harder to trade cheaply
Advantages of short term aid for the donor
People give willingly in a disaster - feel good factor
Advantages of short-term aid for the recipient
Immediate help - lives saved
Flow of aid may continue following publicity of disaster
Disadvantages of short term aid for the recipient
Occasionally, well-meaning governments and organisations fail to provide exactly what is needed
Advantages of long term aid for donor
Companies and individuals find satisfying and well-paid work in projects overseas
Trade may continue into the future
Advantages of long term aid for recipient
1) new industries improve skills and employment
2) agricultural improvements - new and better crops
3) new infrastructure such as schools and hospitals built
4) trade may continue into the future
Disadvantages of long term aid for the recipient
1) tied aid - makes recipient country reliant on donor country
2) local people may not have sufficient skills and training to reach senior posts
3) agricultural change may not be sustainable - level of technology too high
4) lack of money for fuel, spare parts, etc
5) may not be sufficient funding to maintain schools and hospitals to an adequate level
6) local people may lost their land due to large-scale projects
Advantages of top-down aid for the donor
Coordinated by government or international organisations - makes donor feel in control
Disadvantages of top down aid for the donor
Projects swallow large amounts of money - donors may feel it is wasted
Advantages of top down aid for the recipient
Capital-intensive - aims to improve country as a whole
Large projects e.g. Dams, improve national infrastructure
Disadvantages of top down aid for the recipient
1) most ordinary people do not benefit directly
2) NGOs have a lack of coordination
3) can undermine governments own efforts
4) difficult to know exactly how much to produce - can lead to shortages or over-production
5) ignores local needs
Advantages of bottom-up aid for the donor
NGO aid, so individuals give to charity - feel good factor
Feeling of direct link between donor and recipient e.g. Sponsorship schemes like ActionAid
Advantages of bottom up aid for the recipient
1) NGOs work with recipient communities, who have input into the project
2) every member of community asked for their opinion
3) money not lost to corruption
4) NGOs there for guidance
5) appropriate technology used, so projects are sustainable
Disadvantages of bottom up aid for the recipient
1) charity funds may reduce in economic recession
2) difficult to expand such projects to cover a wider group of people
3) limited funds, rely on donations
4) difficult to sustain its benefits in the long term
Advantages of bilateral aid for the donor
Tied aid - donors can choose where money is going
Advantages of bilateral aid for the recipient
Good for countries that are e.g. ex-colonies of the U.K.
Disadvantages of bilateral aid for the recipient
Goods may not be best suited to the real development needs of the country and people e.g. Dams and power stations, high in prestige but low in value to ordinary people
Choice of recipient country based on political reasons rather than basis of need e.g. ex-colonies
Advantages of multilateral aid for the donor
Money given to international organisations with specific interest who will target specific issues e.g. WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank
Advantages of multilateral aid for the recipient
Development projects pay more attention to the development needs
Disadvantages of multilateral aid for the recipient
Large organisations are often slow to change and do not always target the real needs of people in poor countries
What are some problems with water quality?
1) often water sources are contaminated with human and animal waste that can lead to water borne diseases such as typhoid and diarrhoea
2) water pollution from factories and contamination of water supplies - can be toxic chemicals
Statistics about water quality
1.5m children a year die from a lack of clean water
80% of all illnesses in developing countries can be traced back to contaminated water supplies
What are problems with water quantity?
1) women and girls set out each morning to fetch water, may have to walk for hours - therefore not at school or work
2) struggles for access to water can cause conflicts e.g. river nile
3) overuse of water in irrigation systems or in rearing animals
4) if people don’t have access to clean water, they will have to use water from wells and rivers (bad quality)
How do problems with water quality and quantity (social factors) make global inequalities worse?
Quality: illnesses reduce people’s quality of life and ability to work
Quantity: people going to collect water instead of going to school or work
What is corruption?
The abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can be classified as grand, petty and political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs
How can political corruption and unstable governments exacerbate global inequalities and hinder development?
1) dictatorship may not have interests of people as a concern compared to a democracy where people have a say
2) wealth distributed unevenly - government leaders take most of be money while the rest of the population live in poverty
3) money being spent on war, not on improving development
4) taxes are not spent on the people and services
5) governments focusing on issues about leadership rather than on improving the lives of people
6) aid spent on things that don’t benefit people e.g. Dams and big projects
What is the CPI scale?
Corruption Perceptions Index
0-100
50 = corruption is not a serious problem
What are conditions for corruption?
1) an exploitable natural resource
2) scarcity of public assets
3) low wages in the public sector
4) high levels of state intervention/planning
5) high income inequality
6) inefficient administrative and judicial systems
What is standard of living?
The access people have to the necessities in life or a measure of their material wealth. They are measurable, tenable factors - quantitive index.
