The Development Gap Flashcards
What is the standard of living?
The access people have to the necessities in life on a measure of their material wealth. They are measurable, tenable factors, a quantitive index. Examples: -Access to improved drinking water source -Percentage with electricity -Calorie intake/nutrition -Life expectancy -Literacy rate -Doctor:Patient ratio -Car ownership
What is the quality of life?
The personal view of what people value in life and how happy they are with their lot. This is no ‘measurable’, a qualitative view.
Examples:
-Happiness
-Peace/freedom from stress
What are some environmental factors affecting levels of development?
- Population: deaths of population, injuries and diseases all adds to the poverty cycle
- Trade/Economy: businesses do not want to trade with that region
- Industry/Economy: Companies do not want to set up factories in that region
- Tourism/Economy: People do not want to visit that region on holiday
- Money/Economy: Government money spent re-building and protecting instead of investing elsewhere e.g. healthcare (but they often do get foreign aid)
- Time: Government time spent dealing with hazards, rather than passing laws to help the country develop (such as minimum wages and improving human rights)
Why does a poor climate affect how developed a country is? (ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR)
- If a country has a poor climate (really hot or really cold) they will not be able to grow much
- This reduces the amount of food produced
- In some countries this can lead to malnutrition e.g. Chad and Ethiopia, people who are malnourished have a low quality of life
- People also have fewer crops to sell, so less money to spend on goods and services. This also reduces their quality of life
- The government gets less money from taxes as less is sold and bought). This means there is less to spend on developing the country e.g. to spend on improving healthcare and education
Why does poor farming land affect how developed a country is? (ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR)
- If the land in a country is steep if has poor soil (or no soil) then they will not produce a lot of food
- This has the same effect as a poor climate and so this reduces the amount of food produced
- In some countries this can lead to malnutrition, people who are malnourished have a low quality of life
- People also have fewer crops to sell, so less money to spend on goods and services. This also reduces their quality of life
- The government gets less money from taxes as less is sold and bought). This means there is less to spend on developing the country e.g. to spend on improving healthcare and education
Why does limited water supplies affect how developed a country is? (ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR)
- Some countries do not have a lot of water, e.g. Egypt, Jordan
- This makes it harder for them to produce a lot of food and this has the same effect as a poor climate
- In some countries this can lead to malnutrition, people who are malnourished have a low quality of life
- People also have fewer crops to sell, so less money to spend on goods and services. This also reduces their quality of life
- The government gets less money from taxes as less is sold and bought). This means there is less to spend on developing the country e.g. to spend on improving healthcare and education
Why does lots of natural hazards affect how developed a country is? (ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR)
- A natural hazard is an event that has the potential to affect people’s lives or property, e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, droughts, floods
- When natural hazards do affect people’s lives or property they are called natural disasters
- Countries that have a lot of natural disasters have to spend a lot of money rebuilding after disasters occur, e.g. Bangladesh
- So natural disasters reduce quality of life for the people affected, and they reduce the amount of money the government has to spend on development projects
Why does having few raw materials affect how developed a country is? (ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR)
- Countries without many raw materials like coal, oil, or metal ores tend to make less money because they gave got fewer products to sell
- This means they have less money to spend on development
- Some countries do have a lot of raw materials but still are not very developed because they do not have the money to develop the infrastructure to exploit them (e.g. roads and ports)
What are the political factors that slow development?
- If a country has an unstable government it might not invest in things like healthcare, education and improving the economy. This leads to slow development ( or no development at all)
- Some governments are corrupt. This means that some people in the country get richer (by breaking the law) while the other stay poor and have a low quality of life
- If there is a war in a country the country loses money that could be spent on development - equipment is expensive, buildings get destroyed and fewer people work (because they are fighting). War also directly reduces the quality of life of the people in the country
Why does poor trade links affect development include trade and debt? (ECONOMIC FACTORS)
- Trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries
- World trade patterns (who trades with who) seriously influence a country’s economy and so affect their level of development
- If a country has poor trade links (it trades a small amount with only a few countries) it will not make a lot of money, so there will be less to spend on development
Why does an economy based on primary products affect development include trade and debt? (ECONOMIC FACTORS)
- Countries that mostly export primary products (raw materials like wood, metal and stone) tend to be less developed
- This is because you do not make much profit by selling primary products. Their prices also fluctuate, sometimes the price falls below the cost of production
- This means that people do not make much money, so the government had less to spend on development
- Countries that export manufactured goods tend to be more developed
- This is because you usually make a decent profit by selling manufactured goods. Wealthy countries can also force down the price of raw materials that they buy from poorer countries
Why does lots of debt affect development include trade and debt? (ECONOMIC FACTORS)
- Very poor countries borrow money from other countries and international organisations, e.g. to help cope with the aftermath of a natural disaster
- This money has to be paid back (sometimes with interest)
- Any money a country makes is used to pay back the money, so is not used to develop
Why does drinking water affect development? (SOCIAL FACTORS)
- A country will be more developed if it has clean drinking water available
- If the only water people can drink is dirty then they will get ill, waterborne diseases include typhoid and cholera, Being ill a lot reduces a person’s quality of life
- Ill people cannot work, so they do not add money to the economy, and they also cost money to treat
- So if a country has unsafe drinking water they will have more ill people and so less money to develop
- If people also have little access of water cannot irrigate crops
- If people travel far for water miss education and work to get water
Why does the place of women in society affect development? (SOCIAL FACTORS)
- A country will be more developed if women have an equal place with men in society
- Women who have an equal place in society are more likely to be educated and to work
- Women who are educated and work have a better quality of life, and the country has more money to spend on development because there are more people contributing to the economy
Why does child education affect development? (SOCIAL FACTORS)
- The more children that go to school (rather than work) the more developed a country will be
- This is because they will get a better education and so will get better jobs. Being educated and having a good job improves the person’s quality of life and increases the money the country has to spend on development
What is an example of a place with poor water supply?
- Jakarta in Indonesia has a rapidly growing population and water companies do not have the resources to supply reliable and safe water to everyone.
- This means that a large proportion of the population are drinking contaminated water and are vulnerable to disease.
- In addition, salt water is also contaminating groundwater, which is making the problem worse.
- This is a particular problem in shantytowns such as Marunda
Describe the Marunda shantytown
- Like most shantytowns, Marunda lacks basic services such as water supply, sanitation and electricity
- People there have a poor standard of living and a low quality of life
- Conditions are crowded and disease spreads easily, contributing to low life expectancy and high infant mortality rates
- In the past, people relied on water from tankers or street seller who charged high prices, or women had to queue from 3 a.m. to collect water
- Without running water, residents faced serious health risks as sewage and other domestic waste was not flushed away
- Across Jakarta, diarrhoea caused by drinking polluted water is responsible for 20% of the deaths of children under five
What was the solution to the poor water supply in Marunda shantytown?
- The Jakarta city authorities tried to invest in basic services but there was a lack of funding, they then sought investment from abroad
- In 1999, Thames Water began a £60,000 project to bring piped water to Marunda
- The project involved local people from the early stages to ensure that their needs would be met appropriately and that the project was sustainable
Was the solution to the poor water supply in Marunda shantytown successful?
- By the year 2000, over 1,600 homes in Marunda had piped water
- Water can now be obtained more cheaply, allowing money to be spent on food, clothes and education which is vital for the country’s long-term prospects
- There have also been health benefits because the risk of disease from contaminated water has been reduced
- This scheme was a success as it was sustainable and worked with the people to meet their needs
- Not all schemes have been as successful as this one. The Pergau Dam in Malaysia, for example, was constructed in partnership with the British government with the aim of providing safe and reliable water and electricity. However, it did not meet the needs of the poorest people and the scheme was ‘tied aid’. This means that conditions were attached which did not benefit Malaysia’s population
What are the advantages of short term aid?
- Donor Countries:
- People will give freely in a disaster - this gives them a feel good factor - Recipient Countries:
- Gives help which can save lives immediately and can develop into long term aid after a disaster, as people in MEDCs realise how poor people are in the affected zone
- Flow of aid may continue following publicity of the disaster
What are the disadvantages of short term aid?
- Donor Countries:
- It costs money and uses up technical expertise and technology in the short term. This means that a donor countries resources are lost to the recipient country for a short period of time
- It costs the tax payer in the donor country money - Recipient Countries:
- Reduces the receiving country’s ability to produce the items they get from us (i.e. if we send them short term food aid, then their farmers won’t be bale to sell their crops for higher prices)
- Occasionally, well-meaning governments and organisations fail to provide exactly what is needed
What are the advantages of long term aid?
- Donor Countries:
- Companies and individuals find satisfying and well paid work overseas
- Trade may continue into the future after the initial stimulus of aid
- It engenders good will towards the donor country and enhances its international reputation
- Aid can also be a good way of forming strong relationships with other countries; curb terrorism and gain political will for global issues and deals but these are in the purest sense of aid not its purpose
- It can boost employment in large industries in the donor countries - in arms manufacturers and construction industries particularly - Recipient Countries:
- New industries can develop which improves peoples chance of getting skills and long term employment
- It can lead to improvements in long term faming methods by introducing new crops and better land management practises
- Trade with the donor country may continue into the future
- Schools, hospitals, roads, dams and other infrastructure projects improve the lives of many people and will last for a long time
What are the disadvantages of long term aid?
- Donor Countries:
- It costs the tax payer of the donor countries, often those citizens wonder why their money is going to foreign countries - Recipient Countries:
- Some foreign aid is given as military and weapons gifts, potentially fanning the flames of global wars instead of dealing with them
- Tied aid can make the recipient countries reliant on the donor country
- The senior posts created by the aid are often given to foreigners as local people do not have the necessary skills for those jobs
- The funding for big projects is often just for the construction (e.g. of a hospital) but may not cover the long term maintenance costs for the recipient country
- Local people can lose their land to large projects such as dams
What are the advantages of Top-down aid?
- Donor Countries:
- It feels controlled for the donor country as it is coordinated by the actual government or International Organisations such as the UK
- It allows for LARGE SCALE planning over large areas without having to worry about every individuals needs - Recipient Countries:
- Projects aim to solve large scale problems in a recipient country so are well coordinated and backed by money
- Large scale projects such as dams and superhighways improve the national infrastructure for the majority of people
What are the disadvantages of Top-down aid?
- Donor Countries:
- Large scale projects can use up huge amounts of money that donor countries may feel are wasted
- Corruption and the theft of aid had happened in the past, this makes donor countries less likely to give money to big top down projects - Recipient Countries:
- Big projects are capital intensive and poor countries may have to add more money to the aid given to ensure that the projects are completed
- Large scale projects are often part of TIED aid, where the LEDC had to either pay back loans or allow richer countries access to its resources
- Projects often less sustainable consuming large amounts of time, land and resources
- Most ordinary people may not benefit directly
What are the advantages of Bottom up aid?
- Donor countries:
- More individuals in Donor countries are likely to give to Bottom up aid as it is organised by charities and gives and feel good factor
- Many bottom up charities have a direct link between the individual donor and the recipient (through sponsorship, letter writing and websites) - Recipient Countries:
- NGOs work with the recipient communities, gathering their ideas before starting projects
- Local people are involved in Bottom up aid and projects are democratic
- Less money is lost to corruption
- Projects tend to be more sustainable
What are the disadvantages of Bottom up aid?
- Donor Countries:
- Lots of money collected in richer donor nations by charities get swallowed up by advertising and collection costs, and therefore never reaches the destination recipient country - Recipient Countries:
- Less reliable, in times of recession people give less to charities
- Often lacks coordination, with many charities competing in the same areas so is therefore inefficient in delivering whole sale change to counties and region
What is aid?
The donating of resources such as money, food, medicines, knowledge or helpers to areas in need. It can be either short term (e.g. raising money to relive a disaster) or longer term (e.g. loaning an area money to improve the standard of living)
Describe medical assistance (AID)
- During emergencies, rich nations and charities like the Red Cross or Medecin sans frontiers can provide medical assistance to the affected country
- This could take the form of qualified staff or medicines
Describe people (AID)
- Richer nations or charities might choose to send qualified people to help in poorer nations
- In the short term during emergencies qualified medical staff and trained pilots and the army can be of great assistance
- In the longer-term teachers, engineers, consultants can all play a role in advising and train in people within a poorer nation, to help its long term development
Describe money (AID)
- Money is often sent to LEDCs, for investment in projects and the local people
- The UK sent £45 million in aid to Tanzania to be spent on education
Describe large scale projects (AID)
- MEDCs can invest in large scale development projects, such as building roads, dams and factories
- The idea behind these projects is that they act as a growth point for development, allowing industry and farming to develop and raise massive profits
Describe intermediate technology (AID)
- This type of technology is designed to improve on current technology within LEDC countries and to be manageable for the local people to use
- There is no point in sending machinery and technology into an area if the people can get no use of it because it is too complicated
Describe equipment (AID)
- Large scale equipment can also be provided in aid to LEDCs
- Equipment such as tractors, irrigation equipment and other agricultural have all been provided in the past
What are the different measurements of development?
- GNP
- GNI per head
- Human Development Index (HDI)
- Birth and Death Rates
- Infant mortality
- People per doctor
- Literacy rate
- Access to safe water
- Life Expectancy
What is GNP (Gross National Product)?
The total value of all goods and services produced by a country in a year including overseas (e.g. America and McDonalds)
What is GNI per head?
Gross National income: a measure of a country’s total wealth - divided by the population
What is the HDI (Human Development Index)?
An index of development, using life expectancy, literacy/schooling and PPP, with 1 being the best
What is the birth rate?
The number of live births per thousand of the people per year
What is the death rate?
The number of deaths per thousand people per year
What is child mortality?
The number of children that die on or before their 5th birthday, per 1000 live births per year
What is people per doctor?
The number of medical doctors (physicians) per 1000 of the population
What is literacy rate?
The percentage of adults in a country who can read and write sufficiently to fully function in work and society
What is access to safe water?
The proportion of the population who have reasonable means of getting clean, safe drinking water located within a convenient distance from their dwelling