U2- Challenges of a Rural World Flashcards
What is a rural area?
A rural area is usually defined as one that is sparsely populated and is either mainly used for farming or left as wilderness.
Define national park.
A national park is specifically designated area of outstanding national beauty which benefits from special protection and management.
What are the 5 stages of the rural-urban continuum?
1) Remote Countryside.
2) Accessible Countryside.
3) Commuter Belt.
4) Urban Fringe.
5) Urban Area.
What is the ‘remote countryside’ stage of the rural-urban continuum?
Takes best part of a day to get there from a city.
E.g: Remote, north west highlands of Scotland.
What is the ‘accessible countryside’ stage of the rural-urban continuum?
Within day-trip reach, very rural.
E.g: Malham.
What is the ‘commuter belt’ stage of the rural-urban continuum?
Settlements used by city-based workers and their families.
E.g: Otley.
What is the ‘urban fringe’ stage of the rural-urban continuum?
Area where countryside is lost to urban growth.
E.g: Adel.
What is the ‘urban area’ stage of the rural-urban continuum?
Town or city that is built up and has a high population density.
E.g: London, Leeds.
Name 5 national parks.
- Yorkshire Dales.
- Lake District.
- Snowdonia.
- Dartmoor.
- Cairngorms.
What is a primary job?
A job that produces goods/raw materials➡️E.g: oil, drilling.
What is a secondary job?
Manufacturing process, converting raw materials into components➡️E.g: plastics from oil or building houses.
What is a tertiary job?
Commercial services that support the production and distribution process➡️E.g: insurance, transport, advertising, teaching or healthcare.
What is a quaternary job?
Sector based on knowledge and skill➡️E.g: IT computing or consultancy.
What is arable farming?
Growing crops.
What is pastoral farming?
Rearing animals.
What is commercial farming?
Farming for a profit where food is produced by advanced technological means for sale in the market.
What is subsistence farming?
Farming that provides enough food for the farmer and their family but not enough for sale.
What is intensive agriculture?
Growing a large amount of crops on a small patch of land/restricted space➡️E.g: battery farms.
What is extensive agriculture?
Growing a small amount of produce in a large area of land with liitle input from farmers.
Give 5 statistics about the Lake District.
- Nearly 3000km2, 53km wide.
- Population= 40,800.
- Population density= 18p/km2.
- 16 million tourists p/year who spend £1146 million.
- 32% rented houses, 68% bought, 15% holiday home.
What is the cycle of decline in rural areas?
People, especially the young, leave for more opportunities in urban areas➡️Employers find it hard to recruit labour➡️Less investment happens in the area and businesses shut➡️Less money, employment and fewer people leads to shop and services declining➡️People notice the decline and lower quality of life.
How are rural areas in developed countries challenged by competition from abroad?
As agricultural income falls farms diversify➡️E.g: tourist accomodation.
How are rural areas in developed countries challenged by population changes?
- Accessible rural areas have increasing population.
- Remote rural areas have decreasing population➡️Shortage of jobs and lack of social life.
How are rural areas in developed countries challenged by a decline in services?
- Independant stores become less profitable and close down.
- Bus services decline➡️Elderly cut off.
- Health centres close➡️Makes getting medical treatment harder.
How are rural areas in developed countries challenged by new homes and house prices increasing (counter-urbanisation)?
- Unprotected rural areas are at risk from being built on➡️Traffic congestion and increased car journeys.
- Restrictions in national parks means housing stock is reduced➡️Local homeowners pushed out of price bracket.
How are rural areas in developed countries challenged by job losses?
- Jobs in Lake District rely on tourism➡️Tourism is seasonal, low paid and part-time.
- Machines replace people.
- Raw materials have run out, so mines close down.
- Imported food and materials decreases demand from the countryside.
What does diversification mean?
When a business (e.g: a farm) decides to sell other products or services in order to survive or grow.
What is farm-based diversification?
-Based around farm businesses. Includes possible changes or rearing other animals. Farm shops also allow farmers to sell their product.
Example: Low Sizergh Barn, Lake District
- Giftshop and farm.
- Farm trail to show visitors livestock.
- Encourages visitors to increase understanding of countryside, knowledge of where food comes from and how it’s produced.
What is non farm-based diversification?
-These activities use farmland but for different purposes. They include campsites and other activities such as paintballing, outdoor pursuits and off-road driving.
Example: Holmescales, Lake District.
- Hosts corporate events for business wanting to develop team skills out of office.
- Offers a range of activities such as paintballing and adventure challenges (rock climbing, canoeing).
What is organic farming?
Organic farming does not use chemical farming fertilisers or feed additives for livestock. It relies on more natural forms of farming such as biological pest control and crop rotation.
What are the positive aspects of organic farming?
✅The environment benifits because natural habitats are less threatened.
✅The soil can be in better condition because of the manure used.
✅It can provide healthier food for people.
✅Biodiversity increases with fewer chemicals which harm bees and other insects.
✅The industry is worth over £1 billion a year.
What are the negative aspects of organic farming?
❌More produce is damaged by pests.
❌Weed control is time consuming, as weeds are often removed mechanically.
❌Some organic pesticides can remain in the soil and be harmful.
❌Some organic farming methods use more water than non-organic methods.
❌The crop yield is lower on organic farms (approx. 20% less).
❌Most organic food bought is actually imported.
How is northern Malawi challenged by rural-urban migration?
-Less men to work➡️Harder to farm➡️Less yielded.
How is northern Malawi challenged by rural isolation?
Telecommunications services are slow➡️Congested phone lines➡️Mobiles increasing.
How is northern Malawi challenged by drought?
- Water shortages lead to food shortages.
- Increased desertification.
How is northern Malawi challenged by rural isolation?
Poor infrastructure➡️When roads flood, rural areas are cut off.
How is northern Malawi challenged by changing farm economy?
- Falling tobacco prices.
- Rising fertiliser costs➡️Due to fertiliser being made from oil, no fertilisers=poverty.
- 50kg bag➡️2010=£10, 2012= £30.
What issue is northern Malawi facing in terms of tobacco farming?
- No just a health concern, but a matter of child labour and child mortality in undeveloped countries.
- 600 prosecuted but 1/2 a million children working in it all year round.
- Growers do not own the land, they grow tobacco for landowners who sell it at auction.
- Children are taken out of school by parents to work.
What are the 3 main types of farmers in Malawi?
1) Cash Crop Plantations.
2) Tobacco Tenants.
3) Smallholders.
Explain how cash crop plantations work in Malawi.
- British colonies in Malawi in 19th century took over land and developed plantations to produce most of Malawi’s exports.
- Many are still under British ownership, including TNCs.
- These estates have large inputs- irrigation, fertiliser, storage.
- They hire local landless labourers or subsistence farmers seeking extra income.
- They get roughly 1p p/kg of tea leaves➡️Tea sold on the global market for £2 p/kg.
Explain how tobacco tenants work.
- Tobacco earns 10% of Malawi’s GDP and 2 million Malawians depend on it for income.
- Many adult tobacco growers work as tobacco tenants for companies such as British American Tobacco.
- Tobacco estate owners allocate tenant farmers a plot to produce a specific amount of tobacco.
- However, many tobacco workers are children.
Explain how smallholders work.
- Smallholders make up the majority of farmers in most areas.
- Across Malawi, 1.8million families occupy 1.8million hectares of land.
- Between them they produce 80% of Malawi’s food.
- However, half of these farmers produce only enough for subsistence farming➡️They grow maize, rice and groundnuts to feed the family.
- Those with larger plots produce small quantities of cash crops but the income is used to pay school fees and medical bills.
Who are the Kasinthula Cane Growers?
Run by?
Aim?
How?
Success?
Run: Set up by 1996 by Malawi’s state-owned sugar mill corporation and South African-owned sugar mill.
Aim: To convert an area of uneconomic land to sugar cane production which would increase the amount of sugar to mill and provide income for subsistence farmers who worked nearby.
How: Project divided 1200 hectares of poor land into 2-3 hectare sugar cane plots to provide income for subsistence farmers in 3 villages.
Success: Fairtrade premium is paid into a fund run by locals➡️Money spent on providing access to clean water, electricity, building secondary school and health clinic and increased farmers’ incomes.
How can quality of life be improved in rural India using biogas?
✅Cooking with gas produces smoke-free kitchens➡️Fewer lung infections.
✅Women + children no longer spend time finding firewood➡️Girls have time to go to school.
✅Micro-organisms in cattle dung which cause disease are destroyed as dung ferments.
✅After digestion sludge is richer in nutrients than raw manure➡️Better fertiliser.
✅Many villages now use biogas to power electricity generators which provide light + allow water to be pumped from underground.
How can quality of life be improved in Bangladesh by the Grameen Bank?
- Micro finance bank set up 1974➡️Founder lent $27 to group of 42 families to help them create a business making items to sell.
- Scheme grew and bank became formal 1983➡️Makes small loans to the rural poor.
- Bank based on principles that everyone has potential, charity doesn’t solve poverty (create dependency), business skills lift people out of poverty➡️Loans are small and quickly repayable and once a loan has been repaid a person can borrow again.
- Bank concentrates on lending to women (98% of borrowers) and communities for wells, farm equipment and livestock.
How can quality of life be improved by mobile health clinics in South Africa?
✅John Taolo Gaetsewe is a district in South Africa’s Northern Cape province which faces major health challenges➡️Some of South Africa’s highest rates for infant mortality, maternal deaths and HIV/AIDs infection.
✅Access to healthcare limited, expensive to get taxi service 130km to nearest hospital, otherwise donkey cart or nothing.
✅2011➡️Medical team working for Anglo-American developed the Batho Pele health units➡️Mobile clinics bring health clinic to bring health services to remote rural areas.
✅Services include screening for infection, eye testing, dental care and surgery for free➡️2000 patients in 1st month.
Anglo-American payed for the first 2 years then handed the responsiblity to governemnt’s Department of Health.
How does the rural economy vary from the normal economy in the developed world?
In the Peak District commercial farming, manufacturing and tourism are more important to the economy than in the UK as a whole.
What do rural development projects often focus on?
- Developing agriculture to improve food supply and increase incomes.
- Ensuring a safe and secure water supply.
- Developing infrastructure to improve trade and reduce isolation.
- Providing basic services to improve quality of life.
Give an example of an Inter-Governmental Organisation and explain what they do.
- World Bank, United Nations.
- Provide a framework of targets for countries to achieve.
- Provide funding for rural development➡️Usually large scale.
How do national governments deliver rural development projects?
- Implement nationwide networks like schools or health clinics.
- Focus on targets➡️Vaccinating a % of people, getting children into school.
How do local governments deliver rural development projects?
- Developing➡️Weak and poorly financed.
- Kerala, India➡️Successfully focused on improving literacy rates.
Give an example of a Non-Governmental Organisation and explain what they do.
- Oxfam, Practical Action.
- Rely on donations.
- Work with local communities to provide basic needs and improve income➡️Small scale.
