POVERTY AND HUNGER

More about LEDCS

High birth rate ...and women the poorest of all, with less education and less chance of paid work

...and surviving by farming

Many people living in great poverty

Which makes it harder to set up industries.........

High % of population living in rural areas

LEDCS Tend to have....

Not much industry which means they cant make many goods high unemployment, many people...jobless

Poor infrastructure ; roads electricity, water supply and so on......

...just few exports, they depend on heavily(primary goods like crops and ores)

great inequality , with most people poor but small % very wealthy

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HOW DID THE DEVELOPMENT GAP GROW? Some reasons for the development gap 1. Historical reasons 2000 years ago, India and China were the worlds richest countries. But over the centuries, the pattern changed. Countries in Europe and North America raced ahead. Let see how that happened. By 1500 AD, Western Europe had begun to develop fast, thanks to good farmland, a mild climate for farming, and industries such as ship building and textiles. The industrial revolution came along. It began around 1750 in Britain and spread to Europe. It led to a leap in wealth and development for several countries. European had already settled in North America by then. Sp they started to develop industries too. And soon North America began to grow wealthy. Meanwhile, European had been exploring Africa, South America and Asia. They had found lands rich in natural resources. Trading soon followed. It began with friendly trading for things like gold, tobacco, timber and spices. The Europeans gave goods in exchange. As

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time went, they grew greedier, and took over many of their trading partners by force, as colonies. They took their raw materials, and sold them finished goods - and that made many Europeans very rich. In time, the European were forced out. They left behind them countries with very little industry, low level of education and skill, and often a great deal of unrest. Between them, countries like Britain, France, Spain and Portugal carved up Africa, South America and much of Asia as colonies. Many of their ex colonies are still poor today and some are still unstable. Geographical reasons A countrys location, and climate, and natural resources, can play a huge part in helping it to develop. Its coal, oil, gas and good farmland have all helped the UK to develop. And the sea has been great for fishing and trading. But in a hot dry country far from the sea, isolated by mountains, with poor soil and few other resources development maybe difficult. Some countries have the opposite problem- good soil but too much rain, and several floods. Years of hard work get washed away.

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Social and political reasons A country has a better chance to developing if it is stable and secure with strong government. But many of the worlds poor countries have wars going on, with a big waste of live and money. And in many countries,corrupt leaders have made themselves rich, while their people live in poverty.

Why is there a development gap? Social and political reasons Historical reasons

Geographical reasons

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Factors that help to keep a poor country poor - no matter how hard it works

Big Debts to pay off

Hospital

Poor countries want to develop fast but that needs money. So they borrowed lots of money. Sometimes they borrowed from : ordinary banks like we all use or sometimes from the world bank(a special bank that countries set up to help each other). Some countries also borrow from other governments (make promises in return)

! Less Money for

school

!oan: 1000 mi"io# $n%rest rare: 2% per yea& 2% of 1000 mi"ion = 20 mi"io# 'o each year we pay in%rest o( 20 mi"ion do"ar)

When you borrow money, you pay interest on the loan. Many bank loans were made in early 1970s when interest rates were low. Then they shot up. So the poor countries had to use more and more of the money they earned just for interest payment.

Water supply

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Many poor countries depend on selling crops such as sugar, cocoa, and coffee, to other countries. These are crops we all want, So, why are those countries not getting a lot richer?

Trading troubles

The poorer countries cant stop these imports, because the World Bank has forced them to reduce or drop tariffs, in exchange for loans. When poorer countries try to sell their crops to richer countries, they often face big import taxes or tariffs. These put buyers off. These crops are then exported to poorer countries. At prices so low that the local farmers cant compete, and go out of business.

At the same time, the world price for many crops has been falling over the years. Partly because too much is being grown.......

...and partly because the big food companies, who buy up most of the crops ate so powerful that they can force the price down

The tariffs mean the poor countries cant sell so much. Falling world prices mean they earn less from what they do sell. But their problems dont end there......

....because meanwhile, farmers in rich countries grow many of the same or similar crops- gets grants of subsidies for doing so.