People and the Planet Development Dilemmas - 4

Development Dilemmas
1. How and why do countries develop in different ways?
Definitions of development vary as do attempts to measure it. Development means making progress so that peoples lives improve. Development can be economic, social, political or environmental. Gross Domestic Product GDP! per capita" #his indicates the average income of the population $uman Development %nde& $D%!" #his indicates the 'uality of life of people in that country it is measured by scoring GDP, education and life e&pectancy! (iteracy )ates" #his indicates the number of people *ho can read and *rite so tells us about access to education, and therefore the ability to get a skilled and *ell paid +ob later in life. %nfant ,ortality" #ells us the number of infants *ho die before the age of -. #his gives us an indication of ho* good access to healthcare is. .valuating Development %ndicators" GDP per /apita" Does give a good indication of the average *ealth *hen divided by the population! 01# does not tell us ho* the *ealth is divided. ..g. it could in the hands of +ust a small number of people and be very une'ually divided. $D%" Does take into account life e&pectancy, education and *ealth so is a very good measure of a variety of factors 01# it is too dependent of GDP as *ithout money countries cannot afford healthcare or education.

#he development gap" #he difference bet*een the richest and poorest countries in the *orld. Developed countries and some 2sian 3%/s have become *ealthier. #he gap bet*een the developed and developing *orld has gro*n. 2frica has made very little progress in terms of rising incomes.

#here remains a large gap bet*een the level of development of the most developed and least developed countries. Case Study: Uganda ! su"#Saharan !frican Country $arrier to development )ural isolation %&planation 2 lack of infrastructure roads 4 telephone 4 internet connections! means that it is very difficult for farmers to sell produce at market and make a living. #hey *ill often bruise fruit on the dirt roads. #his means they cannot sell their entire product and lose money. 5ourneys take so long they lose money from being a*ay from their *ork on the farm. 1ganda has no coastline and has to rely on other countries like 6enya for import and e&port routes. 7e*er females go to school. #his means they have fe* 'ualifications and find it difficult to break the cycle of poverty. Girls *ill not go to school as they *ill often have to help *ith manual +obs in the home. ..g. collecting fire*ood or *ater, *hich is time consuming. 1ganda is making little progress to*ards its ,illennium Development Goal

(andlocked Gender ine'uality 4 education $%8 4 2%D9

People and the Planet Development Dilemmas - 4

to reduce the spread of $%8 and 2%D9. :omen are particularly at risk as they often have less access to education. #here are also too fe* health clinic, particularly in rural areas. $%8 4 2%D9 has economic costs as people become too *eak to *ork. However ' 1ganda does have some opportunities to make progress" (il *as discovered in ;<<; and this could generate large amounts of money for 1gandas economy. %t has a youthful population *hich could prove to be a large *orkforce in the future for investment!. %t has large areas of fertile farmland so can easily feed itself and e&port crops

$o* might the development gap be closed= )osto*s model of economic development )osto*s modernisation theory sho*s ho* countries develop over time as incomes rise. /ountries need to meet the pre-conditions for take-off before they begin to develop4industrialise, e.g. infrastructure, educated *orkforce. :ealth4development then rises rapidly as countries develop secondary sector and services. Gro*th slo*s *hen countries reach 9tage 44>. $o*ever the model is ?one-*ay and some countries do not achieve this, i.e. they stall or 7ranks dependency model Dependency theory is different to )osto*s idea. $e believed that a rich core of countries 192, .urope! had developed and the Periphery consisted of other, poorer areas. %n dependency theory the periphery trades lo* value goods and the core processes them into higher value goods and makes a profit. Dependency theory believes that the core and periphery depend on each other for trade, although it helps to keep the core rich and periphery poor.

/ountries can develop in *ays that bring different effects to different regions= :hy are some parts of a country richer than others= 8ariations in resources" 3atural resources such as oil can improve *ealth 8ariations in soil fertility" 7or good crop gro*th 8ariations in types of economic activity" 0etter paid, highly skilled +obs are often concentrated in certain places Distance from coast 4 trading centres" %solation can affect investment and +obs Government policies" /an attract investment to certain areas

People and the Planet Development Dilemmas - 4

)ural or urban" 2ccess to +obs, healthcare or education 3atural $a@ards" 9ome areas may be prone to flooding or earth'uakes /ivil :ar" 9ome areas may be less developed as there is civil *ar there :hat is the ?urban core and ?rural periphery= :hat are their key characteristics= Case Study: )ndia 8arying regional development Ur"an Core #he larger cities have the best transport, communication and trade links. *ural Periphery %solated rural areas have fe* transport and communication links. #3/s don not often invest there so fe* +obs are created. ,any young people leave to find *ork in the cities. #his +ust leaves the very young and elderly. #he productivity of the land can reduce. (iteracy levels are very lo*. ,ost children have to help *ith farm *ork as families are so poor. #his means they cannot go to school and get an education and better paid +ob. ,ost *omen marry early and birth rates are high. :omen also have the lo*est levels of literacy as girls are e&pected to help *ith household tasks like collecting fire*ood. #hese factors can create a ?cycle of poverty ,ost +obs are in farming, and very fe* people o*n their o*n land. ,any are in poverty because of this.

(arge ?+rans ,ational Companies #3/s! choose to locate in the cities as they have a large *orkforce and better infrastructure. People move here for +obs and as *orkers earn money they spend. #his creates ne* +obs improving the economy. #his is called the ?multiplier effect-.

Governments are found in the large cities. Political decisions tend to favour the ?core

#ypes of development vary bet*een ?top do*n and ?bottom up= +op Down !id .arge scale, e&pensive pro+ects designed to provide +obs. #hey hope that benefits *ill trickle do*n to improve development for all. Decision makers looking at a ?big picture to identify need or opportunity for e.g. a national energy source or dam. (ocal people being told about it, but *ith no say in *hether it *ill happen or not. .&perts helping to plan it. 1se machinery rather than providing +obs for local people. /onditions can often be attached to loans made (ocal people are involved in making decisions 1ses appropriate technology $ottom Up !id Small scale, sustainable local pro+ects funded by 3GAs. 2ims to improve the 'uality of life for the poorest in society. #hey hope the ?multiplier effect *ill spread and benefit the *hole country. .&perts *orking *ith local communities to identify their needs. Giving local people control to improve their lives .&perts assisting *ith progress

People and the Planet Development Dilemmas - 4

Aften have large negative impacts on the environment o .asy to use and maintain and often built from local materials so easy to source repairs

Dams can provide energy and *ater for the country to develop 3ot al*ays suitable for local people. ..g. can be too hi-tech for populations *ith lo* levels of literacy.

Aften lo* cost 2lthough can improve the lives of people in a small area often has little impact on the national development )elies on charities and funding can fluctuate from year to year

6ey" Positive . 3egative

/. How might countries develop more sustaina"ly in the future?: Case Study: )ndia
+op Down #he 3armada )iver 9cheme 9ocial impacts ;B4 villages have been dro*ned forcing B;<,<<< people from their homes )eligious and historic sites have been submerged #he dam *ill provide people *ith a good supply of clean *ater for drinking and irrigation .conomic impacts .nvironmental impacts 5obs *ill be provided *hich *ill increase incomes in the area #he dam *ill produce hydroelectric po*er a clean rene*able sources of energy! 7armers *ill have to use more fertili@ers to gro* crops. #his causes pollution and can damage *ildlife in rivers

.valuation

#op do*n approaches are large scale and e&pensive. #hey *ill use hi-technology and often do not take into account the opinions of local people. #hey cause a large amount of damage to the environment and are often unsuccessful in improving peoples lives