dynamic development

define development

development is an improvement in living standards through better use of resources

define lidcs, edcs and acs

• low-income developing countries (lidcs)- these countries are eligible for the poverty reduction and growth trust from the imf eg, ethiopia

• emerging developing countries (edcs)- these countries do not share the economic development characteristics of advanced countries and are not eligible for poverty reduction and growth trust from the imf eg, south africa

• advanced countries (acs)- these countries have well-developed financial markets, high degrees of financial intermediation (when banks take funds and then lend them out), diversified economic structures and a rapidly growing service sector eg, uk

what is the global distribution of lidcs, edcs and acs?

• lidcs are commonly located in central africa eg, ethiopia, however there are a few anomalies in south america eg, bolivia and guyana and in asia eg, mongolia

• edcs are commonly located in asia, north africa, south and central america eg, china, algeria, brazil and mexico

• acs are commonly located in north america, north and central europe and oceania eg, usa, norway, the uk and australia

what are the economic and social measures of development and how do they illustrate the consequences of uneven development?

• gdp (the gross domestic product is the monetary value of all the goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a year, including government spending):

  -proves features like healthcare and education and suggests how wealthy a country is

  -even if the gdp is relatively high, there could still be people living in absolute poverty and doesn’t show how wealth is distributed

• gdp per capita (the gross domestic product per capita is the average monetary value of all the goods and services produced within a country’s borders, per person, per year):

  -shows how wealthy a country is per person and it’s very easy to compare between each area

  -doesn’t take into account that some countries are richer than others and doesn’t show when a country’s in debt

• gni per capita (the gross national income per capita is the average monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country’s borders, plus money earned from and paid to other countries, per person, per year):

  -takes into account additional information such as money earned from and paid to other countries

  -doesn’t show us how wealth is distributed

• birth rate (the number of live births per 1000 people per year):

  -gives an indication of contraception and education available

  -doesn’t take into account how well the babies will be cared for, it doesn’t determine their life expectancy, quality of their nutrition, etc

• death rate (the number of deaths per 1000 people per year):

  -gives us an idea of how well healthcare is in certain countries

  -does not take into account the most common death, the quality of their lives, how their lives impacted their death and the age of death

• life expectancy (the average number of years a person born in a particular country might be expected to live):

  -it is perceived that the higher the life expectancy, the better the quality of life

  -does not take into account the precise quality of their lives or what the cause of death will be

• infant mortality rate (the number of children who die before reaching 1 per 1000 live births per year):

  -indication of healthcare and how well babies are cared for

  -doesn’t tell us the cause of death or which areas the infant mortality rate is highest and lowest

• literacy rate (the percentage of the population, older than 15, who can read and write including numeracy):

  -shows us how well-educated people in a country are

  -can be misleading, poor countries can have a high literacy rate due to good education yet it could still be unurbanised

• doctors per 1000 (the number of doctors shared per 1000 people):

  -indication of education, the better the education the more doctors and an indication of wealth and healthcare as to become a doctor expensive training is required as well as the correct facilities

  -doesn’t show us how well-trained the doctors are

how can the impacts of poverty in acs and lidcs differ?

• poverty in acs means people can’t afford food so they constantly have to buy fast food therefore resulting in obesity and malnourishment

• poverty in lidcs means that there is not enough food and people could often be under-nourished

what is absolute and relative poverty?

• absolute poverty measures your ability to meet basic human needs of minimum food, water, shelter and education, someone in absolute poverty may make under $1 a day

• relative poverty means that you could be living in an area where those around you have more wealth than you, so you can’t maintain the same lifestyle, 13 million people live in relative poverty and 4 million are children

what is the human development index?

• the human development index is a composite measure of development, it combines social and economic measures of development to give a score from 0-1 (1 being the highest)

• this is a useful measure of development as it combines both social and economic indicators to see how exactly how developed a country is (only measuring 1 indicator can be misleading)

• highest hdi data in 2021: 0.962 (switzerland)

• lowest hdi data in 2021: 0.385 (south sudan)

what figures show us how developed the uk is?

• hdi: 0.929

• mean years of schooling: 13.4

• life expectancy: 80.7

what are examples of an ac, edc and lidc that are more socially developed than economically?

• ac: greenland

  →low infant mortality rates, high life expectancy and a high gdp per capita

• edc: chile

  →relatively low mortality rates, decently high life expectancy and an average gdp per capita

• lidc: mongolia

  →very high literacy rate, but high infant mortality rate low life expectancy and low gdp per capita

what physical factors influence development?

• natural resources:

  -access to safe water for health

  -availability of timber for fuel and construction

  -minerals and metals for trade, energy and manufacturing

  -fuel sources such as coal, oil and natural gas

• climate:

  -reliability of rainfall influences agriculture and can create risks (eg, monsoons and droughts)

  -extreme climates (such as hot and cold deserts) will limit industry and affect health

  -some climates will attract tourism eg, tropical beaches

• location and terrain:

  -attractive, aesthetic scenery will attract tourist income

  -steep, mountainous, rocky terrain is more difficult to build on and limits farming

  -landlocked countries may find trade with distant countries more difficult

• natural hazards:

  -risk of earthquake, volcanic eruption, tropical storms, floods, etc can limit development

  -frequent hazards will damage buildings, cause injury, reduce industry and farming

  -some benefits from volcanic ash and floodwaters, they bring rich soil from the minerals

what human factors influence development?

• politics:

  -global links: membership of international groups, eg, un and eu

  -trade: investment, dependency, growth of tncs and debt

  -democracy: right to vote

  -war and corruption

• culture:

  -traditional societies may reject material goods/consumption

• technology:

  -railways, electricity and the internet

• healthcare:

  -disease and access to vaccines

• history:

  -colonisation and industrialisation

what factors make it difficult for countries to break out of poverty?

• health (india urged to offer universal healthcare):

  -india spends 1% of their gdp on healthcare

  -people have to spend the little money they make on healthcare, this means they can’t purchase necessities or send their children to school

  -the poor are being denied from hospitals

  -if the poor can’t access healthcare, they can’t work meaning they can’t pay taxes so infrastructure and healthcare facilities can’t be improved and the country remains poor

• political unrest/corruption (un accuses somalia of corruption):

  -the president claims that people are trying to undermine the government

  -the government therefore is focused on civil war

  -this means somalia is not spending money on education so the country is not breaking out of poverty

• trade (unfair trade in kenya makes it difficult to break out of poverty):

  -people work for less than $2 a day since the government cut agriculture and market forces

  -the government did this as there are only trading agreements for advanced countries, the fact that trade is more favourable to advanced countries means that lidcs can’t make money from trade

• debt (debt makes it difficult for people to break out of poverty):

  -advanced countries give loans to less developed countries with corrupt governments with the understanding that they won’t be able to pay them back

  -this money is usually spent on weaponary and machinery instead of education and healthcare facilities

  -workers taxes contribute to paying back the country’s debt rather than focusing on itself

  -this means the advanced countries become wealthier and the less developed countries can’t break out of poverty

what are facts that illustrate how health, political unrest, trade and debt make it difficult for countries to break out of poverty?

• health:

  -lack of safe drinking water and inadequate food leads to health problems and people not being able to work, this means they cannot access better food and healthcare so the spiral of decline continues

  -lidcs suffer disproportionately from illness and diseases that are preventable and treatable, such as diarrhoea, malaria and malnutrition

  -for example, in afghanistan only 13% of the population have readily accessible drinking water

• political unrest:

  -unstable and undemocratic governments can lead to chaos and confusion especially on how to spend government funds

  -political unrest is usually due to corruption

  -this may be because they had unfair loans or a legacy of colonialism

  -for example, in somalia there is a civil war and instability

• trade:

  -reality shows that trade is often unfair, with richer countries and tncs taking a higher profit than lidcs eg, clothing industry, profits remain in acs while edcs and lidcs that provide material and labour get less

  -nations can become dependent upon tncs and their investment, which means local industry will not flourish and workers may be exploited

  -a nation needs an income and this will involve importing goods that are needed while exporting goods and services to be sold abroad, the balance of trade needs to be positive, with more exports than imports

  -stable nations are able to trade more easily which means trade for less developed countries is unfair

  -for example, coca cola in india

• debt:

  -many lidcs face huge national debts because of borrowing from other nations and international organisations to help with infrastructure or recover from disaster

  -debt can cause a spiral of decline

  -borrowing comes at a cost and interest rates are high

  -some nations cannot afford to repay their loans

  -for example, nepal had to spend $210 million on debt payments in 2015

what does the cycle of poverty and decline show?

• it shows that the reason lidcs can’t break out of poverty is because to end the cycle you need money

• but to make the money required you need to the end the cycle, therefore the cycle continues

where is ethiopia located?

ethiopia is a land-locked country in east africa, it is north of the equator and the nearest ocean to ethiopia is the indian ocean

how has politics affected ethiopia’s economic development?

• conflict left ethiopia in a state of turmoil under a marxist dictatorship from the fall of the monarchy until 1991, where meles zenawi brought a degree of stability

• prime minister abiy ahmed launched a campaign to end dispute with ethiopia’s neighbours, in particular eritrea, however these efforts were overshadowed by a dispute with the tigray leaders and swiftly escalated into armed conflicts

how has technology affected ethiopia’s economic development?

• the change in government in 2018 ushered in a new era for the media, which for years had operated in one of the region’s most restrictive environments, however there’s been no improvements to harsh media laws

• the state controls most broadcasting outlets including etv and radio ethiopia

  →radio is an important medium, reaching rural areas where most ethiopians live

  →this means that during periods of social unrest when internet and mobile services are restricted, ethiopians in rural areas don’t have contact with those in urban areas

• in 2021, there were 21 million internet users (17.7% of the population)

• rural farmers don’t have access to tractors, which encourages substinence farming meaning they can’t create a sustainable food production

how has population/society affected ethiopia’s economic development?

• ethiopia has the second largest population in africa

• ethiopia is home to the ethiopian orthodox church, one of the oldest christian denominations, 67% of ethiopians are christians, this influences economic growth as religious beliefs reinforce character traits such as hard work and the value of time

• the percentage of married women between the ages of 15-49 is 68% and 14% of women are married by 15, this limits economic development as women are expected to take on more traditional roles when they get married meaning they don’t usually have jobs

• the school life expectation is 8 years, allowing ethiopians to take jobs in higher paying industries, however most children in rural areas don’t have access to education which limits economic development

how has ethiopia economically developed in the past 50 years?

• ethiopia has a services-based economy which is constantly growing as ethiopia has the 2nd largest african labour force

• ethiopia has port access via djibouti and eritrea

• poverty is widespread but it is declining (population living in poverty dropped to 29% from 49% in 2000)

• ethiopia’s gdp was $111.3 billion

• 37% of land in ethiopia is agricultural, foreign investors eg, turkish investors, purchase land in ethiopia which generates revenue for ethiopian land owners

what are the sectors of industry?

• primary- these industries extract raw materials directly from the earth or sea

• secondary- these industries process and manufacture products from raw materials

• tertiary- these industries provide a service

• quaternary- these industries incorporate a high degree of research and technology in their processes and employ highly qualified people examples include, biotechnology and computer programming

where would acs, edcs and lidcs be found in the clarke-fisher model?

• acs would be found in the post-industrial 2000 ad stage

• edcs would be found in the industrial stage

• lidcs would be found in the pre-industrial 1800 ad stage

what happens in each stage of the rostow model?

• stage 1: traditional society

  -labour is very intensive and there is little technology and scientific knowledge

  -a high percentage of the workforce work in the primary sector eg, agriculture

  -even though output exists, it’s very low due to the lack of technology

  -countries will spend money on non-productive activities such as military

  -countries in stage 1 are lidcs

• stage 2: preconditions for takeoff

  -leaders motivate the population to start innovative economic activities by building currency and banks

  -they began to develop infrastructure such as public transportation, this leads to an increase in productivity

  -there is a greater exploitation of natural resources

• stage 3: takeoff

  -rapid growth is generated by limited economic activities such as textiles or food products, these industries later receive technical advances and become more productive, other sectors remain more traditional

  -even though the secondary sector grows, the tertiary sector doesn’t

  -modernisation is only evident in core parts of the country, countries in stage 3 are often edcs

• stage 4: drive to maturity

  -this stage is about expansion and this includes the introduction of tncs

  -this economy will be developing new and more sophisticated industries

  -globalisation increases and these countries are largely urbanised

  -there is mass consumption, more goods become necessities

  -this stage is marked by high income and more workers in the tertiary sector

  -this stage doesn’t take into account new technological and scientific advances and it only reflects european and american development

• stage 5: high mass consumption

  -mass consumption increases as a larger variety of products become necessities

  -workers have higher incomes as more workers work in the tertiary sector

  -this only reflects american and european development, other countries can’t develop like this due to colonisation

can the rostow model help to determine the ethiopia’s path of economic development?

• ethiopia is in stage 2 of rostow’s development model, ethiopia has falling death rates and relatively high birth rates leading to rapid population growth

• it’s an lidc meaning they are only recently trying to innovate to help the economy grow, an example of how they are doing this is by allowing foreigners to invest in land

• rostow’s model predicts ethiopia’s future path of development as it illustrates how countries that depend on the primary and secondary sector gradually begin to depend on the tertiary sector like ethiopia is

how could ethiopia move into stage 3 and 4 of the rostow model?

• ethiopia needs other sources of income instead of primarily focusing on the primary sector

• tncs need to be encouraged to invest and there would need to be more employment in the tertiary jobs, such as customer service and lesiure

• ethiopia could also invest in tourism as they have beautiful landscapes and many historical sites

what are the millenium development goals?

• in 2000, world leaders met to discuss how nations could work together to reduce extreme poverty

• 8 mdgs were devised with a deadline at the end of 2015

• sustainable development goals were then set to be met by 2030

have millenium development goals been reached in ethiopia?

• mdg 1: poverty and hunger (not achieved)

  -population living in poverty has dropped to 29% from 49% in 2000

  -unemployment is still high but poverty should halve by the end of 2015

  -40% of children are malnourished

  -28% of the population are food insecure or lacking essential nutrients

• mdg 2: primary education (achieved)

  -on track to meet this goal

  -96% of children are now enrolled in primary school (up from just 50% in 1990)

  -literacy rate is low at 36% showing quality of provision is not effective

  -more males than females in school; very few females in secondary education

• mdg 6: combat disease (not achieved)

  -hiv/aids pandemic has stabilised and new cases have declined but 1.1 million adults are still living with hiv

  -malaria was the leading cause of death but now 100% of the population can access a malaria net

  -89% of the population live within 10km of a doctor but every doctor is shared by 3,333 people

how has ethiopia’s political, social and environmental context affected its development?

• political:

  -in the ethiopian red terror the government grabbed large areas of land and people were evicted, it is also estimated that 700,000 were murdered, this led to economic decline

  -the usa has given ethiopia agricultural help, which benefits ethiopia, but it still relies on aid from other countries

• social:

  -the population has grown which has made it difficult for ethiopia to produce all necessary food, ethiopia still relies on food aid from other countries

  -overgrazing by the livestock in the eastern lowlands has led to soil erosion and desertification

• environmental:

  -in the western highlands coffee and cotton grows well due to the reliable rainfall, 1200-2000mm per year (may-october), however the land is steep up to 4,500m, the slope makes it difficult to use machinery

  -in the central areas there are two rainy seasons, rainfall averages 400-800mm per year, the unreliable rainfall makes farming difficult and the land is steep and rocky which makes it difficult to use machinery

  -in the eastern lowlands there are two rainy seasons and two dry seasons, the low rainfall, 300mm per year, and the high temperatures, 30-40°, cause droughts and desertification, which makes farming difficult and the eastern lowlands are in a flat area in ethiopia but the livestock overgrazes the land leading to soil erosion and desertification

how has the coffee industry’s international trade influenced development?

• 85% of ethiopians work in the coffee industry

• coffee is the largest export in ethiopia, in 2021, coffee made up 26% of exports

• farmers learn more efficient ways to produce coffee so they make higher quality coffee beans to earn more profit

• large companies partner with local farmers to create alternative sources of income in vegetable and honey production which improves access to profitable markets

• the government is also investing in the long-term health of coffee plants and have launched a reforestation campaign

• however, if beans are poor quality, farmers can only gain a small amount of profit

• prices of coffee beans also fluctatuate, farmers never know how much they are going to earn

• farmers are facing challeneges due to climate change including increasing erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, poor management of coffee trees and degradation of soil

• the labour is very intensive yet labourers get paid low wages

• to be part of a coffee group, to grow your coffee you must own land, which means only 3 members are women as they inherited land from their deceased husbands

how has the flower industry’s international trade influenced development?

• working in the flower industry means the majority of workers are receiving increased salaries, which means workers have an increased quality of life

• ethiopia earn $1 billion from exports each year

  →this industry is flourishing with the help of government incentives and low labour costs

• however, labourers wages don’t cover all of their costs

• workers were laid off during covid as the demand for flowers significantly decreased

• environmentalists are concerned that flower companies are using pesticides with harmful chemicals which are not only damaging the environment but causing workers to become ill

what is a trans-national corporation?

a trans-national corporation (tnc) is a business which operates all over the world, usually with their headquarters in an advanced country and their manufacturing branches in emerging countries

what are the benefits and problems of tnc investment for development?

• benefits:

  -literacy improvement, workers may be trained by tncs that hire them

  -more money for local markets, once local people are receiving pay from tncs, local firms may benefit from increased custom

  -hybrid products, exciting new products emerge as tncs adapt their products to local tastes and fashions

  -increased income for workers may mean they have more money to spend on healthcare and education

• problems:

  -maintaining gender inequality in the workplace, firms may be happy to pay women less money than men

  -ecosystem damage, tncs may have a poor record of looking after the environment eg, shell’s oil spills in nigeria

  -luring workers away from farming, if too many migrants head to cities to work for tncs, this can result in food shortages

  -air miles, products are shipped over great distances, creating pollution

  -global products favoured over local ones, traditional clothes and foods may be abandoned as a result of the influence of tncs

  -worker health damage, tncs only have to meet local safety laws, which may be weak rather than those set in their country of origin

  -worker exploitation, employees may be forced to work long hours and be banned from joining trade unions

  -increasing income inequality, by paying high wages to local middlemen whilst keeping average “sweatshop” wages down

how has afriflora sher influenced development in ethiopia?

• afriflora sher’s headquarters is located in the netherlands as it is a dutch company

• afriflora is the largest grower of roses in the world, 13,000 people (approximately 70% are women) are employed to grow, harvest, inspect and pack roses

• ethiopia has a good climate for growing roses as it has a favourable climate and fertile soil, this means they produce 65 different types of roses including large and small-flowered roses and spray roses in many different colors

• every day 3-4 million roses are exported, which means 1 billion roses are exported annually

• afriflora maximises the use of biological and non-chemical pest control methods and they maximise the use of natural predators to combat insects

• they use a close-loop system to prevent water from being wasted

• their schools provide 6,500 students with an education and they established a hospital in 2007

• they provide resources and portable water sources for reforestation

• they constantly inspect roses to see if they have diseases- measures are taken if they do

• however, afriflora is located next to lake ziway, at a height of 1650 metres above sea level, afriflora uses water from lake ziway to irrigate their roses, this means that the water level is dropping by 0.5m each year currently

• workers are paid $32 a month and the majority of their wage is spent on healthcare as afriflora don’t provide sanitary working conditions

what are the advantages and disadvantages of debt relief?

• advantages:

  -frees up money that can be spent on development

  -helps end extreme poverty

• disadvantages:

  -countries with corrupt governments don’t receive debt relief as other countries don’t want to support these countries

what are the advantages and disadvantages of international aid?

• advantages:

  -can be used for large projects which can solve large scale problems and improve the lives of many people eg, building a dam to provide hep

  -can provide immediate relief after disasters eg, a famine

  -can help to build trade links with the donor country

  -can allow money to be invested in local services like hospitals and schools

• disadvantages:

  -aid can be tied, meaning ethiopia has to spend money on goods and services from the donor country

  -the money may be spent on inappropiate projects that don’t benefit everyone eg, hep may not supply power to all rural areas

  -ethiopia is now dependent on aid ($550 million per year)

what is the difference between top-down and bottom-up strategies?

• top-down strategies are larger in scale and often bigger in immediate impact, they are often expensive, the decisions are often made by the government without asking the opinion of local people

• bottom-up strategies are led by local populations and are known as self-help schemes

what are the factors of top-down and bottom-up strategies?

• top-down strategies:

  -economic development aims to trickle down to all regions

  -country borrows huge sums of money to undertake the programme

  -government and international organisations (eg, world bank) make decisions with little involvement from local people

  -mostly concerned with the development of the economy as a whole

  -often involves major infrastructure projects

• bottom-up strategies:

  -financial help and technical assistance

  -involves local people at the local scale

  -people centred, helping people to help themselves

  -often characterised by ngo involvement

what are examples of one top-down and bottom-up strategy in ethiopia?

• a top-down strategy in ethiopia is the gibe III scheme, it’s aim is to generate electricty but unfortunately it impacts life in lake turkana

• a bottom-up strategy in ethiopia focused in the northern tigray farms funded by britain and ireland, £30,000 was raised and they’ve assisted 2,456 individuals

what are the advantages and disadvantages of the gibe III scheme?

• advantages:

  -the dam rises 243 metres and can hold back 14.7 billion cubic metres of water and has a planned hydropower capacity of 1,870 megawatts

  -gibe III is the third and largest dam out of the five dams on the omo, it’s intended to supply half of ethiopia’s electricity and will be supplied to ethiopia’s neighbouring countries, kenya, djibouti and sudan

  -this facility will supply irrigation water to large-scale agricultural enterprises including foreign ventures in cotton, rice and palm oil

  -it will transform more than 375,000 hectares of the lower omo into industrial plantations

• disadvantages:

  -by holding back the river’s water, grasses for livestock grazing and soil moisture for crop production have diminished downstream for communities, spreading hunger in the lower valley

  -20,000 indigenous people in southern ethiopia and northern kenya have been impacted as they can no longer sustain their food production

  -water hasn’t reached farmers land so they’ve moved their cattle into mago national park which has unleashed fighting with government soldiers, many have been killed

  -without the river’s yearly supply, lake turkana will lose water as evaporation losses would no longer be balanced by inflows

what are the advantages and disadvantages of the goat scheme?

• advantages:

  -£230,000 was raised for farm africa and they assisted 2,456 individuals through this project

  -by selling the goats’ cheese and milk, women receive a higher income and therefore can pay off their debt and buy nutrients to improve their vegetation

  -mothers can afford to feed their children more meals and buy them school materials and clothes

  -images show the comparison of children before and after the impacts of the goat scheme, before they are clearly malnourished and depressed, after they look happier and healthier

  -women can sell their goats and invest in land to start growing a farm

• disadvantages:

  -if goats become ill, the owners, to show their care for the goats, must pay vet bills to treat them which can be expensive when they earn $40 a month

  -if families can’t pay for their goats they usually kill the goats which is not environmentally sustainable

  -as more individuals are assisted, the value of the goats decreases

  -it is a low-scale scheme which means that only widowed women in tigray are assisted

what is sustainable development?

when the needs of the present are met whilst protecting the needs of the future, resources are not exhausted and the environment is protected