The Development Gap

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  • Created by: millieray
  • Created on: 04-06-18 14:01

What Is Development?

  • Development means positive change that makes things better.
  • As a country develops it usually means that people's standrd of living and quality of life will improve.
  • Differnet factors affect a country's level and speed of development.
    • Envrionmental factors such as natural hazards
    • Economic factors such as trade and debt
    • Social factors such as accss to safe water and education
    • Political factors such as a stable government or civil war
  • The development gap is the difference in standards of living between the world's richest and poorest countries.
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GNI

  • Gross National Income (GNI) -
    • Wealth and income can be used to describe a country's level of economic development. GNI is a common measure used by the world bank.
    • GNI is the total value of goods and services produced by a country, plus money earned from, and paid to, other countries. It is expresses as per head of the population.
    • The World Bank uses four different levels of income to divide the countries of the world into: high, upper-middle, lower-middle and low.
    • This economic indicator is one way of showing development.
    • Some countries may seem to have a high GNI as they are relatively wealthy with a small population, but this does not mean that their citizens enjoy a good quality of life.
    • Equally, some people in LICs are well off and enjoy a high standard of living.
    • Some countries have begun to experience higher rates of economic development, with a rapid growth of industry, these are known as Newly- Emerging Economies.
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HDI

  • Human Development Index (HDI)-
    • HDI links wealth to health and education.
    • It aims to show how far people are benefiting from a country's economic growth. So is a social measure.
    • The measures used to produce HDI are:HDI is expressed in values of 0-1, where 1 is the highest. This enables countries to be ranked.
      • Life expectancy at birth
      • Number of years of education
      • GNI per head
    • HDI is expressed in values of 0-1, where 1 is the highest. This enables countries to be ranked.
    • The highest ranked country in 2014 was Norway (0.944) and the lowest was Niger (0.348)
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Measures Of Development

  • GDP - The total value of goods and sevices a country produces in a year.
  • Birth Rate- the number of live babies born per thousand per year.
  • Death rate- the number of deaths per thousand per year.
  • Infant mortality rate- the number of babies whoe die under 1, per thousand babies born.
  • People per doctor- the average number of people per doctor.
  • Literacy rate- the percentage of adults who can read and write.
  • Access to safe water- the percentage of people who can get clean water.
  • Life expectancy- the average age a person can expect to live to.
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How Useful Are Measures Of Development?

  • Birth rate- is a reliable measure. As a country develops women are likely to become educatede and want a career rather than staying at home. They marry later and have fewer children.
  • Death rate - is a less reliable measure. Developed countries, such as the UK, tend to have an older population and death rates will be high. In less developed countries, such as Bangladesh, death rate may be lower because there are proportionally more young people.
  • Infant mortality- is a useful measure of a country's health care system.
  • The Number of doctors per 1000 people- indicates how much money a country has for medical services.
  • Literacy rate- shows a good representation for a country's education system.
  • Access to clean water- indicates a country's infrastructure, such as a high percentage could mean there has been developments of dams, reservoirs and water treatment plants.
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Limitations Of Economic & Social Measures

  • A single measure of development can give a false picture, as it gives an average for a whole country but within a country there may be variation of quality of living. For example, the top 10% of the population may own 80% of the wealth. It may also be concentrated in the cities whilst rural areas remain poor.
  • Data could be out of date or hard to collect.
  • Data may be unreliable.
  • They focus on certain aspects of development, and may not take into account subsistence or informal economies, which are important in many countries.
  • Governemtn corruption may mean that data are unreliable.
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The Demographic Transition Model

  • The demographic transition model (DTM) shows how changing birth and death rates affect population growth.
  • When the birth rate is higher than the death rate, more people are being born than are dying, so population grows, this is called natural increase.
  • It's called natural decrease when the death rate is higher than the birth rate.
  • Birth and death rates differ from country to country, this means that population growth is faster in some countries than in others, especially in less developed countries.
  • Population growth also changes within a country over time as it develops.
  • Changing birth and death rates are linked to a country's economic development.
  • So the five stages of the DTM model are linked to a country's level of development.
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DTM Model

Image result for general demographic transition model

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Stages Of The DTM Model

  • Stage 1- Population is low and steady.
    • Birth and death rate are high and fluctuating. This is a result of this stage being the least developed, the birth rate is high because there's no use of contraception and people have lots of children as a result of poor health care and high infant mortality. Death rate is also high as a result of poor health care, famine, disease and war.
  • Stage 2- Population is rapidly increasing.
    • Birth rate is high and steady where death rate is rapidly declining. The development in these country's is low and much of the economy is based on agriculture so families have lots of children to work on the farms. Death rates fall due to improved health care and diet.
  • Stage 3-  Population is high and increasing.
    • Birth rate is rapidly falling and death rate is slowly forming. It is more developed with most NEE's in this category. The birth rate falls rapidly as women have a more equal place in society and better education. The use of contraception increases and more women work instead of having children. Death rate is increasing as the population experiences economic growth and health care continues to improve.
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Stages Of The DTM Model Continued

  • Stage 4 -
    • the birth and death rate are low and fluctuating. These are mainly HIC's where women want to study and follow careers reducing the number of children they have. Death rate remains low as health care is of high standard and the majority are due to the aging population.
    • Population is high and steady.
  • Stage 5 -
    • Birth rate is slowly falling and death rate is low and steady. These country's are the most developed. Birth rates are low as women have careers and few children. Death rate is remeans steady as the population is ageing.
    • Population slowly declines as death rate exceeds birth rate.
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Population Pyramids

  • A population pyramid shows the structure of a population by showing the number of people in different age groups.
  • The overall shape of a population pyramid shows the proportion of the population that is young or old. By comparing pyramids from different years for the same country a change in development can be seen. For example in mexico in 1980 their population pyramid had a large base but a thin top showing that the youthful population was large and life expectancy low. However in 2015 the pyramid shows that death rate is falling as the top of the pyramid begins to increase in size, and birth rates are remaining steady shown by the base of the pyramid being consistent in size to the bar above.
  • The dependency ratio is the proportion of people below or above normal work age. This is calculated by adding together the number for both groups, then dividing by the number of people aged 15-64 (the 'working population') and multiplying by 100. The lower the number, the greater the number of people who work and are less dependent. Low dependency ratios are more common in HIC's than NEE's and LIC's.
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Population Pyramids and The DTM Model

Image result for population pyramid for the dtm model all 5 stages

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Physical Causes Of Uneven Development

  • The physical development of some countries can make development difficult. For example:
    • The most landlocked countries are in Africa, meaning a country is only bordered by land, with no access to seas. A country is cut off from seaborne trade, which is important for economic growth.
    • Tropical Africa, South America and Asia have more climate-related diseases and pests than cooler parts of the world. Diseases affects the ability of the population to work, reducing productivity.
    • Extreme weather often hits tropical regions. An extreme weather season can hinder development and it can be costly to repair damaged infrastructure.
    • The lack of adequate supplies of safer water is a barrier to economic development.
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Economic Causes Of Uneven Development

  • Low life expectancy, frequent illness, and the lack of nutritious diets make economic development hard to achieve.
  • Trade:
    • Most of the world's trade is between richer countries.
    • Rich countries and large international companies have a lot of power and want to pay as little as possible for their raw materials, of which many come from LIC's.
    • There is often more supply than demand for raw materials keeping prices low.
    • Processing which adds value takes place in the richer developed countries. This is how rich countries get richer and poorer countries are not able to develop.
  • LIC's and NEEs have traditionally exported primary goods such as minerals and agriculture but in the past 20 years many of these countries have developed manufacturing and manufactured products now make 80% of the export in NEEs.
  • Some countries have trade surplus whilst others have trade deficit which can often lead to a debt trap that makes further development difficult.
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Historical Causes Of Uneven Development

  • Mnay richer countries have a long history of industrial and economic development. Whilst some have recently emerged as industrial nations and others have yet to experience any significant economic growth.
  • Colonialism:
    • From around 1400, European explorers set out to control new terrotories, often seeking mineral wealth, such as gold.
    • From 1650 -1900 over 10million people were transported from Africa to North America to work as slaves and almost all the wealth produced in this period went to European powers.
    • By the end of the 19th century much of Africa and parts of South America and Asia had been divided up between the European powers.
    • Since 1950 former European colonies have gained independence.
    • In many cases this was a difficult process, resultng in civil wars and political struggles for power.
    • Money has been spent on armaments and some governments have been corrupt. This political instability has held development back.
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Uneven Development - Wealth

  • There is a clear link between a country's development and the wealth of its people.
  • Wealth, in the form of GNI is often used as a representation for a countries development.
  • There are significant differences between the wealth of different global regions.
  • In 2014 the fastest growth in wealth was in North America, which now holds 35% of total global wealth.
  • The USA is not the wealthiest country in the world but it is the world's most important economic 'engine of growth'
  • China has recorded the highest growth since 2000. Personal wealth in India and China has quadrupled since 2000, yet its global share of wealth is still well below its percentage of the global population.
  • Africa's share of global wealth is very small. About 1%
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Uneven Development - Health

  • LICs are unable to invest in good quality healthcare.
  • There are wide disparities in causes of death between HICs and LICs.
  • Low Income Countries:
    • 4 in every 10 deaths are among children under 15
    • 2 in every 10 deaths are among people aged 70 or over
    • Complications of child birth are one of the main causes of death among children under 5
    • Infectious disease are the main cuase of death : lung infection, HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrhoea-related diseases adn tuberculosis account for 1/3 of deaths.
  • High- Income Countries:
    • 7 in every 10 deaths are amongst people over the age of 70
    • 1 in every 100 deaths are among children under 15
    • Lung infections are the only main infectious cause of death.
    • Main causes of death are chronic diseases, such as heart and lung diseases, cancer, dementia or diabetes.
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Uneven Development- Migration

  • International migration is one of the main consequences of uneven development, as people seek to improve their quality of life.
  • Migration- the movement of people from one place to another.
  • It can be voluntary where the advantages against the disadvantages are weighed. Or it can be forced where the people have little or no choice to escape natural disaster, war or persecution.
  • Terms that need to be known:
    • Immigrant- a person who moves into a country
    • Emmigrant- a person who moves out of a country
    • Economic migrant- a person who moves voluntarily to seek a better life, such as a better-paid job or benefits like education and health care.
    • Refugee- a person forced to move from their country of origin often as a result of civil war or a natural disaster.
    • Displaced person- a person forced to move from their home but who stays in their country of origin.
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Reducing the Gap- Investment

  • Many countries and TNCs choose to invest money and expertise into LICs to increase their profits. Investment can involve:
    • The development of infrastructure
    • The construction of dams to provide electricity
    • Improvements to harbours and ports
    • The development of new industry
  • This can support a country's development by providing employment and income from abroad.
  • As economies grow, poverty decreases and education improves.
  • People become more politically involved, leading to a better government.
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Reducing the Gap- Industrial Development

  • Industrial development brings employment, higher incomes and opportunities to invest in housing, education and infrastructure.
  • This is called the multiplier effect.
  • Countries such as Malaysia, China, Brazil and Mexico have all followed programmes of industrialisation to get to their current states of development.
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Reducing the Gap- Tourism

  • Countries with tropical beaches, spectacular landscapes or abundant wildlife have become tourist destinations, this has led to investment and increased incom from abroad, which cna be used for improving education, infrastructure and housing.
  • Several countries in the Carribean, Indian Ocean Islands and the Maldives have become highly dependent on tourism, this can be both advantageous and disadvantageous.
  • Tourism can generate a lot of income but it is vlnerable in times of economic recession.
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What Is Aid?

  • Aid is when a country or NGO donate resources to another country to help it develop or improve people's lives.
  • It can take the form of:
    • Money (grants or loans)
    • Emergency supplies
    • Food such as rice or wheat, technology
    • Skills (people with special skills such as doctors or engineers)
  • There are different types of aid:
    • Short-term - emergency help usually in response to a natural disaster.
    • Long-term - sustainable aid that seeks to improve resilience e.g. wells
    • Tied- aid may be given with certain conditions
    • Voluntary - Money donated by the general public in richer countries and distributed by NGOs.
    • Multilateral - richer governments give money to an international organisation such as the World Bank, which then redistributes the money as aid to poorer countries
    • Bilateral- aid from one country to another.
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Reducing the Gap - Aid

  • Only aid that is long-term and freely given can reduce the development gap.
  • Aid can enable countries to invest in development projects such as roads, electricity and water management to bring about long-term benefits. On a local scale aid can help improve people's quality of life if it focuses on health care, education and services.
  • UK Aid:
    • Currently the UK spends 0.7% of its GDP on overseas aid. In 2013 the top 3 recipients were Pakistan, Ethiopia and Bangladesh.
  • Goat Aid from Oxfam:
    • It is a project set up to help families in African countries like Malawi. The money donated is used to buy a family a goat, whihc produces milk, butter, and meat.
    • This has many advantages for the family and the local community, because:
      • goats are excellent food sources, providing both milk and meat.
      • manure can be used to fertilise crops
      • milk can be sold as a source of income to pay for food and education
      • goats can be bred easily and kids sold on the market or given to other families
      • care of the goats builds community spirit
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Reducing the Gap- Intermediate Technology

  • This is sustainable technology that is appropriate to the needs, skills, knowledge and wealth of local people and must be suitable for the local environment and not put people out of work.
  • It takes the form of small-scale projects often associated with agriculture, water or health. These involve local communities, and can make a real difference to the quality of life.
  • Irrigation at Adis Nifas, Ethiopia:
    • Adis Nifas is a village in northern Ethiopia, north Africa.
    • A small dam was built here to create a reservoir near to the village's fields.
    • Appropriate machinery and money were given and the village provided the labour.
    • Each family has been given an area of irrigated land with fruit trees. Elephant grass is grown to divide the fields and help prevent soil erosion.
    • The irrigated land is now providing a permanent food supply for the village.
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Is Trade Fair?

  • Richer countries benefit more from world trade than poorer countries, explaining why the development gap may be increasing. They have the power to protect their trade using two main systems:
    • Tariffs - these are taxes on imports. This makes imported products more expensive and less attractive than home- produced goods.
    • Quotas- These are limits on the quantity of goods that can be imported. They are usually applied to primary products so affect mainly poorer countries
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Reducing the Gap- Free Trade

  • Free trade is when countries do not charge tariffs and quotas to restrict trade with each other. This has the potential to benefit the world's poorest countries and reduce the development gap.
  • The World Trade Organisation aims to make trade easier and remove barriers.
  • One of the main barriers is agricultural subsidy, this is where the governments provide financial support to help their farmers making the products cheaper than those of poorer countries, going against free trade.
  • Trading groups are countries which have grouped togeter to increase the level of trade between them by cutting tariffs and discouraging trading with non-members.
  • The advantages for joining a trading group for poor countries are:
    • It encourages trade between member countries
    • Richer countries cannot shop around for cheaper prices
    • Members can command a greater share of the market
    • Members are able to get higher prices for their goods.
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Reducing the Gap - Fair Trade

  • Fairtrade sets standards for trade for poorer countries. It seeks to reduce the development gap by improving the quality of life for the farmers.
  • It is an international movement that helps ensure that producers in poor countries get a fair deal.
    • The farmers get all the money from the sale of his crop
    • It guarantees the farmer a fair price
    • Part of the price is invested in local community development projects
    • In return the farmer must agree to farm in an environmentally friendly way
    • The product gains a stronger position in the global market.
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Ugandan Coffee Farmers

  • Over 90% of small coffee farmers in eastern Uganda have joined the Gumutindo Coffee Cooperative to gain economies of scale.
  • This means making savings by buying and selling larger amounts of coffee.
  • The farmers also earn extra money from the fairtrade premium.
  • This would not be possible is they tried to sell their coffee individually.
  • The first stage of processing the coffee beans is done on the farm, the semi-processed beans are worth more to the farmer than unprocessed beans.
  • Then they are sent to a warehouse for milling, before beign packed and exported abroad, where the final roasting takes place.
  • The processing of the coffee beans adds value to the beans and increases the farmer's income.
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Loans And Debt

  • One country may borrow money from another country, or from an international organisation such as the World Bank, in order to invest in development projects. This loan has to be repaid with interest.
  • Many of the world's poorest countries built up debt in the 1970s and 1980s, this led to the debt crisis.
  • Many poor countries borrowed money to invest in industry, manufacturing and infrastructure in the hope of developing their economies. However, low commodity prices redued the value of their exports and high oil prices increased the price of imports.
  • Both these factors increased the debt of poor countries.
  • The highly indebted poor countries are the 39 countries with the highest level of poverty and debt. They are unable to pay their debt and the high level of interest
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Reducing the Gap - Debt Relief

  • At their meeting in 2005 the world's ricest countries decided to cancel the debts of many of the HIPCS. To qualify for this countries had to:
    • demonstrate they could manage their own finances
    • show their government was not corrupt
    • agree to spend the saved debt money on education, health care and reducing poverty.
  • In 2015, 36 of the HIPCs had met these conditions and were receiving full debt relief from the International Monetary Fund. The total amount of debt relief for all these countries was US$75 billion.
  • Debt relief can help poor countries invest money in development projects, such as industry, resources or infrastructure. By cancelling their debts, some countries have used the money saved to improve the quality of life of their people. E.g. in Tanzania free education is available which resulted in a 66% increase in attendance. In Uganda the government provided safe water to 2 million people.
  • However debt relief can lead to more problems:
    • countries may get in to more debt expecting this to be written off.
    • Corrupt governments may keep the money rather than use it to help the poor.
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Reducing the Gap - Microfinance

  • This is small-scale financial support available directly from banks set up especially to help the poor.
  • Small microfinance loans allows families or individuals to set up small businesses, helping them to become self-sufficient.
  • Many borrowers are women.
  • As small businesses thrive, employment opportunites rise and income with it.
  • Grameen Bank, Bangladesh:
    • The bank was founded to help local people, especially women, to use their skills to develop small businesses.
    • Borrowers have a share of ownership of the bank, so there is a good rate of repayment.
    • Loans are often less than US$100 and interest rates low.
    • So far they have lent over US$11billion to over 7 million members.
    • It lends US$200 to village women to buy a mobile phone, other villages pay the women to use the phone and this money is used to repay the loan with a small profit being made. The phones help people to check market prices, keep in touch with relatives in the city and seek health advice.
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Reducing the Gap - Tourism - Jamaica

  • Jamaica has a population of 2.7 million. Its economy is based upon a range of minerals, agricultural products and some manufacturing. It is classed as an upper-middle class country but has suffered from slow growth, debt and high unemployment over a long period.
  • Tourism, along with bauxite and energy, is one of the few growth sectors of Jamaica's economy. They have become a popular tourist destination and enjoy good air communication and is a hub for cruise ships. Tourism is an important of Jamaica's economy, generating taxes, employment and income. Over the last few decades it has helped raise the level of development and reduce the development gap.
  • Economy:
    • In 2014 tourism contributed 24% to Jamaica's GDP and is expected to rise to 32% by 2024.
    • Income from tourism is US$2 billion each year and taxes paid to the government contribute further to development. This is turn helps reduce the development gap.
    • However, the annual 1.1 million cruise passengers only spend on average us$70 per day compared to an average US$120 per day by the 2.5 million other visitors.
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Jamaica Continued

  • Employment-
    • Tourism is the main source of employment, providing 200000 poeple either directly in hotels, transport and tourist attractions or indirectly in shops, manufacturers and banks. These are mainly in or around the main tourist towns.
    • Employment helps provide income and further boost the local economy.
    • Those in employment learn new skills which can improve their prospects of better-paid jobs in the future.
  • Infrastructure-
    • Tourism has led to high level of investment on the north coast where much of the country's toursim is centered.
    • New port and cruiseliner facilities have been built at Trelawney together with new hotel accomodation. However, improvements to roads and airports have been slower leaving some areas still isolated.
  • Quality of Life-
    • In the northern tourist areas wealthy Jamaicans live in high-quality housing with a high standard of living. These areas have benefited from a tourist industry.
    • However, large numbers of people nearby live in poor housing with limited food supply and inadequate access to safe water, health care and education
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Jamaica Continued

  • The environment:
    • Mass tourism can create environmental problems such as footpath erosion, excessive water and harmful emissions.
    • But it can also bring environmental benefits.
    • Conservation and landscaping projects prvide job opportunities and encourage people to visit the island.
    • Montego Bay on the north coast has been improved by landscaping, and a new water treatment plant at Logwood has reduced pollution from hotels. The Negril Marine Nature Park attract many tourists and brings direct and indirect income.
    • Community toursim and sustainable ecotourism is expanding in more isolated regions, with people running small-scale guesthouses or acting as guides
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