Development dilemmas

Development= the improvement in quality of life and standards of living for people ina given area

Development indicators:

• life expectancy
• birth rate
• GDP per capita
• docters per 100,000 people
• literacy rate
• Human development index (composed of GDP per capita, life expectancy and average years of schooling)

The developmentgap= a gap in development between the most and least developed nations, regions and localities on the planet

For example, luxembourg (2012) had a GDP per capita of $115,00 a year whilst Somalia (2012) had a GDP per capita of $112 per year

EXAM QUESTION: Using examples, explain what is meant by the development gap (6)

The developmemt gap is defined as the gap in levels pf development between the most and least develped nations, regions and localities. Globally thre is a huge development gap. Some countries are classed as highly developed such as Sweden. These countries are develpoed because of high education levels, a stable government and a strong economy. On the other hand, some countries have a low level of development such as malawi. This is because there are high disease rates, especially HIV, as well as a currupt government.

Theories of development:

1. The brandt line. The majority of the worlds least developed countries are below the equator and the majority of the most developed countries are above the equator. This is also sometimes called the north-south divide

2. The Rostow's model (of modernisation). eHe suggests that during development countries go through 5 stages

stage one- traditional agriculteral society. most people are employed in subsistence farming, lack of basic infrastructure, virtually no trade with the outside world.

stage two- pre-conditions for take off. some FDI starts ti take place, some basic infrastructure is built, some limited trade with the outside world.

stage three- take off. rapid improvements in healtha dn education, out sourcing or off shoring from TNCs is very common causing rapid growth in the secondary sector but a rapid decrease in environmentle quality

stage four- the drive to maturity. secondary starts to shrink and tertiary grows, a very small quarternary

stage five- age of high mass consumption. most employed in tertiary and quarternary, little to no FDI,  high levels of consumerism

weaknesses? Some countries can go backwards (eg. Zambabwe, Syria), Some countries are quicker and some slower, some countries are stuck in stage one.

3. Franks dependancy theory

'developing nations have and will continue to be dependant on developed nations'

from the developed world to the developing world: processed high value goods, loans and aid, military power (colonialism), laws set out by oragnisations such as IMF and WB

from the developing world to the develped world: migrants (refugees or voluntray economic) ''brain drain'', debt repyments, low value unrefined raw materials.

Why is Malawi struggling to develop?

Malawi has a youthful population as 52% of the population is aged 14 or less. This has resulted in a high dependancy ratio. Few people pay taxes  and so the government has less money to spend on infrastructure and services.

Most of…