Notes on Development
1. Name a few countries that you think are developed and a few others that are less developed.
Developed countries include: USA, Canada, UK, Italy, Germany, France, and Japan.
Less developed countries include: African countries e.g. Sudan, Ethiopia, Ghana; Asian countries e.g. Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal; Pacific Island nations e.g. Solomon Islands, Samoa and Fiji.
2. Why would you classify Singapore as a developed or less developed country? Why? Singapore is a developed country. Reasons include:
There is little physical environment left e.g. seas and coastal areas.
The landscape is mainly made up of concrete high-rise buildings e.g. offices, residences and tarred roads.
Planned development has taken place — the country is well-organised.
Few rural activities and urban activities dominate — commercial and financial activities carried out in these tall buildings; services e.g beauty and hair salons in low-rise buildings earmarked for urban conservation.
Quality urban environment — roads are kept clean daily by road sweepers.
3. What is meant by ‘development’?
Development refers to ‘progressive process aimed at achieving economic growth and as a result, a conducive environment for individuals to enjoy a decent standard of living and quality of life”.
4. Why is development a complex issue?
Difficult to define in the first place due to the following reasons:
Different view points. People have different ideas of what development means. For example, an economist defines it according to the economic growth or the accumulation of wealth; a sociologist may equate development with social progress in a society such as the increasing literacy rate of a population; a political scientist may look at development as a process in political change e.g. when more people are able and willing to vote; a geographer may focus on how development as a process has spread from one region to another, and how it has positively and negatively affected the physical environment.
Development is a continuous process. A country has to plan a series of short-term (five years and below) and long-term (five to ten years or more) goals to reach its targeted level. The success or failure to reach these goals within the time frame decided upon will help the country determine whether it is progressing towards being more developed.
Development is dependent on several factors. The rate at which a country develops differs and some countries seem to be able to develop faster than others. It is possible for a country to move forward or slip backward after reaching a particular level of development. However, success or failure is never simply dependent on one or two factors. A failure in reaching development goals can be due to factors such as political instability or a major environmental disaster e.g. the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed a large part of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Success in development may be due to the presence of resources and the effective implementation of the development goals by government.
Wide range of measurements used to measure development. Development is measured according to many different standards within a society. E.g. economic standards such as income and purchasing power, that is, the amount of goods and services a given amount of money can buy. Other standards include social standards such as levels of technology, education, health, and political standards such as freedom of speech and women's rights.
Positive and negative impact of development. The result of development can be positive or negative or both. Positive results include clean water supply, an efficient transportation system which can benefit the majority of the population. Negative results include an increase in air pollution because people can afford to drive cars, or the removal of forests and farmlands to make way for the development of golf courses - these developments benefit only a minority of the population and can bring more harm than good in the long term.
Development is an emotional issue. To determine which countries are developed or which countries are not requires comparisons to be made. This involves labeling countries according to their levels of development. This is a sensitive issue as no country would appreciate being regarded as `under developed' or `backward'.
5. How can countries be classified according to their levels of development?
At present, countries are classified according to Developed Countries (DCs) or Less Developed Countries (LDCs), the latter which are countries at the early stages of development with lower standards of living and a lower quality of life. DCs include USA, Japan, Switzerland and Italy. LDCs include Cambodia, Peru, Ethiopia.
As the classifications can be too general, DCs and LDCs can further be divided according to:
• The old industrialised countries e.g. UK, Germany, France.
• The newly industrialised countries e.g. Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan. • The oil-rich countries e.g. Brunei, Saudi Arabia.
• The centrally-planned economies e.g. North Korea, the former Soviet Union.
6. Define the terms GNP, GDP, Adult literacy rate, Infant mortality rate, urban population and human development index. · Gross National product(GNP)-Total value of goods and services produced by the citizens of a country in a given year. It includes both the contributions made by the citizens working and investing in the country and the income received by the citizens of that country working and investing overseas.
· Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-Total value of goods and services produced by the citizens and non citizens in the country.
· Adult literacy rate-Percentage of the population aged 15 and above who are able to read, write and understand simple statements.
· Infant mortality rate-The number of deaths of children under the age of one per 1000 live births in a year.
· Life expectancy -Average number of years that a person can expect to live in a particular country.
· Urban population- Percentage of people living in an urban area.
· Human development index (HDI) - A measurement of human progress, which is derived from a combination of indicators — GDP per capita, adult literacy and life expectancy.
7. Describe the three main types of development indicators.
Economic indicators
· GNP is the most common measure. It refers to the total value of goods and services produced by the citizens of the country in a given year and includes both contributions made by the citizens working and investing in the country and the income received by citizens of that country who are
working and investing overseas. It excludes the earnings by non-citizens who worked or invested in the country as this does not stay in the country and thus does not contribute to its development.
Calculated using GNP = A + (B - C) where A is the Gross Domestic Product or the total value of goods and services produced by the citizens and non-citizens in the country.
As the contribution of GNP is affected by population size, a country with a higher population is likely to have larger GNP. In order to ensure accuracy, GNP per capita (per person) is a better measurement;
Classification:
High-income economies (US$ 10 726 or more)
Middle-income economies (US$ 876 - $ 10 725)
Low-income economies (US$ 875 or less)
· Employment structure
With development, a higher percentage of the population will be employed in the secondary and tertiary industries instead of the primary industries
Demographic indicators
Population structure - A LDC usually has a relatively young population — a higher proportion of its population is below 15 years (e.g. India with 36 per cent compared to only 14 per cent in Japan) and a small percentage of population above 65 years (e.g. India with about 4 per cent compared to 20 per cent in Japan).
· Life expectancy - Refers to the number of years that a person can expect to live in a particular country. It reflects the level of and access to healthcare and medical facilities in a country so people in the DCs are expected to live longer than those in the LDCs (e.g. 82 years in Japan compared to 48 years in Ethiopia).
· Infant mortality rate - Refers to the number of deaths of children under the age of one per 1000 live births in a year. Good sanitation facilities, healthcare systems and easy accessibility to hospitals and doctors have contributed to a lower infant mortality rates in the DCs e.g. two per 1000 live births in Singapore.
· Size of urban population - The percentage of people living in an urban area. A large urban population usually indicates that more people are living in towns and cities where most of the secondary and tertiary industries are located. In countries with large primary sectors, most people are likely to live in rural areas.
Social indicators
Access to water and sanitation - The percentage of people who have access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation in the LDCs is generally low.
Adult literacy rate - Refers to the percentage of population aged 15 and above who are able to read, write and understand simple statements. With good education, people can earn higher income and afford to send their children to school to be educated.
Assessing development using HDI
•Human Development Index [HDI]
-An index used by the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] to measure the level of development in a country.
•Human Development Index [HDI]
-3 considerations – economic well-being, health and education.
•Human Development Index [HDI]
-computed by assigning a value between 0 and 1 to each country
-the closer the index to 1, the higher the level of development
Limitations of HDI.
•More difficult to obtain information from LDCs than DCs due to large informal sector.
•Fails to consider human rights and freedom.
•Time lag between time of publishing and year of data published.
8. With reference to the development indicators, describe the characteristics of uneven development between the DCs and LDCs.
Uneven development between the DCs and LDCs are reflected by the three sets of indicators:
Economic
DCs will have higher GNP per capita (more than US$10 726) because the DCs usually have a higher proportion of secondary and tertiary industries that bring in a higher amount of income compared to LDCs that have predominantly large primary sectors with primary goods e.g. timber, iron ore and rice generating less profit compared to manufactured goods and services.
Hence, the employment structure in the DCs shows a higher proportion of the population in the secondary and tertiary industries instead of the primary industries e.g. Japan, a DC — 70 per cent of the population are working in the tertiary industries, 25 per cent in the secondary industries and only 5 per cent are employed in the primary industries compared to an LDC such as Nigeria where 70 per cent of the population are engaged in primary industries, and 10 per cent and 20 per cent in the secondary and tertiary industries respectively.
Demographic indicators
· A DC has a relatively older population compared to a LDC e.g. almost 20 per cent of the population in Japan are above 65 years compared to 4 per cent in India; 14 per cent of the population in Japan are below 15 years compared with 36 per cent of population in India.
· Life expectancy — people in the DCs generally live much longer than those in the LDCs due to better healthcare and medical facilities e.g. the average Japanese can expect to live to about 82 years compared to the Ethiopians (48 yrs) and the Cambodians (56 yrs).
· Infant mortality rate — good sanitation facilities, comprehensive healthcare systems and easy accessibility to hospitals and doctors have all contributed to lower infant mortality rates in the DCs e.g. two per 1000 live births in Singapore compared to 100 per 1000 live births in Ethiopia.
· Size of urban population — usually higher in the DCs than in LDCs, with the exception of an emerging trend in some of the DCs where people who used to live in the cities are relocating to the suburbs due to an increase in private car ownership or increasing congestion and levels of pollution in cities; in the LDCs, expectations of better employment opportunities and higher standards of living have also contributed to rapid growth in urban populations, giving rise to slums and squatter settlements. These settlements are often sited next to open sewers and piles of garbage.
Social indicators · Lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation (including garbage and wastewater disposal) are leading causes of deaths in LDCs. DCs like USA and Japan have 100 per cent access to safe drinking water and good sanitation, unlike Nigeria where only 39 per cent of the population has access to safe drinking water and 36 per cent with access to proper sanitation.
· Adult literacy rate — refers to the percentage of population aged 15 and above who are able to read, write and understand simple statements. A high literacy rate means people are more likely to be employed in the secondary and tertiary industries, which translates into higher GNP per capita. The DCs usually have higher literacy rate compared to the LDCs e.g. 99.8 per cent in USA, Japan and UK compared to 52.2 per cent in India and 48 per cent in Laos, with the exception of countries such as Vietnam that has a high literacy rate of 94 per cent.
9. Discuss the differences in the quality of life and standard of living between the DCs and LDCs. Quality of life and standard of living can be measured using the Human Development Index (HDI), where three indicators — economic (GDP per capita), social (e.g. adult literacy rate) and demographic (e.g. life expectancy) are used. Economic wealth (GDP per capita) reflects the standard of living while quality of life is reflected by the educational achievements and health data. The average scores of individual countries for each of the three indicators are calculated and compared.
The HDI ranges from zero to one and is divided into three categories — high (0.800 to 1.000), medium (0.500 — 0.799) and low (0.499 and below). Generally a high GDP per capita would contribute to a higher HDI e.g. DCs such as France, the Netherlands and Britain have high GDP per capita of over US$ 26 000 and high HDIs of between 0.93 and 0.95.
On the other hand, LDCs such as Laos and Myanmar have low GDP per capita of US$ 1720 and US$1027 and low medium HDIs of 0.534 and 0.551 respectively. DCs have very good access to clean water (100 per cent for France, the Netherlands and Britain), a very high literacy rate of 99 per cent, and high life expectancy of more than 78 years compared to LDCs.
LDCs have low access to clean water (between 34 and 84 per cent), low literacy rates e.g. 39 per cent for India (with the exception of Vietnam and Myanmar), and a low life expectancy e.g. 54 years for Cambodia.
A country may be rich in terms of GDP per capita but the accumulated wealth does not necessarily improve the quality of life of all the people living in the country e.g. USA has the highest GDP per capita (US$ 37 800) in.2003 compared to Canada (US$ 29 700) but its world ranking in terms of HDI was 8th compared to Canada's 4th position. Some countries may not be as wealthy as others but their level of human development may be higher e.g. among the five countries with medium and low levels of human development (Malaysia, Russia, Brazil,
Indonesia and Bolivia), Russia may have a slightly lower GDP per capita than Malaysia but its HDI is ranked higher. For the LDCs in Africa, such as Niger, Ethiopia, Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania, low GDP per capita corresponds to low HDI too.
10. Explain how the Core-Periphery Model accounts for the different levels of development between countries and within countries. The Core-Periphery Model was developed in the 1960s to attempt to explain the differences in regional development between countries and within countries. According to the theory, core countries or regions refer to countries or regions that are richer and more developed; periphery countries or regions refer to countries or regions that are poorer and less developed (can also refer to countries that have been colonised by the core countries).
Unequal development between countries
The theory proposes that:
• Development was initially brought about by natural advantages such as the presence of natural resources, a good natural harbour and plentiful of cheap labour. These advantages stimulate the development process.
• Over time, they reinforce the region's reputation, which, in turn, attracts more and more investments until a core country is formed.
• Equipped with all the acquired advantages, the core country generally has better infrastructure, more skilled labour and higher income compared to periphery countries.
• Periphery countries have the natural and human resources that core countries need.
• Hence, the core countries which possess military and economic advantages can take control of the periphery countries through different ways e.g. war, colonisation and unfair trading rules.
• The periphery countries which lack the advantages to challenge the core countries become dependent on them for trade and development. Their economic growth is slowed down or stagnated by continued exploitation while the core countries continue to grow at their expense and enjoy much higher income and better standard of living than the periphery countries.
Unequal development within countries
• The Core-Periphery Model can also be found within a country.
• Generally it is more obvious in less developed countries than in developed countries.
• The periphery regions supply raw materials or cheap labour to the core, which are usually the high growth urban areas within the country.
• The core grows at the expense of the periphery and becomes the spatial concentration of wealth in the country. The result is a great increase in the standard of living.
• As the country develops, the core may expand and stimulate the growth in the periphery region (spread effect).
• This may benefit the periphery reducing inequalities in terms of income or standard of living between the core and the periphery.
• However, the core's growth may have a negative impact on the periphery (backwash effect). Negative effects, such as the draining of investment, labour and raw materials from the periphery, may outweigh the benefits produced by the spread effect, causing the periphery region to suffer.
• An example of how the Core-Periphery Model has operated within a country is China and the results are evident in the great disparity in income level and standard of living between the thriving cities located on the eastern coastal region (core) and the villages in the interior of mainland China (periphery).
11. Explain the limitations of the Core-Periphery Model Like all theories, the model has its limitations. The main limitation is its failure to explain the rapid growth rates of some East Asian and Southeast Asian economies, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, which were once colonies of core countries. These economies were able to achieve high growth rates of about 8 to 10 per cent annually and a high standard of living comparable with some of the core countries.
12. Explain the factors affecting development.
Development is often the result of a combination of factors over a long period of time. Such factors include:
Social and cultural factors • These affect the level of education of the population, fertility rate and birth control, work ethics, the provision and accessibility of healthcare services and medical facilities.
• Social norms and cultural beliefs strongly affect people's attitudes towards birth rate and family size. In LDCs, high birth rates and large family sizes are the norm.
• A large population and a high birth rate hinder development as resources have to be spent on providing health and medical care, food and education for the population. Fewer resources
are channeled to improve or develop the quality of life of the general population.
• In the LDCS, the children lack opportunities for education as their parents cannot afford to send them to school. Besides, the number of schools may be limited due to the lack of properly trained teachers and facilities in rural areas, leading to low literacy rates e.g. Laos and India have low literacy rates of 48.7 per cent and 52.2 per cent respectively.
• A low literacy rate has a negative impact on economic development — people with little education face difficulties in learning new skills and embracing modern technology. This
leads to a shortage of skilled labour, which hinders development of secondary and tertiary industries in the country.
Environmental factors
• Natural disasters e.g. hurricanes, droughts and earthquakes can strike any country regardless of its level of development .
• However, responses to these natural disasters differ greatly between the DCs and LDCs. The DCs usually have the resources and manpower to deal with natural disasters effectively and help those affected by it to recover quickly. E.g. the hurricane that hit New Orleans in 2005 flooded most of the city, displacing hundreds of thousands of residents; USA could respond without any assistance from other countries.
• In Indonesia, however, the volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in May 2006 near Yogyakarta brought widespread economic hardship to the residents because the country did not have the necessary manpower nor the resources to deal with the disaster — foreign aid was needed - the Asian Development Bank pledged US$ 60 million in loans and the United Nations planned a six-month relief effort.
• Many LDCs are agricultural countries; natural disasters can ruin their harvest and income. E.g. India and Bangladesh experience severe monsoon floods almost annually; prolonged droughts in Ethiopia and Somalia are common.
• The already limited funds for development in the LDCs are diverted to relief efforts, further hindering the development process in these countries.
• Man-made disasters can also hinder development e.g. overgrazing, deforestation and poor land management can lead to severe soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and desertification.
• Construction of expensive irrigation system or the use of chemical fertilisers may now be necessary to restore soil fertility, so that the land can support crops or natural vegetation.
Historical factors
• Many LDCs were former colonies and become dependent on their colonial governments both economically and politically. • Examples — India, Malaysia and Singapore were ruled by the British, Indonesia was a Dutch colony and Vietnam was under French rule.
• The colonial governments did help to develop their colonies by building basic infrastructure e.g. railway system in India, introducing rubber plantations and developing tin mines in Malaysia. However, helping their colonies develop was not the main purpose of colonisation.
• Colonial governments wanted natural resources that could be used for their own industrialisation and development. The outflow of resources from the colonies resulted in these colonies unable to fully develop their own economies.
Economic factors
• Presence of natural resources (e.g. oil, iron ore, coal) in the country helps in its development
• Many LDCs have rich mineral resources, however, this natural advantage does not benefit
the country because the mining industries tend to be controlled by a few large companies.
• While these companies reap the profits, little of the wealth is distributed to the rest of the population, hence, the country remains underdeveloped with poor infrastructure.
• In the DCs, e.g. Britain, much of its early economic development stemmed from the presence of coal in South Wales, northern England and central Scotland. The wealth from the mining industry was invested to develop the country and raise its standard of living.
• The quality of labour can hinder development. In the LDCs, with low literacy rates, workers earn low wages.
• Most of the wages will be spent on basic necessities, such as food, clothing and housing, and they are left with little or no savings.
• With little savings, there is little or no money left for education. This results in a vicious cycle of poverty in the country.
• A way to break out of the poverty cycle is through cumulative causation.
Political factors
• Government can set development goals, which include economic growth and how economic benefits can be more evenly distributed to improve the quality of life of the population. These goals can be reviewed after a period of time and new ones set so that development is continuous.
• To achieve these goals, government must be effective, well-organised, accountable and transparent in policy-making and implementation, free from corruption and seen to be both fair and just to its people.
• Government should ensure political stability so there is a stable and peaceful environment for businesses to develop and carry out their operations, which in turn attracts foreign investors.
• Government should implement sound policies e.g. investing in education to provide a skilled workforce for the economy and implementing a comprehensive industrial policy that provides incentives, such as infrastructure and tax relief, that encourages investment.
• Grassroots and non-governmental organisations (e.g. cooperatives, labour unions, women's groups) must be drawn into public debate and involved in policy-making, with the aim of developing a strong civil society participating in public affairs.
13. What are some steps a government can adopt to promote development?
• The government must be effectively organised, accountable and transparent in policy-making and implementation, free from corruption and actively promotes justice. A fair and just government gives investors confidence that their investments are used to develop businesses and not siphoned off due to corruption.
• The government can ensure political stability in the country — a stable and peaceful environment is thus created for businesses to develop and carry out their operations. This will attract foreign investments.
• The government can implement good policies, such as investing in education, so that its population is equipped with skills that are attractive to investors. It is also beneficial to have a comprehensive industrial policy that provides incentives, such as infrastructure and tax relief, to encourage investment.
• The government must involve grassroots and non-governmental organisations (e.g. labour unions, women's groups, cooperatives) in public debate and in policy-making with the aim of developing a civil society participating in public affairs.
• Bothshort term (five year or less) and long term (five to ten years or more) development goals can be set. These must be reviewed and new goals put in place to ensure continuity in the development process. By owning their homes (e.g. 80 per cent of Singaporeans own subsidised HDB flats).
• By having sufficient finances (CPF, savings and investments) to continue to live a reasonably good life.
• Be healthy and fit right into old age.
• Putting in place medical insurance schemes e.g. Medisave and Medishield to take care of medical care.
14. State how the development strategies promote national development.
Economic
Agricultural
• Economically affordable so that the development benefits all farmers and not just the rich minority.
• Economically feasible so that a balance is struck between the use of mechanisation to increase productivity and maintaining employment, so farmers are not forced to look for work in towns and cities. Rural-urban migration puts pressure on urban areas in the country.
• Technologically feasible — suitable technology chosen to suit land conditions.
• Socially acceptable - helping farmers who do not own land or own very small plots to organise themselves into cooperatives to share resources so that the farms can be worked more efficiently.
Industrial
§ Changing from a predominantly agricultural-based economy to an industrialised one, which provides more employment opportunities and higher and more stable income for the workers.
§ Ensuring easy access to raw materials so manufacturing industries can add value to raw materials by processing them into finished products. Sale of these finished products will help the country earn foreign currency crucial to economic development.
§ Providing or improving infrastructure essential for industrial development e.g. water and power supply, efficient transport and communication systems and port facilities which benefit the whole country.
§ Building up a well-trained and skilled labour force needed in secondary and tertiary industries.
§ Implementing sound economic policies for the expansion of the consumer markets for finished products.
Demographic
Population Growth
Rapid population increase (due to high birth rates) must be controlled so that resources can be channelled into areas, such as education and healthcare, which in turn improves quality of life, living conditions and income levels.
Educating couples on family planning and the benefits of having small families will help to reduce birth rates.
Improving healthcare so that the infant mortality rate is reduced, thereby reducing high birth rates.
Giving women greater access to education will help to raise their social status, give them freedom to decide when they will get married and allow them to choose between using birth control and having more children. With education, women are more likely to have career aspirations.
Social
Healthcare services and Education
§ Improve standard of living by providing safe drinking water, good sanitation, good housing, sufficient food, good access to healthcare services etc. to reduce death rates in a country.
§ Investment in healthcare and education can help create greater career opportunities for the people to increase their income levels. An educated workforce is crucial for effective transfer of technology and skills.
15. Describe and evaluate strategies used to promote national development in Singapore
For the development of Singapore, strategies used include:
• Setting up infrastructure for industrialisation since the 1960s — roads, power supply, water supply, port.
• Setting up the Economic Development Board to promote the country and to attract foreign investors.
• Improving the business environment e.g. providing tax incentives for foreign investors.
• Promoting the use of English as a functional language in school and the work place — it attracts both foreign investments and foreign talents.
• Investing in education for both men and women to provide for a skilled work force, which can be trained and retrained for future industries, thus opening up more career opportunities for young Singaporeans.
The factors above bring about economic development which translates into higher revenues that can be used for national development.
• Providing a clean and hygienic environment for all Singaporeans and for businesses to operate.
• Ensuring affordable healthcare and adequate medical facilities and services such as hospitals, clinics.
• Ensuring that clean, safe drinking water is available to all households.
• Setting up good waste disposal facilities and services to improve the well-being of Singaporeans.
The factors above ensure that the work force is in good health. Good health brings about increased productivity and efficiency at the work place.
Demographically, the government is trying to encourage Singaporean couples to give birth to more children to slow down the onset of an ageing population. Measures used include providing tax rebates, longer childcare leave, childcare centre subsidies and encouraging the immigration of young professional couples to boost the skilled work force.
In order to reduce the social and financial burden of the country in having to look after the elderly, Singaporeans are urged to plan for their old age:
• By owning their homes (e.g. 80 per cent of Singaporeans own subsidised HDB flats).
• By having sufficient finances (CPF, savings and investments) to continue to live a reasonably good life.
• Be healthy and fit right into old age.
• Putting in place medical insurance schemes e.g. Medisave and Medishield to take care of medical care.
16. Discuss the efforts made to alleviate uneven development at the international level.
• To alleviate uneven development between the DCs and LDCs, it is imperative for the LDCs to be given financial aid (through loans, guarantees), skilled professionals and relevant technology (technical assistance especially for specific projects and programmes) after they have gained political independence.
• International organisations, such as the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, focus not only on economic development but also on social and human development in the LDCs.
• For example:
- Asian Development Bank — conducts research and provides funds for countries in the Asia-Pacific region — it focuses on eradicating poverty, improving the status of women and managing the environment e.g. in 2005, it provided an US$ 1 million grant to improve urban living conditions in the central region of Vietnam. Drainage channels were developed and water supply and sanitation systems improved.
- World Bank — provides financial and technical assistance to the LDCs, plays a supportive role in its mission to eradicate global poverty, improve standards of living and provides loans for projects on improving healthcare and education e.g. between 1996 and 2005, the World Bank provided over 60 per cent of the total cost of a project to develop villages in northeast Brazil, where infrastructure (e.g. water and electricity facilities) is put in place and mechanisation for agriculture provided, thus improving the
lives of 7.5 million villagers.
- However, many of these LDCs e.g. African countries have been receiving foreign aid (e.g. from USA) for many years and yet their economic and human development remain low or even declined in some countries. One reason is that the foreign aid is given in the form of loans to be repaid over a number of years and these LDCs usually spend most of their earnings repaying interests on these loans. Often, the aid does not reach the people who really need it. Some of this aid may end up in the hands of corrupt officials or were invested in military equipment because of ongoing civil war. E.g. Ethiopia received US$ 1 billion in aid between 1982 and 1985 and yet its GDP per capita remained very low at US$ 94 in 2003 because almost 90 per cent of loan was spent on military development.
- Under the Millennium Goals 2005, foreign aid is also provided for relief and emergency assistance, as well as repayment of foreign debts. A more open, rule-based nondiscriminatory trade and financial system has allowed more duty-free goods from the LDCs to enter DCs, which helps the LDCs earn foreign currency. Between 1990 and 2002, the average total income of the world increased by 21 per cent, average life expectancy was raised from 63 to 65 years and the number of people living in extreme poverty has declined by 130 million.
17. With reference to studies you have made, explain how the government and social practices can affect the levels of development in a country.
Social practices:
• Determine the birth rate and family size in a country.
• In the LDCs, social norms favour high birth rates and large families. Both hinder development in the country as resources are mainly channelled to support a young population and less for the general population.
• With large families, children are less likely to have educational opportunities, leading to low literacy rates in the country (e.g. Laos with 48.7 per cent and India with 52.2 per cent).
• Leading to a workforce with low skills.
• A hindrance to the development of secondary and tertiary industries, which can help to increase the wages and encourage savings and investment (both needed for economic development to take place).
Government:
• Arrest high population growth through the implementation of population control policies such as encouraging the sterilisation of women (India) or the one-child policy in China.
• Reduces infant mortality rates so more children can grow to maturity, thus reducing the high birth rates.
• Have education policies which encourage women to be educated so they can have career aspirations and become independent economically.
• Set up schools, especially in rural areas, so children can become literate adults thus increasing the literacy rate of the country. Literate adults can acquire skills needed for the industries, which in turn help them earn higher wages and break out of the poverty cycle.
• Nurture a skilled work force — Singapore has a bilingual policy, where English is the medium of instruction for all subjects except Mother Tongue. English is used for international trade and commerce and hence promoting its use is a pragmatic andeffective strategy to attract foreign investment and foreign talents — both vital for achieving a high level of economic development in the country.
• With increased wages, incomes will rise, providing more money for investment in economic development, as well for raising the standard of living in a country.
• Reinvest the revenue in infrastructure to support the industries and attract more investments.
• Ensure political stability in the country so a safe business environment is created for day-to-day activities to be carried out.
18. Describe two ways in which international organisations can help to promote the development of the LDCs.
International organisations can help them:
• By providing loans to build healthcare and medical facilities to reduce the very high infant mortality rate of 33 per 1000 live births.
• By granting foreign aid which can be used to provide safe drinking water or build proper sanitation systems so the countries have clean and hygienic environment.
• By providing education or training of teachers to raise the literacy rate. With education, more career opportunities will be available for the people.
Multinational companies can be attracted to set up secondary and tertiary industries in the countries.
19. Evaluate the following strategies to promote national development with named examples:
•Improving water supply and sanitation facilities in less developed regions
•Improving education standards in less developed regions
•Population control in less developed regions
•Job creation & financial assistance for people in less developed regions
•Improving water supply and sanitation facilities in less developed regions
- key to achieving development
- Case of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India
41% of 3.5 million people live in slums and squatters
25% live without toilet facilities
Extreme poverty widespread
Improving water supply and sanitation facilities in less developed regions
Parivartan Slum Networking Programme
Provision of basic infrastructure: water supply and underground sewerage
Supported by local government, funded by local banks
Monthly monitoring meetings, future planning sessions
Training sessions on proper use of facilities
Success?
ØBenefited 56,000 people in >40 slums
ØExpanded to include 59 more slums
ØDeath rates declined from 6.9 per 1,000 people to 3.7 per 1,000 people
ØFewer people falling ill
ØIncreased standard of living
ØHelped region to develop
•Improving education standards in less developed regions
- Education is key to seeking employment
- Training and development programmes would enhance chances
- Case of Hill Tribes in Thailand Most live in extreme poverty
Lack formal education, low standard of living
• Improving education standards in less developed regions
Hill Tribe Education Project
Success? ØMany are able to obtain employment in cities
ØAgricultural production increased
ØGeneral increase in income
Challenges? ØGeographical isolation inhibits government outreach
ØCommunication barriers between volunteers and hill tribes
•Population control in less developed regions - Booming population stresses limited resources
- Impacts availability of jobs, housing and access to education
- Drastic measures implemented in some countries
Case of China: population boom in 1970s 1979 ‘One Child’ Policy to reduce birth rate
Volunteers recruited to promote late marriage, late childbearing and the use of contraception
Challenges? ØMore effective in urban than in rural areas
ØRural dwellers were mainly farmers who needed additional help on farms
ØGender ration imbalance as Chinese favour males to females
§Current measures:
ØAttempts to balance gender ratio announced in December 2006
Ø‘One Child’ Policy amended to ensure there will be sufficient people to support elderly in the future
•Job creation & financial assistance for people in less developed regions
- high rate of unemployment indicates many are unable to meet basic needs
- governments play a key role in creating more job opportunities for people
- success of which would increase standard of living
Case of The Philippines
§ Most of the poor lack formal education or skills training
§ Difficult to gain employment in formal jobs
§ Most end up working in the informal sector
§ Little attention paid to this group
§ Kapit-Bitsig Laban sa Kahiraopan [KALAHI],
or, ‘Linking Arms Against Poverty’
§ Aims to increase employment rate and income of the poor
§ Resources provided to informal sector
§ Government works with NGOs to assess viability to business ventures before loans are offered
§ Microfinance, or small loans, were given to small businesses
§ Ultra-poor given interest free loans
§ Programme supported by several other NGOs and private organisations
§ Poor given training and advice to run businesses effectively
Success?
§ 600,000 agricultural jobs created in rural areas
§ 3 million businesses assisted
§ 1.7 million provided employment through job placement schemes
Challenges?
§ Reduce income gap between rich and poor
§ Poor need to increase market access to boost their businesses
§ More volunteers needed in outreach programmes
more Q&A @ http://comhumgeog.blogspot.com/search/label/Development
Less developed countries include: African countries e.g. Sudan, Ethiopia, Ghana; Asian countries e.g. Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal; Pacific Island nations e.g. Solomon Islands, Samoa and Fiji.
2. Why would you classify Singapore as a developed or less developed country? Why? Singapore is a developed country. Reasons include:
There is little physical environment left e.g. seas and coastal areas.
The landscape is mainly made up of concrete high-rise buildings e.g. offices, residences and tarred roads.
Planned development has taken place — the country is well-organised.
Few rural activities and urban activities dominate — commercial and financial activities carried out in these tall buildings; services e.g beauty and hair salons in low-rise buildings earmarked for urban conservation.
Quality urban environment — roads are kept clean daily by road sweepers.
3. What is meant by ‘development’?
Development refers to ‘progressive process aimed at achieving economic growth and as a result, a conducive environment for individuals to enjoy a decent standard of living and quality of life”.
4. Why is development a complex issue?
Difficult to define in the first place due to the following reasons:
Different view points. People have different ideas of what development means. For example, an economist defines it according to the economic growth or the accumulation of wealth; a sociologist may equate development with social progress in a society such as the increasing literacy rate of a population; a political scientist may look at development as a process in political change e.g. when more people are able and willing to vote; a geographer may focus on how development as a process has spread from one region to another, and how it has positively and negatively affected the physical environment.
Development is a continuous process. A country has to plan a series of short-term (five years and below) and long-term (five to ten years or more) goals to reach its targeted level. The success or failure to reach these goals within the time frame decided upon will help the country determine whether it is progressing towards being more developed.
Development is dependent on several factors. The rate at which a country develops differs and some countries seem to be able to develop faster than others. It is possible for a country to move forward or slip backward after reaching a particular level of development. However, success or failure is never simply dependent on one or two factors. A failure in reaching development goals can be due to factors such as political instability or a major environmental disaster e.g. the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed a large part of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Success in development may be due to the presence of resources and the effective implementation of the development goals by government.
Wide range of measurements used to measure development. Development is measured according to many different standards within a society. E.g. economic standards such as income and purchasing power, that is, the amount of goods and services a given amount of money can buy. Other standards include social standards such as levels of technology, education, health, and political standards such as freedom of speech and women's rights.
Positive and negative impact of development. The result of development can be positive or negative or both. Positive results include clean water supply, an efficient transportation system which can benefit the majority of the population. Negative results include an increase in air pollution because people can afford to drive cars, or the removal of forests and farmlands to make way for the development of golf courses - these developments benefit only a minority of the population and can bring more harm than good in the long term.
Development is an emotional issue. To determine which countries are developed or which countries are not requires comparisons to be made. This involves labeling countries according to their levels of development. This is a sensitive issue as no country would appreciate being regarded as `under developed' or `backward'.
5. How can countries be classified according to their levels of development?
At present, countries are classified according to Developed Countries (DCs) or Less Developed Countries (LDCs), the latter which are countries at the early stages of development with lower standards of living and a lower quality of life. DCs include USA, Japan, Switzerland and Italy. LDCs include Cambodia, Peru, Ethiopia.
As the classifications can be too general, DCs and LDCs can further be divided according to:
• The old industrialised countries e.g. UK, Germany, France.
• The newly industrialised countries e.g. Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan. • The oil-rich countries e.g. Brunei, Saudi Arabia.
• The centrally-planned economies e.g. North Korea, the former Soviet Union.
6. Define the terms GNP, GDP, Adult literacy rate, Infant mortality rate, urban population and human development index. · Gross National product(GNP)-Total value of goods and services produced by the citizens of a country in a given year. It includes both the contributions made by the citizens working and investing in the country and the income received by the citizens of that country working and investing overseas.
· Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-Total value of goods and services produced by the citizens and non citizens in the country.
· Adult literacy rate-Percentage of the population aged 15 and above who are able to read, write and understand simple statements.
· Infant mortality rate-The number of deaths of children under the age of one per 1000 live births in a year.
· Life expectancy -Average number of years that a person can expect to live in a particular country.
· Urban population- Percentage of people living in an urban area.
· Human development index (HDI) - A measurement of human progress, which is derived from a combination of indicators — GDP per capita, adult literacy and life expectancy.
7. Describe the three main types of development indicators.
Economic indicators
· GNP is the most common measure. It refers to the total value of goods and services produced by the citizens of the country in a given year and includes both contributions made by the citizens working and investing in the country and the income received by citizens of that country who are
working and investing overseas. It excludes the earnings by non-citizens who worked or invested in the country as this does not stay in the country and thus does not contribute to its development.
Calculated using GNP = A + (B - C) where A is the Gross Domestic Product or the total value of goods and services produced by the citizens and non-citizens in the country.
As the contribution of GNP is affected by population size, a country with a higher population is likely to have larger GNP. In order to ensure accuracy, GNP per capita (per person) is a better measurement;
Classification:
High-income economies (US$ 10 726 or more)
Middle-income economies (US$ 876 - $ 10 725)
Low-income economies (US$ 875 or less)
· Employment structure
With development, a higher percentage of the population will be employed in the secondary and tertiary industries instead of the primary industries
Demographic indicators
Population structure - A LDC usually has a relatively young population — a higher proportion of its population is below 15 years (e.g. India with 36 per cent compared to only 14 per cent in Japan) and a small percentage of population above 65 years (e.g. India with about 4 per cent compared to 20 per cent in Japan).
· Life expectancy - Refers to the number of years that a person can expect to live in a particular country. It reflects the level of and access to healthcare and medical facilities in a country so people in the DCs are expected to live longer than those in the LDCs (e.g. 82 years in Japan compared to 48 years in Ethiopia).
· Infant mortality rate - Refers to the number of deaths of children under the age of one per 1000 live births in a year. Good sanitation facilities, healthcare systems and easy accessibility to hospitals and doctors have contributed to a lower infant mortality rates in the DCs e.g. two per 1000 live births in Singapore.
· Size of urban population - The percentage of people living in an urban area. A large urban population usually indicates that more people are living in towns and cities where most of the secondary and tertiary industries are located. In countries with large primary sectors, most people are likely to live in rural areas.
Social indicators
Access to water and sanitation - The percentage of people who have access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation in the LDCs is generally low.
Adult literacy rate - Refers to the percentage of population aged 15 and above who are able to read, write and understand simple statements. With good education, people can earn higher income and afford to send their children to school to be educated.
Assessing development using HDI
•Human Development Index [HDI]
-An index used by the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] to measure the level of development in a country.
•Human Development Index [HDI]
-3 considerations – economic well-being, health and education.
•Human Development Index [HDI]
-computed by assigning a value between 0 and 1 to each country
-the closer the index to 1, the higher the level of development
Limitations of HDI.
•More difficult to obtain information from LDCs than DCs due to large informal sector.
•Fails to consider human rights and freedom.
•Time lag between time of publishing and year of data published.
8. With reference to the development indicators, describe the characteristics of uneven development between the DCs and LDCs.
Uneven development between the DCs and LDCs are reflected by the three sets of indicators:
Economic
DCs will have higher GNP per capita (more than US$10 726) because the DCs usually have a higher proportion of secondary and tertiary industries that bring in a higher amount of income compared to LDCs that have predominantly large primary sectors with primary goods e.g. timber, iron ore and rice generating less profit compared to manufactured goods and services.
Hence, the employment structure in the DCs shows a higher proportion of the population in the secondary and tertiary industries instead of the primary industries e.g. Japan, a DC — 70 per cent of the population are working in the tertiary industries, 25 per cent in the secondary industries and only 5 per cent are employed in the primary industries compared to an LDC such as Nigeria where 70 per cent of the population are engaged in primary industries, and 10 per cent and 20 per cent in the secondary and tertiary industries respectively.
Demographic indicators
· A DC has a relatively older population compared to a LDC e.g. almost 20 per cent of the population in Japan are above 65 years compared to 4 per cent in India; 14 per cent of the population in Japan are below 15 years compared with 36 per cent of population in India.
· Life expectancy — people in the DCs generally live much longer than those in the LDCs due to better healthcare and medical facilities e.g. the average Japanese can expect to live to about 82 years compared to the Ethiopians (48 yrs) and the Cambodians (56 yrs).
· Infant mortality rate — good sanitation facilities, comprehensive healthcare systems and easy accessibility to hospitals and doctors have all contributed to lower infant mortality rates in the DCs e.g. two per 1000 live births in Singapore compared to 100 per 1000 live births in Ethiopia.
· Size of urban population — usually higher in the DCs than in LDCs, with the exception of an emerging trend in some of the DCs where people who used to live in the cities are relocating to the suburbs due to an increase in private car ownership or increasing congestion and levels of pollution in cities; in the LDCs, expectations of better employment opportunities and higher standards of living have also contributed to rapid growth in urban populations, giving rise to slums and squatter settlements. These settlements are often sited next to open sewers and piles of garbage.
Social indicators · Lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation (including garbage and wastewater disposal) are leading causes of deaths in LDCs. DCs like USA and Japan have 100 per cent access to safe drinking water and good sanitation, unlike Nigeria where only 39 per cent of the population has access to safe drinking water and 36 per cent with access to proper sanitation.
· Adult literacy rate — refers to the percentage of population aged 15 and above who are able to read, write and understand simple statements. A high literacy rate means people are more likely to be employed in the secondary and tertiary industries, which translates into higher GNP per capita. The DCs usually have higher literacy rate compared to the LDCs e.g. 99.8 per cent in USA, Japan and UK compared to 52.2 per cent in India and 48 per cent in Laos, with the exception of countries such as Vietnam that has a high literacy rate of 94 per cent.
9. Discuss the differences in the quality of life and standard of living between the DCs and LDCs. Quality of life and standard of living can be measured using the Human Development Index (HDI), where three indicators — economic (GDP per capita), social (e.g. adult literacy rate) and demographic (e.g. life expectancy) are used. Economic wealth (GDP per capita) reflects the standard of living while quality of life is reflected by the educational achievements and health data. The average scores of individual countries for each of the three indicators are calculated and compared.
The HDI ranges from zero to one and is divided into three categories — high (0.800 to 1.000), medium (0.500 — 0.799) and low (0.499 and below). Generally a high GDP per capita would contribute to a higher HDI e.g. DCs such as France, the Netherlands and Britain have high GDP per capita of over US$ 26 000 and high HDIs of between 0.93 and 0.95.
On the other hand, LDCs such as Laos and Myanmar have low GDP per capita of US$ 1720 and US$1027 and low medium HDIs of 0.534 and 0.551 respectively. DCs have very good access to clean water (100 per cent for France, the Netherlands and Britain), a very high literacy rate of 99 per cent, and high life expectancy of more than 78 years compared to LDCs.
LDCs have low access to clean water (between 34 and 84 per cent), low literacy rates e.g. 39 per cent for India (with the exception of Vietnam and Myanmar), and a low life expectancy e.g. 54 years for Cambodia.
A country may be rich in terms of GDP per capita but the accumulated wealth does not necessarily improve the quality of life of all the people living in the country e.g. USA has the highest GDP per capita (US$ 37 800) in.2003 compared to Canada (US$ 29 700) but its world ranking in terms of HDI was 8th compared to Canada's 4th position. Some countries may not be as wealthy as others but their level of human development may be higher e.g. among the five countries with medium and low levels of human development (Malaysia, Russia, Brazil,
Indonesia and Bolivia), Russia may have a slightly lower GDP per capita than Malaysia but its HDI is ranked higher. For the LDCs in Africa, such as Niger, Ethiopia, Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania, low GDP per capita corresponds to low HDI too.
10. Explain how the Core-Periphery Model accounts for the different levels of development between countries and within countries. The Core-Periphery Model was developed in the 1960s to attempt to explain the differences in regional development between countries and within countries. According to the theory, core countries or regions refer to countries or regions that are richer and more developed; periphery countries or regions refer to countries or regions that are poorer and less developed (can also refer to countries that have been colonised by the core countries).
Unequal development between countries
The theory proposes that:
• Development was initially brought about by natural advantages such as the presence of natural resources, a good natural harbour and plentiful of cheap labour. These advantages stimulate the development process.
• Over time, they reinforce the region's reputation, which, in turn, attracts more and more investments until a core country is formed.
• Equipped with all the acquired advantages, the core country generally has better infrastructure, more skilled labour and higher income compared to periphery countries.
• Periphery countries have the natural and human resources that core countries need.
• Hence, the core countries which possess military and economic advantages can take control of the periphery countries through different ways e.g. war, colonisation and unfair trading rules.
• The periphery countries which lack the advantages to challenge the core countries become dependent on them for trade and development. Their economic growth is slowed down or stagnated by continued exploitation while the core countries continue to grow at their expense and enjoy much higher income and better standard of living than the periphery countries.
Unequal development within countries
• The Core-Periphery Model can also be found within a country.
• Generally it is more obvious in less developed countries than in developed countries.
• The periphery regions supply raw materials or cheap labour to the core, which are usually the high growth urban areas within the country.
• The core grows at the expense of the periphery and becomes the spatial concentration of wealth in the country. The result is a great increase in the standard of living.
• As the country develops, the core may expand and stimulate the growth in the periphery region (spread effect).
• This may benefit the periphery reducing inequalities in terms of income or standard of living between the core and the periphery.
• However, the core's growth may have a negative impact on the periphery (backwash effect). Negative effects, such as the draining of investment, labour and raw materials from the periphery, may outweigh the benefits produced by the spread effect, causing the periphery region to suffer.
• An example of how the Core-Periphery Model has operated within a country is China and the results are evident in the great disparity in income level and standard of living between the thriving cities located on the eastern coastal region (core) and the villages in the interior of mainland China (periphery).
11. Explain the limitations of the Core-Periphery Model Like all theories, the model has its limitations. The main limitation is its failure to explain the rapid growth rates of some East Asian and Southeast Asian economies, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, which were once colonies of core countries. These economies were able to achieve high growth rates of about 8 to 10 per cent annually and a high standard of living comparable with some of the core countries.
12. Explain the factors affecting development.
Development is often the result of a combination of factors over a long period of time. Such factors include:
Social and cultural factors • These affect the level of education of the population, fertility rate and birth control, work ethics, the provision and accessibility of healthcare services and medical facilities.
• Social norms and cultural beliefs strongly affect people's attitudes towards birth rate and family size. In LDCs, high birth rates and large family sizes are the norm.
• A large population and a high birth rate hinder development as resources have to be spent on providing health and medical care, food and education for the population. Fewer resources
are channeled to improve or develop the quality of life of the general population.
• In the LDCS, the children lack opportunities for education as their parents cannot afford to send them to school. Besides, the number of schools may be limited due to the lack of properly trained teachers and facilities in rural areas, leading to low literacy rates e.g. Laos and India have low literacy rates of 48.7 per cent and 52.2 per cent respectively.
• A low literacy rate has a negative impact on economic development — people with little education face difficulties in learning new skills and embracing modern technology. This
leads to a shortage of skilled labour, which hinders development of secondary and tertiary industries in the country.
Environmental factors
• Natural disasters e.g. hurricanes, droughts and earthquakes can strike any country regardless of its level of development .
• However, responses to these natural disasters differ greatly between the DCs and LDCs. The DCs usually have the resources and manpower to deal with natural disasters effectively and help those affected by it to recover quickly. E.g. the hurricane that hit New Orleans in 2005 flooded most of the city, displacing hundreds of thousands of residents; USA could respond without any assistance from other countries.
• In Indonesia, however, the volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in May 2006 near Yogyakarta brought widespread economic hardship to the residents because the country did not have the necessary manpower nor the resources to deal with the disaster — foreign aid was needed - the Asian Development Bank pledged US$ 60 million in loans and the United Nations planned a six-month relief effort.
• Many LDCs are agricultural countries; natural disasters can ruin their harvest and income. E.g. India and Bangladesh experience severe monsoon floods almost annually; prolonged droughts in Ethiopia and Somalia are common.
• The already limited funds for development in the LDCs are diverted to relief efforts, further hindering the development process in these countries.
• Man-made disasters can also hinder development e.g. overgrazing, deforestation and poor land management can lead to severe soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and desertification.
• Construction of expensive irrigation system or the use of chemical fertilisers may now be necessary to restore soil fertility, so that the land can support crops or natural vegetation.
Historical factors
• Many LDCs were former colonies and become dependent on their colonial governments both economically and politically. • Examples — India, Malaysia and Singapore were ruled by the British, Indonesia was a Dutch colony and Vietnam was under French rule.
• The colonial governments did help to develop their colonies by building basic infrastructure e.g. railway system in India, introducing rubber plantations and developing tin mines in Malaysia. However, helping their colonies develop was not the main purpose of colonisation.
• Colonial governments wanted natural resources that could be used for their own industrialisation and development. The outflow of resources from the colonies resulted in these colonies unable to fully develop their own economies.
Economic factors
• Presence of natural resources (e.g. oil, iron ore, coal) in the country helps in its development
• Many LDCs have rich mineral resources, however, this natural advantage does not benefit
the country because the mining industries tend to be controlled by a few large companies.
• While these companies reap the profits, little of the wealth is distributed to the rest of the population, hence, the country remains underdeveloped with poor infrastructure.
• In the DCs, e.g. Britain, much of its early economic development stemmed from the presence of coal in South Wales, northern England and central Scotland. The wealth from the mining industry was invested to develop the country and raise its standard of living.
• The quality of labour can hinder development. In the LDCs, with low literacy rates, workers earn low wages.
• Most of the wages will be spent on basic necessities, such as food, clothing and housing, and they are left with little or no savings.
• With little savings, there is little or no money left for education. This results in a vicious cycle of poverty in the country.
• A way to break out of the poverty cycle is through cumulative causation.
Political factors
• Government can set development goals, which include economic growth and how economic benefits can be more evenly distributed to improve the quality of life of the population. These goals can be reviewed after a period of time and new ones set so that development is continuous.
• To achieve these goals, government must be effective, well-organised, accountable and transparent in policy-making and implementation, free from corruption and seen to be both fair and just to its people.
• Government should ensure political stability so there is a stable and peaceful environment for businesses to develop and carry out their operations, which in turn attracts foreign investors.
• Government should implement sound policies e.g. investing in education to provide a skilled workforce for the economy and implementing a comprehensive industrial policy that provides incentives, such as infrastructure and tax relief, that encourages investment.
• Grassroots and non-governmental organisations (e.g. cooperatives, labour unions, women's groups) must be drawn into public debate and involved in policy-making, with the aim of developing a strong civil society participating in public affairs.
13. What are some steps a government can adopt to promote development?
• The government must be effectively organised, accountable and transparent in policy-making and implementation, free from corruption and actively promotes justice. A fair and just government gives investors confidence that their investments are used to develop businesses and not siphoned off due to corruption.
• The government can ensure political stability in the country — a stable and peaceful environment is thus created for businesses to develop and carry out their operations. This will attract foreign investments.
• The government can implement good policies, such as investing in education, so that its population is equipped with skills that are attractive to investors. It is also beneficial to have a comprehensive industrial policy that provides incentives, such as infrastructure and tax relief, to encourage investment.
• The government must involve grassroots and non-governmental organisations (e.g. labour unions, women's groups, cooperatives) in public debate and in policy-making with the aim of developing a civil society participating in public affairs.
• Bothshort term (five year or less) and long term (five to ten years or more) development goals can be set. These must be reviewed and new goals put in place to ensure continuity in the development process. By owning their homes (e.g. 80 per cent of Singaporeans own subsidised HDB flats).
• By having sufficient finances (CPF, savings and investments) to continue to live a reasonably good life.
• Be healthy and fit right into old age.
• Putting in place medical insurance schemes e.g. Medisave and Medishield to take care of medical care.
14. State how the development strategies promote national development.
Economic
Agricultural
• Economically affordable so that the development benefits all farmers and not just the rich minority.
• Economically feasible so that a balance is struck between the use of mechanisation to increase productivity and maintaining employment, so farmers are not forced to look for work in towns and cities. Rural-urban migration puts pressure on urban areas in the country.
• Technologically feasible — suitable technology chosen to suit land conditions.
• Socially acceptable - helping farmers who do not own land or own very small plots to organise themselves into cooperatives to share resources so that the farms can be worked more efficiently.
Industrial
§ Changing from a predominantly agricultural-based economy to an industrialised one, which provides more employment opportunities and higher and more stable income for the workers.
§ Ensuring easy access to raw materials so manufacturing industries can add value to raw materials by processing them into finished products. Sale of these finished products will help the country earn foreign currency crucial to economic development.
§ Providing or improving infrastructure essential for industrial development e.g. water and power supply, efficient transport and communication systems and port facilities which benefit the whole country.
§ Building up a well-trained and skilled labour force needed in secondary and tertiary industries.
§ Implementing sound economic policies for the expansion of the consumer markets for finished products.
Demographic
Population Growth
Rapid population increase (due to high birth rates) must be controlled so that resources can be channelled into areas, such as education and healthcare, which in turn improves quality of life, living conditions and income levels.
Educating couples on family planning and the benefits of having small families will help to reduce birth rates.
Improving healthcare so that the infant mortality rate is reduced, thereby reducing high birth rates.
Giving women greater access to education will help to raise their social status, give them freedom to decide when they will get married and allow them to choose between using birth control and having more children. With education, women are more likely to have career aspirations.
Social
Healthcare services and Education
§ Improve standard of living by providing safe drinking water, good sanitation, good housing, sufficient food, good access to healthcare services etc. to reduce death rates in a country.
§ Investment in healthcare and education can help create greater career opportunities for the people to increase their income levels. An educated workforce is crucial for effective transfer of technology and skills.
15. Describe and evaluate strategies used to promote national development in Singapore
For the development of Singapore, strategies used include:
• Setting up infrastructure for industrialisation since the 1960s — roads, power supply, water supply, port.
• Setting up the Economic Development Board to promote the country and to attract foreign investors.
• Improving the business environment e.g. providing tax incentives for foreign investors.
• Promoting the use of English as a functional language in school and the work place — it attracts both foreign investments and foreign talents.
• Investing in education for both men and women to provide for a skilled work force, which can be trained and retrained for future industries, thus opening up more career opportunities for young Singaporeans.
The factors above bring about economic development which translates into higher revenues that can be used for national development.
• Providing a clean and hygienic environment for all Singaporeans and for businesses to operate.
• Ensuring affordable healthcare and adequate medical facilities and services such as hospitals, clinics.
• Ensuring that clean, safe drinking water is available to all households.
• Setting up good waste disposal facilities and services to improve the well-being of Singaporeans.
The factors above ensure that the work force is in good health. Good health brings about increased productivity and efficiency at the work place.
Demographically, the government is trying to encourage Singaporean couples to give birth to more children to slow down the onset of an ageing population. Measures used include providing tax rebates, longer childcare leave, childcare centre subsidies and encouraging the immigration of young professional couples to boost the skilled work force.
In order to reduce the social and financial burden of the country in having to look after the elderly, Singaporeans are urged to plan for their old age:
• By owning their homes (e.g. 80 per cent of Singaporeans own subsidised HDB flats).
• By having sufficient finances (CPF, savings and investments) to continue to live a reasonably good life.
• Be healthy and fit right into old age.
• Putting in place medical insurance schemes e.g. Medisave and Medishield to take care of medical care.
16. Discuss the efforts made to alleviate uneven development at the international level.
• To alleviate uneven development between the DCs and LDCs, it is imperative for the LDCs to be given financial aid (through loans, guarantees), skilled professionals and relevant technology (technical assistance especially for specific projects and programmes) after they have gained political independence.
• International organisations, such as the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, focus not only on economic development but also on social and human development in the LDCs.
• For example:
- Asian Development Bank — conducts research and provides funds for countries in the Asia-Pacific region — it focuses on eradicating poverty, improving the status of women and managing the environment e.g. in 2005, it provided an US$ 1 million grant to improve urban living conditions in the central region of Vietnam. Drainage channels were developed and water supply and sanitation systems improved.
- World Bank — provides financial and technical assistance to the LDCs, plays a supportive role in its mission to eradicate global poverty, improve standards of living and provides loans for projects on improving healthcare and education e.g. between 1996 and 2005, the World Bank provided over 60 per cent of the total cost of a project to develop villages in northeast Brazil, where infrastructure (e.g. water and electricity facilities) is put in place and mechanisation for agriculture provided, thus improving the
lives of 7.5 million villagers.
- However, many of these LDCs e.g. African countries have been receiving foreign aid (e.g. from USA) for many years and yet their economic and human development remain low or even declined in some countries. One reason is that the foreign aid is given in the form of loans to be repaid over a number of years and these LDCs usually spend most of their earnings repaying interests on these loans. Often, the aid does not reach the people who really need it. Some of this aid may end up in the hands of corrupt officials or were invested in military equipment because of ongoing civil war. E.g. Ethiopia received US$ 1 billion in aid between 1982 and 1985 and yet its GDP per capita remained very low at US$ 94 in 2003 because almost 90 per cent of loan was spent on military development.
- Under the Millennium Goals 2005, foreign aid is also provided for relief and emergency assistance, as well as repayment of foreign debts. A more open, rule-based nondiscriminatory trade and financial system has allowed more duty-free goods from the LDCs to enter DCs, which helps the LDCs earn foreign currency. Between 1990 and 2002, the average total income of the world increased by 21 per cent, average life expectancy was raised from 63 to 65 years and the number of people living in extreme poverty has declined by 130 million.
17. With reference to studies you have made, explain how the government and social practices can affect the levels of development in a country.
Social practices:
• Determine the birth rate and family size in a country.
• In the LDCs, social norms favour high birth rates and large families. Both hinder development in the country as resources are mainly channelled to support a young population and less for the general population.
• With large families, children are less likely to have educational opportunities, leading to low literacy rates in the country (e.g. Laos with 48.7 per cent and India with 52.2 per cent).
• Leading to a workforce with low skills.
• A hindrance to the development of secondary and tertiary industries, which can help to increase the wages and encourage savings and investment (both needed for economic development to take place).
Government:
• Arrest high population growth through the implementation of population control policies such as encouraging the sterilisation of women (India) or the one-child policy in China.
• Reduces infant mortality rates so more children can grow to maturity, thus reducing the high birth rates.
• Have education policies which encourage women to be educated so they can have career aspirations and become independent economically.
• Set up schools, especially in rural areas, so children can become literate adults thus increasing the literacy rate of the country. Literate adults can acquire skills needed for the industries, which in turn help them earn higher wages and break out of the poverty cycle.
• Nurture a skilled work force — Singapore has a bilingual policy, where English is the medium of instruction for all subjects except Mother Tongue. English is used for international trade and commerce and hence promoting its use is a pragmatic andeffective strategy to attract foreign investment and foreign talents — both vital for achieving a high level of economic development in the country.
• With increased wages, incomes will rise, providing more money for investment in economic development, as well for raising the standard of living in a country.
• Reinvest the revenue in infrastructure to support the industries and attract more investments.
• Ensure political stability in the country so a safe business environment is created for day-to-day activities to be carried out.
18. Describe two ways in which international organisations can help to promote the development of the LDCs.
International organisations can help them:
• By providing loans to build healthcare and medical facilities to reduce the very high infant mortality rate of 33 per 1000 live births.
• By granting foreign aid which can be used to provide safe drinking water or build proper sanitation systems so the countries have clean and hygienic environment.
• By providing education or training of teachers to raise the literacy rate. With education, more career opportunities will be available for the people.
Multinational companies can be attracted to set up secondary and tertiary industries in the countries.
19. Evaluate the following strategies to promote national development with named examples:
•Improving water supply and sanitation facilities in less developed regions
•Improving education standards in less developed regions
•Population control in less developed regions
•Job creation & financial assistance for people in less developed regions
•Improving water supply and sanitation facilities in less developed regions
- key to achieving development
- Case of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India
41% of 3.5 million people live in slums and squatters
25% live without toilet facilities
Extreme poverty widespread
Improving water supply and sanitation facilities in less developed regions
Parivartan Slum Networking Programme
- Aims to help region develop by improving lives of slum dwellers
Success?
ØBenefited 56,000 people in >40 slums
ØExpanded to include 59 more slums
ØDeath rates declined from 6.9 per 1,000 people to 3.7 per 1,000 people
ØFewer people falling ill
ØIncreased standard of living
ØHelped region to develop
•Improving education standards in less developed regions
- Education is key to seeking employment
- Training and development programmes would enhance chances
- Case of Hill Tribes in Thailand Most live in extreme poverty
Lack formal education, low standard of living
• Improving education standards in less developed regions
Hill Tribe Education Project
- Established in 1998 under government’s policy to provide, ‘Education for All’
- Formal and non-formal education programmes developed to suit needs of communities
- Academic subjects and life skills taught
- Volunteer teachers from more developed region teach in community learning centre
- Sustainable farming methods taught to local farmers
Success? ØMany are able to obtain employment in cities
ØAgricultural production increased
ØGeneral increase in income
Challenges? ØGeographical isolation inhibits government outreach
ØCommunication barriers between volunteers and hill tribes
•Population control in less developed regions - Booming population stresses limited resources
- Impacts availability of jobs, housing and access to education
- Drastic measures implemented in some countries
Case of China: population boom in 1970s 1979 ‘One Child’ Policy to reduce birth rate
Volunteers recruited to promote late marriage, late childbearing and the use of contraception
Challenges? ØMore effective in urban than in rural areas
ØRural dwellers were mainly farmers who needed additional help on farms
ØGender ration imbalance as Chinese favour males to females
§Current measures:
ØAttempts to balance gender ratio announced in December 2006
Ø‘One Child’ Policy amended to ensure there will be sufficient people to support elderly in the future
•Job creation & financial assistance for people in less developed regions
- high rate of unemployment indicates many are unable to meet basic needs
- governments play a key role in creating more job opportunities for people
- success of which would increase standard of living
Case of The Philippines
§ Most of the poor lack formal education or skills training
§ Difficult to gain employment in formal jobs
§ Most end up working in the informal sector
§ Little attention paid to this group
§ Kapit-Bitsig Laban sa Kahiraopan [KALAHI],
or, ‘Linking Arms Against Poverty’
§ Aims to increase employment rate and income of the poor
§ Resources provided to informal sector
§ Government works with NGOs to assess viability to business ventures before loans are offered
§ Microfinance, or small loans, were given to small businesses
§ Ultra-poor given interest free loans
§ Programme supported by several other NGOs and private organisations
§ Poor given training and advice to run businesses effectively
Success?
§ 600,000 agricultural jobs created in rural areas
§ 3 million businesses assisted
§ 1.7 million provided employment through job placement schemes
Challenges?
§ Reduce income gap between rich and poor
§ Poor need to increase market access to boost their businesses
§ More volunteers needed in outreach programmes
more Q&A @ http://comhumgeog.blogspot.com/search/label/Development
Notes on Geography of Food
Updated 22 Feb 2014 for the new syllabus
1. What are the indicators of development?
1. What are the indicators of development?
Economic
indicators
• GDP per capita
•
Total value of all goods and services produced by a country in a given
year divided by the total population.
•
Higher GDP per capita
indicate higher income.
•
The higher the GDP per capita, the more developed a country.
• Employment opportunity
•
More employment
opportunities will result in more jobs.
•
When people are
employed, they will have an income and can afford to buy more goods and
services.
•
There is higher employment opportunity in the developed
countries.
Social
Indicators
•
Adult literacy rate
•
Percentage of those aged 15 and above who can read and write.
•
Countries with high
literary rate have more professionals who can drive the country’s economy.
•
The higher the adult literacy rate, the more developed a country is.
•
Life expectancy
•
The average number of years a person is expected to live.
•
A country that is
more developed has higher level and higher quality of healthcare, water,
sanitation, food supply and living condition.
•
The more developed countries have higher life expectancy.
•
Examples of Developed countries: Australia, Japan,
South Korea, Singapore, USA
•
Examples
of Less Developed countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Uganda
2.
What are the
indicators of food consumption?
·
Food consumption per capita (kg/capita/yr) is the average amount of food a person consumes per year.
·
DCs consume higher
amounts of meat and vegetables per capita than LDCs.
·
DCs consume higher amounts of food overall compared to LDCs.
·
Daily calorie intake (kilocalories) is the energy obtained from food consumed per person each day.
·
Average of 2,586 kilocalories required per day.
·
DCs have higher daily
calorie intake than LDCs.
·
Starchy staples as % of all calories
·
Staple food is starchy food that forms the main part of the diet.
·
Cereals which is a
staple food is high in starch, a form of carbohydrate, providing the human body
with energy.
·
Cereals consists of
grains such as wheat and rice
·
Non-staple food consist of meat, fruits and vegetables.
·
Meat e.g. beef,
chicken, fish are high in protein and fats.
·
Fruits and vegetables
are high in vitamins, minerals and fibre.
3.
How do food
consumption patterns vary between DCs and LDCs over time?
·
When a country
develops economically and its income per capita increases, the diet generally
changes from crop-based products to meat-based products.
·
People
in the USA consume higher amount of meat, eggs and fish.
·
Large
increase in the consumption of meat, eggs and fish in China due to increase in
wealth.
·
Cereal consumption in
China and India is higher than the USA as rice is a staple food in Asian
societies.
·
Cereals contribute to
50% of the global calorie intake.
·
In
Africa and parts of Asia, cereals make up as much as 70% of the people’s
calorie intake..
·
Lower
consumption of cereals in DCs – around 30% of calorie intake.
·
Consumption of
cereals per capita decline with higher income.
·
Crop-based
product is 40% of people’s diet in the LDCs but only 13% in DCs
·
As income increases,
rice is substituted with wheat to make bread and noodles e.g. in Brazil, China
and South Korea.
·
Increase in income is
linked with an increase in meat consumption.
·
In
LDCs, the demand for livestock (cows, pigs, sheep or chickens) has increased
since 1960s.
·
High consumption of
meat in DCs compared to LDCs but the rate of increase is smaller. People in the
DCs are consuming less red meat as this has been linked to health problems such
as obesity and heart diseases.
·
Larger increase in consumption of non-staple food from the LDCs due to
rising incomes.
·
Consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased for both DCs and
LDCs.
·
Mainly due to
increase in incomes in the LDCs.
·
Efforts of
international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the UN to promote its consumption. It is
believed that a significant amount of fruits and vegetables in a diet reduces
the risk of diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
4.
Why do food
consumption patterns vary between DCs and LDCs?
Economic
factors affecting food consumption
v Disposable income
v Food pricing
- Disposable
income is the income left to an individual after taxes
have been paid.
- Disposable
income is increasing for DCs and LDCs.
- Disposable income is higher in
DCs.
- People
have higher purchasing power with higher disposable income.
- People consume more meat and
less cereals when income increases.
- Higher
consumption of more organic food and olive oil in DCs as they can afford
food with more health benefits.
- People in LDCs are more affected
by food prices than the people in DCs as their disposable income is
lesser.
- Food
crisis between 2006 and 2008 cause 100 million more people worldwide into
chronic hunger and poverty. Many people in the LDCs cannot afford the
staple food due to the sharp increase in food prices.
Socio-cultural factors affecting food
consumption
v Religious beliefs
v Food preferences
v Migration
v Population growth
v Changing diets
- Religious beliefs can
influence a person’s choice of food as well as how food is prepared.
- Muslims can only consume food
that is halal.
- Fast food has
been well received by people due to convenience
and affordable prices.
- Globalisation
made it possible for fast food chains to set up restaurants in many LDCs
such as India.
- Many
people choose to patronize these outlets rather than local food stalls
due to hectic schedules and rising
incomes.
·
People are now trying to move away from eating too much fast food as
they become increasingly aware of their harmful effects on human health.
·
Food preferences in DCs are influenced by health concerns such as the use of pesticides.
- More
people in the DCs choose organic
food due to the perceived health benefits associated with them.
- Migrants
introduce new food to places and drive the demand for new food
preference.
- Migrants
may adopt the food of the locals as they are exposed to local cuisine.
- Migrants introduce new cuisines
to people in their new country e.g. curry
restaurants in UK
- Increasing
demand for food due to increased
world population
- Population growth rates are
higher in the LDCs than DCs – therefore increasing demand
for food is greater in LDCs
- The diets of people in DCs and LDCs
will continue to change especially in terms of meat and dairy products.
- Due to globalization and
migration, diets in DCs will increase in variety.
- Traditional
rice eating societies are consuming increasing amounts of wheat as
ingredient in bread, cakes and pastry.
Political
factors affecting food consumption
A
country has a stable food supply when safe and nutritious food is available to
all people at all times.
- Government may take actions to
increase food supply or food imports to ensure the
availability of safe and nutritious food to the people.
- Food production can be increased
by improving technology to increase yields and opening up new areas for agriculture.
- LDCs
lack access to technology or finances to implement it on a large scale.
- DCs
have greater access to technology for food production to ensure food
stability.
- Civil war can affect food
stability. In Libya in April 2011, where cities and areas
with heavy fighting reported food and water shortages and safety concerns
restricted people from venturing out to buy food.
·
The
government ensure food safety by
setting food safety standards and ensuring the standards are met.
·
They
are also responsible for tracking down contaminated foods that cause outbreaks
of foodborne diseases and remove these foods from the shelves.
·
Seafood
imports from Japan to Singapore were restricted for many months after the
nuclear contamination due to the earthquake in Japan 2011.
·
Threats
to food safety may come from outbreaks of foodborne diseases e.g. “Mad Cow
Disease” outbreak in Europe in the late 1990s and in USA and Canada in 2005.
·
The
outbreak has led to a decrease in the consumption of beef because humans could
contract the disease by eating meat from an infected cow.
·
The
decrease in demand for beef led to a decline in the import of beef.
·
Decline
in beef consumption in the European Union after outbreaks in 1988, 1996 and
2000.
5.
What are the impacts
of inadequate food consumption on individuals and countries?
v Impact on health
v Economic impact
v Political impact
v Social impact
Impact
on Health due to inadequate food consumption
Malnutrition
– the body does not get a balanced amount of nutrients to maintain healthy
tissues and organ function.
·
Inadequate
nutrients will cause higher mortality rate and risk of adult chronic disease.
Ill-health
·
Lack of Vitamin A found in eggs,
cheese, meat, carrot etc can lead to visual
impairment and blindness. Children affected will miss attending normal school.
With lower educational opportunities, children will have lower earning power in
the future.
·
Lack
of Vitamin A also reduces the body’s ability to fight off common childhood
infection such as diarrhoeal diseases and measles.
·
Lack of Calcium found in milk,
cheese, green leafy vegetables and soya bean can lead to osteoporosis which is
the weakening of the bones.
·
People
with osteoporosis are more prone to fractures and this will cause loss of work
days and productivity.
·
Vitamin
D obtained by sufficient exposure to sun help the body to absorb calcium
Starvation
is
the state of extreme hunger from a severe lack of food.
·
The
body becomes skeletally thin and the organs become permanently damaged and may
lead to death.
Economic Impact of inadequate food
consumption
·
Inadequate nutrients
consumed lead to low energy level and more sickness which will lead to
lower productivity and lower income due to inability to work as productively as
before.
·
Economy of the
country adversely affected when there is low productivity. This lead to higher
public health expenditure.
- Food aid and
economic aid can cause long term debts
- Financial
resources are diverted to health care because more people are falling
sick.
Political Impact of
inadequate food consumption (social unrest)
- Inadequate food
supply leads to inadequate food consumption. People become malnourished,
starve or even die.
- Such conditions
can cause social unrest. In
2010, people in Mozambique protested against high wheat prices.
Social Impact of
inadequate food consumption (survival responses e.g. scavenging)
- Some people turn
to scavenging to prevent starvation
- Scavenging
carries health risks because scavenged
food contain high levels of bacteria or chemicals
- Scavenging also
place people in dangerous or illegal situations in search of food and they
are perceived as a nuisance to the public.
- e.g. child
scavengers of “Smokey Mountain” in Manila
6. Impact of excess
food consumption on individuals and countries:
Health Impact due to
excess foos consumption
- Obesity is the condition of being
overweight due to excessive consumption of nutrients
which is stored as body fats.
- Obesity
can lead to health problems such as
high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.
Economic Impact of
excess food consumption (lower productivity)
·
When
people fall sick, there will be lower
productivity as there will be loss of work days.
·
It
can also cause lower income due to inability to work as productively as before.
·
Money
is redirected to public health expenditure reducing funds for developing the
economy.
Social issues of
excess food consumption ( food wastage and dieting)
·
Food
wastage – every year, consumers in DCs
waste almost as much food as the entire amount of food available in Sub-Saharan
Africa for local consumption.
·
Dieting
is the practice of regulating the amount of food consumed to maintain an ideal
weight.
·
Physical
exercise is often practiced in combination with diet.
·
Dieting
provides employment and value to an economy e.g. weight loss industry including
diet books, medication and medical procedures for losing weight.
·
However inappropriate
dieting may lead to depression and dieting-related physical illness such as
iron-deficiency anaemia.
7. How has the
production of crops changed since 1960s?
·
Need
to increase global food production to meet the rising population
·
Global
food production must increase 75% from 2000 to 2050 to meet the needs of
increased population which is expected to reach 10 billion in 2050.
8. What factors
affect the intensity of food production and supply?
Food supply chain
(linkages between consumers, producers and distributors)
·
Food producers are farmers and
ranchers involved in producing food. The food is processed and packaged by
manufacturers of food products which are then shipped to distributors.
·
Distributors ensure that the food
produced reaches the food retail outlets who sell them to the consumers.
·
Consumers refer to the people
who consume the food.
Trend in production
of food crops (rice and wheat) from 1960s
- Since the 1960s, production of rice, wheat
and genetically modified food has increased.
- Intensification
refers to the increase in the productivity of the land through an increase
in the total crop yield.
- Total
crop yield is the total
amount of crop obtained from an area of farmland.
- World
production of rice rose from 535.5 million tonnes in1970 to 1119.2 million
tonnes in 2010.
- The
global average crop yield of rice was 4.3 tonnes per hectare in 2010
compared to 2.4 tonnes per hectare in 1970.
- Due to rapid population growth
and increase in demand for food, countries have intensified food
production to meet the demand.
- World
production of rice rose from 535.5 million tonnes in1970 to 1119.2 million
tonnes in 2010.
- The
global average crop yield of rice was 4.3 tonnes per hectare in 2010 compared
to 2.4 tonnes per hectare in 1970.
- Increased production of
genetically modified food crops
Genetically modified crops are crops with genes that have been altered
to make them more resistant to diseases and to make them grow faster, thereby
increasing crop yield and productivity.
Blue tomatoes have
been genetically modified to produce high levels of anthocyanin, a pigment that
produces blue or purple colour.
- Between
1996 and 2011, the total land area used to grow GM crops increased from
17,000 km² to 1600000 km². By 2011, over 105 of the world’s crops were
genetically modified.
- Most
of these GM crops are grown in North America, but some LDCs are rapidly
increasing their production of GM food.
9. What are the factors
affecting the intensity of food production and supply?
v Physical factors
v Social factors
v Economic factors
v Political factors
v Technological factors
Physical
– Climate
- Temperatures and amount of
rainfall affect the growth of crops.
- Crops
such as pea, broccoli and strawberry require cooler climates. Other such
as soya bean and tomato require warmer climates.
- Plants
such as maize require more water than soya bean.
- In the tropics, the long growing
season enable farmers to have 2 to 3 harvests in a year.
- In
places with winter, food production can only occur during the warm season
where temperature and rainfall is suitable for growing crops.
Physical - Soils and Drainage
· Fertile soils contain minerals essential for plant growth.
Crop yield is higher in areas with fertile soil.
· Fertile soil combined
with flat terrain and large water supply in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam results
in very high production of rice.
· The clayey soil
allows water to be retained to grow rice.
· Growing of oats require sandy soil which is well drained.
Physical
– Relief
· The rain is more likely to remove the topsoil on steep
slopes.
The topsoil is rich in nutrients.
· Terracing – cutting of steps into a hillside to create flat land for
cultivation.
· However sloping land
is suitable for the growing of crops such as grapes, tea and coffee which needs
well-drained soil.
· Temperatures decrease with increasing altitude.
· The cooler
temperatures of mountainous areas may be suitable for growing certain cool
climate crops.
Social
- Land tenure
· Land tenure is the system
by which agricultural land is occupied.
· Most farmers in the LDCs are too poor to purchase their
own farmland. So they rent their land and pay a sum of money or a portion of
their harvest to landowners.
· This reduces
motivation to maximize production and led to low productivity. With lower
income, the farmers are not able to purchase equipment and supplies to improve
farming.
· Land fragmentation is the division of land into many
smaller plots over many successive generations of farmers.
· It is common inheritance
practice for the farmer to divide his land amongst his many children.
· Small plots of land
mean lower total output. Small plots
make it unprofitable to use machines to increase output.
· e.g. Tivland, Nigeria – due to land fragmentation, sizes of farms are
smaller and farmers are unable to produce sufficient yield.
Economic
-purpose of farming
Economic - demand
- The tastes and preferences of
consumers dictate what how much the producers grow.
- China
used to be self-sufficient in maize production and an exporter of maize as
well. However in recent years due to the increased demand for meat and
dairy products, more maize is needed to feed livestock. Together with
rising population, China has started importing maize to meet the
increasing demand. USA has increased their production of maize to be
exported to China.
Economic
–Trade
· Global trade has expanded and diversified. This is due to
improvements in the method of preservation, processing and packaging, advances
in rapid transport and handling, and changes in consumer tastes.
· Increasing amounts of land are used to grow crops for
export such as cut flowers, soya bean and coffee.
· In Sudan land is
being farmed for the production of animal feed instead of staple crops such as
sorghum.
· Free trade allows
goods and services from abroad to compete with domestic goods and services.
Economic
- Agri-business
· Companies are involved in most stages of the food supply
chain, including farming, processing and retailing.
· Large food companies
able to withstand the impact of changes in the environment, e.g. flooding,
compared to small-scale farmers.
· Agribusinesses are
able to invest in technology to
increase food production including research to produce crop with greater yield.
· As they have a
worldwide network of different farming, distribution and processing centres,
they have greater control over crop
production. Their production costs are reduced and hence the retail cost of
food may be kept low.
Political
– Agricultural policy
·
When
the government of Japan introduced policies aimed at reducing the production of
rice in the 1970s, rice production grew at a slower rate.
·
The
Acreage Reduction policy was introduced to keep the price of rice high by
reducing supply.
Political
– Food policy
·
Refers
to policy pertaining to how food is produced, processed, distributed and
purchased.
·
Also
involves health and safety and food labeling.
·
Food stockpiling
involves the storage of food for anticipated shortage.
·
Diversifying the
source of food supply
to buffer against food shortage and price fluctuation by over-relying on a few
countries.
Political
– ASEAN
·
In
Oct 2011, ASEAN signed an agreement with China, Japan and South Korea. During times of disaster, rice reserves
from the big rice producers will be used to supply rice to countries that have
signed the agreement.
·
Thailand
started a programme in 2012 for other ASEAN nations to intensify rice
production in the region. Thailand worked with neighbouring countries such as
Cambodia to increase their efficiency in rice production.
Political
– Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU
CAP came into force
in 1962 to:
·
Encourage better
agricultural productivity
·
Ensure that consumers
have a stable and affordable supply of food
·
Encourage sustainable
farming practices
CAP has helped 14
million farmers in the EU to increase productivity in the following ways:
·
Farmers receive
assistance in restructuring their farms to make them more productive
·
Subsidies are provided
for agricultural produce. However the cost of providing subsidies makes food more
expensive in the EU and is a heavy financial burden for countries that do not
have large agricultural industries.
·
Use
of import taxes on food products that
are brought in from outside the region. This helps to sustain demand for
local produce and ensures that farmers are not forced to stop farming due to a
lack of demand.
Success of CAP:
·
Improved
farm efficiency and food production e.g. wheat yields in EU original six member
states has increased from 3 tonnes per hectare in 1962 to 7 tonnes per hectare
in 2008
Technological advances – Green Revolution [ use of technology to
increase food production]
•
Use of high-yielding varieties
•
Use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides
•
Improved irrigation
•
Mechanization
Green Revolution -
Use of High Yielding Varieties
· HYVs are improved strains of crops such as rice, wheat
and other cereals that have an increased growth rate and an increased
resistance against crop diseases and pests.
· They need more water
and nutrients to sustain their growth.
· With a shorter
growing season, there can be more harvests a year.
· “Wonder Rice” has a
growing season of 100 days compared to the 120
days of non-HYVs.
· 70% of rice and wheat
grown in India were HYVs by 1990.
· Green revolution
helped to increase the production of wheat and rice in India.
o Total wheat
production has almost multiplied 4 times that of 1970 by 2010
o Total rice production has multiplied by two times that of 1970 by 2010
Green Revolution - Use of Fertilizers
· Chemical fertilisers replenish the nutrients in the soil
and increase yield.
· HYV requires more fertilizers
· Organic fertilizer
such as manure is slow releasing and helps to retain soil moisture.
· Chemical fertilizers
provide specific quantities of a nutrient such as nitrogen and potassium but are easily removed by water
percolating through the soil.
Green
Revolution - Use of Pesticides and Herbicides
·
Pesticides used to kill insects
and small animals that destroy crops.
·
Herbicides used to kill weed
and other undesirable pants that compete with crops for resources.
·
With
the removal of pests, the crop is protected which in turn would increase the crop yield.
Green
Revolution – Irrigation
· Irrigation is the artificial
way of supplying water to the land
· Land which used to be too dry for farming can now be
cultivated. So there is an increase in arable land.
· In the North African
country of Libya, the Great Man-made River made it possible to grow crops in
the Sahara Desert
· Extensive irrigation project consists of a network of
underground pipes, canals, wells, reservoirs and tunnels that drew water from
underground aquifers.
· Methods of irrigation:
o Centre-pivot
irrigation: a sprinkler is rotated,
automatically irrigating a circular area
o Mechanical irrigation-move:
a line of connected sprinklers travels across a field automatically using a
machine
o Flood irrigation : irrigation water delivered to a whole
surface
Green
Revolution – Mechanisation
· Farmers use machinery to perform tasks which they would
otherwise have to do manually
· Machines speed up
processes involved in preparing the land, tending to cops and harvesting.
· A combine harvester helps to harvest grain crops and reduced reliance on
labour.
Genetically
Modified Food
·
Crops which had their
genes altered to give them desirable qualities such as resistance to extreme
weather conditions or diseases.
·
e.g.
Golden Rice which has been infused with Vitamin A to prevent blindness.
·
Bt corn has a gene
from a naturally occurring soil bacterium known as Bacilllus thuringinensis
(Bt) This is a natural pesticide which protects the crops and reduces the risk
of it being damaged by pests.
HYV crops are cross
breed and GM crops involve alteration of genes.
Both HYV and GM crops have the benefits of shorter growing season, pest
resistant. GM crops have additional health benefits. Examples of HYV crops are
Super Rice, Wonder Rice and FlavrSavr Tomato. Examples of GM crops are Golden
Rice, Bt-cotton and Bt-corn.
10. What are the
effects of continuing intensification of food production?
Waterlogging
·
When
too much water seeps into the soil, the roots are deprived of air and
nutrients, causing them to die.
Salinisation
·
Water
added to the soil during irrigation evaporates and salt is left behind in the
soil.
·
Dissolved
salts from the groundwater reach the top soil when there is no proper drainage
of excess water.
·
Concentration
of salts may be too high for crops to grow well.
·
Salinisation
occurs in the Murray-Darling Basin in
Victoria Australia.
Eutrophication
·
Chemical fertilizers can be washed into
streams and river. The excess nutrients in water lead to algae bloom, causing eutrophication.
·
The
algae blocks sunlight from reaching
aquatic plants and eventually fishes that feed on them die as well.
·
Decomposition
of aquatic plants and animals depletes
the oxygen in the water.
·
Measure
taken to reverse the trends of eutrophication:
o
Control
measures aimed at preventing chemical fertilisers from reaching water bodies.
o
Raise
awareness of eutrophication through public awareness campaigns, school
environmental education programs and targeted outreach within the communities.
11. What are the consequences of development
of GM food crops?
Benefits
Increased
income for farmers
· GM crops that are
pest-resistant help farmers to save money on the cost of pesticides and on the
labour needed to administer the treatment.
· Higher output from GM
crops allows farmers to earn higher income.
· e.g. Bt-cotton which
has increased farmers’ income in India by US$12.6 billion from 2002 to 2011.
Nutritional
Benefits for Consumers
· Certain crops are genetically
modified to have higher nutritional value.
· Golden Rice has
higher levels of Vitamin A to prevent blindness.
Decreased
environmental pollution
· GM crops which are
resistant to insects and pests do not require insecticides and pesticides.
· This reduces the
release of chemicals into the environment that could lead to pollution.
Threats of GM Food
Dominance of agribusiness
· GM crops are
expensive and requires high capital investment which is affordable only to big
companies and DCs
· Small-scale farmers
and LDCs cannot afford the GM seeds.
· Widen the gap between the wealthy and poor farmers.
Human
health risk
· Growing concern that
incorporating foreign genes into plants may have adverse effect on human health
such as allergic reactions.
· e.g. introduction of
a gene from Brazil nuts into soya bean created allergic reaction in individuals
who are allergic to nuts
Genetic
pollution resulting in loss of biodiversity
· If the resistance of
GM food crop is transferred to wild plants, it can have negative impacts on
insects and other animals which feed on them leading to a loss in biodiversity.
· e.g. Monarch
butterflies died feeding on milkweed dusted with pollen from Bt-corn
12. Why do food
shortages still occur?
v Physical factors- climate change, pests
v Political factors- civil strife, poor governance
v Economic factors- demand from emerging economies, food
policy, soaring cost of fertilisers and transport, conversion of farmland to
industrial crop production
v Social factors- lack of accessibility, inadequate
logistics of food distribution and storage, rapid population growth
Physical
factor - Extreme weather
·
Droughts, cold winters,
heat waves and tropical cyclones may cause crop
damage or make it difficult to grow crops leading to food shortage.
·
Cyclone Yasi destroyed the
crops when it hit Australia in 2011.
Physical
factor - Climate change
- Existing farmland may become unsuitable
for farming.
- Climate change may lengthen the growing season
in other areas.
- Tropical cyclones lead to flooding of
farmland which destroys crops. Droughts reduce water supply needed for
crops to grow properly.
- Disappearance of glaciers reduce water
supply to rivers and affect farm productivity.
Physical
factor - pests
- Pests destroy food crops and contribute
to food shortage.
- Liberia had to declare a state of
emergency in 2009 when a new species of caterpillars devoured all plants
and food crops in their path, threatening food security in Liberia.
Political
factor – Civil strife
·
This
occurs when a country faces major internal conflicts such as riots, unrest or
civil war.
- Disputes
occur over the control of resources that affect food production such as
water and land.
- Food
production is hindered if resources are destroyed.
- In
2011, a civil strife in Syria disrupted agriculture and drastically
reduced farmers’ access to fertiliser and seeds.
- All
these caused food prices to rise and prevented people from having access
to food.
Political
factor - poor governance
·
Corruption,
policy errors and inability to implement policy can cause food shortages.
·
Governments
can threaten food security when they prioritise other developmental needs over
food security.
·
e.g.
Madhya Pradesh, India - 40,000 villagers
were deprived of land for farming due to development of a steel plant, mining
and port. The villagers lost the means to produce their own food and were left
with extremely limited income to buy food.
Economic
factor – demand from emerging economies
- Demand
for meat and dairy products from emerging economies like Brazil, Russia,
China and India (BRIC) has increased.
- This
is caused by a growing middle class with more purchasing power and
changing food preference.
- Increases
in food production is unable to cope with rapid increase in demand.
- Poorer
countries cannot afford to pay the same prices for food that richer
countries can.
Economic factor - food policy
·
Government must
ensure food security by controlling or influencing food prices and food supply.
·
Stockpiling is the
setting aside and storage of food to ensure food security during emergencies.
·
e.g. Algeria bought 800000 tonnes of wheat to
add to its stockpile.
·
Food
subsidies refer to money paid by a government or organization to make food more
affordable to consumers.
·
Food subsidies in the form of cash,
food vouchers or tax deductions can be given to elderly or people with low
income.
·
e.g.
food stamps distributed in the State of Massachusetts to citizens with low
income.
·
Countries that are
too poor cannot afford such subsidies face problems of food shortage.
Economic factor - soaring cost of fertilizers and transport
·
As
fuel costs increase, transport of farm produce and cost of fuel for farm
machinery increase as well.
·
e.g. Kazakhstan had
to increase the price of wheat export due to fuel increase in 2011.
·
The
rise and fall in world food prices follows that of oil prices.
·
The
wealthy are more able to absorb the increase in food price as a lower
proportion of their income is spent on food.
·
The poor are unable
to afford enough food when food prices increase.
Economic factor - conversion of farmland
to industrial crop production e.g. biofuel crops
·
Biofuels
are fuels that derive energy from biological carbons instead of fossil fuels
such as coal.
·
Examples
of biofuels are those derived from maize, sugar cane and oil palm
·
25% of all food crops
grown in the USA became fuel for vehicles instead of food for people.
·
Farmland
that could have been used to grow crops for human consumption used to grow
biofuels instead.
·
From
2006 to 2007, 30% increase in food prices related to production of biofuels.
·
The amount of crops
used as biofuel would have been enough to feed 330 million people for one year.
Social factor – Food accessibility
·
Accessibility to food
refers to how easily residents can reach the food that is available.
·
Even
when food is available within a country, how accessible it is depends on the number and location of food outlets.
·
In
LDCs, people may be unable to obtain fresh produce and thus have a smaller food
intake as the food outlets are fewer and farther apart from one another.
Social factor – inadequate logistics of
food distribution and storage
·
Food distribution is
the movement of food from farms to retail outlets.
·
Accessibility may be affected due
to physical factors such as mountains and the occurrences of landslides.
·
When
local production cannot meet local demand, imports are necessary,
·
One-third
of the population of Timor- Leste experiences food shortages between harvests.
This is worsened by a lack of storage facilities and difficulty of accessing
numerous remote communities.
Social - rapid population growth
·
World’s
population will reach 10 billion by 2050.
·
Food
production has to increase to meet the projected population. In Sub-Saharan
Africa, the high population growth has put pressure on limited farmland available.
·
Due
to rising temperatures, existing small amount of land suitable for agriculture
has declined.
·
All
these factors increased the risk of food shortage.
13. Is technology in food production an effective solution to food
shortage?
·
Advances
in technology have increased food production.
·
However,
dealing with food shortage involves management through various perspectives,
including socio-politics and economics.
·
The
use of technology to increase food production may be successful to a certain
extent. However, the strategies may not
be fully effective in solving the problem of food shortage.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)