International Development

Page 1

What is Development?

A process of change to improve people's lives

Classes of countries

MEDCs more economically developed countries

LEDCs. less economically developed countries

HIC. High income country

MIC. middle income country

LIC. low income country

The Development Gap and North-South Divide

Richer countries are almost all located in the Northern Hemisphere, poor countries are mostly located in tropical regions and in the Southern Hemisphere . However Development Gaps can also exist within countries, e.g Whilst India, is still home to the largest concentrations of poor people in a single nation, it has a very sizeable amount of middle class and a very rich elite.

Development Indicator- a piece of data that shoes how developed a country is

e.g

adult literacy rate

life expectancy

under 5 mortality rate

number of doctors per 10000 people

%of population that has access to clean and safe water

Highly Developed Country

Everyone has access to clean and safe water and electricity

All young people go to school

There is no extreme poverty

People who can't find work and can' support their families receive help from the government

Good transport links, hospital and clinics

Nice infrastructure

Everyone is treated equally

Women have as good a chance as men

The % of workers in farming is low

Shops sell a wide range of food from all over the world

Poorly Developed Country

Many do not have access to clean safe water and electricity

Many children go to school for a year or 2 - or never

Females have less choices than males

Birth rate is high

Shops and markets only sell a limited range of goods

Not enough schools,doctors ,teachers hospital

Roads tend to just be dirt tracks

You get little or no help from the government

The % of people living by farming is high

Page 2

Malawi Case Study

Location

Malawi is a long and thin country in East Africa. Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia are it's neighbouring countries

Development indicators and reason why Malawi is poor

Life expectancy of 52 year

High levels of malaria- Poor and unstable healthcare with not enough doctors

Famine+ Droughts-Water Bourne disease- No medicines = Poor health care

No access to clean and safe water

Infant mortality rate 79/1000

No proper Health care system- so mothers and infants don't receive professional care if they are sick

A dependancy rate of 120.7

High Proportion of young due to the high birth rate

Less people working which means less tax paid which reduces Malwai's potential to develop

A literacy Rate of 62%

Poor education system; that isn't accessible for everyone

The majority of the population are only educated enough to work in the primary and secondary sectors and so thy lack skill which means TNCs are less likely to invest in the country

Landlocked- doesn't have a coastline of it's own

Any goods Malawi produces has to go through a country before reaching a port. The lack of infrastructure impacts on trades and exports. It also uses too much time and money.

Companies are then less attracted to Malawi and will not invest by building a factory there

Extreme Weather Conditions

The government has to concentrate on relief for the population rather than development