A Global Perspective on Development Issues

A Global Perspective on Development Issues

1. Definitions

   • NICs- Newly Industrialised Countries eg India and Thailand
     • LIC- Low Income Country
       • MNC- Multinational Company
         • Tariffs- Taxes placed on imported goods
           • Trade Blocs- Trading partnership between countries
             • Quotas- Restrictions on the number of goods that can be imported each year
               • Fair trade- Producers are paid a fair amount of money for products grown
                 • Globalisation- The interconnectivity across the world due to an exchnage in goods, tech, and sharing of cultures

2. Development Indicators

   • Literacy Rates- Tells us the percentage of the population that can read or write. It shows the country's access to education and a higher literacy rate means that people are better-educated and can have higher-paying jobs
     • Life expectancy- Tells us the average age that people in a country live up to. A higher value tells us that the people have better access to healthcare and better treatments are provided so people can have a better quality of life and live longer as they suffer from fewer diseases
       • GDP per capita - This is an economic measure of the average income of a family. A higher GDP shows that epople ahve higher standards of living and better hobs. However, it does not take the cost of livjg into account nor the quality of life
         • HDI- It is on a scale of 0 to 1. It takes several factors into account such as education, literacy rates, and GDP
   • Education and Development
     • Improved education means that poverty will be reduced as more children can read and write and access further education, thus getting more jobs
       • It also creates an equal status between men and women because if girls recive an education, they will get better jobs and will have children later and will face less discrimation
         • Barriers to education in LICs
           • Education can be very expensive so people can't afford it
             • Schools in LICs may not be as accessible as they are further away and they are not very common
               • It might be more profitable in the short term to send children to work as they can support the family.
                 • Shwapna's story
                   • She did not want to partake in an arranged marriage and wanted to continue going to school
                     • 'Room to Read' was a girls' education priogramme to allow girls to pursue further education by expalining the imprortance of education so Shwapna could go to uni and have a job and be financially independent

3. Globalisation

   • Factors that drive globalisation
     • Communication- Improvements in tech have allowed for the facilitaed spread of info
       • Culture- Western styles of media are relased throughout the world at the same time
         • Trade- Improved tech and free aviation fuel mean that products can be easily flowing in and out of countries.
           • MNCs- Link peopke through the production and sale of goods.
   • Impacts on the UK
     • Has a higher population due to a higher net migartion from the world
       • Half of migrants have highly skilled jobs in the UK such as in finance, law and banking. Migrants produce 35% of UK's exports
         • Migrants can share their skills
           • many migrnats take up dirty, unwanted jobs that the British citzens don't want
             • 37% of London's population was born oversees
               • Some say that migrants take up jobs for local people as well as strain services such as healthcare and education
                 • However, migrants pay lrage amints of taxes and contribute to the economy
   • Impacts around the world
     • Positive
       • More trade for LIC
         • Sharing of cultures
           • Secondary industries have moved to NICs, creating new jobs
             • HICs shift to the tertiary and quaternary sectors
     • Negatives
       • Cultures become more westernised and lose their charcteristics
         • Increased transport leads to CO2 emissions
           • De-industrailisation in HICs increase the gap between the rich and the poor
             • People gorw more crops for profits, leading to deforestation and reduced habits and biodiversity

4. Nike Case Study

   • Background
     • Operates and sells in over 140 countries
       • in 2014, Nike employed 48,000 peole worldwide
         • Its head office is in Oregon, USA
   • Impacts of Nike
     • Negative
       • It brings in foreign nations to do the management roles
         • Does not care about the host country's envoronement
           • It can pull out of the host country at any time
             • It provides mostly low-paid jobs with long hours
     • Positive
       • Increases the host country's wealth
         • provides jobs and training for the locals
           • Provides healthcare and education for workers and families
   • Why Nike moved to Vietnam
     • Workers are paid low wages
       • No trade unions or strikes as the Vietnamese are hard-working
   • Vietnam background
     • Loacted in south-east of Asia and is bordered by China to the north
       • Nike has ten large factories in Vietnam

5. NIC Case Study- Bangladesh

   • Economic and social impacts of NIC growth
     • Many sweatshops exploit workers, who are paid low wages, especially women
       • Usual minimum wage in Bangladesh is £25 a month, which is lower than what it should be
   • Environmental Impacts of NIC growth
     • NICs have very relaxed environmental and planning laws so MNCs can reduce cots by not having to follow strict building or environmental regulations
       • Waste water is often discharged into open drains and ditches
         • In 2013, due to poor construction, the Rana Plaza collapsed and killed 1,100 people, mainly women in a clothing factory

6. Trade

   • China
     • Exports
       • Computers, textiles,,phones, internet
         • Worth $2.6 trillion
     • Imports
       • Oil, metal ores
         • Worth $ 2 trillion
   • Ghana
     • Imports
       • Machinery, vehicles, engineering materials
         • Worth $ 28 billion
     • Exports
       • Coffee beans, metal ores oil
         • Worth $ 16 billion
   • Trade blocs and development
     • Trade blocs are manily between HICs and NICs eg. EU
       • This means that HICs and NICs can gian a lot of profit and can export goods of high value, further contributing to their econmoies and enabling development
         • Africa is mainly left out of trade blocs
           • This means that less goods are exported by LICs so LICs in Afraca do not gain as much proft as HICs so their development is restricted, which can inhibit services such as edcuation and healthcare
   • Fair Trade
     • Kuapa Kokoo Case Study
       • It is a cooperation od cocoa farmers in Ghana
         • Farmers receive $2000 per tonne of cocoa, which is 10% more than the global market price
           • Members of this organisation can borrow money from micro-credit banks to invest in improving their farms
             • One person in the village is elected to weigh the cocoa beans. When it is a woemn, the ststus of woemn are raised
     • Advantages
       • Farmers volunteer to help each other for free during the harvest rather than employing cheap leabour so many children don't have to work and can go to school
         • Farmers receive specail training so can produce a higher yiled of cocoa so farmers profit more and can invest in local village services
           • The biodiversity of the plantation is conserved as farmers can conserve cocoa plants, as cocoa plants need high biodiversity

7. Aid and Development

   • Emergency Aid- Aleppo City, Syria
     • Due to the Syrian Civil War, nearly 7 million Syrians have fled thier homes and 13.5 million Syrinas are in need of aid
       • The Penny Appeal Charity is helping 2 million children get back into education after the conflict
         • It is also providing food, medical suppport and shelter for families dispalced by the war
   • Long-term Development Aid, Malawi
     • Lots of families in Malawi find it diificult to escape the cylce of poverty once theyr are trapped in it
       • To tackle this issue, a cow loan scheme is taking place
         • As a cow is loaned to a fmaily in Malawi, the family can drink the milk from the cow an can sell extra milk
           • This relsukts in a steady income for the family so they can aford basci necessities scuh as clothing
             • They can also afford to educate their children and buy stationery so children can get qualicatation and get well paid jobs
               • The cow can then breed and have another cow to help with the family income.
   • Pros and Cons of Aid
     • Pros
       • Emergency aid in disatste rhas saved lives and reduced people's misery
         • Development projects sich as improving water led to improved living standards
           • Provision of medical training and equipment improves heallth and standard of living
             • Aid improves the repuation of donor countries and show thier genroity and thier efficient handling of their econmy to provide aid to LICs
     • Cons
       • Increases the dependency of LICs on donor countries
         • Profits from large projects can go to donors and donor countries rather than the recipeint country
           • Donors can use aid to exert political pressure on the recipient
             • Aid does not alsways reach people who need it the most can can be kept by corrupt offcicials