Development SUSTAINABLE DECISION MAKING EXAM (SDME)

Measuring Development

Development is when a country is improving. It gets better for the people living there which is usually improves their quality of life (wealth, health and safety). The level of development is different in different countries and hard to measure as it includes many things. Development can be compared by using “development indictors”.

Type Name What it is A measure of… As a country develops it gets..

Economic Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods and services a country produces in a year. It is often given in Us dollars (US$).

Wealth Higher

Economic GDP per capita GDP divided by the total population (also called GDP per head).

Wealth Higher

Social Birth rate The number of live babies born per thousand of the population per year.

Female education and availability of birth control.

Lower

Social Death rate The number of deaths per thousand of the population year.

Quality of and access to healthcare. Lower

Social Infant mortality rate The number of babies who die under 1 year old, per thousand babies born.

Sanitation and healthcare Lower

Social People per doctor The average number of people per doctor. Access to healthcare Lower

Social Literacy rate The percentage of adults who can read and write. Access to education Higher

Social Access to safe water The percentage of people that can get clean drinking water

Sanitation Higher

Social Life expectancy The average age a person can expect to live to. Quality of and access to healthcare Higher

Social Physical Quality-Of-Life Index (PQLI)

This is a number that’s calculated using life expectancy, literacy rate and infant mortality rate.

Lots of things Higher

Social Calorie intake The average number of calories eaten per day. Access to a healthy and varied diet Higher

Other Human Development Index

A number that’s calculated using life expectancy, literacy rate, education level and income per head.

Lots of things Higher

Development indicators

Disadvantages of development indicators:

1. Economic indicators can be inaccurate for countries where trade is informal (not taxed) which is also affected by the exchange rate changes (often given in US$).

2. Social indicators are difficult to measure but show a better indication of the quality of life. Also no indicators for important social factors like human rights.

3. Indicators are misleading when used on there own as they are averages so they don’t show up elite groups in the population or variation within the country. However, HDI and PQL avoids this problem.

First, Second and Third world - Categories Of Development

• 1960 countries were classified as 1st, 2nd and 3rd world counties.

• First World Countries – Rich countries with lots of manufacturing and services. (USA, western Europe countries, Australia and Japan).

• Second World Countries – Communist countries with lots of manufacturing. (Western European countries, Russia and China.

• Third World Countries – All other countries are third worlds.

• Some people thought ranking was disrespectful to countries labelled Third World.

MEDCs and LEDCs - Categories Of Development

• In 1980s countries were classified into two categories based on how economically developed they are.

• Richer countries – Most Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs).

• Poorer countries – Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs).

• MEDCs are mainly in the north (USA, European countries, Australia and New Zealand).

• LEDCs are mainly found in the south (India, China, Mexico, Brazil and all the African countries).

• In the 1980s the Brandt Report was published which divided rich countries into the north and poor countries into south. The line used to divide is called the Brandt line.

• Classification can’t tell how fast countries are developing and which are not. It is also based on wealth which doesn't always match the development level (for example: Literacy can be high even if GDP is low).

LDC, MIC, NIC and MDC- Categories Of Development

Most developed countries (MDC) – These are the most developed countries in the world. (The UK, Norway, USA, Canada and France.)

Least Developed Countries (LDC) – These are the world’s poorest countries with the lowest quality of life.(Ethiopia, Chad and Angola).

Middle Income Countries ( MIC) – These countries aren’t really poor but they are not rich either. They are developing quickly but not as quickly as NICs.(Albania, Bulgaria, Poland).

Newly Industrialising Countries ( NICs) –These are countries are rapidly getting richer as their economy is moving from being based on primary industry to secondary industry.(China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa)

Environmental factors affecting development

A poor climateA country with a poor climate will not be able to grow much which reduces the amount of food produced. In some countries this can lead to malnutrition and people who are malnourished have a low quality of life. Also people have fewer crops to sell so less money to spend on goods and services which also reduces quality of life. The government gets less money from taxes which means less spent on development.Poor farming landIf land in a country is steep or has poor soil then they won’t be able to produce a lot of food. This will lead to the same effect as poor climate.

Limited water supply

Some countries don’t have a lot of water which makes it harder for them to produce a lot of food. This will lead to the same effect as poor climate.

Lots of natural hazardsAn event which has potential affect

to people’s life or property and if this happens it is called a natural disaster. Countries that have a lot of natural disasters have to spend a lot of money rebuilding after the disaster has occurred. They reduce the quality of life for the people affected and the amount of money the government has to spend on development projects.

Few raw materials

Countries with few raw material like coal, oil or metal ores tend to make less money due to few products to sell. This leads to less money to spend on development. However, some countries have a lot of raw materials but still aren’t developed due to no money to spend on developing the infrastructure to exploit them (roads and ports).

LandlockedCountries that are landlocked (surrounded by countries) are likely to have poor trade links which makes it harder for them to trade as they don’t have access to ports or other trade links to commute to countries. This means only a few products are sold and not a lot of money is made if the countries that they are surrounded by are poor. Due a little amount of money made, there is not much money to spend on development.

Social factors affecting development

Drinking waterA country who have clean drinking water available will be more developed this is because there will be less people getting ill (waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid). People being ill reduces the quality of life of a person’s. Also ill people don’t work so they don’t add to the economy and cost money to treat. So if a country has unsafe drinking water they’ll have more ill people and so less money to develop.

The place of women in society

If women have an equal place with men in society then the country is more developed because the women are then likely to be educated and work and therefore improve their quality of life. Also then the country has more money to spend on development.

Child education

The more children that go to school rather than work the more developed the country is. This is because better education means better job and this improves a person’s quality of life and increases the money spent on development.

Economic factors affecting development

Poor trade links

Trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries and the world trade patterns seriously influence a country’s economy and affects the level of development. A country with poor trade links (only trades with a few countries) it won’t make a lot of money so there will be less to spend on development.

Lots of debt

Very poor countries borrow money from other countries and international organisations. For example to help cope with the aftermath of a natural disaster. The money that is spent has to be paid back sometimes with interest. Any money a country makes is used to pay back the money so it is not used on development.

An economy based on primary products

Countries that mostly trade primary products tend to be less developed as they don’t make much profit by selling primary products. Their prices also fluctuate so sometimes the price below the cost of production. This means people don’t make much money, so the government has less to spend on development. Moreover, some rich countries can force down the prices of the raw materials that they buy from poorer countries.

Political factors that affect development

Unstable or corrupt governmentSome countries have an unstable government which might not invest in things like healthcare, education or improving the economy. This leads to slow development or no development at all.

A corrupt government means that some people in the country get richer by breaking the law while the others stay poor and have a low quality of life. This leads to very slow development as money is not spent on the poorest people.

War

If there is a war in the country it causes the country to loose money that it could have spent on development. This is because equipment is expensive, buildings get destroyed and fewer people work as they are fighting. War also directly reduces the quality of life for the people living in the country. Also as most of the money is spent on war there is not enough money being spent on development which slows it down.

Colonisation in the pastColonisation in the past meant that the resources were taken so the country don’t have anything to sell. If they have nothing to sell which has a high demand there will be a very low income in the country and this will slow the development down.

Speeding up development Some types of international aid can speed up development.

Aid is given by one country to another country in a form of money or resources (food or doctors.)

• A country that gives is aid is called a donor country.

• The one that gets the aid is called the recipient.Types of donors:

• Government (paid by taxes)

• Non- Governmental Organisation – NGOs (paid for by voluntary donations).

Two types of government donors:

1. Directly to the recipient (Bilateral aid) – Government to government.

2. Indirectly through an international organisation like United Nations (UN) and world bank (Multilateral aid) - Government to organisation.

A disadvantage of Bilateral aid is that it can be tied which means it is given with a condition that the recipient country has to buy the goods and services it needs from the donor. This helps the economy of the donor country. However, if the goods and services are expensive in the donor country, the aid doesn’t go as far as it would if the goods or services where brought elsewhere.

Short-term aid:

This money or resources that help recipient countries cope during emergencies. The aid has an immediate impact so more people will survive the emergency. However, the development stage stays unchanged. Also if either country is slow to react aid may not get to where it’s needed the most and it may not reach those who need it due to theft and transport problems.

Long –term aid:

This is money or resources that help recipient to develop. For example, build dams and wells, to improve the clean water supply or construct schools to improve the literacy rate. Over time the recipient countries become less reliant on foreign aid as they become more developed. However, it can take a while before the aid benefits a country for example, countries take long time to build.

Both types of aid may make the recipient dependent as the don’t bother

spending their own money developing themselves because they get it from somewhere else. Some countries misuse the aid because they have a corrupt government – They fund

themselves or pay for political event.

FOR AID TO BE SUSTAINABLE IT MUST DEVELOP THE COUNTRY IN A WAY THAT IT DOESN'T IRREVERSIBLY DAMAGE THE ENVIRONMENT OR USE RESOURCES FASTER THEN IT CAN BE REPLACED.

AN EXAMPLE OF A SUSTAINABLE AID PROJECT WOULD BE A SCHEME THAT HELPS PEOPLE SWITCH FROM EARNING MONEY BY DEFORESTATION TO EARNING MONEY IN A MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY WAY. THIS REDUCES THE ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AND MAKES TRESS STILL EXIST FOR THE FUTURE GENERATION.

AN EXAMPLE FOR AN UNSUSTAINABLE AID PROJECT WOULD BE INVESTMENT IN LARGE, SHALLOW WATER WELLS IN AREAS WITH A LITTLE RAINFALL. USE OF THE WATER WELLS COULD USE UP WATER FASTER THAN IT IS REPLACED. THIS MEANS THE AMOUNT OF WATER AVAILABLE FOR THE FUTURE GENERATION WOULD BE REDUCED.

International aid

Why aid is not successful

Not always sent in

warzone because it is

stolen or used for the wrong

purpose

You don’t have the resources to use

the aid so the wrong type of aid

is given.

People become reliant on aid which might

affect local jobs like farming.

Tied aid

Unable to pay back the loan which could

cause war.

Corrupt government so money spent on

wrong things.

It would make things worse

without proper research.

Best schemes of aid

It is cheap and easy to run

Changes local tradition as little

as possible

Helps local people develop their own skill and knowledge

Encourages local people to work together and

help themselves

Long term

Uses simple technology

Damage the environment as

little as possible

Helps the poorest people

Independent Are small scale

Environmental

SocialEconomic