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Grade 11- DEVELOPMENT GEOGRAPHY

DEVELOPMENT – An improvement in a countries economic and social condition.
 Requires good management of natural and human resources.
 Measured by increased wealth and improved quality of life.

LOW
INCOME NON- INDUSTRIALIZED
POOR
(Agricultural)

DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
THIRD
L.E.D.C’S
WORLD

LEDC’s contain 83 % of world population SOUTH

*Check out the Brandt Division (or north/south divide) on page 194 of your textbook.

HIGH
INCOME
RICH
INDUSTRIALIZED

DEVELOPED
COUNTRIES

M.E.D.C’S FIRST
WORLD

NORTH

 A third economic category (of countries) is the Newly Industrialized Countries

(N.I.C’s) – examples are; Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Korea, Singapore and
Taiwan.
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INDICATORS OF DEVELOPMENT (measuring development)

ECONOMIC INDICATORS
1. G.D.P (Gross Domestic Product). Total value of all goods and services produced
within one countries borders in a year.
 All currencies converted to U.S $ for comparison.
 Includes trade.
 Money earned by citizens and non-citizens (working in the country).
 Most common measure of a countries economic wealth.
 South Africa’s GDP for 2020 was 302 billion USD
 Germany’s GDP for 2020 was 3 806 trillion USD
2. G.N.P (Gross national Product).
The value of goods and services produced by the citizens of a country - both domestically
and abroad.

3. G.N.P per capita.

 G.N.P divided by total population of a country.
 A better measure of wealth of the citizens of a country than G.D.P.

4. Levels of poverty
689 million people live in extreme poverty, that is, - below 1.90 $ per person per day.
World and African poverty levels have decreased but South African poverty levels have
Increased. 56 % of South Africa’s population (31 million) live in poverty.

World levels of extreme poverty (source- World Bank)

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5. Economic structure
 Contribution to G.D.P. by economic sector (primary, secondary, tertiary) - as a
percentage.
 Employment by economic sector (primary, secondary, tertiary) - as a percentage.

6. Balance of trade.
 Is the difference between the value of a country's exports and the value of its
imports.
 Analysed in terms of a positive or negative balance of trade.
 South African trade balance in 2021 was positive 25.8 billion USD.

7. Gini co-efficient.
 Measures economic inequality
in a country or the gap
between the rich and poor.
 Given as a percentage.
 O% indicates a perfectly equal
distribution of income
(or wealth) within a population.
 100 % represents complete
inequality when one person in
a population receives all the
income, while other people
earn nothing.
 Co-efficients generally range
from 24% to 63%.
 South Africa is the most
unequal country in the world
with a co-efficient of 63 %. ….or about 100 kilograms !
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SOCIAL INDICATORS OF DEVELOPMENT

1. Levels of education and literacy rate
 Levels of education – measured by average years of schooling per person.
 Literacy rate (being able to read and write) given as a percentage of the
population.

2. Quality of life or Human Development Index (H.D.I).

HDI values vary from 0 (dismal) to 1 or 100% (excellent).
Study Figure 16.9 on page 201 of your textbook and Table 16.7 on page 209 of your
textbook.
HDI is measured as a percentage or decimal by combining levels of:
 Health- measured by life expectancy
 Education- measured by years of schooling and adult literacy.
 Living standards- measured by GNP per capita.

3. Access to basic services such as water, electricity and clinics.

4. Food security or prevalence of hunger.
5. Gender equality.
6. Prevalence of disease.

DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS OF DEVELOPMENT

1. Infant mortality rate – given as number of infant deaths per 1000 births.
 South Africa stands at 27. Infant mortality is under 4 for developed countries.
 Is an indirect measure of:
Primary health care.
Nutrition levels
Water quality
Education of mothers
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2. Life expectancy.
 In South Africa is 64 years. In France life expectancy is 82 years.
 Is a measure of nutrition levels and health care.
3. Population growth rate.
 Given as a percentage of total population.
 Developing countries generally have high population growth rates and high
dependency ratios.
 Most countries in Africa have population growth rates above 2% and most
European countries have negative population growth rates.
 South Africa’s population growth rate is 1.3%.

Source- https://resilience.earth.lsa.umich.edu/units/population/index.html
POPULATION (BILLIONS)

4. Level of urbanization (urbanization rate).

 Given as a percentage
 An indirect measure of level of industrialization.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS
Sustainable development acknowledges that an economy will only continue to develop in the long
term if the natural and human resources of the country are in healthy condition.
Sustainable development looks at economic, social and demographic factors (described above) as
well as:
 Basic needs of people.
 The health of natural ecosystems.
SCALE OR SPATIAL ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT.
 The Gini co-efficient emphasizes that there may be huge differences in development between
the rich and poor in a country or region.
 It is important to note that there may be huge spatial differences in development:
From province to province in a country.
From region to region in a continent.
Global differences as shown by the Brandt Line on page 194 of your textbook (see
Figure 16.5).
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EXAMPLES OF DEVELOPMENT DIFFERENCES:

 Local scale- see Figure 16.8 (textbook page 200) and Figure 16.13 ( textbook
page 205)
 Regional scale -
See development differences between the three regional trade blocs in
Africa – Read textbook page 207 and study Table 16.6 (textbook page
208).
 Global scale -
See Sweden and Lesotho development comparison (textbook pages 201-
202.)
Study Table 16.7 on textbook page 209.

FRAMEWORKS FOR DEVELOPMENT (or ways of thinking about how to achieve

development.)

Political
POWER, POLICY,
MANAGEMENT DECISIONS

Social Economic
JOBS AND MONEY
PEOPLE AND HOW THEY
INTERACT

Biophysical base
CLIMATE, RELIEF,
SOILS, VEGETATION
AND ANIMALS

FACTORS AFFECTING DEVELOPMENT

1. History:
 Past colonial policies by industrialized countries led to exploitation of human and natural
resources in less developed regions of the world.
 Colonial trade imbalances led to rich countries becoming richer and poor countries becoming
poorer.

2. Access to resources and natural resource limitations:

 The presence of strategic resources (for example iron, coal and oil) and high value resources
(for example gold and platinum) does give a country or region an advantage to develop
economically.
 High levels of technology in ‘Western’ or ‘First World’ countries historically enabled them to
control global resource extraction, even if these ‘First World’ countries did not have many
strategic or high value resources.
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 Levels of technology affects the ability to process raw materials into high demand/high cost
manufactured products. Advanced technology in ‘First world’ countries enabled them to
control both the manufacturing process and pricing of manufactured items.
 Many developing countries of the world are found in the tropics and sub-tropics where
infertile soils (tropics) or a lack of rainfall/water (sub-tropics) inhibits food security. Food
insecurity restricts urban industrial economic development.

HIGH PROFITS
GLOBAL TRADE IMBALANCE
‘First World’
EXPENSIVE
Extraction requires:
Low technology
Low skill levels
Low wages paid
Processing requires:
CHEAP High technology
High skill levels
LOW PROFITS High wages paid
‘Third World’

3. Trade imbalances:
 The above diagram illustrates that the economic development of those regions or
countries that own the production process is rapid.
 Slow economic development occurs in those regions/countries that only produce
and sell raw materials.
 L.E.D.C’s experience a negative trade balance when trading with M.E.D.C’s,
whereas, M.E.D.C’s enjoy a positive trade balance.
 Colonialism (in the past) and Globalization (in recent times) has entrenched this
global trade imbalance.
 Multinational companies control 70% of world trade.
(You need to understand the terms; ‘Globalization’ and ‘Multinational companies’.

4. Energy/power:
 Social development (improvements in standards of living and education) as well
as economic development is linked to a cheap, reliable electricity or power
supply.
 Less than half of the world’s population have access to cheap, reliable energy.
 People in developing countries of the world rely on biomass fuels (wood and
dung).
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5. Trade imbalance and environmental degradation

 Highly industrialized developed countries consume 70% of all energy used in the
world. Most of this energy is still unsustainable (environmentally damaging) Co 2
producing, fossil fuel consumption.

Source – ‘The Guardian’

 Many ‘third world’ countries are locked into being the suppliers of cheap raw materials for the ‘first
world’ industrial nations.
 The only way ‘third world’ countries can grow economically is by exporting more raw materials.
 The natural environment is therefore exploited.
 Hardwood forests are cut down for timber and to make way for rubber tree plantations, oil palm
plantations or grazing lands for the beef industry.
 Strip or opencast mining is carried out without a revegetation programme.
 Indigenous grassland areas in South Africa have been converted into pine and eucalyptus
plantations in order to facilitate the export of rayon pulp (raw material for paper and textile
manufacture). This has a huge impact on biodiversity and water resources.
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6. Population growth and environmental degradation.

 Rapid population growth in a country or region puts pressure on natural
resources, especially in regions with high rural population numbers.
 In developing African countries overgrazing, over-cropping and deforestation has
created a vicious cycle of desertification, decreasing rainfall and dropping water
table levels.

Desertification in Mali - Wikipedia

7. Education and training

 High levels of education and research promote the development of technology.
 Technology creates alternative/sustainable ways of utilizing resources that are
less damaging to the environment and more financially rewarding for a country.
 The infographic above titled ‘Global trade imbalance however illustrates that a
trade imbalance occurs in which developing countries are only producing raw
materials. In such cases:
Social development as far as transfer of skills, knowledge and technology
(education and training) is very slow.
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POLICIES TO ADDRESS TRADE IMBALANCES (unfair trade)

 Trade ‘blocs’ such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and
SADC (Southern African Development Community) allow for ‘free trade’ (no
import taxes) between member states.
 Import tariffs (tax) are paid when goods are brought in from outside the ‘bloc.’
 ‘Fair Trade’ is an organization emphasizing the moral obligation of developed
countries to pay more for raw materials from developing countries. It is hoped
that this would allow for more sustainable economic and social development in
the developing world.

DEVELOPMENT MODELS
Models are generalizations (simplifications) of reality.
Each country or region in the world has very different interactions:
 Between people.
 Between people and the resources of nature.
No one model can accurately explain or predict development in a region or country but
all models do try to explain and predict how:
 A countries economy develops (or does not develop) over time.
 Problems facing development can be predicted and overcome.
 Government policies can help or hinder development.

FREE MARKET MODELS

1. ROSTOWS MODEL (developed in 1950’s)

Great Britain
reached this stage
first in the 1790’s
Europe
1700 - 1800
Great Britain
before 1750

USA in the
Great Britain in 1950’s
the 1850’s followed by
Britain,
Western
Europe and
Japan.

Cross reference the above infographic with Table 17.1 on page 215 of your textbook.
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ROSTOWS MODEL:
Advantages:
 Provides insight that development is a stage by stage growth. Each achievement in a pre-
ceding stage creates a platform to assist further economic growth.
 Shows links between political/government policy and economic development.
Disadvantages or limitations
 Eurocentric- An American and West European model- not applicable to many other places in
the world.
 Does not explain regional variations in development in one country caused by natural
uneven distribution of resources.
 Did not address the immorality of colonialism/imperialism…the primary means whereby
European countries achieved ‘take-off’.
 Developing countries believed money or Capital was needed for Rostows ‘take-off’. African
and Asian countries borrowed from MEDC’s – creating huge national debt. LEDC’s therefore
could not advance past stage 2.
 Focused on economic growth rather than true development which considers political, social
and environmental aspects.

2. FRIEDMANN’S CORE-PERIPHERY MODEL (1960’s-1970’s)

Stage 1. Pre- industrial society.
 Independent local towns (centres).
 Each town has its own sphere of influence.
 No hierarchy of towns.
Stage 2. Transitional.
 Industrialization results in a single core city.
 Centralization happens as labour, resources
and capital move to the core.
Stage 3. Industrial.
 Sub-cores develop around one national core.
 Sub cores develop because of local natural
resources or a large regional market in the
periphery.
 Increased wealth in the periphery creates a
market.
Stage 4. Post Industrial.
 Maximum growth reached in whole country.
 Independent cities linked by trade.

Advantages- The following accurate observations were made: ‘multiplier effects’ is

 Centralization is necessary for economic growth. when one economic
 Core economy grew mainly because of ‘multiplier effects’. activity creates a
 There was a decrease in wealth, services and development in the periphery. market for other
 Model can be applied to both local and global scales activities.
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Disadvantages or limitations
 Friedmann believed that the under-development noticed in the periphery would
only be a temporary phase (stage 2). He believed stage 3 and 4 would see
renewed development in the periphery- this was not seen in most countries.
 In reality core regions grew because of the exploitation of the periphery areas.
This unequal development is characterized by:
Higher wages in the core, unemployment and low wages in the periphery.
Monopolies.
Widening gap between rich and poor.
Environmental damage or resource exhaustion in the peripheries.
 The development gap created by a ‘free market’ economy could only be
addressed by government policies of decentralization.

In South Africa SDI’s (Spatial Development Initiatives) and IDZ,s (Industrial

Development Zones) are two decentralization strategies to address the inequality
created by the natural centralization process in a ‘monopoly capitalist’ / ‘free’ market
economy.

3. SUSTAINABILITY MODELS (1990’s - 2000’s)

Sustainability models acknowledge
that long term (sustainable)
development can only happen if:
 The health of the natural
environment, which provides
resources, is maintained through
careful management.
 People (human resources) are
treated fairly:
Acceptably low Gini index.
Basic needs are met.
Decision making is inclusive.
 Economic growth is characterized
by:
Diversity (not only mining for
example).
Diversity creates stability-
low inflation and stable job
market.
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COMMUNITY BASED DEVELOPMENT

Principles guiding rural and urban community development will be addressed by looking at examples
from around the world.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL

Read page 219 of your textbook and study Figure 17.7 on page 220.
Study the principles of creating a rural sustainability commons, with reference to The Three Crowns
Primary School project in the Eastern Cape.
In this project the community aims at self-reliance through establishing:
 A sustainable commons (understand this term….see page 219).
 Appropriate technology (know this term) developed in the commons was used for
community development projects and in individual homes.
 Off the grid energy sources…both solar power and a biogas digester are used.
 Employment opportunities using local farming knowledge and resources:
A small scale commercial farming business was created with a greenhouse and
nursery.
The greenhouse was built with two litre plastic bottles. Vermiculture was used to
generate fertilizer for the greenhouse agriculture.
 Out of community partnerships with:
Municipal government, the development bank, Wessa and Eskom.
Urban retail outlets who would buy the community produce.

(Combustible methane)
Greenhouse nursery
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URBAN DEVELOPMENT MODEL

Read the ‘Study of Curitoba’ on page 220 of your textbook and study Figure 17.8 on
page 221. Curitoba is in southern Brazil.
This development model aimed to slow down the rapid uncontrolled/unsustainable
growth of the city of Curitoba. The strategy aimed at:
 Creating outer ring roads so inter-district traffic does not enter the city centre.
 Upgrading major ‘feeder’ roads radiating outwards from the city centre.
 Placing new high density residential and high density industrial zones near each
other along the ‘feeder’ roads.
This reduces the need to travel long distances between work and home.
This reduces the physical size of residential areas.
Allow space for ‘green belts’.
 Using buses as the main form of public transport:
Government owned and subsidized buses reduces passenger fees.
Private transport, traffic congestion and air pollution is reduced.
Mini buses are used in the outlying residential areas.
Standard 60 seater buses are used on the ring roads.
Large 100 seater buses operate close to the city centre along the main
‘feeder’ routes.

100 seater bus

This model would have limited success in South African cities because:
 Low cost formal housing is single unit RDP houses. Contract corruption works
against real change- either densification (requiring major civil engineering) or
self-build projects.
 ‘Public’ transport is dominated by private high cost mini bus ‘cartels’.
 There is slow growth in industry and employment creation. Brazil has 3.5 times
more people but 7 times the land area and greater geographic spread of
resources.
 South Africa’s population growth rate is double that of Brazil’s.
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TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

Trade is the exchange of commodities (goods/products) or services for money.
Trade, local or international is because of:
 Uneven distribution of raw materials.
 Uneven distribution of technology and skills required for manufacturing.

International trade is complicated by:

 Tariffs (import taxes).
 Delays in shipment.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Any group of people with money is a potential market for trade. A good market may be:
 A region with a dense population.
 A region where people have a lot of money.
WORLD MARKETS, COMMODITIES TRADED AND TERMS OF TRADE
International markets are monopolized by rich MEDC countries such as Germany, France, U.K,
U.S.A and Japan. These countries have the technology and capital to manufacture useful
commodities (eg- cell phones, motor vehicles) and services (eg- Microsoft, google and fast food).

 LEDC countries cannot easily manufacture

products that compete with products (visible
trade) or services from MEDC countries.
 LEDC countries are then locked into a negative
trade balance cycle, in which, they export cheap
raw materials and import expensive
manufactured products or services.
TRADE BALANCE - the value difference between imports
and exports of visible goods.
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS - the value difference between
income and expenditure on all trade (visible and
invisible).
TRADE DEFICIT - the value of a negative trade balance. Robert Higgs – FEE STORIES

Globalization has entrenched this unfair ‘colonial’ type of global trade relationship described
above.
GLOBALIZATION refers to the increased potential for global trade created by advancements in
transport and information technology.
Countries are becoming more interconnected and interdependent. Resources, goods, services,
skills and to some extent technology move freely over international borders.
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A hypothetical trade cycle model – using VW as an example.

PHASE 1 PHASE 2
A German motor company German production costs rise due to high labour costs and rising
(VW) identifies local and costs of transport of raw materials
international markets for a Some LEDC’s or NIC’s produce cars at lower production costs due to:
cheap and reliable car.  Access to technology
VW exports its product.  Cheaper labour costs
 Abundant and cheap local raw materials
PHASE 3
VW only survives by becoming a multinational company.
In 1951 VW opened its 2nd largest production plant (outside Wolfsburg) in South Africa.
This was to exploit cheap labour and raw materials (outsourcing production).
Multinationals enabled MEDC countries to maintain market control (monopolization).
Certain VW models produced in South Africa are exported to Germany.
Multinational companies such as VW are the most obvious manifestation of globalization.

* MULTINATIONAL COMPANY (MNC)- A company that has business operations in

two or more countries. These companies are often managed from a head office in
their home country (usually in an MEDC), but with offices worldwide. Simply exporting
goods to be sold abroad does not make a company a multinational.

Examples of successful multi-national  Most of these MEDC based companies outsource

companies: production to LEDC countries or NIC countries
 Microsoft. such as China, India or South Africa.
 IBM.
 Many LEDC countries such as South Africa offer
 Nestle. reduced tax on profits and cheap prices for water,
 Coca-Cola. electricity and transport in order to attract
 Toyota. multinational investments.
 Sony.  For a more free movement of resources, goods,
 Ford. services and skills between countries it was
 Adidas necessary to relax trade barriers such as import
taxes – that is to create free trade.
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Advantages of globalization Disadvantages of globalization

 Increased economic opportunities and  Technology is still controlled by MEDC
employment creation in MEDC and LEDC countries, so - not enough technology
countries. transfer to LEDC due to legal patents.
 Revenue for governments from tax as  Smaller companies in LEDC countries close
multinational companies expand in LEDC. down as they cannot compete with Multi-
 Rapid growth and business development national companies. Job losses are a
worldwide made possible by i-net and problem.
electronic media developments such as  LEDC locked into supplying cheap raw
Facebook or Google-Meet. materials and labour.
 Infrastructure and tourism development –  Rich get richer and poor get poorer.
especially in MEDC.  Growth leads to increased economic
 Expansion of banking and financial sectors. inequality, especially in LEDC countries –
 Skills development in LEDC and some Gini Co-efficient increases.
technology transfer from MEDC to LEDC.

Obstacles to increased trade for developing (LEDC) countries may be:

 A lack of infrastructure and technology.
 Low levels of technology which reduces the manufacturing base required to
produce valuable products.
 Corruption (greed within ruling elite) and crime (mainly due to poverty).

TYPES OF TRADE RELATIONSHIPS- Free trade, trade barriers, subsidies and Fair Trade
FREE TRADE
If all trade in the world was ‘free trade’ then:
 MEDC companies or Multinational companies would monopolise world trade.
 Economic growth and development in LEDC countries would be very slow.
TRADE BLOCS AND TRADE BARRIERS
Some countries have grouped together, creating a ‘trade bloc’ (trade group) in order to make
trade cheaper and easier between them:
 Free trade is allowed between countries in the ‘bloc’.
 Trade barriers in the form of heavy import taxes or import quotas are placed on products
brought in from outside the ‘bloc’.
 Import quotas restrict the volume or quantity of imported products.
 Trade tariffs (taxes) and import quotas serve to:
Limit the negative impact stronger economies may have on weaker economies.
Protect companies in a country from cheap imports or ‘dumping’.
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The world’s regional trade groups (‘blocs’)

How are trade ‘blocs established’?
1. Trade ‘blocs’ can either be established geographically, that is many countries in a
region join together. This is illustrated in the above map.
2. Trade ‘blocs’ may also be created between countries with similar strength
economies – to avoid domination by a stronger economy.
 There may be some overlap between trade blocs type 1 and 2 above. For
example:
South Africa is part of the regional Southern African Development
Community (S.A.D.C).
South Africa is also a part of a group of ‘emerging market’ countries
known as B.R.I.C.S (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

B.R.I.C.S Trade Bloc.

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SUBSIDIES
Government intervention aims to assist exports and provide protection against imports.
In South Africa the clothing, textiles and leather goods industry receives government
assistance from the farm to the factory.
 This includes farmer training as well as subsidies to maintain the health of cotton
crops, cattle and sheep.
 Factory owners benefit from tax rebates, training subsidies and subsidized
transport of raw materials.
 These subsidies allow for quality, well priced products, able to compete against
cheap imports.
 In this way employment within the textile sector is also protected.
 The South African government has insisted on a 45% import tax on all clothing
and textiles even from B.R.I.C.S countries such as China.
 The tourism and automobile manufacturing sectors in South Africa also benefit
from government subsidies.
 Some governments make direct subsidy payments to exporters. This export
subsidy would be a percentage of the value of the exports.
 Governments may also manipulate the value of their currency. A weaker
currency will raise the cost of imports and lower the cost of exports.

Clothing manufacture- Agoa info Cotton growing – Source- Farmers Weekly

FAIR TRADE
Emerging or developing countries such as South Africa, Brazil and China are calling for:
 Laws banning ‘dumping’ of cheap imports. This is to protect local manufacturers.
 Higher prices to be paid for raw materials from LEDC countries.
 A fixed price for raw materials independent of world market price fluctuations.
This would mean that the manufacturers and consumers at the top end of the
value market chain safeguard the producers of raw materials at the lower end
of the value chain.
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‘Fairtrade International’ is an organization controlled by the World

Trade Organization (WTO). ‘Fairtrade international’:
A. Convinces producers in MEDC countries of the need for a
global citizenship mentality and to carry the ‘Fairtrade’ logo
on their products.
B. Aims to increase prices of products on supermarket shelves
in MEDC countries.
C. Hopes richer people in MEDC countries feel they are
partners in helping stop famine, poverty and economic
injustice in LEDC countries. Consider how good you feel
when you pay an extra two rand at KFC as part of the
“Addhope” campaign that feeds 110 000 children each day
in South Africa.

Fairtrade companies like ‘Cadbury’ ensure that the quality of

life of cocoa farmers in LEDC countries are improved
through:
 Higher wages.
 Medical aid provision.
 Fair labour practice
 Community resource development projects such as
the building of libraries, schools and clinics.
 Providing basic services such as water and renewable
electricity.

EXPORT LED DEVELOPMENT

It is thought that if governments in LEDC countries grow the number of export products from their
country then rapid development will follow through:
 Increase in GDP and money available.
 To import commodities more cheaply.
 Repay foreign debt.
 A more favourable balance of trade.
 Improvement in skills (education) and technology base.
 Increase in jobs available.
 Export growth creates demand for additional services (multiplier effect) such as transport
and banking.
 One industry, for example – motor vehicles, creates a need or provides a market for other
link industries, like automotive paint and tyre production.
 Export driven production stimulates growth in the primary sector (farming, fishing and mining)
through demand for raw materials.
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DISADVANTAGES OF EXPORT DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT

 LEDC countries require foreign capital in the form of loans and imported technology –
leading to debt.
 Workers are often exploited- receiving low wages.
 Governments neglect agricultural investment and leading to food insecurity (famine and
hunger).
 Products exported from LEDC countries are often cheap raw materials. This leads to a
negative trade balance when expensive high technology products are imported from MEDC
countries.
 The only way ‘third world’ countries can grow economically is by exporting more raw
materials. The natural environment is therefore exploited.
* Read Case Studies 1, 2 and 3 on pages 238, 239 and 240 of your textbook.
Complete Activity18.6 on page 240 of your textbook.
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Traditional restrictions on the role of women Market gardening near Johannesburg

Gender inequality
 In the rural areas of many LEDC countries, particularly Africa, women do much of the work to
ensure food is grown, water, and firewood is collected and the daily needs of children are met.
 Much of these daily activities, particularly water and firewood collection are time consuming.
 Women need to be involved in community decision making before the daily quality of life in
many rural areas can be improved.
 Women have traditional knowledge, for examples:
 Medicinal herbs.
 Grass weaving.
 Pottery.
 Growing crops
 Many traditional skills can be used to set up informal businesses.
 In South Africa’s traditional communities Gender equality is a challenge.
However, the Gender Advocacy Programme (G.A.P), launched in 2002 aims to secure equal
representation for women at community level, in education, and all levels of government.
*Read: The Fact File on page 242 of your textbook and Figure 19.2 on page 243 of your textbook.
Complete Activity 19.1 on page 242 of your textbook.
 23

IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The long term (sustainable) availability of natural economic resources is determined by how
countries value the natural environment.
An African proverb reads: “Treat our earth well, it was not given to us by our parents – it was lent to us
by our children”.
A brief history of world leader’s commitment to sustainable development:
 June 1992 – In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, at a United Nations conference a list of sustainable
development goals was agreed upon. These goals were called ‘Agenda 21’.
 In September 2000 world leaders, including the South African president, committed
themselves to the ‘Agenda 21’ goals laid out in 1992.
 Eight Millennium Development Goals are outlined in the ‘NOTE PAD’ on page 246 of your
textbook.
Goal number 7 is ‘Ensure environmental sustainability’
The three main development factors reducing environmental sustainability are:
1. Urban growth
2. Industrial pollution.
3. Weak or ineffective state control.
1. Urban growth
Urban growth, in particular, urban sprawl, which is
the uncontrolled expansion of an urban area
outwards into the surrounding rural area. Control of
urban expansion is to be achieved by:
A. Setting aside ‘Green Belts’, in or around a
city in which development is strictly controlled.
Green belts allow for:
The conservation of natural flora and
fauna.
Infiltration of rainwater- reduces flood risk
Natural filtering of air and water pollution.
Peaceful recreation and eco-tourism areas.
B. Ranking land in the rural urban fringe for development.
Use ‘Brownfield’ sites rather than ‘Greenfield’ sites for new housing, factories or business
development.
Use low potential agricultural land in the rural urban fringe for urban development not
good agricultural land. This allows for market gardening in the area of good agricultural
land and a green belt within an expanding urban area.
* Brownfield site- A site within an urban area that has been previously developed and
could be re-developed.
* Greenfield site- A site with high agricultural or eco-tourism potential that has never
been developed.
 24

C. Ranking cities according to a ‘Green City Index’. Study Table 19.2 on page 247
of your textbook.
The ratings given on table 19.2 for selected South African cities are about
15 years old.
Environmental governance, waste disposal and in particular, water quality
ratings for many South African cities have deteriorated. Most urban rivers
and streams in South Africa have alarming e-coli bacteria levels.
2. Industrial pollution
The BRICS trade bloc has adopted an
environmental ranking system for its companies.
Some of the categories rated are:
 Air pollution in particular, Co2 and So2 emissions.
 Rehabilitation of natural habitat after stripping for
industrial development or mining.
 Zero liquid effluent discharge.

3. Weak or ineffective state control will result in:

 Environmental exploitation
 Decline in quality of basic public services.
 Widespread corruption and criminality.
 Economic decline, characterized by dis-investment and unemployment.
 Centralization of all state administrative functions – often a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction promoting
stronger state control of provinces – read ‘Case Study 2’ on page 251 of your textbook.

ROLE OF THE STATE IN DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Table 19.3 on page 250 of your textbook provides an example of one of the South African government’s
development strategies, namely ASGISA (Accelerated and shared growth in South Africa)- Read Case
Study 1 on page 249 of your textbook and study Table 19.3.
A summary of the importance of state intervention in development as part of the ASGISA
strategy is given below. Strong state control is necessary to:
 Manage the use of resources to ensure sustainable resource use or minimal environmental
impact.
 Provide incentives for manufacturing in order to add value to raw materials.
 Collect taxes and provide government services such as:
Effective road, rail, harbour and airport infrastructure as well as infrastructure for electronic
communication (cell-phone and internet signal).
Improve education and skills training
Improve basic health care, electricity provision and water provision.
Manage strategic parastatals (state-owned enterprises) like Eskom and Telkom are
companies listed on the J.S.E in which government owns the majority of shares.
Manage and create incentives for investment in steel production.
 Regulate supply and demand for commodities. This enables government to regulate South
African prices of goods and services.
 25

 Encourage trade and overseas investment by creating trade blocs (like B.R.I.C.S) and other
investor incentives.
 South Africa’s Industrial Development Zones (I.D.Z) strategy offers investors cheap land,
cheap electricity, cheap water, free trade, training subsidies and tax rebates.
 Promote tourism
 Protect local agriculture
 Protect local business through import duties, import quotas and subsidies.

Ecotourism resources and rural development Buy local campaign - proudly South African
 Protect and nurture the informal economy (or the second economy), in particular
the role of women in small business development.
 Improve training and skills development.
 Facilitate government (public sector) and private sector partnerships.

DEVELOPMENT AID and DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION

Aid is usually from MEDC countries to LEDC Countries.
Often results in international debt. Debts have to be repaid, with interest. This means that money
made from trade must be used to repay debts rather than for development.
Direct investment by multinational companies like Toyota or Sumitomo (tyres) is considered
development co-operation because both the LEDC country and MEDC multinational company
join together as development partners.
The UN has suggested developed countries pay 0.7% of their GDP to fund development aid, but
the EU has agreed on 0.33%.
 26

Technical aid Conditional aid

 Not directly financial.  Usually directly financial
 Human skills or expertise given.  Bilateral, that is, only two countries are
 To manage a development programme. involved. May be direct investment in
 Or for a specific project- eg building a school. infrastructure or by a multinational company.
 Multilateral aid is administered by an
international organization such as the U.N
World Bank or Oxfam.
TYPES OF
AID

Humanitarian aid - can be short term (Relief) or long term (Humanitarian).

RELIEF AID:
 Given to relieve a short term crisis or suffering. Short term relief may be given
until the humanitarian consequences of a drought (famine) or earthquake have
been dealt with.
 In this instance aid is given as a grant and does not need to be repaid.
HUMANITARIAN AID:
 If a humanitarian crisis has been a long time in the making such as poverty. Aid
may be given over a prolonged period.
 In this instance aid most often is not a grant and has to be repaid.

Study Table 20.1 on

page 254 of your
textbook to understand
the advantages and
disadvantages of
giving and receiving
aid.

Multinationals and the IMF- Modern colonialism?- source

Piyush Goswami
 27

In order to reduce the development gap between MEDC and LEDC nations the
following suggestions have been made:

1. Debt cancellation
 Cancellation of all international debt. This would mean a loss of income for
MEDC countries.
 Only cancel the interest on debt.
 Cancel debt of countries that show good governance.

2. Trade agreements
 MEDC countries promise to do more trade with LEDC countries.
 This trade should be according to ‘Fair Trade’ principles.

3. Removal of subsidies
 MEDC governments provide subsidies to farmers or manufacturers in their
countries.
 Goods are produced below market price.
 Farmers and businessmen in LEDC countries cannot sell their products and
go out of business because of cheaper imported commodities.

Pages 256 – 260 in your textbook provide case studies that highlight the positive and
negative consequences of development aid.
A. Read Case Study 1 on pages 256-257 and complete Activity 20.1 on page 257.
B. Read Case Studies 2 and 3 on pages 258-259 and complete Activity 20.2 on
page 260.