development in Africa Flashcards
(4 cards)
Give 3 barriers to development in Africa:
Landlocked countries - A country being landlocked ( completely surrounded by land ) limits their access to income from trading, due to transport being slower and a lot more expensive, as they often have to pay other countries to export their goods for them, making costs higher. This then gives them less money to put into resources like healthcare and education, making the country develop more slowly
Low precipitation - Low precipitation levels means less opportunity to grow crops, which causes a lack of jobs for inhabitants of the country, a lack of goods to export that well help boost the economy and possible food poverty and malnourishment for people living in these areas
Debt - many countries are in debt after borrowing money from various sources such as foreign investors. Many countries are forced to dedicate large amounts of their budget to paying back this debt, detracting from the money that can be put towards bettering education, healthcare, housing etc. and nurturing industries that can boost the nations economy and status
Give 2 historical factors that may impact a countries development:
War - a history of war can damage a country financially and hinder its growth, as it can lead to high rates of injuries and death which results in a low rate of employment ( increasing poverty and famine ) and decreasing the amount of people working in important fields such as healthcare. War is also very expensive as money needs to be spent on military forces and weapons, which takes away from the money that can be put pack into the country
Colonisation - many countries that have been colonised are stunted in terms of economic and technological due to resources that could potentially act as a source of income being stolen from them. In more specific cases involving countries in Africa, slavery also adds to this issue, as populations were lowered after many people being taken and enslaved, meaning less people working and boosting the economy
Define subsistence farming:
When farmers only grow enough food to survive and not to sell
