Factors That Hinder Development In LEDCs

Question 1

List five factors that hinder development in LEDCs.

Answer 1

1. Historical
2. Environmental
3. Dependence on primary activities
4. Debt
5. Politics

Question 2

Explain how historical factors hinder development in LEDCs. [3]

Answer 2

1. Empires colonised countries in Africa, such as Algeria, and in South America and took resources and wealth from them.
2. These countries capitulated raw materials at the expense of themselves, thereby making the colonising country richer.
3. Although colonialism provided road and railway networks and educational institutions, it stripped LEDCs of raw materials and left them reliant on markets in MEDCs.

Question 3

Explain how environmental factors hinder development in LEDCs. [2]

Answer 3

1. Natural hazards, such as floods and earthquakes, hinder development because LEDCs lack adequate finances to prepare for them.
2. Disease thrives in warm tropical climates, so malaria remains a problem in Africa, meaning people cannot work.

Question 4

Explain how dependence on primary activities hinders development in LEDCs. [3]

Answer 4

1. A high proportion of LEDC workers are employed in primary activities (uses the Earth’s resources as a way of making money).
2. Raw materials, such as Copper from Zambia which is 98% of its exports, generally sell for low and fluctuating prices.
3. It is therefore difficult to plan investments to develop the country.

Question 5

Explain how debt hinders development in LEDCs. [6]

Answer 5

1. MEDCs lent huge sums of money to LEDCs and it is difficult for LEDCs to pay it back.
2. In the 1970s, Ecuador borrowed 3 billion US Dollars.
3. As Ecuador was a dictatorship then, this money was used to fund the military to retain power.
4. Ecuador is now a democracy but still has to pay debt which has accumulated with interest and is now 10 billion USD.
5. By 2007, it paid off 1.75 billion USD.
6. This was more than its combined expenditure in health, housing and social services.

Question 6

Explain how politics hinders development in LEDCs.

Answer 6

1. A corrupt government restricts development.

2. Aid money may be embezzled by corrupt officials, preventing it from reaching the poor it was intended for.