5.2 - The consequences of the
‘development gap’
Identify and map the locations of
extreme poverty in Africa
Investigate income inequality in the
named Megacity of Lagos
Identify how rapid development has
exposed cultural differences with Bangalore
Understand how the development gap can
result from historical political systems in
South Africa
The consequences for the poorest
people
Come up with a flow diagram to show the poverty trap using these terms for
each section:
POVERTY (lack of
development)
Poor job prospects
Decreased ability
to work
Decreased ability
to learn
Malnutrition
Reduced family
income
Shorter life
expectancy
Decreased energy
Out-migration
Reduced food and
economic output
Decreased
resistance to
disease
High infant
mortality
5.2.1. The consequences for the
poorest people
5.2.1. The consequences for the
poorest people
Where are there most
poor people?
What does this graph
suggest about the
trends of poverty?
Extreme Poverty in Africa
Where are the areas with the
highest extreme poverty?
Reasons for this pattern?
Are there
any links ?
Sunita is one of the poorest in her
village in Nepal. What impacts has
the development gap had on her
and why her especially?
(p 149 handout and p200 parrot can help)
Social discrimination plays a significant role in keeping the most disadvantaged people in rural Nepal
poor and marginalized. Excluded groups include smallholder farmers, landless labourers, lower
castes, indigenous peoples and women. Discrimination on the grounds of caste is officially illegal in
Nepal but is in fact widespread, especially in rural areas. Members of the lowest caste (dalits, or
untouchables) are the most disadvantaged group. Many lower caste dalits work as wage labourers for
higher-caste farmers.
There is a wide gap between women and men when it comes to access to health, nutrition, education
and participation in decision-making. Infant mortality is much higher for girls, and illiteracy is far
more common among women than men. Many rural women live in severe poverty, without any means of
improving conditions for themselves and their families. Within households women often have less to
eat than men. Insufficient calorie intake can lead to chronic malnutrition in the infants they feed.
Lack of economic opportunity and the recent conflict resulted in many of the most productive
members of households to migrate and leave the villages. As a result more and more women have
been heading households alone and taking on the burden of sustaining the rural economy. Women
constitute more than 60 per cent of the agricultural labour force but have little access to land,
production technology and training.
Poor families are often obliged to send their children to work rather than to school. In this way the
poverty cycle is perpetuated into the next generation. It is estimated that about one quarter of the
children in Nepal are engaged in some kind of family or wage labour.
Income inequality in megacities
A Megacity is ......
Lagos is the biggest city in Nigeria and the 2nd largest in Africa. It is currently
estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa
Why is there increasing poverty in megacities
and what problems does it cause?
Why is there increasing poverty in megacities
and what problems does it cause?
What problems do developing megacities face?
Problems
•
•
•
•
Megacities
Poverty and lack of opportunity is
often most acute in rural areas*
However, developing world
megacities contain growing
concentrations of urban poverty
Some 1 billion people live in
urban slums, likely to grow to 2
billion by 2030
Slums often have:
A UN-Habitat report in 2006 stated there was “concrete
evidence that there are two cities within one city – one part
of the urban population that has all the benefits of urban
living, and the other part, the slums and squatter
settlements, where the poor often live under worse
conditions than their rural relatives.”
Poorly built, shack housing
Limited and expensive water supply
Limited sanitation
Informal, unreliable employment
Lack of rubbish collection
Social problems such as disease, crime
Few services such as education and health
*see the rural urban data for Pakistan
and Guatemala on previous and next slides
Lagos
The 2 sides to Lagos
What are the issues?
• http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/polit
ics/international_politics/spotlight+on+lagos+
poverty+crisis/1546447
• Make notes whilst watching the video:
- Key facts and figures on growth rates etc
- What issues are they suffering from in Lagos?
Lagos sites
• http://www.irinnews.org/report/60811/
• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a
frica/lagos-inside-the-ultimate-megacity1945246.html
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8473001
.stm
Why is there such huge variations in
poverty in Lagos?
Using the resources provided answer the following
exam question
a) Income inequality within megacities is a growing
concern, analyse how far you agree with this
statement using an example you have studied
(12 marks)
b) Suggest ways in which the problems seen in
megacities could be overcome using a variety of
both global and local strategies (13 marks)
An ethnic / religious dimension to
the gap?
•
•
•
•
•
Ethnic and religious dimensions
Ethnic and religious minorities often
suffer worse poverty than the wider
population
The data for Guatemala show a large
different between poverty rates for
Native Indians and the White Hispanic
population
Such differences can result from subtle
prejudice, and direct discrimination
and persecution
In South Africa, the long history of
apartheid has left a legacy of stark
differences between black and white
populations
Often different ethnic groups live in
different geographical areas e.g. white
gated communities versus black
townships in South Africa
2001 Census
Black South
Africans
White South
Africans
Under 15 yrs old
34%
19%
No education
22%
1%
Households with a
telephone
31%
95%
Adult mean income
$1600
$8800
An ethnic / religious dimension to
the gap?
South Africa and
Apartheid
Starter
‘Apartheid’
What does this mean?
What do you know about it in South Africa?
• Apartheid ends 1990 – a rainbow nation is born
The History
• Racial segregation in South Africa began in colonial times, but
apartheid as an official policy was introduced following the general
election in 1948
• New legislation classified inhabitants into black, white, coloured
and Indian
• Blacks were stripped of their citizenship
• The government segregated education, medical care, and other
public services, and provided black people with services inferior to
those of whites.
• A series of popular uprisings and protests were met with the
banning of opposition and imprisoning of anti-apartheid leaders. As
unrest spread and became more violent, state organizations
responded with increasing repression and state-sponsored violence.
• 1990 President began negotiations to end the Apartheid,
culminating in multi-racial democratic elections in 1994, which were
won by the African National Congress under Nelson Mandela.
An ethnic dimension to the gap?
End of apartheid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWoJgvWv
dOw
Page 194-197 Oxford
1. What was apartheid?
2. Describe the recent civil unrest in South Africa.
3. Explain 5 reasons why inequality has got worse not better
since the end of apartheid.
4. How is inequality showing itself?
5. In your opinion what priorities can the government put in
place to ease the gap?
•
Poverty reduction at
The pressing need to reduce a price?
poverty has led some countries
to ‘go for growth’
• Both China and India (and the
‘Asian Tigers’ before them) have
opened their economies to world
trade and investment
• This has created employment,
raised incomes and reduced
poverty
(estimates of extreme
poverty)
1980
2005
India
45%
25%
China
60%+
10%
Social and Environmental Issues
•Increased rural –v- urban inequality
•Mass rural-urban migration and rise in
urban slums
•Increased air and water pollution from
industry
•Stress on forests and water supply as
resource demands rise
•Possibility of rising debt; financial crises
•Social problems – urban crime and
disease
•Worker exploitation and human rights
abuses
•Breakdown of traditional family
structures and community support
How does the development gap
expose cultural differences in a
megacity like Bangalore, India?
Global Shift: call centres and IT
Labour
intensive
jobs
IT / College
graduates
(2 mil / yr)
English
speakers
Why
India?
24 hr
working
Low
telecom
costs
Costs 37% >
China, 17%
> Malaysia
Salaries
¼ of UK
& USA
The constraints
• India ahead on
‘attractiveness’, but others
not far behind
• Negative reaction in
MEDCs
• The lowest paid now earn
$230 per month; rising
training costs
• Rapid growth has some
negative impact on quality
• Corruption & bureaucracy
(16% of management time
) still a problem
Constraints continued….
• Economic reform has
stagnated –much of India
has a ‘command’ economy
• Gov spending on subsidies
rather than investment
• Infrastructure beyond
major cities is poor
• 13,000 MW /day power
shortage
(Business Week, 2005)
• Literacy = 61% compared
to 91% in China
SOURCE: National Highways Authority of India
The Bangalore effect
• Outsourcing or BPO (Business
Process Outsourcing) and Offshoring
• 300,000 IT workers in
Bangalore, 100, 000 in
Chennai
• IT accounts for 3-4% of GDP.
• Karnataka State alone has 77
colleges = 29,000 graduates a
year.
(World IT report,2005)
The Economist, 2005
A downside to Asian globalisation:
• Nike, Adidas and
other TNCs
admitting their
factories are ‘grim’
!
• Exploitation and
child labour major
issues
• Rights of rural
people in India
swept aside
Environmental concerns
• World’s 5th largest
carbon emissions (per
capita less than 25% of
world average)
• Per capita rate expected
to triple by 2025
• Heavy reliance on ‘dirty
coal’
Environment impact: Asian ‘brown cloud’
• Partly resulting
from rampant
economic
growth
• Lack of
regulation
• UNEP estimates
it threatens the
lives of 1 million
people
Problems of Economic Growth
Increased
Consumerism
•Increased
consumption
•Increased waste
•Decreased energy
resources
Widening the Development
Gap
•Slow economic growth
•Poverty/ Debt/ no devpt.
Problems of
Economic Growth
Environmental Degradation
Deindustrialisation
in the North
•Decline of
Manufacturing
employment
•Industrial
Restructuring
•Overexploitation of resources/ farming
•Soil Erosion
•Cost cutting investment in LEDC’s
•Loss of Biodiversity
•Increased Pollution
•Increased tourism but decreased environmental
Quality
Uneven Balance of
Power
•TNC’s
•Sweatshops
•Unfair trade/
Trade Blocs
5.2.4. What are the consequences of
reducing poverty?
Activity
• Identify the social, economic and
environmental benefits and problems brought
by Bangalore's growth
• Should positive discrimination be encouraged
to favour disadvantaged groups?
• How does the cultural identities and systems
in Bangalore increase the development gap
within India?
Plenary
Should newspapers allow marriage adverts in
which a preferred caste is stated?
Discuss