Bridging the Development Gap Aim: to understand the reasons for the gap between MEDC’s and LEDC’s

Task 1 Label these 20 countries onto your world map – use the number as a key and write the countries in two columns into your book. In a different colour, can you draw one continuous line that separates the rich and poor countries?

United KingdomAustralia MexicoBrazil EthiopiaGermany JapanUSA ChileNigeria ChinaSomalia Saudi ArabiaSouth Africa New ZealandPeru CanadaAngola CongoIndia

Red represents the Less Economically Developed Countries Blue represents the More Economically Developed Countries

What is the development gap? While some countries, such as South Africa and Australia have made the jump from less economically developed to more economically developed, it still remains an impossible dream for some countries. Why do you think this could be? Discuss with your partner what you consider to be the key factors limiting development.

Factors Limiting Development

Why the Development Gap gets bigger - Debt Many countries, in their search for development, borrow huge sums of money from rich countries in order to finance the development of industry and infrastructure. They get into debt because the rich countries charge huge interest, which cannot be paid back. Therefore, the poor country often owes more than before they took the loan.

Why the Development Gap gets bigger - Corruption When borrowing these huge sums of money, often some of it goes ‘missing’ – funding the politicians that dominate the country (case in point – Mugabe in Zimbabwe) Often the poor do not reap the benefits of international aid or development projects, widening the gap between the rich and poor within a country as well as internationally.

Why the Development Gap gets bigger – Natural Hazards Natural hazards, such as drought and famine are more common in LEDC’s. They affect the lives of millions of people, and can on occasion cause civil unrest. While the rich may send aid so that the immediate impacts are dealt with, often aid will stop, leaving the country with the more expensive clean up operation.

Task 2 The Development Gap Under the headings Debt, Corruption and Natural Hazards, describe and explain how each of these factors widens the development gap. (9 marks) Remember to use PEGEX in your answer.