1. Barriers to Africa’s Development

2. Barriers to development many & they’re all connected!
Geography: desertification, drought, famine, carrying capacity
Social:
Disease/AIDS, Human Rights Abuses, Child Soldiers, Ethnic Conflicts, Overpopulation
Economic:
one crop commodities, mineral disputes, heavy debt, BRAIN DRAIN
Political:
Failed governmental strategies, poor leaders, corruption, warlords, dictatorships

3. Unsustainable Population
Definition:
When population growth exceeds an area’s carrying capacity, growth is considered unsustainable because existing resources are not sufficient to support the population.
Note: Carrying Capacity = the number of inhabitants that can be supported by a particular area.

5. High Population Effects: Causes: Increased strain on resources
(agricultural, economic, health care, education, etc.)
Greater conflict over insufficient resources
Environmental damage
(desertification)
Negative Impact on Economy:
Not enough jobs, high price of goods.
Causes:
Lower Death Rates:
Medical Advancements
Better Sanitation
Little change in birth rates:
Summary: if you have more people living and less people dying…population increases.

6. Population Pyramid
Developed Country
Developing Country

7. Desertification Definition:
The rapid depletion of plant life and the loss of topsoil at desert boundaries by a combination of drought and overexploitation of grasses and other vegetation by people or livestock.

8. Desertification and Environmental Degradation
Effects:
Soil Erosion
Loss of topsoil = lack of nutrients in soil = smaller crop yields
Climate Change
Famine (no food)
Decreased ability of land to support the population.
No econ. Development
Food prices too high
Causes
Increase in Population
puts increased stress on the land to support food needs (both agriculture and livestock grazing)
Poverty
No money for fertilizers or irrigation systems

9. Famine
Definition:
A severe shortage of food, resulting in violent hunger, starvation, and death.

10. Famine Effects: Causes: Starvation/Death Less productive workers
People are malnourished
Disease spreads more rapidly:
Due to weakened immune systems
Must Import Food
More expensive than growing it
Can’t import if no money
Conflict
People fight over scarce resources
Causes:
Drought
High Population:
Increases stress on land
Conflict (wars)
No money or time to farm
Farmers killed
Environmental Damage
Desertification
Nutrient poor land
Corrupt Governments
Withhold food to control the people

11. Disease and Limited Healthcare
Diseases: Malaria, AIDS, Tuberculosis, Cholera, and more!
Effects
Lower Life Expectancy
Reverses positive trend
Families lose income earners
Labor Force Weakened
Reduced in size and effectiveness
Millions Orphaned
Society pays to help survive
Don’t contribute much to society
Disease (HIV) passed on to children
More money diverted to healthcare
less money for schools, development, etc.
Causes
Lack of Education
How diseases spread or treated
Culture:
Traditions, gender inequality
Higher % multi-partner sexual activity
Poor Sanitation
Disease spreads in dirty areas
Scarcity of Clean Water
Poverty:
no money for treatment or prevention (vaccines, bug nets, condoms, etc.)

13. AIDS in Africa 2012
Clean water video:

14. DISEASE Links AIDS Malaria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mogTwwepces

15. Poverty Effects: Causes: Higher mortality (death) rates
Lack of money for:
education,
infrastructure,
jobs,
healthcare
Less productive workers
Weakened population
Conflict:
More conflict over scarce resources
Causes:
Lack of economic development
Not enough jobs
High population
Keeps wages low (low demand for workers)
Lots of things drain their national bank accounts:
Disease
War
Debt
Government corruption

17. Poverty Cycle
One of the greatest causes of poverty in Africa is also the most overlooked...the lack of access to clean drinking water.
Nearly one billion people do not have access to clean, safe water - that's the equivalent of 1 in 8 people on the planet!
For these people, poverty is a fact of life.

18. Poor Education Effects: Causes: Society lacks intelligence
Corruption
Uneducated people are easier to take advantage of
Poor family planning
Have too many babies and can’t provide for them
Continued spread of AIDS
Unskilled Workforce
Lack of economic development
Causes:
Lack of Money
Due to other national problems
Lack of Teachers
Lack of higher educ.
Brain Drain – educated people leave Africa.
Gender Inequality
Girls are not always allowed or encouraged to get education

19. Education Video Links:
Female Inequality
Ethiopia’s Poverty and Education
Brain Drain

20. Ethnic Conflict Causes: Effects: Lack of national unity
Traditional rivalries go back centuries.
European imperialism forced them together and only made them worse
European Imperialism
Europeans elevate minority groups to rule in place of themselves – kind of like middle management.
Scarcity of resources
People fight over scarce resources/land
Effects:
Lack of national unity
Civil wars more likely
Government Corruption
Representatives from certain ethnic groups benefit their ethnicity.
Darfur, Sudan Conflict

21. Civil Conflict Effects: Causes: People Die Poverty
Sometimes entire working age populations
Poverty
Wars cost money to fight!
War destroys investments already made (homes, schools)
Infrastructure Damaged
Famine
People fighting can’t produce food
People killed who normally grow food
Food destruction as a weapon.
Increased Ethnic Tension
Causes:
Resources:
Fighting over scarce resources, or very profitable ones
Corruption
Government officials cheat citizens for their own gain
Happens frequently when citizens aren’t educated enough to know what is going on.
Ethnic Conflict
Ethnic conflict goes back centuries
Europeans make tensions worse by putting them together in colonies
Human Rights

22. Corruption Effects: Causes:
Crime
Easy to get away with
Poverty
Rich cheat poor to get richer
Lack of Econ. Development
Money goes into pockets instead of to public works or industrial development
Culture of Corruption
Laws become meaningless
No faith in government
BBC reported that corruption costs Africa an estimated $150billion/year!
Causes:
Lack of Econ. Development
Econ based on raw materials
Easy to hide where profits go
Nationalized industries
Lack of Education
Easy to take advantage of unaware people
No Checks/Balances
Gov. can’t police itself
No honest oversight within gov.
Suppressed press and speech rights
Can’t out someone if you can’t tell people

23. Lack of Economic Development
Causes:
Economies based on the export of raw materials
Infrastructures set up to export raw materials (from imperialism)
Lack of money for investment
Lack of education
Corrupt public officials take development aid money
International Debt and interest on those debts prevents them from having the capital to invest in development
Public money is often diverted to more urgent needs like disease or war.
Civil conflicts disrupt growth
Foreign investment (corps.) makes the majority of money from African resources
Effects:
Lack of money to stimulate their economies.
Lack of economic growth means a continued poverty and low standard of living, and continued struggles with all of the other barriers to their development.

24. Debt Causes: Effects: Civil Wars cause great loss of wealth
Lack of economic development
Famine
Disease
Development loans taken out by many African Nations… which development efforts failed
Effects:
Poverty
Lack of economic development
Poor education
No money for agricultural development
No money for healthcare

25. Final thoughts…
Geographical, social, economic and political factors are all powerful
However, in order to sustain development Africa must…
1. Maintain Government systems that emphasize democratic reform
2. Become an environment for investors to seek business. Do this by achieving political and internal stability.