Development is the use of resources to relieve poverty and improve the living standard of a nation through change and progress. It can happen at a small or large scale, and be a slow or fast process.

Advanced Country (AC) - Also known as a developed country. They have well-developed financial markets and diverse economic structures with rapidly growing service sectors. e.g. the UK

Emerging and Developing Country (EDC) - Countries in transition from being LIDCs to ACs. e.g. South Africa

Low Income Developing Country (LIDC) - Countries that are poor and have a narrow range of jobs and services. e.g. Ethiopia

Development indicators are ways in which we can measure development.

• GDP (Gross Domestic Product) - the monetary value of all the goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a year, including government spending

• GDP per capita - GDP divided by the population

• Birth rate - The number of babies born every year per 1000 people in a population

• Death rate - The number of deaths per 1000 people in the midyear population

• Infant mortality rate - Number of children who die between birth and exactly one year of age per 1000 live births

• HDI (Human Development Index) - a statistical tool used to measure a country’s overall social and economic dimensions, based on people’s health, wealth and education

• Literacy rate - The percentage of the population (older than 15 years) who can read and write

• Happy Index - The extent to which countries deliver long, happy, sustainable lives for the people that live in them. It uses global data on factors such as life expectancy and ecological footprint, and ranks countries on how many long and happy lives they produce per unit of environmental input

There are several human and physical factors which result in global development being uneven.

WHY DO SOME COUNTRIES FIND IT DIFFICULT TO BREAK OUT OF POVERTY?

Absolute poverty - How many cannot afford their basic human needs, such as food, safe water and shelter

Relative poverty - People lack an adequate income for access to services compared to the society around them, e.g. education, healthcare

DEBT - NEPAL:

• Nepal’s debt stood at $3.8 billion after the 2015 earthquake

• The debt payment due in 2015 was $210 million - more than the amount given to the country as aid

• Loans were not fully used by the government to develop Nepal’s infrastructure, such as exploiting its potential in hydropower, and could have potentially been abused

• Money that could be used to help Nepalese people will be used to pay Nepal’s debt, leaving the country stuck in poverty

TRADE - COCA-COLA INDIA:

• Although trade is key to break out of poverty, TNCs can also exploit the environment, preventing further profits from being made

• Several communities in India are experiencing severe water shortages due to Coca-Cola bottling plants

• They are draining large amounts of groundwater, leaving farmers unable to irrigate their fields, which has led to a decline in agricultural yields, and forcing communities to walk for longer in order to find water for their basic needs

• In the state of Kerela in India, Coca-Cola allegedly contaminated local water

HEALTH - AFGHANISTAN:

• Western sanctions on the Taliban have led to the country’s healthcare system being on the brink of collapse

• Many medical staff have not been paid for months and hospitals lack basic sanitary equipment

• There were six simultaneous disease outbreaks in Winter 2021, including the Covid-19 pandemic

• Even private health care facilities were struggling due to problems with supply lines