DEVELOPMENT

What is development?

 It is the process of improving the quality of human life.

 It is the process of growth and change in societies that makes people richer, healthier and happier
and free.

ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT

There are three areas of concern for a society to be fully developed, thus the three aspects of development
which are;

1. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

This is when people have better standards of living and all their basic needs have been met. That is;
 Better and more shelter/ housing
 Good and accessible health care / more clinics and hospitals
 Access to education or more schools
 Enough healthy food for all
 Access to clean water

2. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
This is when a country produces more and gets richer/ wealthier. This is characterized by;
 More industries/ factories
 Better and improved technology
 Higher levels of employment
 Wider range/ choice of goods and services
 Higher income or wages
 Higher productivity

3. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
This is when people have more freedom and justice in a country. This means that all the basic human
rights are guaranteed by the law. Political rights give rise to people’s self esteem i.e pride and
confidence.
Political development is achieved when the following have been met;
 Freedom of expression, religion, association, movement etc
 Impartial justice
 Democratic and fair elections
 Presence of institutions and laws that protect people’s rights, that is respect for human rights

UNDERDEVELOPMENT
This is the condition of persistent low standards of living and poverty that make it almost impossible
for people to improve their lives
Underdevelopment is characterized by the following conditions;

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  Low incomes
 Low food consumption levels / low calorie intake
 Low education/ low levels of literacy- high illiteracy rates
 Poor and inadequate social services eg schools, hospitals and clinics
 Low standards of living
 High levels of unemployment
 Low levels of industrialization
 Primitive or poor technology

MEASURING DEVELOPMENT

1. ECONOMIC INDICATORS

1. Gross Domestic Product (G.P.D.)

GDP is the total value of goods and services produced within the country in a year
-It reflects a country’s productive capacity economically
-Developed countries have a very high G.D.P. while the Less Developed Countries have very low
G.D.P.

2. Gross National Product (GNP)

GNP is the total value of goods and services produced within the country including earnings from
investment from abroad in a year.

NB: Both G.D.P. and G.N.P. are calculated in U.S. dollars (US$) to make comparison between
Countries easier.

3. Gross National Product per Capita (GNP per capita)

-It is the average income per person for a particular country if the total value of goods and services
produced within the country including earnings from investment from abroad was to be divided
equally by the total population.

-It is calculated by dividing the total value of the G.N.P. by the total population of the country i.e.
G.N.P per capita=GNP /Total population

-Calculated in US$ for international comparability

-Developed countries have very high levels of GNP per capita while Less Developed countries
have very low GNP per capita

.Advantages of using GNP Per capita as an indicator of development

-It is an estimate of the standards of living of people in a country.
-It enables comparison of development between countries.
-Can be used to measure level of economic growth in successive years or over time
-Standard measurement in United States Dollars (US$),
-Statistics are readily available from international organizations like the United Nations, World Bank
etc.

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-Helps to estimate the productive capacity of a country’s economy.
Limitation of using GNP per capita
-It is just an average that ignores how wealth is distributed
-It fails to show the actual standard of living enjoyed by the people.
-It excludes the informal sector or subsistence farming, prostitution etc
-Government statistics are usually inaccurate especially if the people hide the amount they earn in
order to avoid paying taxes.
4. Energy use/consumption
Energy use/ consumption is the average amount of kilograms of oil, gas, electricity or wood that is
utilized by each person in a country.

Developed countries use large quantities of energy while Less Developed Countries use small
quantities. Developed countries use a lot of energy because they have a lot of industries, machines,
vehicles and gadgets that use electricity and have large urban areas; Less developed countries use
smaller quantities of energy because there have very few industries, vehicles and machines. Most of
the work is done manually.

5. Employment
_In developed countries there are high levels of formal employment while in Less Developed
countries there are low levels of formal employment and high levels of informal employment
In developed countries there are a lot of employment opportunities in:
~Large industrial sector
~large commercial service sector
~Quaternary sector
In less developed countries employment is very low because of
~small industrial sector
~small commercial sector
~dependence on subsistence agriculture

6. TRADE
Developed Countries are dependent on exporting manufactured / finished products while the Less
Developed Countries are dependent on exports of raw materials.

2. SOCIAL INDICATORS

(i) Birth rate / Population growth rate

Birth rate is the number of babies per 1000 born in a year.
Population growth rate is the speed at which the population grows in a year, and it is expressed in
percentages.

LDC’s have higher birth and population growth rate while developed countries have lower birth and
population rates.
LDC’s have high birth and population growth rates because of:
~large family seen as a symbol of social prestige i.e. proves ones virility
~Ignorance of the use of family planning and contraceptives.
~low levels of education

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~children are regarded as a source of labour in agriculture.
~children are seen as a source of social security / pension in old age
~early marriages
~polygamy
~desire for sons if girls are born first / desire for boy or girl child

Developed Countries have lower birth and population growth rate because of:
~widespread use of contraceptives and also family planning is done
~High levels of education
~social security as they have pension schemes
~High standards of living that make a large family expensive to have
~banning of child labour

(ii)Infant Mortality rate(I.M.R)

Definition: This is the number of babies per 1 000 who die before reaching their first birthday.
~N.B. An infant is a baby that is below 12 months.
L.D.C’s have higher infant mortality rates because of:
 shortage of health facilities
 Widespread diseases and epidemics e.g. cholera, Ebola, malaria, HIV/ AIDS etc.
 Poor nutrition
 poor sanitation and hygiene
 poverty / low living standards
Developed Countries have lower infant mortality rates because of;
 adequate and balanced nutrition
 adequate and efficient health facilities
 good sanitation and hygiene
 high standards of living
 Immunization programmes that help to eradicate child killer diseases.

(iii)Life Expectancy
Definition: the average age people in a country can reach or can live up to from birth
L.D.C’s have lower life expectancy while developed countries have higher life expectancy
Less Developed Countries have low life expectancy because of the following:
 poor nutrition
 Famine / food shortage
 wars
 widespread diseases and epidemics
 Poverty / hard life
 back breaking manual labour
Developed Countries have higher life expectancy because of the following:
 Excellent and adequate nutrition
 good sanitation and hygiene
 adequate and efficient health care
 Immunization programmes
 high standards of living

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(d)Calorie Intake
 Less developed countries have very low calorie intake while in developed countries calorie
intake is very high.
In Less developed countries calorie intake is very low because of:
 Low income and poverty
 Ignorance / low education levels
 low productivity in agriculture
 drought / famines
 Wars & political instability
Developed countries have high calorie intake, far above bodily requirements because of:
 high income
 surplus food production
 high levels of education
 advanced technology

(e)Education / Literacy Rate

Literacy rate is the percentage of people who are able to read and write in a country

Literacy means the ability to read and write

Less developed countries have low literacy education levels while developed countries have high
literacy levels,

Less developed countries have low literacy education levels because of

 inadequate schools and teachers/ shortage of educational facilities
 low incomes / poverty
 Ignorant parents
 lack of capital

Developed countries have higher literacy and education levels because of the following:
 Adequate educational facilities
 Compulsory and free education for all the children
 high incomes
 High education of parents

(f)Levels of urbanization

It is the proportion of the total population living in towns and cities as compared to those living in
rural areas.
 Less developed countries have low levels of urbanization while developed countries have
higher levels of urbanization
 LDC’s have lower levels of urbanisation because of a short history of urbanization, low
levels of industrialization, few towns and cities and heavy dependence on agriculture

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  Developed countries have higher levels of urbanization because of a longer history of
urbanization, many towns and cities, highly mechanized agriculture and high levels of
industrialization

3. POLITICAL INDICATORS
HUMAN RIGHTS: These are things or conditions that every person is entitled to have and they
are part of the constitution of every country.

Respect for human rights marks a high level of development for any country

Conditions that fulfil human rights include the following:

 Regular free and fair elections
 Freedom of speech/ opinion
 Right to education
 Freedom of association and worship
 Impartial / fair justice
 Law and order
 peace and security
 Equal opportunities in all spheres of life

However if these conditions are not met, there is bound to be discrimination.

Discrimination is when people are denied access to fulfil rights on the basis of who they are.
Discrimination is usually based on any of the following:
 Colour , racial discrimination e.g. Apartheid in South Africa
 Religion : Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hindu etc
 Gender—oppression of women by men
 Disability – neglect of the disabled in society, denying them access to education, buildings
jobs etc
 Ethnism / tribalism – when members of a particular ethnic group are denied access to their
rights
 The main cause of discrimination is when resources are inadequate to meet the needs and
wants of all members of society

WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO MEASURE POLITICAL IDICATORS

 They are difficult to quantify because they are intangible ie they can neither be seen nor
touched.
 Most countries prohibit independent human rights groups to monitor human right violations
 Most people in the LDC’s are illiterate and unaware of their rights
 Culture and religion can be obstacles e.g. Women being marginalized or there are gender
inequalities
 The issue of sovereignty- that is the belief by countries that they are independent and
therefore nobody can tell them how to treat their citizens
 They are affected by different political systems or ideologies eg dictatorship prohibits
human rights ie no voting, no freedom of speech etc

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DIVISION OF THE WORLD

The world can be divided into three groups based on the levels of development, namely;
1. Developed / Industrialised Countries
2. Newly Industrialising Countries { NIC’s)
3. Less Developed Countries (LDC’s)

1. DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
They can be divided into two categories based on the ideology that they followed
 First World Countries / Capitalist Countries
 Second World Countries / Communist Countries

These two categories are also known as Countries of the North or Industrialised Countries or High
income countries. Today the second category is almost non-existent because the countries have
either ceased to be communist or they have embedded capitalism in their mode of production,
besides Capitalism has now become a world system.
Examples are mostly found in Western Europe United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain etc
North America: USA and Canada
Japan, Australia, New Zealand

CHARACTERISTICS OF DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Economic Characteristics
 Highly industrialised
 High employment levels
 High levels of income
 Highly developed infrastructure
 High GNP / GDP
 High energy consumption

Social characteristics
 High standards of living
 High levels of literacy
 Good and adequate social facilities e.g. clinics/hospitals, schools
 High calories intake / food intake
 Low birth rates and low population growth rate
 High levels of urbanization

WHY THEY ARE HIGLY DEVELOPED

 Use of advanced technology to produce goods and services
 Long history of urbanization
 Colonialism/ imperialism: Economic history
 Importation of raw materials at cheap rates from Less Developed Countries
 Selling/ exporting expensive manufactured goods
 Highly skilled and productive work force

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  Control and domination of the World Trade

2. NEWLY INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIES

These are countries that have achieved industrialization in the last thirty years. They used to be Less
developed. Examples are: South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Brazil, Indonesia,
Mexico etc.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NIC’S
Economic characteristics
 Fast growing industrial sector
 Greater dependence on exports of manufactured goods( Export Oriented Strategy)
 Rapidly commercialising agricultural sector i.e. from subsistence to commercial agriculture
 Raising levels of employment
 Rising income levels
 Emergence of new Trans National Companies e.g. Samsung, Daewoo, Kia, all from South
Korea

Social characteristics
 Rapid urbanization
 Improving standards of living
 Higher levels of education therefore high literacy
 Improved provision of social services
 Rising life expectancy
 Falling birth and population growth rates

WHY THE NIC’s DEVELOPED SO FAST

 Heavy investment in science and technology education
 Large scale foreign direct investment e.g. by MNC’s
 Export Oriented Industrialisation based on the production of consumer goods for the world
market
 Foreign Aid from the developed western countries in an attempt to stop the spread of
communism e.g. in South East Asia.
 Loans from international financial institution e.g. World Bank and IMF
 Technology transfer from the Western countries.
 Cheap labour costs that helped to attract foreign investment.
 Agricultural and land reform that helped to modernize and improve productivity.
 Heavy investment in modern infrastructure.

3 LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ( LDC’s)

Also known as:
 Third World Countries
 Countries of the South
 Developing Countries
 Least Developed Countries
 Under developed Countries

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  Middle income or Low income Countries

Examples: Most African countries e.g. Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania etc

South American countries such as Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, Chile, Bolivia, etc

Asian countries such as Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, etc

CHARACTERISTICS OF LDC’s

Economic characteristics
 Dependence on raw materials for exports e.g. crops, minerals etc.
 Low levels of industrialization.
 High levels of unemployment
 Low incomes and widespread poverty
 Poorly developed infrastructure
 Low GNP/GDP.
 Dependence on subsistence agriculture

Social Characteristics
 Low standards of living
 High levels of illiteracy- low education levels
 Poor and inadequate social facilities i.e. schools, hospitals
 Low life expectancy
 Low urbanization levels i.e. most people live in the rural areas
 Oppression of women
 Few stable democracies

WHY THEY ARE UNDERDEVELOPMENT

 The slave trade which depleted Africa’s human resources
 Colonialism/imperialism that exploited Africa, i.e. took raw materials
 Backward or poor technology
 Dependence on cheap raw materials for export
 Unfair international trading terms that disadvantage L.D.C’s
 Unskilled and less productive labour force
 Huge foreign debts
 Neo-colonialism: i.e. domination of the economies by developed countries through Trans
National Corporations.

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A map showing the world division as categorized by the World Bank according to the levels of
income

The developed countries are known as the industrialized countries or the North or High Income
countries
The Less Developed countries are known as Third World Countries or industrializing or The South
or Middle or Low income countries.

The terms North and South do not refer to a geographical position rather its economic denoting the
level of development, hence the line that divides the world into these two categories is known as the
North and South line or the Brandt line.

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