TERM 2 –

DEVELOPMENT
ISSUES
Geography Grade 9
UNIT 1 – DEVELOPMENT
The meaning of development
 Development is a word used often by geographers, politicians
and environmentalists which means different things to different
people.
 Development can be defined as an improvement in the factors
that affect a person's quality of life and standard of living.
 The factors of development are income, diet, housing,
healthcare, sanitation and education.
 It includes economic growth, technological advancement and
improving human rights.
 The three main areas within development are the economy,
society and environment.
Economic aspects of
development
 A country’s economy refers to all the activities that use people and
resources to produce wealth which includes businesses, industry and
trade that employ people and make money.
 When a country develops, its economy grows and improves.
 When a person or family increases their income and are able to buy
goods and services, they benefit from development.
 Economic development is the improvement in a person’s standard
of living and a country’s wellbeing.
 With greater income, a person can afford education, healthcare, food
and better housing.
 With increasing wealth, a country can improve infrastructure, such as
roads, housing, water and electricity supply.
Social aspects of development
 In the past, most development projects had an economic focus.
 However, even with economic growth and development, a growing number of
people remained poor.
 It is no good if a country’s wealth increases but its people do not see an
improvement in their quality of life.
 It was for this reason that people became the focus of development.
 Social development, also known as human development, is about the welfare of
people – health, comfort, happiness and prosperity.
 Some examples include:
o Improving education, training, health care and housing
o Ensuring women and children are treated equally
o Providing social security, e.g. pensions, disability grants and needs for the poor
o Protecting human rights, freedom, safety and security
Environmental aspects of
development
 In the past, some development projects damaged the natural
environment such as mines polluted water and air and stripped the
land of natural vegetation.
 Development must not harm the environment to be meaningful
and sustainable.
 Development projects that create jobs, improves lives and
generate income, but damage the environment are not meaningful.
 Meaningful development considers the impact on the environment
and takes place without damaging the natural environment.
 Environmental development requires that we live within Earth’s
means.
WAYS OF MEASURING DEVELOPMENT
Measuring economic aspects of development
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

•A country’s income can be

measured using GDP, which
is the total value of all the
goods and services produced
by a country in a year.
Gross Domestic Product per
capita (GDP/capita)
 GDP tells us the income of a country.
 If the income is divided by the total of the population, it gives a
theoretical figure of the income (per year = pa) of the
‘average’ person living in the country.
 Formula:
o GDP/capita = GDP of country / Population of country
 The results is given as: (currency symbol) ….. per person
pa
 GDP and GDP/capita are useful measures when comparing
countries income, individual incomes and level of development.
Example 1:
• Calculate the GDP/capita for each of the countries
below:
Question No. Country GDP (IMF '24) Population
1 United States $28.78 Tn 341,814,420
2 China $18.53 Tn 1,425,178,782
3 Germany $4.59 Tn 83,252,474
4 Japan $4.11 Tn 122,631,432
5 India $3.94 Tn 1,441,719,852
6 Canada $2.24 Tn 39,107,046
*Tn -
trillion
ANSWER KEY:
GDP Per
Question No. Country GDP (IMF '24) Population Capita
1 United States $28.78 Tn 341,814,420 $84,201
2 China $18.53 Tn 1,425,178,782 $13,004
3 Germany $4.59 Tn 83,252,474 $55,147
4 Japan $4.11 Tn 122,631,432 $33,519
5 India $3.94 Tn 1,441,719,852 $2,731
6 Canada $2.24 Tn 39,107,046 $57,334
Measuring social aspects of
development
•Social development
is about the wellbeing
and welfare of people
living in a country.
Life expectancy
 Life expectancy is the number of years the average person
can expect to live.
 Some countries have a high life expectancy, some have a low
life expectancy.
 Life expectancy is influenced by diet, nutrition, health care,
diseases, sanitation and other factors that affects a person’s life.
 It is also influenced by infant mortality.
 In general, people have a higher life expectancy in countries
with a higher income.
Literacy levels
 The percentage of a population that is
literate varies between countries.
 In Germany, an estimated 99 percent are
literate whereas in Mozambique, the literacy
rate is 55 percent.
 Countries with a higher income tend to have
higher literacy levels.
Measuring environmental aspects of
development
Urban-rural populations
• An indicator of a country’s level of
environmental development is the
percentage of the population living in
urban areas compared to rural areas.
• Countries with a higher income tend to
have more urbanised populations.
• Less wealthy countries have more rural
populations.
Carbon emissions
 Carbon dioxide is emitted into Earth's atmosphere
by human activities such as coal burning power
stations.
 These activities burn fossil fuels (coal, natural gas,
oil).
 Countries with a higher income tend to produce
more carbon emissions.
 Less wealthy countries produce less carbon dioxide.
The Human Development Index (HDI)
What is the HDI?
 The HDI was created to statistically compare development between
countries.
 The HDI combines these development indicators into one index:
o Healthcare: average life expectancy
o Education: average years of schooling received by people 25 years and
above
o Income: GDP/capita
 The HDI is a number between 0 and 1, closer to 1 indicates a highly
developed country with a high standard of living whereas closer to 0
indicates a less developed country where the standard of living is low.
 Studying the HDI for all countries in the world allows us to compare countries
in order to study development.
•High HDI (highly developed
countries): HDI between 0,7
and 1
•Middle HDI (fast developing
countries): HDI between 0,52
and 0,69
•Low HDI (developing countries):
HDI between 0 and 0,51
Differences in development
around the world
Development indicators Highly developed Less developed and
countries and regions developing countries
and regions
1. GDP/capita High Lower
2. Life expectancy (years) High Lower
3. Literacy level (%) High Lower
4. Average years of High Lower
schooling
5. % population urbanised High Lower
6. Carbon emissions Usually High Usually Lower
(tons/person/pa)

HDI high lower

UNIT 2 – FACTORS AFFECTING
DEVELOPMENT
Factors Affecting
Development:
reasons for
differences in
development

Historical Trade, e.g.

factors, Trade Health Political
Technolo
e.g. imbalance and Educatio stability
gy and
Colonialism and unfair welfare n and
industry
and neo- trade instability
colonialism
UNIT 2 – FACTORS AFFECTING DEVELOPMENT
Reasons for differences in development
Historical factors: colonialism and neo-colonialism
 From the 1500s, European countries started trading and settling in North and
South America, Asia and Africa.
 The Europeans took over the farming lands and shipped out raw materials.
 They used these to manufacture goods in Europe and sold them back to the
colonies for a profit and they taxed local goods making it hard for colonies to
manufacture.
 Neo-colonialism is the continuing dependence of less developed countries
(former colonies) on wealthy developed countries.
 Less developed countries still rely on producing and exporting raw materials while
importing manufactured goods from developed countries.
 The developed world countries continue making profits than the developing world.
 Colonialism and neo-colonialism have contributed towards difference in
development across the world.
Trade: trade imbalances and
unfair trade
 Trade is the exchange of goods from one person to another.
 Countries that produce goods export these to countries that import the goods.
 Trade between countries isn’t always balanced.
 It is good for a country’s economy to sell more than it buys as it earns more money than it
spends.
 A trade imbalance exists when imports are greater than exports and the economy suffers
as a country pays out more than it earns.
 Developing countries export raw materials at lower prices than it costs to buy manufactured
goods.
 If farmers in developing countries are paid low prices and exploited in the production of cash
crops, trade is said to be unfair.
 The less-developed countries benefit from less than 1% of world trade, most being natural
resources.
 The result of trade imbalances and unfair trade is that highly developed countries get richer
and developing countries remain poor.
Technology and industrialisation
 Mass production of goods in factories using technology lead to widespread
urbanisation, improved infrastructure and increased income for many
people.
 Technology continues to develop across the world.
 Well-developed countries are highly industrialised and their economies
depend on advanced technology.
 Developing countries are less industrialised and modern technology is not
always accessible.
 It would be better for developing countries to develop and use technology to
manufacture goods themselves instead of exporting raw materials.
 Industrialisation requires good infrastructure.
 Development can be affected by the presence or absence of industrialisation
and technology.
Health and welfare
 The health and welfare of a country’s population are important
indicators in determining its level of development.
 An unhealthy, unhappy and poor population will be less likely to
implement successful development projects.
 The factors that influence the health of a country’s population:
o Diet, nutrition, safe drinking water and sanitation
o Care of pregnant mothers and young babies
o Immunisations through vaccinations against dangerous diseases
o HIV/AIDS – 68% of all people in the world with HIV are from sub-
Saharan Africa, 59% are women
o Availability of medicines and number of clinics and hospitals with
trained nurses and doctors
Education, training and
research
 Education is seen as the most important factor affecting
development.
 People need to have skills and training to earn a living and
contribute to a country’s economic growth.
 The importance of education in developing countries is
highlighted by the fact that these countries have a high
percentage of young people.
 Colleges and universities train people for specialised jobs that
are needed for development.
 Research and technological advancement are important for
future development projects in fields like agriculture.
Political stability and instability
 If a country is at war or experiencing political instability, development is
negatively affected.
 Development requires a stable government with sufficient capital and long-
term plans.
 A country at war with another country or experiencing civil war, will not be
able to fund new infrastructure or pay for development projects.
 During political instability, the economy suffers, which is bad for development.
 Trade comes to a halt, which reduces income and creates unemployment and
poverty.
 Political stability in a country will allow development projects to succeed.
 If government changes often, the direction of development can change.
 This results in no long-term development benefits.
UNIT 3 – OPPORTUNITIES FOR
DEVELOPMENT
 Governments of developing countries spend a
lot of money on development projects to
improve the standard of living.
 A development strategy is a plan to bring
about development through various
development projects.
 A country adopts a development strategy to
improve the health of its population.
Fairtrade Organisation Logo
Creating more equitable trading
relationships
 Trade imbalance and unfair trade can
prevent countries from developing.
 If trading relationships between
countries are more equitable, more
opportunities for further
development are created.
 How does fair trade benefit development in developing countries?
o Buying from farmers at cheaper fair prices protects small producers,
increases income, reduces poverty and develops local rural communities.
o Opening new markets create new trade opportunities.
o Ensuring workers have decent working and living conditions and aren’t
exploited or unfairly treated, allows gender equality and community
development.
o Sharing profits with producers between communities.
o Using environmentally friendly farming methods is good for the environment
and helps sustainable development.
o Having open communication and negotiating deals that respects both parties
prevents developing countries from exploitation.
o Improving knowledge, training and skills of local producers increases their
ability to earn income.
o Fair trade has been successful with trading goods such as sugar and rice.
o Fair trade benefits over 6 million people in 60 countries.
o Fair trade makes developing countries stronger when trading and creates
opportunities for development.
Alternative development paths –
alternatives to industrialisation
 The development strategy adopted by most
countries is to become industrialised which
means increasing secondary economic
activities by building more factories and
industries.
 These development strategies use appropriate
technology to improve the quality of life of
communities.
 World Vision, a global aid organisation, suggests that communities ask seven
critical questions before adopting technology as part of a development project:
o Is it simple to make, use and repair?
o Does it need to be imported, or could a local product be used?
o Will it use resources wisely and respect the environment?
o How will it affect cultural and social traditions?
o Is the new product of better quality?
o Is it economical?
o Who will the technology help?
 Appropriate technology is technology that is small-scale, affordable and
simple.
 It is controlled by local people, enabling them to be productive and earn
money.
 People must be able to use and repair the technology.
 It must fit in with the local culture and not damage the environment and not
use resources that could run out.
Sustainable development
 Developing countries have been implementing development strategies for
decades but still lag in their HDIs.
 In most countries, development has benefitted people but the environment
has suffered.
 If development is to benefit a country and its people, it needs to be
sustainable.
 Sustainable development is development that:
o Benefits all people without overly consuming Earth’s resources.
o Improves the quality of human life using available resources.
o Works within Earth’s resource limit and focuses on quality of life and the
needs of people, especially poverty-stricken people.
o Meets the needs of the present without preventing future generations
from being able to meet their needs.
 Sustainable development brings together three
aspects of development:
o Economic factors (income): Does development
benefit poor people?
o Social factors (people): Is development
community-based?
o Environmental factors (natural environment):
Does development conserve resources?
 Increasingly, businesses have an environmental
sustainability development strategy as part of
their business plan.