History discussion paper week9
boboboom
economy.rareconomy/Activities Checklist - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017712 Activities Checklist
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To meet the learning objectives for this topic, you will complete these activities. Print this page and use it as a checklist.
Review the Introduction and Objectives page. Read pages 287289 from the text. Complete all activities on the Learning Activities page. Read the lesson, What is Poverty? Read the lesson, Nonmonetary Poverty. Read the lesson, Clean Water & Poverty. Read the Spotlight: Ivory Coast page. Participate in Discussion: The Economy. Post any questions about the course or assignments in the Help! Discussion.
economy/Introduction and Objectives - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017712 Introduction and Objectives 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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Introduction
Poverty is at the heart of Africa's problems. The economy of Afrrica consists of the trade, industry, agriculture, and human resources of the continent. It is estimated that the population of the continent will reach 1.2 billiion in 2016. spread over its 54 sovereign nations. The contient is rich with natural resources, but it people are largely poor. Based on data from the International Monetary Fund, 19 out of the 23 poorest nations in the world are in Africa. The analysis used GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and a Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis, which takes into account the living cost and inflation rates, in order to compare living standards between the different nations.
Most of SubSaharan Africa is in the World Bank's lowest income category of less than $765 Gross National Income (GNI) per person per year. Ethiopia and Burundi are the worst off with just $90 GNI per person.
Even middle income countries like Gabon and Botswana have sizeable sections of the population living in poverty. North Africa generally fares better than SubSaharan Africa. Here, the economies are more stable, trade and tourism are relatively high and HIV?AIDS is less prevalent.
Isn't it interesting how health care plays into the economy of a nation? But, think about it, the health of a nation affects employment, both the availabilty of a work force and its general under/unemployment, as well at the nation's budget. If that is difficult to comprehend, think about the conversation in the United States. Medicare/Medicade and the Affordable Care Act dominate any discussion we hear about the nation's deficit.
Horizontal Rule Objectives
After completing the learning activities for this topic, you will be able to:
Debate the issues of foreign aid to the continent of Africa. Understand the connection between societal disparities and poverty. Articulate how clean water impacts the economic viability of a nation.
economy/Learning Activities - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017712 Learning Activities 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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Watch this video on African Poverty (3.29 mins). Warning it is heartwrenching.
Watch a TEDTalk by Bono speaking on the progress against poverty (13 mins)
Watch a TEDTalk on the concept of aid to Africa (17 mins)
International Aid
Explore this NPR website that tackles the question is foreign aid to the continent of Africa good or bad.
economy/Nonmonetary Poverty - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017712 Lesson 01
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Many aspects of well being cannot be priced or monetarily valued placed on them (Sandel 2012; Sen 1985), such as the ability to read and write, longevity and good health, security, political freedoms, social acceptance and status, and the ability to move about and connect. Recognizing these aspects of wellbeing, the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) (Alkire and Santos 2014) focus on those areas plus freedom from violence and freedom to decide where combined into a single index.
Overall, Africa's population saw improvements in the areas of nonmonetary poverty, however, as is the case with so many issues in Africa, there must be an asterick placed on any discussion of the topic. For example regarding education, despite the increase in school enrollment still one out of five adults are unable to read. In health, while there is progress, it is realitive. Africa still is among the worst continent (some would argue worst) when it comes to healthcare. Nearly 2 in 5 children are malnurished, 1 in 8 women underweight. It is ironic though that among a segement of the population obseity is a growing issue. Tolerance of domestic violence is twice as high other developing regions.
But, as with our overall study of the continent, there is wide variation regarding issues across the continent. Literacy is especially low in West Africa where gender disparities are large. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS and lower life expectancy rates can be found in Southern Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Democratic Repulbic of Congo.
Three areas stand out after review of the nonmonetary poverty in Africa. 1) Fragile countries perform worse than middleincome countries. There is not suprisingly a direct correlation between the general economic health of a country and its nonmonetary health; 2) Individuals in resource rich countries tend to have higher illiteracy rate, shorter life expectancy, have higher rates of malnutrition, and suffer more from domestic violence; 3) the countries with better educated women suffer less poverty (a topic we will pickup on later in the term).
economy/Poverty & Clean Water - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017712 Lesson 01
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Water Facts
Poor sanitation and water supply result in economic losses estimated at $260 billion USD.
On average, every US dollar invested in water and sanitation provides an economic return of $8 USD.
The cost of water in many developing countries is 510 times higher than in most other countries.
In many places of the world where water scarcity exists, it is not because of a physical lack of water, but because the people living there do not have the means or the money to access the water that is directly beneath them.
Those who lack access to water are not a homogeneously poor group. Nearly 66% of people who lack safe drinking water live on less than $2 a day, while 33% live on less than $1 a day. (UNDP)
People living in informal settlements (i.e. slums) often pay 510 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city. (UNDP)
If provided access to credit, poor households can allocate a significant portion of their income to sanitation investments. (WSP)
The weight of water that women in Asia and Africa carry on their heads is equivalent to the maximum baggage weight allowed by airlines: 44 lbs (20 kg). (WHRNET)
The average distance a woman walks in Africa to collect water is 3.75 miles (6 km), greatly reducing the time they have for other productive work, or for girls to attend school. (WHRNET)
Medical research has documented permanent damage to women's health as a result of carrying water, such as chronic fatigue, spinal and pelvic deformities, and effects on reproductive health, including spontaneous abortion. (UNHABITAT)
In some parts of Africa, women spend as much as 85% of their daily energy intake gathering water, increasing cases of anemia and other health problems. (UNHABITAT)
Enrollment rates for girls have been shown to improve by over 15% when provided with clean water and toilet facility, because girls no longer have to walk miles every day to fetch water. (UN)
Women are the primary caretakers for those who fall ill from waterrelated diseases, reducing their time available for education and productive economic efforts. (UNFPA)
2017712 Lesson 01
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Lack of access to sanitation for girls reaching puberty becomes a central cultural and human health issue, contributing to female illiteracy and low levels of education, and contributing to a cycle of poor health for pregnant women and their children. (UN)
Women and children bear the burdens disproportionately, often spending six hour or more each day fetching water for their families and communities. (UN)
Taken from: http://www.water4.org/
economy/question.docx
Please answer the following question. Your answer should be thorough and demonstrate your understanding of the material.
It's pretty obvious the continent of Africa has severe economic issues. What is the answer, specifically should developed nations intervene? Should developed nations provide relief for the poorest African nations? If yes, what form should that relief take? If not, why not? Be specific in your answer.
Make sure you support your answer with evidence from the readings.
economy/Spotlight_ Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017712 Spotlight: Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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Nation's Modern Day Significance to the World
Many, 700,000 as of 2014, Ivoirians lack documentation proving their nationality, which prevent them from accessing education and healthcare; birth on Ivorian soil does not automatically result in citizenship; disputes over citizenship and the associated rights of the large population descended from migrants from neighboring countries is an ongoing source of tension and contributed to the country's 2002 civil war; some observers believe the government's mass naturalizations of thousands of people over the last couple of years is intended to boost its electoral support base; the government in October 2013 acceded to international conventions on statelessness and in August 2013 reformed its nationality law, key steps to clarify the nationality of thousands of residents.
economy/What is Poverty_ - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017712 What is Poverty? 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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So, that we are all on the same page, let’s start by defining poverty. What is poverty? There are a couple of basic concepts that are used to define poverty, relative and absolute poverty. Relative is used to speak of the people living in a community. For example, politicians often argue over the distribution of wealth and children living in poverty in the United States. For the most part, those are children have basic needs met, even with assistance. Absolute poverty is vastly different. For those individuals a whole week’s income is less than the federal minimum wage for one hour in the U.S. According to the World Bank, absolute poverty refers to people with income of less than $2.00 per day. Typically this is not enough money to pay for the basic necessities of life – food clean water, shelter – that are needed to survive in reasonable health.
Over the past 30 years, absolute poverty in the world has fallen sharply. But, in Africa the worldwide norm is not the reality. In SubSaharan Africa over 40% of the people live in absolute poverty. Poverty is sometimes more about how a society shares money than how much money there is overall. Some African countries are very poor, but others are wealthier (often from oil) with extreme inequalities between their citizens.
Some people take an unsympathetic view of poverty and starvation in Africa. Others suggest that more political initiative is needed. In fact, the situation is very complicated. Each African country has a unique history, and today faces unique challenges. Development efforts require many different parts of society working together towards the same goals. In reality, this is hard to achieve.
Many argue, when there are no strong government an army can easily take over a country (in a "military coup"). Leaders who don't have to worry about reelection can make themselves rich. Without a mature legal system, corruption and bribery make it difficult for businesses to establish and without industry, prosperity is elusive. It's easy for those living in the United States with it rich tradition of democracy and its respect (though admittedly not always practiced) of human rights law to imagine the same situation should be found in the rest of the world. But, as recently as 1950, only four countries in Africa even had their own independent government; prior to that the rest were colonies of Western powers with some (much) of our national wealth derived from these past colonies.
Stable government, which is critical to eliminating poverty, is slowly developing across much of the continent. It takes many decades for stable government, economic stability and the rule of law to be established. People from Western nations tend to think the process happens overnight and are thus critical with what is viewed as slow progress, forgetting the turmoil their nation went through to develop.
Over the last 60 years, some progress has been made in reducing poverty. Many countries have seen gains in health, education and living standards as their economies grow. But at the same time many of the countries have been struggling with the legacy of colonial rule, and war has been common as systems of government have developed. Despite an overall picture of economic growth for the continent, some Africans are being left behind. Twothirds of the United Nations ‘least developed countries’ (classified as those at risk of remaining poor) are in Africa.
2017712 What is Poverty? 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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The Ivory Coast stands as an example that highlights two important aspects of poverty: that the best solutions work through income generated locally, but also that world markets and Western countries can have a devastating effect on the developing world. Their growth was achieved largely with a little help from the government. Farmer generated wealth from agricultural exports, mostly coffee. However, civil war erupted following problems with the international market due largely to foreign aid creating an excess of coffee in the market driving the cost dramatically down.
