MODERN PROBLEMS in AFRICA Unit 1 – Africa Lesson 7 – Modern Problems Your Name ______________________________ Period ______________ Jacoby pic from Kenya

The “Big Five” Poverty Civil War & Civil Strife Poor Education Bad Governments Disease

POVERTY Africa is the “poorest” place on earth Of the top ten poorest countries in 2014, Africa has all 10 of poorest countries in the world – Congo ($350 avg. income) – Zimbabwe (natural resources) – Liberia ($49 avg. income) Jacoby pic from Kenya

10. TOGO Togo is a country of Africa. During the colonial period it was been ruled by France and after its independence they were unable to sustain their economic needs and this situation turned worst when they were been threatened by civil wars from its neighbor countries. There are many other reasons like lack of sustainable political system, lack of leadership qualities in their rulers and many more which lead them to this situation. Its income per capita is 898 dollars which is below the poverty line and in HDI it stands at the 130th rank. With this all Togo is at the 10th position of this list of top ten poorest countries in the world. 9. MALAWI Malawi stands at the 9th position of this list of top ten poorest countries in the world. It’s a country of the sub continent Africa. It is one of the poorest countries of the world due to certain reasons one of them is the poor communication system. There are 47 landlocked countries and Malawi is one of them. Malawi stands at the 171st position in HDI and its income per capita is 860$. 8. SIERRE LEONE it is sometimes shocking to believe that a country having gold and diamond industries are considered in one of the poorest countries in the world. Its income per capita is below the poverty line and still it is considered to be one of the best exporters of the world. It stands at the 8th rank of this list of top ten poorest countries in the world 7. ERITREA Eritrea is an African country and its economy is based on agriculture. Metal is one main thing that this country exports in the world. Its income per capita is 777 dollars and it is placed at the 177th position in the HDI. This nation stands at the 7th position of this list of top 10 poorest countries in the world. 6. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Central African Republic is a central African country. Like Malawi it is also a landlocked country. Its main economy is based on agriculture. The main reasons for its economic downfall is lack of honesty of their rulers with their public, lack of good administration, and even though this country is an agricultural country still it imports vegetables from other countries and different diseases are growing in this region and AIDS is one of them. Its income per capita is 767 dollars. This makes this country the 6th most poorest country in the world. 5. BURUNDI Burundi is one of the land locked countries having a population greater than its economy and it’s the 5th most POOREST COUNTRIES in our list of top 10 poorest countries in the world. Its income per capita is 614 $. Its people are suffering through different diseases and problems like AIDS, HIV and most important that more than half of the population is deprived of clean water and due to which they are going through different diseases. There is lack of good political system, high rate of corruption these all factors are responsible for its economic downfall. They don’t have enough food for its whole population so they are dying of hunger. 4. NIGER Niger is an African country stated at West Africa having French its national language. Niger is having a great issue of gender discrimination making it a very hard place for women to survive. It is one of the land locked countries and has income per capita below the poverty line. It is standing at the 186th position in HDI. This country comes at the 4th position in the list of top 10 poorest countries in the world. 3. LIBERIA Liberia is third poorest countr of the world having an income per capita of 49$. This country has faced many civil wars and the one happened in 1989 not destroyed its whole economy but badly affected the health of its people. this country status is very low in HDI. 2. ZIMBABWE This is one of the country that has faced many civil wars from its enemy that it has destroyed so much of its infrastructure that it will take many years for this country to recover and its people has faced corrupt leaders which made this country’s economic situation worst. This country is blessed with so many natural resources that it can improve its economy in no time and can give their people a better standard of living but due to high corruption level it cannot be possible. In HDI it stands at 173rd position. This country comes at the 2nd position in this list of TOP TEN POOREST COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD. 1. CONGO Congo commonly known as DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO comes at the top of this list of TOP POOREST COUNTRY OF THE WORLD. It’s a Central African country having a capita per income of 348$ and its reasons for its economic downfall is the same as for the countries stated above. Its stands at the 186th position in the HDI

What does this say about Africa?

POVERTY Causes: – Civil War Disrupts commerce People stop working No foreign company wants to invest – Poor Governments – Poor education – Can’t afford strong health care Jacoby pic from Kenya

POVERTY Most people: Subsistence farmers Can’t afford to pay for school Can’t afford to lose family member farm hand You eat what you farm Jacoby pic from Kenya

What can be done to help?

Civil War and Civil Strife Endemic Wars Tribes stuck together who hate each other “Democracy” means the majority get everything Examples: – Rwanda (Hutu vs. Tutsi) – Sudan (Africans vs. Middle Easterners) – South Africa (native black vs. invader white) – Uganda (Child Soldiers of Joseph Kony)

Problems of Civil War Modern weapons Child Soldiers War Lords Refugees

Should we get involved? If we did, what could be the consequences?

Poor Education 128 million school-aged children 17 million will never attend school 37 million will learn so little while in they are in school that they will not be much better off than those kids who never attend school. (that means about 12 will never get any education) Jacoby pic from Kenya

Disease &Related Issues Pneumonia #1 killer – 800,000/year AIDS (on the decline) Malaria – 1.2 million – 90% of all cases in Africa Diarrhea (dehydration) Tuberculosis – 30% of the world has it – Only effects you when immune system is down Biggest killer: dirty water Most problems solvable with $5-10 of preventative or cure Jacoby pic from Kenya

UNITED NATIONS – is that the answer?

Bad Governments Most nations won independence in 1960s

Bad Governments Needed loans Defaulted on loans by 1970s Economies collapsed War Lords and Greedy dictators took over Today: 13,000,000 struggling to survive in “Horn of Africa” Robert Mugabe Most nations won independence in 1960s

Bad Governments Today: 13,000,000 struggling to survive in “Horn of Africa” – Have had a drought for years. This year: flooding Robert Mugabe

Whose fault is this? Can anything be done? Should anything be done?

South Africa – a victory 100 years ago – the worst racism in the world Official government policy: – APARTHEID (“apartness”) – Legally separated blacks and whites – Some laws only applied to blacks – Blacks forced into the bottom class