Last minute development scheme in Malaysia

In case you need one more e.g. of development schmen in Malaysia
http://www.felda.net.my/felda/english/felda01.asp



Federal Land Development Authority, better known as FELDA is the foremost land development agency in Malaysia. FELDA was established on 1st July 1956 under the Land Development Act 1956 as a result of recommendation of Government Working Committee.

FELDA was established with the purpose to help the government carried out rural land development schemes and to uplift the economic status as well as living standard of the rural community.

Originally, FELDA was functioning as a board to manage and channel financial aids to the state Government to carry out land development schemes in the respective states besides coordinating land development in these states which include the movement of population within the states.
Later FELDA's function was enlarged by the government and from 1961 FELDA was entrusted to carry out on its own development and settlement schemes throughout the country.

Todate, FELDA has developed approximately 480 new areas totalling 853,313 hectares which became plantation and settlement areas.

A total of 112,635 people were chosen as settlers from among the rural poor and landless community. Together with their families, they were resettled in the new settlement. Land development and settlement in the rural areas has now brought economic and social development as well as political stability to the country.

Through land development and settlement, FELDA has uplifted the living standard of the rural community as well as narrowing the gap in the quality of the life between the urban and rural population

The Problem with Cumulative Causation

Some of you have downloaded the Development notes (in PDF format) from the LMS, and have asked me why is it that the cumulative causation in the notes has links with core-periphery model, which is not the case in your textbook.

First, cumulative causation is under economic factors that lead to UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT. Hence, cumulative causation is suppose to explain WHY one place is MORE DEVELOPED than the other.

There are 2 popular definitions of cumulative causation.

The first definition is the one given by your textbook, which is how the start of one industry leads to a chain of other events, which leads to the creation of more industries, and the cycle is repeated, leading to more development. (http://www.answers.com/topic/cumulative-causation)

This definition is popularly used by economists. It does explain why a place becomes more developed, but it does not explain WHY there is uneven development between 2 places.

The 2nd definition, which is used in the notes, is more frequently used by geographers. It is an expansion from the first definition, but with some difference. The essence of the 2nd definition is as follows - cumulative causation is a process where an economic activity at the core leads to the core becoming more developed (this is where the first definition stops) than the periphery, by draining resources and labour from the periphery (adapted from Royal Geographic Society: http://www.geographyinthenews.rgs.org/glossary/?word=cumulative%20causation)

Hence, the notes used the 2nd definition, as that definition of cumulative causation explains WHY one place (the core) is more developed than the other (the periphery), which was the reason why you all learnt cumulative causation - to explain why there is uneven development. Also, in this way, it is easier to tie in the concept of spread effect and backwash.

cumulative causation? core? periphery?

I was going through some development stuff with my kids today and found out that there are some common misconceptions to these 3 terms. Here's to clear it up:

1) Core-periphery is to DESCRIBE the relationship between two countries / places, not to explain why there is uneven development
Eg: I'm a teacher, you're a student. Teacher-student will be the terms used to DESCRIBE our relationship, but it doesn't explain why I have more authority over you.

2) Cumulative causation is the PROCESS that leads to the uneven development between core-periphery

In summary, cumulative causation is the process in which the core becomes more developed than the periphery, by draining resources and labour from the periphery. Hence, the process explains why core and periphery, starts from being equally developed, to the core becoming more developed than the periphery.

THEREFORE
It will be inaccurate to say, one place BECAME more developed than the other because of core-periphery relationship.

Rather, it will be more accurate to say that one place BECAME more developed than another due to cumulative causation.

However, you can use core-periphery relationship to explain why the periphery is KEPT less developed than the core. To explain HOW it becomes less developed than the core, it will be more accurate to say that it is because of the PROCESS of cumulative causation.

Question on Development Core- periphery relationship.

1.a Study Fig.1which shows the HDI ranking as well as the development indicators of Australia and Nigeria.

Based on Table 1, explain why Australia is more developed than Nigeria. [5]

• Australia’s GDP per capita is higher at US$ 30677 than Nigeria’s US$835.

• This shows that the average income of the citizen in Australia is much higher than Nigeria. With the higher income, the people have a higher purchasing power and can afford to ulfil their needs and attain a higher standard of living. Higher purchasing power—> able to afford more goods and serives.

• Australia has a higher literacy rate of 99% than Nigeria’s 14.4%.

• This indicates that Australia is more developed than Nigeria because the government in Australia can provide the people with education. With higher education citizens are more efficient and productive

• More likely to work in the secondary and tertiary industries the people can have better jobs and earn higher income

• Nigeria has a Human Development Index value of 0.281 while Australia has a HDI value of 0.955. The closer the index is to 1, the higher the level of development. It is a holistic assessment of development. From the table, it can be seen that Australia has a much higher HDI than Nigeria, indicating that it is more developed than Nigeria.

• Life expectancy refers to the average number of years a person is expected to live. A developed country usually has a higher life expectancy than a less developed country. Nigeria’s life expectancy is 44.4 years old while Australia’s life expectancy is 80.3 years old.

• higher life expectancy is an indication that people live in a clean environment, have better access to health care, have enough food to eat higher standard of living.

• Answers can also accept other national measures to improve social well being such as improving education, sanitation facilities and eradicate slum

• However answers should not include economic measures to improve industrialisation

• Details should be pertaining to India and China


Level 1 ( 0 – 3 marks)
One or two general statements about the measures taken, eg. The China government introduced the one child policy
No assessment of how effective measures are
No supported effectiveness or simple statements, eg. it worked, it helped the poor people to improve their standard of living

Level 2 ( 4 – 6 marks)
Max 4m for one sided perspective view
Description of at least 3 Measures
Answer may have depth over a very narrow area, or have little detail but may touch on many relevant points
Brief statements of effectiveness

Level 3 ( 7 - 8 marks)
Well explained Measures/ methods of addressing social needs of people with details pertaining to China and India
There should be a balance of measures to weigh the success and failures the measures
A clear indication of effectiveness




1.d. With reference to example (s), assess the effectiveness of strategies to alleviate uneven development on an international scale among developed and undeveloped countries (7)

Candidates may include the following material:

International strategies to alleviate uneven development
- international cooperation
- international organisation
- World Bank
- Asian Development Bank
- International agreements
- United Nations Millennium Development Goals
-United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

International organisations:

• The World Bank funds the Kecamatan Development Programme, which helps to reduce poverty in Sleepy Tirtomoyo, Indonesia

• Provided financial and technical support to villagers in Sleepy Tirtomoyo

• The financial aid enables the locals to dig wells to tap on underground water source and build pipelines so as to provide water supply to homes

• Kecamatan Development programme gives villagers the empowerment to utilise the funds on the basis of their needs and priorities thus reducing poverty

• The Asian Development Bank funds the Jamuna’s Multipurpurpose Bridge Project in Bangladesh that aims to improve the country’s transport infrastructure

• The bridge connects Bangladesh’s less developed northwestern region to its more developed eastern region

• Provided financial and technical support to construct the bridge that has roads, railway, gas pipelines and telecommunication lines

• Encourages economic growth in less developed northwestern region by increasing passenger and goods traffic

• Improved living conditions through improved infrastructure and removing existing traffic congestion

• Bridge connects agricultural areas of Dhaka and the port of Chittagong, making it easier for farmers to transport their produce to the markets for sale

International Agreements

• United Nations Millennium Development Goals target at reducing poverty by achieving greater development in the less developed countries such as in Vietnam

• Provides training for people living in poor communities to equip them with skills and knowledge to look for jobs

• They can afford basic necessities and improve their standard of living when they have a steady source of income

• Increase the access to basic social services for the poor

• Carry out educational campaigns to raise awareness of the dire situation of poverty in the country and exert pressure on the government to create more jobs and increase rural income

• Increase primary education for everyone in the world

• Increase enrollment in schools

• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea helps to control the usage of resources in the seas and oceans

• Expensive and advanced equipment in the larger fishing boats from DCs enables them to spot fishes easily and compete with the poor fishermen from Peru

• Establish an Economic Exclusive Zone

• Ensure that the fishermen in the LDCs can have access to good fish stock despite not having high-tech fishing vessels

A full answer does not need to include all the above points

Level 1 ( 0 – 3 marks)
One or two statements about measures taken, eg. World Bank & Asian Development Bank gives financial assistance to LEDCs
No assessment of how effective measures are
No supported effectiveness or simple statements , eg. it worked, it helped the poor people to improve their standard of living

Level 2 ( 4 – 6 marks)
Measures need to be specific, eg. World Bank provides KDP with funds to improve sanitation & water supply; ; ADB provide Vietnam with financial and technical assistance in the urban areas
Limited indication of how well people cope/ how effective measures are. Eg. Their standard of living improves as there is now proper irrigation….
Answer may have depth over a very narrow area, or have little detail but may touch on many relevant points
Brief statements of effectiveness

Level 3 ( 7 - 8 marks)
Measures/ methods of alleviating uneven development needed with detail
There should be a balance of measures to weigh the success and failures of both International cooperation
Clear statements of how well these measures help people cope needed
A clear indication of effectiveness
International Cooperation may not be the one and only measure to alleviate uneven development; different countries have different sets of problems which can be solved through National Strategies such as population policy etc

Question on Development

1a

1 (a) Fig. 1A above shows the natural resources and GDP per capita of a few countries.

With reference to Fig. 1A, describe the relationship between the availability of natural resources in a country and its GDP per capita. [5]

(b) Explain how cumulative causation affects development in core areas. [4]

(c) Discuss how education affects the development of a country. [4]

(d) Suggest reasons why it is difficult to use various indicators to make an accurate comparison of the level of development between any two countries. [4]

(e) Read the extract below by an environmental activist, and assess the feasibility of organic farming replacing “modern farming methods” in the long term. [8]

Today’s modern farming methods are destructive to both man and nature, and should no longer be carried out further. Organic farming is a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term.

Suggested answers

Suggested Answer

With reference to Fig 1A, describe the relationship between the availability of natural resources in a country and its GDP per capita. [5 marks]

• Based on Fig 1, there is no direct or distinct relationship between the availability of natural resources in a country and its GDP per capita.

• Among the four countries, Brazil has the most natural resources, but has the lowest GDP per capita of US$8 600.

• On the other hand, Singapore has no natural resources, but has the second highest GDP per capita at US$30 000.

• This does not mean that there is an inverse relationship between the availability of natural resources in a country and GDP per capita, as Norway is well-endowed with many natural resources, and boasts the highest GDP per capita among the four countries.

• This could suggest that countries need to utilise their natural resources well in order to boost their economy and GDP per capita, and that there are also other factors affecting GDP per capita.

(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)


b. Explain how cumulative causation affects development in core areas. [4 marks]



• The process of how the movement of people and resources from a periphery area increases the wealth of a core area is known as cumulative causation.

• A core area attracts workers from the periphery area, as the core often receives new investments for development of industries, and creates more employment.

• As more people live and work in the core area, there is an increased demand for goods and services.

• With increased demand, the core area would draw further investments, leading to the expansion of existing industries and the establishment of new businesses. As more jobs are generated, the general wealth of the people living in the core increases as well. This helps to raise the level of development of the core.
(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

(c) Discuss how education affects the development of a country. [4 marks]

• Education, measured in terms of literacy rate, often determines the types of industries a country’s population can work in. With more people in the country being able to read and write, they have the capability and required skills to work in the secondary and tertiary industries, which contribute more to a country’s GDP.

• On the other hand, low literacy rate in a country would mean that a high proportion of its population is unskilled and only able to work in primary industries such as agriculture, which generate less income.

• With a workforce that has a high literacy rate, a country is more likely to attract foreign investors that employ skilled workers, thus driving the development of the country.

• Education may also play a part in other areas affecting development. For example, people who receive education may be more knowledgeable about the importance of sanitation or infant care. This helps to raise their standard of living, reduce infant mortality, and improve the country’s overall level of development.

(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

(d) Suggest reasons why it is difficult to use various indicators to make an accurate comparison of the level of development between two countries.
[4 marks]

• Different countries may interpret indicators differently. For example, when collecting data on literacy rate, countries may differ on the level of education a person has before he or she is considered literate.

• There may be problems gathering a complete set of data in certain countries. It may be easier to collect data from a country with a highly urbanised population, as compared to a country where many rural areas may be inaccessible or too sparsely populated to gather data accurately.

• When comparing GDP or GDP per capita, it should be noted that the data does not include income generated in the informal sectors. Hence, a country with a low GDP per capita may not truly reflect a low level of development, as its people may be greatly involved in these informal sectors.

• Sometimes, data might be obtained from different sources at different time periods. Hence, data collection or calculation methods may differ from country to country, and data may be more up-to-date in some countries than others.
(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

(e) Read the quote below by an environmental activist, and assess the feasibility of organic farming replacing “modern farming methods” in the long term. [8 marks]


Today’s modern farming methods are destructive to both man and nature, and should no longer be carried out further. Organic farming is a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term.



• Today’s farming methods include the use of chemicals as well as the development of genetically modified (GM) crops. These methods help to increase the production of food, but may bring about adverse effects to both man and nature, as mentioned by the environmental activist.

• For example, the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides may lead to environmental effects such as water pollution and destruction of animal life. In addition, they may also be harmful to the health of consumers, as strains of these chemicals may be found in the food that is produced.

• GM food also contains risks such as the loss of natural species if GM crops genetically pollute natural crops. Potential health hazards are also possible if the food contains genes or substances that are harmful to humans.

• Organic farming minimises these risks, as they practice farming methods that do not use chemicals or GM crops.

• For example, instead of using chemical fertilisers, organic farmers make use of animal manure as fertiliser. They also rear natural predators to pests, instead of spraying pesticides on crops that may end up polluting water bodies or being consumed by man. They also practise crop rotation so as to keep the soil fertile over a long period.


• If current farming methods are employed, the environment may not be sustainable as more and more pollution occurs. By replacing these practises with organic farming, both man and nature would benefit in the long term.

• However, there are several limitations of organic farming that must be overcome if it was to be feasible. As the world’s population grows, the demand of food is ever increasing. Organic farming practises may not be able to produce enough quantity of food to supply the world’s population.

• As organic farming methods require higher costs, these costs would also be transferred to the consumers, thus making food more expensive. This would greatly affect consumers, especially those in less developed countries (LDCs), since they may not be able to afford expensive organic food products. More people may go hungry and suffer from starvation as a result.

Question on Development Case study of Ghana, Thailand, India and Bangladesh

1. (a)
i. What do you understand by this term ‘income per capita’? [2]
ii. With reference to examples, explain why income per capita should not be the only indicator to measure the development of a country. [4]

(b) The table below shows development issues in Ghana.

Life in Ghana today:

• Politically stable
• Need US$6 Billion to develop infrastructur
• GNI is US$477 per capita
• Highly dependent on aid
• Common for people to love with no electricity that produces hydroelectric power.
• Almost all electricity generated sold to aluminum smelters and process of electricity are high
• Most people work in informal sector and never declare income 70% are farmers but still imports food
• Export cocoa beans to UK
• People commonly go hungry and families rarely eat meat.
• 3 buckets of water per day cost 10-20% of average daily income of 1 person
• One of the best schools in Ghana has fees of US$600/year.
  
  

i. Suggest why Ghana faces difficulty in developing its economy. [6]
ii. Using the problems identified in (i), explain what the Ghanaian government can do to increase the standard of living. [5]

(c) With reference to studies made, evaluate the success of strategies used
by governments in Less Developed Countries to promote national
development in education, health and the economy. [8]


As usual try to attempt the question first before looking at the answer.

1 (a) i. What do you understand by this term ‘income per capita’?

• Average income each worker in a country receives in a year
• Indicator of wealth of people in a country and the standard of living
• Take the total income of a country divide by total population
• Examples of measurements would be gross domestic product per capita or gross national product per capita [2]
  

ii. With reference to examples, explain why income per capita should not be the
only indicator to measure the development of a country.

• Indicates only the average income earned per person, will not know the
  income gap in the country
• Countries like China and India may appear to have lower gdp/capita but
  there are extremely rich pp. (big / wide y distribution)
• Rural poor, urban migrant workers vs. small % of urban rich
• Limited in showing social development / quality of living especially in education and health e.g Middle Eastern countries … rich because of production of oil but education and health
• Infrastructure not comparable to income per capita. e.g Singapore … high income per capita but not considered developed in terms of % of population with tertiary education, lagging behind DCs such as USA and Japan. [4]

(b) Fig. 1 shows development issues in Ghana.
(i) Suggest why Ghana faces difficulty in developing its economy. [6]

• Low income per capita (US$477) = government has little revenue to develop country and need US$6b to develop infrastructure
• Highly dependent on aid = in debt (not all aid are free)
• Poorly developed infrastructure : water supply, education, electricity supply
• Income gap between rich and poor is wide, most are poor farmers
• 70% are farmers but there is insufficient food
• agric products are cash crops, low value.
• Agriculture are exported without processing
• public utilities such as water supply is barely existent… and expensive.Had to buy buckets from water vendors, 20% of income
• there is electricity but not for the population, channeled for mining and smelting.
• Schools are not readily available and accessible except to the very rich … high school fees of US$600 per year.
  If only cut and paste info from the table, max 3m.
  

(ii) Using the problems identified in (i), explain what the Ghanaian
government can do to increase the standard of living. [5]

• Add value to agric products such as cocoa beans like process them into cocoa powder
• Overtime, manufacture chocolate
• Diversify in to food crops that can meet population’s needs, cheaper than importing food.
• Plant GM food / HYVs, fertilizers etc to increase yields especially food crops, sell/export surplus
• Mechanize farming
• All these measures will reduce aid and dependency on imported food and yet earn revenue from export.
• Use political stability to set up tax system to collect more revenue.
• Reduce reliance on foreign aid This source of income can be used to develop infrastructure public utilities, proper public water services and supply, electricity supply and education facilities.
• Add value to al by processing them into steel.
• Create employment for population, higher salary than working as a miner.

(d) With reference to studies made, evaluate the success of strategies used by
governments in Less Developed Countries to promote national development
in education, health and the economy. [8]

L1 0-3
Describe strategies only. Brief statements on success. Country example only.

L2 – 4-6
Must have evaluation of success, specific egs to get highest of L2.
4m Covers 1 in depth
5m Covers 2 in depth
6m Covers 2 in depth, 1 superficially

L3 – 7-8 Covers all 3, clear evaluation and specific egs.

Education
Thailand’s hill tribe community project in 1998
77 established in 1998 under government’s policy to provide, ‘Education for All’
Formal and non-formal education programmes developed to suit needs of communities, eg

i. Academic subjects and life skills taught
ii. Sustainable farming methods taught to local farmers

Result
i. Many are able to obtain employment in cities
ii. Agricultural production increased
iii. General increase in income has helped in improving the standard of living of the people in the country.

Constrains
i. BUT depends on availability of volunteer teachers from more developed region teach in community learning centre.
ii. Communication barriers.. strong culture
iii. Adaptability to changes by the hill tribe. Resistance to formal education,
iv. suspicious of westerners from NGOs.
v. Geographically isolated, poor transport and accessibility.
vi. Difficult for government to reach out to all and attract volunteers
vii. Politically unstable area, Myanmar and Thai border, danger element and instability o livelihood.

Health (water supply and sanitation facilities)
Case of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India

· Parivartan Slum Networking Programme
· Aims to help region develop by improving lives of slum dwellers
· Site and Services Scheme (new housing site).
· Provision of basic infrastructure: water supply and underground sewerage
· Supported by local government, funded by local banks
· Monthly monitoring meetings, future planning sessions
· Training sessions on proper use of facilities
· Benefited 56,000 people in >40 slums/squatters
· Expanded to include 59 more slums
·

Results
o Death rates declined from 6.9 per 1,000 people to 3.7 per 1,000 people
o Fewer people falling ill, Increased standard of living, Helped region to develop.

Problems
o Slum dwellers unwilling to move should they have to shift out to an improved area.
o Could be at the fringe of the city, far away from the workplace, too lowly paid to afford transport despite better water supply and sanitation facilities, jobs in the city centre
o Culture and tradition, generations have been there.
o Economy by creating jobs and financial assistance

Economic Growth
“Linking Arms Against Poverty” OR Grameen Microfinancing in Bangladesh

· Aims to increase employment rate and income of the poor

· Benefit
o Resources provided to informal sector
o Government works with NGOs to assess viability to business ventures before loans are offered.
o Microfinance, or small loans, were given to small businesses
o Ultra-poor given interest free loans
o Programme supported by several other NGOs and private organizations
o Poor given training and advice to run businesses effectively 600,000 agricultural jobs created in rural areas, 3 million businesses assisted,1.7 million provided employment through job placement schemes.

Problems
o Income gap still very wide bet rich and poor.
o Little access to markets to sell their products which are usually handicraft.
o Insufficient volunteers in the microfinance programme to give loans, provide training, reach out to the more enterprising poor especially in isolated areas.