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Economic Underdevelopment & Famine

A. Africa once held bright prospects for its future.

B. Over the past 25 years, prospects have shifted from optimism to pessimism, with poverty and famine now synonymous with Africa.

C. Sub-Saharan Africa carries the brunt of African poverty.

A. Although prospects for economic development were recently positive, poverty is not new to Sub-Saharan Africa.

1. Pre-colonial poverty caused by poor natural conditions.

2. Colonialism unleashed two more factors contributing to poverty in the region: slave trade; and wars.

3. Later neo-colonial development transformed the African economy into an export-oriented, cash-crop economy; not suitable for economic independence.

B. Political independence in the 1960s was greeted with hope that many of the obstacles to economic development had been removed.

III. Contemporary Economic Conditions

A. Mass famine of 1983/1984 alerted world to Africa's underdevelopment.

B. Two case studies on the course of economic development: Zambia and Zaire.

IV. Causes of African Poverty and Famine

A. Policy mismanagement by government.

B. Corruption by ruling elites, bureaucrats and business managers.

C. Inadequate investment in the economy in general and agriculture in particular. Far too little irrigation systems and agricultural technology.

D. Soil erosion and desertification.

A. Current trends are bleak; if unabated, more famine is likely.

B. New economic dislocations--such as drought or war--could cause an immediate collapse.

C. In order to survive, Africa will have to address the Western nations' historically exploitive influence over the region's development.

Over the past quarter century, the image of Africa has shifted from great optimism to great pessimism. Poverty and famine have become almost synonymous with Africa. The news out of Africa has been so grim for so long that prospects for the continent seem hopeless, its problems i...

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Economic Underdevelopment & Famine. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 04:43, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1689740.html