Vision 2030 Kenya - Geog4B

Launched in 2008. It is a long term development program that aim to transform Kenya into a middle income country.
The aim is to achieve average annual growth of 10% per annum until 2030.
There are 3 main pillars underpinned by what are called enablers.
Enablers for this growth include macroeconomic stability, governance reforms, improved infrastructure, increased human capital.
The projects are implemented in 5 year medium term plans.

Pillar 1: Economic
Economic projects aim to target tourism, agriculture and manufacturing among others.
Projects include:

• development of special economic zones (SEZs) in the cities of Kisumu, Mombasa and Lama - they offer tax incentives for FDI and can provide jobs.
• Creating resort cities especially for tourism. Example is Diani, this will attract tourists and FDI.
• There are many other projects that can be found here

Pillar 2: Social

Social projects aim to target education/training, health and the environment

Projects include:

• Construction of 560 secondary schools
• strengthening KEMSA through increased funding
• waste management strategy in Nairobi
• There are many other projects that can be found here

Pillar 3:

Political projects target rule of law (2010), the electoral process and democracy among others.

Projects include:

• Constitutional reform
• national cohesion improvements
• There are many other projects that can be found here

Big flagship projects that aim to include all 3 pillars:

• Expansion and modernization of JKIA (Joma Kenyatta international airport) and Kisumu airports
• Road network expansion to rural areas
• CCTV installation in major urban areas including Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa.
• Investing in green energy
• Improvements of rail networks
• setting up international sports academy

It is worth noting that Kenya has recently discovered large oil reserves that should aid in development of Kenya.

Globalisation Economics

Geography World Cities Revision Questions

Geography revision questions

1. Describe global distribution of millionaire cities.

A millionaire city is a city with over 1 million inhabitants. The highest number of millionaire cities are located in developing countries due to globalisation, especially in the Far East but also found in MEDCs. A lot are found at places where work is so people move there to work and live

2. Distinguish between mega cities and world cities, give examples of each

A mega city is a city with over 10 million people like Delhi. A world city is a city that acts as a global hub for finance, trade, culture business etc. like London or New York.

3. Describe and comment on the changing population sizes of megacities shown in the table

Table? Growth of megacities is mainly in developing countries where the population is increasing quickly. MEDC’s megacities are not growing as quickly as the megacities in LEDCs.

4. Rates of urbanisation increase as levels of development increase. To what extent is this statement true?

Not entirely. There has been an overall increase in urbanisation as there has been a revolution in farming practices and increase in technology has meant that more people are moving to cities in order to find work. This is evident in LEDCs however in MEDCs there is clear evidence of counter urbanisation where people are moving out of the city centre due to factors such as congestion and reduced living standards.

5. Define.

Urbanisation – the movement of people to an urban area from a rural area. Suburbanisation is the growth of people living on the fringes of a city/suburb. Counter urbanisation is the movement of people from an urban area to a rural area.

6. Why has a named city grown in size?

Sao Paulo is in South America and is located near Rio and Curitiba. Until the 18th century sao Paulo was not considered an important city. However the emergence of the coffee industry and gold mining in Sao Paulo brought European culture. However after the coffee industry died down people started businesses there. In the 20th century Brazil became a republic allowing Sao Paulo to have political power.

7. For named case study, describe effects of urbanisation on character of city

It is a city of contrasts with some areas being very wealthy and other areas living in slum-like conditions. The population has seen a huge increase in recent years. Starting in 1940 the pop was below 2 million and now it is nearing 12 million people. Due to the pull factors of work and city lifestyle it has become hugely overcrowded and resulted in the growth of slums due to urban sprawl. Between 980 and 1990 the population living in favelas increased 120%. There are redevelopment schemes such as the Cingapura scheme that aims to cut down favelas and build tower blocks. Now 20% of people live in favelas. The city is incredibly overcrowded and busty therefore the rich have decided to invest in helicopters making Sao Paulo the second most popular area for helicopters.

8. How are the effects of urbanisation being managed by the area

The Cingapura scheme aims to tackle the favelas by knocking them down and building tower blocks In order to improve their standard of living however tower blocks take away the community atmosphere and are not popular. In order to improve the transport there is an underground metro system to reduce pollution of cars, reuce congestion etc.

Riders For Health Kenya - Geog4B Human capacity

How increasing human capacity will help Kenya move towards achieving the MDGs.

Introduction

• Human capacity is the stock of knowledge, habits and social attributes, which create the ability to perform labour so that the economic development can occur.
• These resources are the total capacity of the people that represents a form of wealth which can be directed to accomplish the goals of the nation.
• The MDGs (Millennium development goals) are 8 international goals that were established to promote development.  They emphasise three areas, human capital, infrastructure and human rights.
• Human capital objectives include nutrition, healthcare (including child mortality, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and reproductive health) and education.

1. Increasing the number of health care workers

• This increases the workforce and so allows knowledge to be gained and skills.
• Rotating expat programme

Medical staff from LEDC to UK	Medical staff from MEDC to Kenya
Able to learn new skills that they can transfer to home country which will increase the knowledge of the locals.	Can give support and more experience to the medical staff and so increasing their knowledge and may change their usual medical habits to more effective once.
Able to use the latest technology and so learn how to deal with new unpredictable situations	Could provide new resources such as drugs to help reduce the spread of preventable diseases.
The new situations may not relate to the situation back home. For example they are unlikely to see diseases such as malaria in the UK	Might become overwhelmed with the situation as it will be nothing like the usual MEDC hospital. This could distract them and so not help the LEDC as much as planned.
A Brain drain may occur as all the brightest medical staff would leave Kenya. This would be Kenya would have to survive on a body of medical staff that are less skilled.	The issues may not be all textbook issues and so may not actually have the knowledge to give about the situations. The different circumstances mean they would have to deal with a situation differently to how they would at home.
Could be a language barrier and so medical staff might not be able to work as effectively

• 2003 - doctors per 100,000 = 15 2007 - doctors per 100,000 = 18
• By having more medical staff, people in more rural areas could be reached and so would help all the human capacity goals. Around 60% of the population live in rural locations which are hard to get to and the people live to difficult conditions. The staff could work with NGOs such as riders for health to make the care for accessible.
• More people can be treated as there are more people who can treat them. This helps treat diseases and the spread of diseases.  

2. Increased spending on education

• Increasing human capital usually means increasing spending on education. If you are improving spending on education or making education more available you are increasing the human capital. As well as improving on MDG 2, primary universal education you are increasing the long term supply of the country. By having more productive workers you are able to create more wealth in the economy and therefore increase the money needed for investment. This investment can be used to help achieve all 8 MDGs. However there is an opportunity cost of spending on education ie. Money can be spent on infrastructure. There is also a considerable time lag between when the money is invested in education and when you reap the rewards.

3. Increased wages resulting from more skills

• The increase in wages and wealth in the economy will bring people out of poverty. If you have more skills due to education or training then you are able to demand higher wages and thus bringing yourself out of poverty. This directly help with MDG number 1: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. These increased wages can spur on the multiplier effect and help bring others out of poverty.

4. Increasing skilled workers – training –education – population will gain knowledge of treating and preventing

• By providing training it increases the human capacity hugely. This is because people gain knowledge and understanding which allows them to help combat the MDGs. By increasing the amount of trained worker people can gain better incomes which would help with other goals such as eradicating extreme hunger and poverty. They would gain higher wages and so create more disposable income and have a better quality of life.
• Able to spread knowledge of prevention and awareness
• Help all three human capacity goals
• The transfer of skills to other people means that people will become more experienced and so be able to treat more situations. They could learn how to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. This would create a stronger working population as the workers would be healthier and so would also help towards other MDGs.

Conclusion

• In conclusion, the investment from the higher wealth gained from the increase in skills is the most important factor for developing and therefore achieving the MDG goals.
• Even if there was developed infrastructure it is useless if the people cannot use it effectively and to the benefit of the country therefore increasing human capacity is vital for developing.
• Health is one of the biggest barrier to developing and therefore overcoming it by improving skills and human capacity is sustainable way of growing and developing and ultimately achieving the MDGs.

The Labour Market - Economics Unit 1 Revision

The labour market is a factor market.

The demand for labour is derived. This means that the demand is a consequence of demand for something else

The wage rate is seen as the price of labour. If the price of labour is low then firms tend to demand more than when it is high. This is what gives the demand for labour the downward sloping direction.

Apart from the wage rate there are other factors that affect the demand for labour, these will shift the demand curve inwards and outwards. They include:

• Productivity of labour - if they become more productive through new technology this will lead to an increased demand for labour and shift the demand curve to the right
• The demand for its final product - if the demand for the final product decreases then the demand for labour is also going to decrease and the demand curve will shift to the left.

The elasticity of demand of labour can affect the shape of the demand curve. Factors include:

• Extent to which other factors such as technology can be substituted for labour. If it is easily substituted then the demand will be elastic.
• share of labour costs to firms total cost - in service activity firms the wage costs are relatively high so the firm is more responsive to changes in price of labour so demand will be elastic.
• In the short run demand for labour will tend to be inelastic but in the long run it will be more elastic as firms are able to change the factors of production being used.
• It will also depend on the PED for the final product

Labour Supply

The supply of labour will be upward sloping as more people will offer themselves for work as the wage rate increases. 

A number of factors can influence the position of the supply curve, these include:

• rate of unemployment benefits payable - if people are more able to receive benefits then the supply may shift to the left.
• the participation rate (proportion of working age looking for a job or already in employment) - if there is a higher rate then the supply will increase.
• An increase in geographical mobility of labour will increase supply
• other factors such as job security and perks may also have an effect on the supply of labour.

Labour market Equilibrium

Found at where supply meets demand and determines the wage rate for an industry.

If the wage is lower than equilibrium then the firm will offer higher wage to fill vacancies and if the wage is higher than equilibrium then there is excess supply of labour, causing a decrease in wage rate.

Effects of Migration 

With the closer integration of the EU migration is increasing, this will increase the supply of labour. 

Effects of government intervention

• Minimum wage - A NMW above market equilibrium creates excess supply of labour as firms find it too expensive to employ aas many workers as before. This creates unemployment. However the NMW is there to stop exploitation, provide an incentive and alleviate poverty. The affect on unemployment depends whether the NMW is above of below the equilibrium wage rate. 
• Unemployment benefits - if benefits are high then it will reduce the supply of labour as it acts as a disincentive.
• Taxation - if taxes are too high then reduces incentive and therefore supply of labour.

Trade Unions

A trade union is an association of workers that negotiates with employers on behalf of the workers. The three main objectives of trade unions include wage bargaining, improving working conditions and providing job security. It is important to evaluate whether the trade union is in a position to affect any of these in a market.

One of the main criticisms of trade unions are that they have created barriers to entering industires for workers as existing workers have better access to information about how a firm is operating or about vacancies. This greatly affects the flexibility of the labour market by making it harder to firms to adapt to changing market conditions.

Eyjafjallajokull case study - MEDC Volcano

Located in south Iceland, Eyjaf stands at 1666m high. It is situated above the mid atlantic ridge which is a constructive boundary where the North American and Eurasian plate are moving apart from each other.

• Volcanic events started in March 2010, initially a fissure opened up (around 150m in length) with up to 12 different lava craters ejecting lava 150m into the air at temperature of up to 1000 degrees. The lava is basaltic, therefore it has a very low silica content. 
• On 14 April 2010 the eruption entered a new, explosive phase where it ejected fine ash into the air. 
• Ash rose to heights of 35,000 feet. 
• An estimated 100 million cubic metres of tephra was ejected.

Impacts:

Social:

• 700 people were evacuated
• 20 farms destroyed, now difficult to farm and harvest

Environmental:

• flooding contaminated waters
• local water levels rose

Economic:

• Anticyclone weather caused 6 day flight ban which cancelled 95,000 flights. The ash would have got into engines and stopped them from working.
• LEDCs such as Kenya who rely on exporting green beans suffered

Responses:

• 6 day flight ban - 95,000 flights cancelled and estimated it cost airline £1.2 billion!
• evacuation of 700 people
• within 4 weeks the main route 1 which was covered has been rebuilt.

Poolsbrook country park site case study. Sustainability.

Poolsbrook is in Derbyshire and is a caravan site.

It was developed on a brownfield site (an area with previous construction)

Uses sustainable energy features to reduce costs such as:

• Solar heating panels
• Photovoltaic panel to convert sunlight into electricity
• Wind turbine
• Low energy light bulbs
• A ground source heat recovery system that exploits geothermal energy

They also realise that by promoting sustainability it is a useful marketing and advertising tool.

Won awards in 2009 for both regeneration and sustainability.

Curitiba Case Study - Sustainable City

Curitiba is in Brazil and is recognized as one of the most sustainable cities in the world. It is in east Brazil and has a population of 1.8 million.


Started in 1970 when a team led by Jaime Lerner devised a plan to incorporate ecology, efficient transport, user friendly open spaces along with other goals.


Key aspects of Curitiba include:

• Very efficient bus system where lanes are designated for buses to make journeys quicker and there is a 5 pronged star shape road network to increase efficiency. The bus is cheap (single priced ticket system) and makes travelling quick and easy. 75% of commuters take the buses and this results in 25% less congestion and 30% reduction in fuel consumption.
• Encourage recycling and have a green swap system, this encourages people to walk to a local recycling point where they can swap their waste for bus tickets, food etc. 2/3 of the city's waste is now recycled. The program is voluntary but 70% of households participate.
• There is a lot of open space (28 parks) and pedestrianization which increases the stand of living and also the environment. 52 square metres of green space per person. Builders are encouraged to crate green areas with their buildings by being given tax breaks.
• Encourages non-polluting and hi-tech industries has been successful in achieving growth, avg growth rate of 7.1% (national average of 4.2%). There is high wealth in Curitiba with 66% higher per capita incomes than the Brazil average.

Nepal Earthquake - A level Geography

On Saturday 25th April a 7.8 earthquake measuring on the richter scale hit just 80km outside of Kathmandu (capital of Nepal).

The region had 2.5 million people living there.
Today the death toll stands at 5000+ and expected to rise.

The earthquake occurred where the Indian plate is being sub ducted beneath Eurasian plate at a destructive plate boundary. The India plate is moving at 5cm a year towards Asia. A powerful 6.7 tremor hit on Sunday as an aftershock.

The 19th century, 200 step Dharahara tower in Kathmandu collapsed.

Problems with the response is that much of the worst hit areas are mountainous therefore the roads to deliver aid via are blocked by debris making the response slow in areas. There as been a slow response with aid with many locals complaining about the government not helping them move out or helping them with food. Nepal's one airport has struggled to cope with the huge amount of aid that is being flown in therefore it is stockpiled there and not being distributed efficiently.

Subsidies - Economics Unit 1

A subsidy is a type of benefit given by the government in order to remove some sort of burden and increase the consumption of merit goods. An example is subsidies for wind farm investment in order to encourage them.

Here is a diagram of a subsidy. 

The area of deadweight loss is the cost to society created by market inefficiency. This is because total surplus with a subsidy is under that of when it is in a free market.

The size of the subsidy is the difference between P1 and P2. The cost of the subsidy is whole shaded area. You work it out by finding new equilibrium point taking it across,  then taking it up to original supply curve then taking it across 

Subsidies are usually seen as government intervention when there is an under consumption of a merit good. Therefore a way of solving an externality. I will go into detail on another post.

Tax - Economics Unit 1 + 3

TAX  A tax is a compulsory charge made by the government, on goods, services, incomes or capital.
Reasons for tax:

• Raise government revenue
• reduce inequality
• reduce competitiveness of foreign goods
• influence public spending

Tax - Unit 1:

• Direct tax is tax levied on an individual or organisation ie. income or corporation tax.
• Indirect tax is usually levied on purchase of goods or services. A tax on expenditure.

Indirect tax 

Has two types. Tax raises the price of a good by adding to the supply curve and shifting it left. In unit 1 taxes are used to solve negative externalities. ie. use of cigarettes.

• Ad Valorem tax - charged as a percentage of the price of the good. ie. VAT is 20%. Causes pivotal rotation of supply curve.

• Specific tax - charged a fixed amount per unit of a good. ie. excise tax on wine. Causes a parallel shift of the supply curve. 

The incidence of tax falls on partly the consumer and producer but the majority is dependent a combo of the PED and PES for that good. Goods that have inelastic demand such as addictive products ie. cigarettes, usually the incidence falls mainly on the consumer. This means the firm can pass on a higher price to them as they are willing to pay. 

A diagram shows how the incidence falls.

Here is a relatively even incidence but in some cases it can be heavily on the consumer or heavily on the producers dependent on the elasticities.

Tax - Unit 4:

Two types of tax already mentioned. Indirect is levied on expenditure and direct are those that cannot be passed on to anyone else and levied on income and wealth.

main direct taxes are income, corporation and capital gains. 

Three broad categories for taxes:

• progressive tax - as you get richer you pay more tax ie. income. to redistribute wealth.
• proportional - the percent you pay stays constant. ie. earn 10% more so you're taxed 10% more.
• regressive - the poorer you are the more you pay. ie. VAT, you can argue that as a percent of income they pay more than the rich. 

The Laffer curve

The laffer curve shows that in theory tax gets to a certain level where people pay then when it goes any higher people are disincentivised (due to more income going to government) and tax revenue decreases.

After tax rate of M the revenue starts to decrease, this is showing that people are not incentivised.

The Growth Of China

China Today...
Second largest economy in the world GDP= $9.24 trillion
worlds fastest growing major economy (however in 2014 suffered slowest growth for 24 years, still 7.2%)
Second largest trading nation and largest exporter of goods
Since 1978 the average income has x4
during last 10 years has contribute more than 30% to global economy
Attracts most FDI in the world

How did it get there?
China's rapid growth started when it switched from a centrally planned economy to a more market orientated economy in 1978 under Deng Xioping. This opened up China to all sorts of opportunities. TNCs started to use the country an an export platform which made it a major competitor on that field to the Asian Tigers.
FDI was initially encouraged in SEZs (small enterprise zones) which were situated along the coast. In early 1980s the number of SEZs was expanded to a total of 17 (14 coastal, 3 inland). These SEZs were areas that had separate, more relaxed regulations and improved infrastructure in order to attract FDI. Shanghai is an example of an SEZ.
China joined the WTO in 2001 which allowed it greater access onto the global market.
China had competitive advantages due to their large population, cheap labour force and their ability to push policies through quickly.


However this growth caused many problems...
There have been massive disparities in incomes creating huge inequality. Areas are being left behind such as Suchuan and many rural areas.
Rapid industialization has caused major pollution in the form of smog and polluted waters (31/52 of the major lakes have severe pollution). Acid rain falls on 30% China.

Seismic Waves

There are two main types of seismic waves

1. body waves
2. surface waves

Body Waves

Body waves travel through the boy of the earth.

• P-waves: Longitudinal waves (movement of particles is the same direction as the wave). They travel through air, liquid and solids (through solids at 5000 m/s. They hit first and are the fastest of the two body waves.
• S-waves: the next wave that hits is the S-wave. This is a transverse wave (movement of particles perpendicular to direction of wave). Slightly slower than the P-waves and only travel through solids.

Surface Waves

Travel through the surface and are more destructive than body waves

• Love waves: transverse waves that are very damaging to structures' foundations
• Rayleigh waves: Longitudinal waves that are slightly slower than love waves.

Economic Vs Environmental Sustainability

Sustainability has 3 pillars:


Environmental - preserving needs of today without compromising needs of future. Involves protecting biodiversity and reducing pollution


Economic - using resources in an optimal way that can be achieved over the long term. Involves access to money, no corruption etc.


Social - a social system that operates in a way of keeping a level of wellbeing that can be sustained in the future Involves freedom of speech and access to healthcare and education.


The common problem faced is that as countries develop and industrialize they consume more and more natural resources are used up. This is happening at rate which is not sustainable. The challenge faced is that western consumption needs to be curbed and we increasing the standard of living in developing countries without increasing environmental impact or resource use.
Traditionally countries have developed at expense of environment. However according to the Kuznets curve a country gets to a stage where in order to increase GDP per capita further it needs to improve the environment. This could be due to the increased wealth and developed society are more aware of the environment. German economist Karl-Heinze Paque says that 'environmental protection comes from affluence'.


ESI was the original indicator of environmental sustainable development. It was in place from 1999 to 2005, it had 21 indicators and Finland topped the ESI with 75.1,
Since 205 the ESI has been replaced with the EPI which ranks countries and focuses more on outcome indicators. Switzerland top the EPI followed by Luxembourg. Note that the top 10 on the EPI are developed countries this backs up the statement from Paque.


So the real problem lies with the 2/3 of the population living in developing countries who need to improve the quality of life without destroying the environment by using up resources or impacting the environment too heavily. We need to live within our limits.


An example of sustainable development is in the Galapagos islands who pursue sustainable tourism. See ecotourism post to see case study.


Another example of sustainable development is Curitiba in Brazil. See other post for case study.

Assess view that economic development is dependant on economic growth. Give example. PLAN

Define eco development + growth

• increased economic growth should = increased wages = increased standard of living
• increased eco growth = greater investment on infrastructure = increased FDI
• increased GDP = job creation = multiplier effect
• Eval - if develop too much jobs can be replaced by machines
• Eval - distribution of income
• Eval - depends where the money is invested

WTO, IMF and the World Bank

WTO is the world trade organization and their role is to help trade flow freely.

• only global organization dealing with the rules of trade between countries
• goal is to help producers of goods, services, exporters and importers conduct their business
• WTO agreements are signed by the large trading nations and are essentially binding contracts to keep trade policies within certain limits. ie. reduce protectionism by getting rid of tariffs or quotas.
• established in 1995
• 160 countries/members

World Bank is there to help developing countries.

• source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries
• aim is to reduce poverty and support development.
• They have two main goals: 1. end extreme poverty by 2030 and 2. promote shared prosperity (promoting incomes of the bottom 40% of developing countries)

IMF is the international monetary fund and they help countries with stability and growth

• 188 countries
• working to secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote employment and sustainable eco. growth along with reducing poverty
• independent organization that promotes monetary cooperation and exchange rate stability.

Riders For Health Kenya - Geog4B

Riders For Health is an NGO set up by Barry and Andrea Coleman alongside Randy Momola in 1996. The scheme trains mobilizes health workers in order to reach rural areas and cater for the healthcare needs. They do various things such as HIV testing to health education sessions. The healthcare workers are mobilized by motorbikes in which they are trained in maintaining therefore they can reach rural ares over tough terrain. R4H is in seven different African countries and was introduced into Kenya in 2002.

Kenya and R4H (brief of AIB)
(Page 3) Kenya's health profile looks like this

• Population - 45 million
• Life expectancy - 63 - up 3 in 4 years
• IMR - 40.71/1000 - halved in 4 years
• Maternal Mortality rate - 3.6/1000

(Page 4) R4H was set up as mentioned by Andrea, Barry and Randy. They registered that many bikes were being left unattended and not working due to simple problems such as a flat tyre. They saw the opportunity that if they could fix them up and get them running then more healthcare would be delivered especially in tough terrain rural area that 60% of Kenya live on. R4H was announced n NGO in 1996 and operate in 7 countries across Africa.

(Page 5) They began operations in 2002 and they have 8 staff who manage 77 vehicles. The R4H bases are in Kisumu (western) and Nairobi (central).

(Page 6) In 2011 a training academy was set up in order to help riders develop skills such as driving, maintaining and journey planning with their bikes. An extra 20,000 people across Kenya can be reached due to the R4H. This is mainly due to travel time being cut from 4 hours down to 1. and being able to reach 80KM away instead of only 20KM.

(Page 7) The terrain and relief in Kenya is very varied. The highest areas are in the south western areas on the borders with Uganda and Tanzania. Kisumu where the academy was set up is located here and has relief of over 1000m.

(Page 8) Precipitation is also highest in these south western areas, with places such as Kisumu getting 2000mm+ of rainfall a year. This coincides with the higher the land the more rain which makes the terrain more difficult.

(Page 9) Cropland is once again highest in southwestern area such as Kisumu, this could be due to the relief and weather. Agriculture and crops is the main contributor to the nations GDP. Therefore there will be many rural communities that require healthcare. If better healthcare, better productivity.

(Page 10) Once again the southwestern rural areas have the highest population density with 600+ people per square KM in Kisumu. The main trend of the south western areas are between 100-599 people per square km. These people will therefore need healthcare.

(Page 11) Once again this coincides with the density of poverty which is in this region is high, Kisumu has 200+ people living on less that $2 a day per square km. This has a direct correlation with the healthcare needed in these areas and why bikes are so important.

(Page 12) There are many issues in Kenya regarding logistics of healthcare. The goods are supplied by KEMSA who are not very efficient and don't meet the needs of the people. The supplies are taken from Mombasa (coast) to central Nairobi and then to outlying warehouses. However there is a problem when it comes to the amount distributed to each area, the amount is based on the proportion of population living there and not to the areas that need it most. The deliveries are by lorries that struggle with rough terrain. The poor communications infrastructure gives local people no chance of ordering supplies according to local needs. The poor transport infrastructure makes it slow and unreliable to whether the supplies will reach the needed places. To improve an IT system needs to be put in place which will adapt the system to who needs it most. The delivery f the drugs could also be improved by vehicles better suited to rough terrain (motorbikes or 4x4).
Spending in the government is currently focusing on increasing the numbers of healthcare professionals and not on improving the infrastructure. I think this is a problem as many of the workers are moving to better paid posts abroad, and therefore the government are spending on the symptom and not the cause. There is a clear shortage of trained staff nationally but especially in rural areas where the number of patients to doctors is much lower than in urban areas.

(Page 13) There is an idea called rotating expat program which is to attract and develop talent from across the globe to come to Kenya to practice and train others in medicine for up to 2 years. This would benefit both countries. This would increase the numbers of workers and hopefully with a similar programme move some of the workers from urban to rural areas.

(Page 14) Millenium development goals  are 8 goals set in 2000 to be achieved by 2015.

1. eradicate hunger and poverty
2. universal primary education
3. gender eequality
4. reduce IMR
5. improve maternal health
6. combat HIV/Aids and other diseases
7. ensure environmental sustainability
8. develop global partnership

In 2005 it was said that the country were unlikely to achieve any of the MDGs due to lack of resources. A plan was put in place to help achieve the goals and one of the sections was 'strengthening service delivery systems'. This clearly relates to R4H. It is clear that investment works best when it is within a clearly structured health service with long term priorities. The main components of a functioning health system includes:

• human resources
• infrastructure 
• management capacity

Kenya has 500 hospitals, 611 health centres and 3310 sub centres. Each hospital has a raatio of 1:60000 people. Only 25% of Kenyans had access to  health facility within 8KM. 

Health expenditure in rural areas accounts for 30% of gov spending on health, whilst rural ares get 70%, yet only 20% live in urban areas...

(Page 15) Adding on from the report it stated:

• lack of supplies caused poor quality of care
• 10% of healthcare spending was on treatment of HIV
• utilization of facilities is low and this is due to a high cost of healthcare. Healthcare is not always free on point of delivery in Kenya. 

The document summarizes and gives the following suggestions:

• focus should be on improving the human capacity. Ie. more training and hiring, health workers and agricultural extension officers
• 39% should go to operations and maintenance. ie. on provision of anti malaria drugs and mosquto nets
• 19% should go towards investment in infrastructure
• In medium term spending should be focused on adding human capital and improving infrastructure especially down trunk road.

TNC Case Study - Coca Cola

Transnational companies are huge companies that operate in more than one country. Stereotypically the HQ is in an MEDC while factories are in developing countries as TNC's like to exploit cheap labor and land to maximize profits.


Coca Cola is the biggest manufacturer of drinks in the world. HQ is in Atlanta, America. &0% of it sales are from outside the USA. They don't only sell drinks but sell nearly 400 different products in more than 200 countries.


Positives of Coca Cola on host countries such as Russia:

• creates jobs
• offer training and education
• has invested $1.5 billion in Russian economy
• run community schemes

Negative of CC in host countries:

• low paid jobs in tough conditions
• footloose capitalism - when wages rise they move operations to a lower cost area
• environmental problems ie. degradation
• profits are returned to source country
• to date there have been 179 human rights violations of workers

There are many advantages to being a TNC:

• monopoly power
• access to larger markets
• economies of scale
• offered incentives to invest in certain countries

LDC - Uganda Case Study

An LDC is defined as a lesser developed economy. They are a grouping of nations that are most impoverished and vulnerable. They follow 3 criteria:

1. low income - under $750 GNI per capita
2. Low human capital - low levels of nutrition, health and education
3. economic vulnerability - instability of agriculture, imports and exports etc.

Uganda:

• Very reliant on exports of coffee and tea so very risky as commodity prices vary greatly so risky for economy.
• Huge debt from spending on weapons due to military regime in 1970.
• High IMR: 85/1000
• 75% of population without electricity
• GDP per capita only $571 (under $750 to qualify as LDC)

How are Uganda trying to develop:

• focusing on developing infrastructure. communications and roads etc.
• service sector jobs are developing in Kampala (capital)
• wildlife parks are starting to bring in money from tourism

Producer And Consumer Surplus

Producer surplus is the difference between what the producers are willing and able to supply and the price they actually receive.

• The producer surplus is shown as the area above the supply curve and below the market price. 
• The level of producer surplus can vary dependent on the shift in supply or demand. 

Consumer surplus is the difference between what you are willing and able to pay and what you actually pay.

• It is the area beneath the demand curve and above the market price. 
• It is a measure of welfare gain for people consuming the good/service
• Consumer surplus varies on the elasticity of demand. When the price is perfectly elastic the price they are willing to pay is the price they actually pay, therefore consumer surplus is 0 and vice versa when demand is perfectly inelastic.
• Consumer surplus also can vary dependent on shifts in supply and demand. Example a higher supply leads to a higher price and therefore a fall in consumer price.

When put together the surpluses look like this.

Aid Case Studies - Haiti, Akosombo Dam and Farm Africa

Aid given to Haiti following the disastrous 7.0 earthquake in 2010 was an example of short term aid. Aid given following an event or natural disaster.

• Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and has the highest incidence of aid outside of Africa
• It was estimated 320,000 people died and 1 million left homeless
• Schools, businesses and homes were destroyed

Overall there was $9 billion dollars in aid given. However as you can see in the diagram very little of that money has reached communities and organizations, with only 0.6% of it going to Haitian organizations and 9.6% staying with the government. This is a good example of one of the main problems with aid, corruption.
On January 13th American Red Cross announced they had run out of supplies and started to appeal for public donations.
Initially the was piling up at the airport as the logistics were not in place, a common characteristic of an LEDC, water and food took days to arrive.
However some of the aid is now trickling through to the people as the Haitian government has helped over 50,000 people back into sub standard housing (50,000 out of 1 million is still not a lot!) Other improvements include river bank strengthening and tree planting along with rising school attendances. There is a new state of the art hospital that has contributed to the increased life expectancy in Haiti compared to 10 years ago. British red cross have given 26 local businesses loans of £9000 in order to kick start their businesses to try and boost the economy.
Overall the aid has not worked, this is shown in the house building project that spent far too much on houses and cut its goal of god standard houses from 15,000 to 2500 and only 900 have been built so far. it is very hard to track down where the aid has been spent as there is no transparency in the government.

An example of a top down scheme is the Akosombo Dam in Ghana.
A top down scheme is when money is given to a body who directs the money from the top. This strategy did not work as the dam was meant encourage new industries and stimulate agricultural growth however all it did was make 80,000 people homeless and not make enough energy in order to provide rural villages with energy.  It has also hindered transportations. However it has boosted fishing...

An example of a bottom up scheme is Farm Africa in Tanzania.
Tanzanian people mainly live in rural areas where food security is very low and improved and sustained agriculture is crucial for reducing poverty levels. This grassroots initiative worked closely with local communities. In partnership with the government they teach young children farming skills in order to share with their families and therefore improve productivity. They are also turning traditional activities such as honey making into a way to make money. This bottom up scheme has helped the people who need it and provided them with life long skills.

Urban Regeneration - Gentrification + Notting Hill Case Study

Gentrification is the renewal of an area by wealthy individuals
It is common that wealthy people buy a house in an area and decide to do it up. Others do the same and then the area experiences a snowball effect.

Case Study - Notting Hill
During the 1950's Notting Hill was experiencing inner city deprivation, race riots and a high Afro Caribbean population.
During the last 30 years due to its ideal location in central London, wealthy business men have moved in and renovated houses on an individual scale. The movie Notting Hill helped raise popularity for the area.
Today the area is a fashionable places with very high house prices. It has one of the world's most famous markets 'Portabello market'. It is also home to the 2nd largest street festival behind Rio, 'Notting Hill carnival'. Many upmarket services have moved to the area so they can cater for the wealthy individuals who live there.
Effects of the gentrification include:

• stabilisation of a declining community
• reduced vacancy rates
• an increase in property values
• however there has been displacement of locals
• also conflict and resentment between the old and new residents

Urban Regeneration - Partnership Schemes

Partnership schemes are between local and national governments and the private sector. City challenge, prestige/flagship projects and sustainable communities come under the bracket of partnership schemes.

City Challenge is an initiative where local authorities compete against each other in order to gain funding for the project. As opposed to other schemes CC focuses equally on buildings, people and values. Each different City challenge has slight different aims specific for the area, for example in Liverpool it was aimed at environmental improvement and in Hulme housing was the main focus.

Hulme City Challenge Partnership
In the 1960's many high rise flats were built in a slum clearance programme. These flats had poor design features and there was a high number of single person households. There was evidence that the local authority used the area to dump some of its unfortunate residents. Redevlopment occured in 1992 when the plans were drawn up. The redevlopment cost £37.5 million.

• 3000 new homes were built
• new shopping centres including an ASDA
• new community facilities
• improved infrastructure

As a result crime has been greatly reduced and there is a more cultural mix of people living in the area. A symbol of the regeneration is the Hulme Arch.

Prestige project developments

These include waterfront developments, for example those in Cardiff Bay. They involve the creation of innovative and stand out projects

Sustainable Communities

An initiative put in place by labour government in 2000. They are defined as places people want to work and live now and in the future. They are sensitive to the environment and contribute to a high quality of life. 

Urban Regeneration - Property Led Regeneration, London Docklands Case Study

Urban Regeneration is the recreation or improvement of an area experiencing urban decline.
The main types of urban regeneration are:

• Property led regeneration - large scale investment programs ie. London Docklands
• Partnership schemes (City Challenge) - Schemes between local and national government. (Imaginative local projects that aid regeneration bid against each other for funding from the government) 
• flagship projects - a significant, high profile investment that will become a catalyst for regeneration
• sustainable communities - places where people want to work and live now and in the future ie. BedZed, London
• Gentrification - the process of which run down housing is done up by wealthy individuals and a snowball effect occurs.

Property Led Regeneration - London Docklands

Urban development corporations (UDCs) was a scheme set up in the 80's that would aid in regeneration. These huge scale schemes completely redevelop areas with the goal of lifting an area out of urban decline. They have power above the local authorities and focus on the physical, social and economic regeneration. An example of a UDC is the LDDC (London docklands development corporation) set up in 1981. 

During the 19th century the London Docklands was one of the busiest places in the world. It was home to one of the main ports. However by the end of the 1950's the area had seen massive levels of urban decline, this was due to:

1. Increase in ship size meant they could no longer fit ships down the river Thames to the Isle Of Dogs.
2. Containerization caused structural unemployment as fewer dockers were needed.
3. Damage from the war

The area became derelict and run down, there was an increase in unemployment and there was a lack of public transport. By 1981 80% of people were living in poor quality housing and people were also leaving the area with on average a decline of 30% of the population.

In 1981 the LDDC was set up in order to reverse the decline and regenerate the area. It has resulted in major developments in and around canary wharf. They attracted £10 of private investment for every £1 they spent. The area became the first enterprise zone and overall there was £7.7 billion of private investment and that is still increasing. The regeneration has had many positive benefits that include:

• Social - 120,000 new jobs created
• Social - 8000 homes refurbished and 25,000 new homes
• Social - New national indoor sports centre
• Economic - Unemployment went from 14% to 7%
• Economic - Canary Wharf is now one of main financial centres in the world and attracts lots of FDI
• Environmental - 160,000 new trees planted
• Environmental - network of pedestrian and cycle routes

Successes of the LDDC:

There was a clear increase in trade for the local shopkeepers as more people have job and therefore more people can spend on the economy, this boosts the local economy even more (multiplier effect). Lots of FDI from new buildings and projects. A wide range of benefits (see above).

However there have been criticisms of the developments:

• many locals have been displaced and cannot afford to live in the area anymore
• structural unemployment from the old dockers who are unable to work in skilled jobs
• reduction in community spirit, tensions between newcomers and old eastenders.

Overall I think it is fair to say that the regeneration has been a success. 

Growth Of The BRICS

Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa?

Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill predicted in 2003 the BRIC economies would, by 2050, be wealthier that most of the current major economic powerhouses. In 2012 South Africa joined therefore making the BRIC the BRICS. It is predicted that China and India will become the dominant forces in manufactured gods and services while Russia and Brazil will become the dominant suppliers of raw materials.

These 4 countries are the fastest growing and largest emerging market economies and account for just under half of the world's population. It is believed that China will become the biggest economy in the world sometime between 2030 and 2050 because as discussed in another post they have averaged 10% growth for the last 3 decades.

However they have experienced problems and are likely to run into problems in the future that include:

• Russia face political problems which in turn will cause economic problems for example exports to Russia have fallen sharply, they also rely too heavily upon oil (we have seen lately the huge decline in oil prices that will have an effect on Russian economy)
• India suffer from corruption and also an increasing current account deficit
• Brazil's economic growth has plunged from 7.5% to 0.9% in 2010 to 2012. 
• All growth figures and prospects will have been affected by the financial crisis

Goldman Sachs projected growth

The Globalization Of Services

Many refer to the globalization of services as the second wave of globalization.
Services include things like call centres, advertising companies, financial services etc.
Originally the offshore outsourced work were basic goods manufacturing tasks that were repetitive and uncomplicated, now with the globalization of services it is off-shoring more specialized tasks, not only call centres but examples include legal firms off shoring litigation and patent research.
In recent years the most popular destination for outsourcing services has been India, in particular the state of Karnataka where Bangalore is situated, it is referred to as India's 'silicon valley'. Behind India in the GSLI are other emerging countries such as china and malaysia. The GSLI ranks countries that are the best destinations for outsourcing goods to based on factors such as people skills and costs.

Case Study: INDIA - Karnataka

India is top of the GSLI, although the capital is New Delhi, it is Bangalore located in Karnataka that is the most important IT centre. There is a population of 8.4 million in Bangalore and is referred to as the 'silicon valley' of India. The service sectors contribution to GDP has increased from 15% in 1950 to over 50% now. India is a very attractive place to outsource services due to many factors:

• 2nd largest English speaking population in the world
• low cost but high quality and adaptable workforce
• investment-friendly and supportive government policies
• 3rd largest brain bank in the world - around 2.5 million technical professionals
• well developed infrastructure and communications

Karnataka has historically been a place for technology and R&D based institutions. It was the first state to set up engineering colleges and a university of technology. Other things giving Bangalore a competitive advantage include:

• Best telecoms infrastructure in country due to existing technlogy parks such as Myosore and Hubli. 
• A specialized industrial park, Electronic City, has been built and spreads over 1.3 KM^2. 
• technology universities

Bangalore has experienced growth of around 10% per annum and now has India's third highest GDP per capita. This is due to domestic investment such as the opening of an airport in 2008 but also the influx of FDI from countries such as HSBC, Google and Yahoo. 

However, despite its attractiveness India faces many future problems in maintaining its position. These include:

• Competitions from cheaper places such as Vietnam and Phillipines
• Wages are rising and so are other costs like rent, there is inflation
• Many firms are moving call centres back to the UK due to customer complaints.