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.

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.

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

Christchurch Earthquake A2 Geography - MEDC Case Study

Background Info

• Located In New Zealand
• On the Pacific ring of fire
• Located on conservative plate margin a the Indo-Australian plate is moving past the Pacific plate.
• Original quake was on 4th September 2010 and the most destructive quake was on 22nd February 2011

The Earthquake

• 4th September earthquake measured 7.1 on richter scale and there were 361+ aftershocks in the first week
• 22nd February earthquake measured 6.3 on richter scale
• 22nd February had a very shallow focus of 5km deep
• Christchurch is above sedimentary rock which is prone to liquefaction and shaking

Impacts

Social

• 181 killed (80 from collapse of CTV tower)
• 80% of the city without power

Economic

• Increased unemployment
• lost benefits of hosting rugby world cup

Environmental

• Liquefaction
• Earth rose 1cm and moved closer to Sydney

Responses

• $6-7 million in aid
• A plan was devised within 2 hours
• Response centres were set up such as the Canterbury art gallery which is earthquake proof
• Temporary housing provided
• 6 months after the quake 80% of the roads had been repaired

Montserrat Case Study A2 Geography - LEDC Volcano

Background Info

• Soufriere Hills is located in Montserrat, a small Caribbean island close to Antigua. 
• 7 miles wide and 12 miles long. 
• Population of 5,900 (2008). 
• Categorized as a Less Economically Developed Country.
• English territory
• Geographically it is located where the North and South American plate boundaries are being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate creating the Puerto Rico trench therefore it is classified as a Destructive Plate Boundary.

The Volcano

• Composite volcano, made up of layers of ash and andesitic lava.
• It had been showing signs since 1995 when it erupted for the first time in 350 years. 
• A lava dome then built up and when it collapsed on 25th June 1997 it caused a pyroclastic flow measuring up to 120 km/h and 600 degrees. 

Impacts

Social

• 19 dead
• 5,000 in temporary shelters
• 50% of population were evacuated to the north
• Many school and hospitals destroyed
• Airport and port closed

Economic

• Unemployment rose from 7% to 50%
• 7000 people left the island which left a skills shortage
• The capital Plymouth became a ghost town

Environmental

• South of the island's soil was scorched and cannot be used
• Forest fires burnt down trees
• Floods s valleys were blocked with ash

Responses

• Exclusion zone set up in south of the island
• UK gave £41 million in aid
• £2400 given to each citizen in order to relocate
• Emergency investments in order to ensure essentials such as sanitation were available
• After the first signs in 1995 the MVO (Montserrat Volcano Observatory) was set up and staffed by scientists in order to monitor volcanic activity and it associated hazards.