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.