Alok Kumar Xuan Liu - Web hostingweb.uvic.ca/~kumara/intro1.pdfAlok Kumar Xuan Liu 2 Table of Contents List of Contributors ..... 3 1. Food Crisis: How High Food Prices Continue to

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Alok Kumar

Xuan Liu

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Table of Contents List of Contributors ........................................................................................................................ 3

Preface.............................................................................................................................................. 5

1. Food Crisis: How High Food Prices Continue to Impact the PoorestError! Bookmark not defined.

Justin Valente, Bryan Andrews, Jerid Leigh, Phil Currie .......... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2. The Current State of Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America &

the Caribbean........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Jennifer Giesbrecht, Peter Moorman, Carys Pinches ............... Error! Bookmark not defined.

3. A Future Free of Hunger -- A look into Kenya, Iran, Zambia and ChinaError! Bookmark not defined.

Towela Chileshe, William Karago, Daniel Ai, Parissa NowshadiError! Bookmark not defined.

4. Post War Redevelopment of Sierra Leone ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Brianne Knox, Nathan Stewart, Jake Ilnicki ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

5. Development and Rebuilding Economies after War and Conflict: A Case Study on Rwanda Error!

Bookmark not defined.

Clare Murry, Brian Murry, Chris Mah, Claire Fattouche ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.

6. BRICS: A Significant Economic Force in Today’s World EconomyError! Bookmark not defined.

Mitchel Blais, Genna Purcell, Michael Caldwell ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

7. Economic Development as a Means to Poverty Reduction in Uganda: Binding Constraints and

Agriculture as a Key Sector for Growth ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

Conor Murphy, Jason Sparrow, Michael Tomalty ..................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

8. International Migration and Development ............................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

Kristina Bergum, Alex Campbell, Mackenzie Joyal, ................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

9. Implications of Child Labor and the Difficulties in Eradicating Child Labor India and Bangladesh

................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Nguyen Thinh, Kristen Stevenson, Chris Mumford, .................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

10. Drug and Crime: How and Why They Affect Economic DevelopmentError! Bookmark not defined.

Kevin Han, Parker Haralds, Thomas Jüergeleit, Tony Lim ...... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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List of Contributors

Ai, Daniel Economics: ECSM

Andrews, Bryan Undeclared

Bergum, Tina Undeclared

Blais, Mitchel Geography: GEAM

Caldwell, Michael Pre-Business

Campbell, Alex Geography: GEAH

Chileshe, Towela Economics: ECAM

Currie, Phil Pre-Business

Fattouche, Claire Economics: ECAM

Gibbs, Danika Undeclared

Giesbrecht, Jennifer Geography: GEAM

Han, Kevin Economics

Haralds, Parker Economics: ECSM

Ilnicki, Jake Undeclared

Joyal, MacKenzie Undeclared

Juergeleit, Thomas Non-Degree

Karago, William Economics

Knox, Brianne Geography

Leigh, Jerid Economics

Lim, Tony Biology: BISM

Mah, Chris Undeclared

Moorman, Peter Pre-Business

Mumford, Chris Undeclared

Murphy, Conor Economics

Murry, Brian Undeclared

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Murry, Clare Biology: BISM

Nguyen, Thinh Biology: BISM

Nowshadi, Parissa Economics: ECAM

Parkhurst-Bartel, Amelia Undeclared

Pinches, Carys Anthropology

Purcell, Genna Business

Sparrow, Jason Undeclared

Stevenson, Kristen Psychology: PSSM

Stewart, Nathan Pre-Physical Education

Tomalty, Michael Undeclared

Valente, Justin Economics: ECAM

van Rooyen, James Undeclared

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Preface

This book contains a collection of group projects completed by students of

Development and Economics at the University of Victoria, Canada. Students had a

diverse background and were free to choose and present their analysis along with

real case studies. Therefore, a wide range topics have been addressed. In general, the

following four areas within economic development are explored:

Hunger and food security

Food security is one of the most important global issues. Hunger and

malnutrition are still the biggest risks to health worldwide, especially in Asia, Sub-

Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Although food security is related

to many factors such as availability and affordability of food items, distributional

network, and food habits, no breakthrough or granularities in the field of science are

required to solve the issue because sufficient foods for all the people in the world

can be produced with current technologies. The first three chapters examine the main

causes of food security problems, their consequences, and the policy implications.

Chapter 1 discusses the effects of increasing food prices in both developing and

developed countries. It correctly points out that this phenomenon affects families in

both developing and developed countries. Even in the developed countries, a

significant proportion of families spends more than half of their income on food.

Increasing food prices coupled with stagnant or even declining income due to the

recent financial crisis, have adversely affected the poor households. These

households have been forced to reduce their expenditure on other essential items and

increasingly buy cheap but nutritionally poor food items. The reduction in the

government support and social programs due to declining tax revenue has

aggravated the problem.

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Chapter 2 studies the food security issues in four regions of the world: Sub-

Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America & the Caribbean. While all

countries in these regions are categorized as developing countries, there are big

differences across these regions in terms of food security and their capacity to cope

with rising food prices. Sub-Saharan Africa is especially vulnerable to increasing

food prices. Poor access to food results in malnutrition and a subsequent reduction

in human capital, one of the barriers to structural change. The nature of food security

in a given region, therefore, is indicative of its overall health, social and economic

development.

Chapter 3 is devoted to the problems of hunger and malnutrition in Kenya, Iran,

Zambia and China. The analysis about the hunger and nutrition practices and their

impacts on economic development in the above countries is based on the definition

and four components of the Global Hunger Index. The discussion covers how to

alleviate hunger and ultimately strive towards further development by implementing

proper policies and making use of laws and supports from governments and

organizations.

Impact of warfare and postwar economic development

Internal armed conflicts caused by ethnic conflicts and human right violations

are enormously destructive. The economy of a country will be affected wildly by

drastic changes in government and general instability. How to recover from war is

very important not only to the war-ravaged countries but also to the rest of the world

because the recovery affects the welfare of other countries and regions as well.

Chapter 4 and 5 examine the above issues following case study approach by focusing

on the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Rwanda respectively. The causes and the

effects of the internal conflicts plus the postwar economic reforms and the functions

of foreign aids in both countries are analyzed.

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Chapter 4 studies the effects of civil war which ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991

to 2002 and left the country’s infrastructure and economy decimated. It finds that

while some post-war redevelopment efforts have been successful, there is still a great

deal of work to be done. It argues that it is important to consider the development

process in the historical context while taking into account the demographic

composition of the nation. Sierra Leone’s internal economy relies upon informal

business practices while its position in the global economy is reliant on natural

resources, most famously, diamond deposits but also titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore

and chromite. The situation is beginning to improve as demonstrated by social

programs administered by both Sierra Leone’s government and foreign NGOs and

charitable organizations.

Chapter 5 investigates the post-war state after years of internal conflict in

Rwanda to study how a country can recover from war. The root cause of the civil

war and the influences on education, health, and economic development are

examined. Then the report studies what has been done by the Rwandan government

to help with the restructuring of the human, social, economic and physical aspects

of development. The international aid in Rwanda’s recovery and the general factors

that affect foreign involvement for the country are discussed. In the end, the chapter

points out the policies that the Rwanda government has implemented to help overall

development and the areas that require more work.

Economic growth and development: developing country case studies

Traditional measures of economic growth for developing countries emphasize

on the growth of GDP per capita while not considering sustainability, educational

attainment, and health improvement. Although economic growth is not equal to

development, the initial priority for poor countries may still be economics growth

because it is the prerequisite to many important goals, including poverty reduction

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and overall welfare improvement. The cases analyzed in Chapter 6 and 7 show that

developing countries need to face difficult and recurrent problems to achieve

economic development. Meanwhile, foreign investment and assistance can help

developing countries to move away from persistent poverty.

Chapter 6 compares the trend and consequences of the rapid development

witnessed in five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, together

known as the BRICS countries. It studies how individual characteristics of these

countries have led them to become a significant economic force in the world

economy. It finds that each country is unique with its own development trajectories,

opportunities, and challenges. For example, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa are

abundant in natural resources and their development is largely based on exploiting

these natural resources. On the other hand, India and China are endowed with a large

labor force. Their development is largely based on using their abundant labor force.

These countries differ greatly in terms of the role of the government in the

development process. In China and Russia, the government plays leading role, while

in other countries the private sector is much more salient.

Chapter 7 takes a close look at the performance of the Ugandan economy, which

is one of the poorest countries in the world. The persistent poverty in Uganda has

induced a number of international organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank

to introduce and implement a number of important poverty reduction strategies

(PRSPs) in cooperation with the Ugandan government. These organizations have

identified underinvestment in the agricultural sector, poor infrastructure, inefficient

financial services, and poor public sector management as some of the major factors

constraining economic development in Uganda. The main focus of this chapter is to

examine the effects of PRSPs. It finds that these strategies have helped jump-start

the development in the economy, but it has a long way to go.

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More challenges: Migration, child labor, and drug use

As above keywords show, the last three chapters address issues closely related

to both demographic trends and economic development. Chapter 8 provides an

overview of global migration and examines how it impacts development and the

quality of life of migrants. People choose to migrate for many reasons, such as in

search of better resources and a higher quality of life. Other push and pull factors

include government policies, environmental impacts, and the way migrants are

treated. Accordingly, many patterns of migration have been formed, like South-to-

North, South-to-South, North-to-North, and North-to-South. The issue all countries

face is how to develop a policy to create development while giving migrants fair

rights and cooperating internationally. Particularly, migration both from the Global

South to the Global North and migration among Global South countries are

discussed.

The focus of Chapter 9 is to probe an array of issues regarding the eradication of

exploitative child labor with an emphasis on India and Bangladesh. The chapter

begins with a brief overview of the history and current conditions of child labor,

followed by the discussion of the education and health implications of child labor.

Then the global impacts of child labor, such as the role of child labor in international

trade and the economic phenomena of "social dumping" and "race to the bottom",

are investigated. Lastly, the past, current and prospective policies for reducing child

labor are examined.

The last chapter introduces different types of drugs and their major smuggling

routes. Then the economic and social implications of the drug trade and the war on

drugs are examined. The chapter concludes that drugs not only increase mortality

and morbidity for consumers but also deter development because they create a

shadow industry that brings crime, violence, and uncertainty into a region.

Moreover, a law-and-order approach, the War on Drugs, has been largely a failure,

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as it hasn’t led to any considerable change in crime rates and consumption. Finally,

a positive example of how a country can reduce the problems associated with drugs

is presented. The experience of Portugal shows that by taking a different approach,

it is still possible to greatly reduce drug consumption and regain control over it.

-- The Editors

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