Disparities and Wealth

1. Disparities and Wealth Case Study – Brazil Brazil is the largest country in South America and covers nearly half (47%) of the South American continent. It is currently the fifth largest economy in the world, is home to the Amazon Rainforest and is a popular location for tourism. Brazil is also rich in natural resources and active in world issues such as climate change, giving it significance on a worldwide scale.

2. GDP - per capita (PPP): $11,600 (2011 est.) $11,300 (2010 est.) $10,800 (2009 est.) Life Expectancy 73.1 years - 2010 Source: World Bank POPULATION 196,655,014

3. The darkest green have the highest LE (+75); whereas the red is the lowest (+67) Brazil's literacy rate is 86.4% which is the lowest of all South American countries. It falls just behind Bolivia and Peru at 87.2% and 87.7%, respectively.The north-east of the country which is also the poorest has an illiteracy rate of 17%, the highest, which contrasts with south Brazil where the rate is 4.7%

4. Brazil - Origin of Disparities • The South-east region is the economic core region of brazil, has the highest population of 72.4 million • Has benefited from spatial flows of labor, raw materials and capital, last two have come from abroad as well as from internal sources • Region grew rapidly through the process of cumulative causation, resulted in significant economic growth in the core but also a negative impact on the periphery, overall result was widening regional disparity

5. SE's industries generate large amounts of money for Brazil • The natural environment of the SE provided the region with a number of advantages for the development of primary industries, warm temperature, adequate rainfall and rich terra roxa soils have provided many opportunities for farming, region is important for coffee, beef, rice, cacao, sugarcane and fruit, large deposits of iron ore, manganese and bauxite have made mining a significant industry, gold is still mined, region is energy rich, with large deposits of oil and gas offshore • Hydro-electric power is generated from large rivers flowing over steep slows, temperate rainforest provides the raw material for forestry, fishing is important for many of the coastal settlements

6. SE contains the main airports and seaports, also has a significant pipeline network for oil and gas, more transnational corporation are in the SE, highest population density means labor supply is plentiful, region also has the highest educational and skill levels in the country

7. Car industry is major, Ford, GM, Toyota, WC and Fiat located there, other industries include food processing, textiles, furniture, clothing, printing, brewing and shoemaking • Raw materials location in the region and large market have provided favorable conditions, cheaper imports of shoes, clothes and textiles from Asia have led to a number of companies in the region closing • Other regions in Brazil - Amazon Rainforest – very difficult to develop - Many shanties on outskirts of cities in Brazil Questions page 79 PG

8. Origin of Disparities : Brazil, Marching for Real Land Reform • After 10 years of waiting for secure title to the land they occupy and farm, 35 families in Resende, in SE Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, have joined a huge march to demand effective agrarian reform • - Mario Laurindo protested 14 years ago and for the past 10 years he and his family have lived in the 'Terra Libre' settlement 176 km from the city, he left the 'favela' where he live because he had no job, food or healthcare and wanted to escape high levels of urban violence, now he has plenty of food, with his wife and 2 children the family produces enough to subsist on from honey to bananas, chickens and a few dairy cows, he sells his surplus at a nearby town

9. 3000 of the activists from Terra Libre are mobilizing in Brasilia from August 10-19 put on by the MST, the demonstration includes marches, debates, cultural events in an effort to put pressure on the government to distribute land within the next 6 months to at least 90,000 families who have been squatting in different parts of the country since 2003, many camping by the roadside - The landless movement has carried out land occupations for the past 25 years, it also seeks better living conditions for another 45,000 families who have been suffering because they are still waiting for resources for housing, infrastructure and production

10. Terra Libre occupies 460 hectares f an old estate which was deemed unproductive and which owed its workers the equivalent of $1 million before it was taken over by the MST, they do not have legal title to the land and the settlers do not have access to credits and tools from INCRA and many families to whom the government has granted deeds have not yet received this assistance

11. Disparities and Change : Life Expectancy in Russia • One of the few developed countries where life expectancy has fallen in recent years, average of 68 years is 15 years behind that of Japan- Mortality from non-communicable diseases is the main cause of death, being 3 to 5 times higher than average rates in the EU- Heart diseases account for 52% of all deaths each year, death rates from road traffic injuries, cancer, homicide and suicide are all high and well above the EU average- Mortality for Russian men (life expectancy :61) is much higher than in other countries with similar per capita income levels- Situation is different for Women (life expectancy 74) who live about 13 years longer than men

12. Reducing Disparities : Bolivia, Resource Nationalization • - An example of a country challenging the free market philosophy, recently introduced a resource nationalization policy, along with Cuba and Venezuela it forms the so-called 'radical block' of nations in Latin America which are concerned about US economic power in the region and the exploitative action of TNCs in general- In may 2006, the president nationalized the country's gas and oil industry, it has the second largest natural gas reserves in Latin America, but produces only a small amount of domestic use, the foreign energy companies were told they had 6 months to sign the new operating contracts or leave the country, overall Bolivia has taken control of 82% of the oil and gas in the country leaving the remainder to foreign countries - Bolivia is adopting a socialist model of regional commerce and cooperation as opposed to what it sees as 'US-backed free trade', views the concept of the free trade area as an attempt by the USA to annex Latin America, the government is trying to attract foreign investment while at the same time giving the state a larger role in managing the economy

13. Reducing Disparities : The Emergence of China as a Major Trading Nation • After the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, China's economic policy changed significantly. Mao's successor sought to end the relative isolation of China from the world economy and to imitate East Asia's export-led success, economic growth increased by an average of over 10% a year and exports by 15% a year in the 1980s and 90s, during this 20 year period the Chinese economy grew 8 times bigger and between 1990 and 1998 the umber of Chinese living on less than a dollar a day fell by 150 million, growth has continued strongly in the first decade of the new millennium- The value of China's international trade rose to $2562 billion in 2008 compared with only $1.13 billion in 1950, foreign exchange reserves totaled more than $2000 billion in 2008, China is now the world's 3rd largest economy, per capita incomes have risen significantly as a result of strong economic growth and trade ($463 yuan in 1980 to $22,698 yuan in 2008 per capita income)

14. - Chinese entry into the WTO was an important milestone in its economic development, On nov. 15th 1999, the USA and China agreed in principle to a deal that would allow China to join the WTO, there were other hurdles to get over however this was the most important- China attracted a record $92 billion in foreign direct investment in 2008, Chinese government has made it easier for foreign companies to expand in China since the country joined the WTO, major attraction to manufacturers is the cheap labor market where wages are less that 5% of those in the USA

15. - China now makes 60% of the world's bicycles and over half of the world's shoes, it accounts for 20% of the world's garment exports and it is predicted that this will rise to 50% in 2010- China's share of the world trade is still only 4% with a trade surplus of about $30 billion, however it has considerably more control over its economy than most other countries, its currency is not freely convertible, the country was therefore not vulnerable to the speculation and resulting panic that affected to many of its neighbors in the 1990s

16. Reducing Disparities : The Trade in Tea • - Tea, like coffee, bananas and other raw materials exemplifies the relatively small proportion of the final price of the product that goes to the producers, the great majority of the money generated by the tea industry goes to the post-raw material states, usually benefiting companies in developed countries rather than the poorer producing nations - A report by the Dutch Tea Institute in 2006 drew particular attention to the problems of falling prices and rising input costs, the consequent pressure to limit labor costs of tea production workers and the urgent need for improvement of labor, social, ecological and economic conditions throughout the tea sector in the developing countries- Global tea market is dominated by a small number of companies, about half of all the tea produced is traded internationally, annual export sales of tea in its raw material state are worth almost $3 billion, the retail value of the global tea business is much higher- The large tea companies wield immense power over the industry, as many countries now produce tea they have to compete with each other in an increasingly competitive market, global supply is rising at a faster rate than consumption, keeping prices low- Tea producers complain that the global trading system prevents them from moving up the value chain by processing and packaging the tea they grow, this is mainly because they would have to compete with very powerful brands and would find it difficult to achieve the economies of scale of the global tea companies

17. Reducing Disparities : Local Democracy in Kerala • - In 1996 the government of the Indian state of Kerala launched a campaign to make the village democracy a major development mechanism- The 'Kerala Model' hailed for its very high rate of political participation has resulted in high levels of literacy and life expectancy and low levels of infant mortality and caste discrimination- Initial concentration was on building and development of infrastructure, improving public services, creating jobs, involving local people in planning and decision making and channelling resources to women and to the poorest castes and classes

18. Reducing Disparities : Mauritania, Struggling to Develop • The West African nation, at over 4 times the size of the UK covers more than 1 million km^2, it borders Western Sahara, Algeria, Mali, Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean, water is a prime concern not just in the desert and semi-desert areas but also in those zones where rain-fed agriculture is possible, agricultural production varies hugely from year to year because of the unpredictability of the rains- With a relatively small population of 2.365 million, it is classed as a least developed country, in 2007 its GDP per capita at PPP was estimated at $2000, for the same years id HDI ranking was 137 out of 177 countries, net ODA in 2006 was US$93.7 million- A food crisis hit in 2008 when food prices rose sharply leading to a big increase in food insecurity levels, the level of malnutrition is high at 12.6% and exceeding 15% in some regions, the feb 2009 food survey showed that 138,000 people in the country are severely food insecure and 246,000 are moderately food insecure

19. When the country gained independence from France in 1960, slavery still formally existed and under 5% of the population lived in urban areas, today the urban population numbers over 60%, although starting from a low base there are significant signs of economic and social progress such as between 1990 and 2004 the proportion of people living below the poverty line fell from 56% to 40% and the gross primary enrollment ratio reached almost 99% in 2006, since 1995 the gap between enrollment ratios of boys and girls had almost closed - Exports have depended almost totally on two commodities: iron ore and fish, iron ore accounts for almost 50% of total exports by value, the relatively low price of iron ore on the world market and the depletion of some of the best reserves have made this dependency risky, fortunately the fishing sector has developed strongly in recent decade but the problem of overfishing by foreign boats is now causing considerable concern

20. Discoveries of other minerals, including gold and diamonds offer possibilities in the future but further exploration will be required, like all oil-poor developing countries, they can do nothing but pay the fluctuating market price for its essential oil imports, however the discovery of oil off the coast in mid 2001 may have solved this problem if the reserves prove economic to exploit- The periodic need to import food is a major obstacle to achieving a trade balance, a high rate of rural-urban migration in recent decades has increase the number of people dependent on other to produce their food, acute periods of drought, notably in the 1970s and 80s have exacerbated the situation, rice production has been of particular concern, yields can vary significantly from year to year depending on rainfall and other factors, thus it is not always self-sufficient in rice, imported rice is often favored as it tends to be less expensive, livestock rearing accounts for 15% of GDP

21. A number of development programs are in operation : Sustainable Rural development (objective is to stem the degradation of vegetation cover and to improve the environment by enabling local populations to rationalize the use of natural resources), The Senegal River Valley (objectives are higher agricultural output, wider crop diversification, a reduction in rural poverty, improved food security and a better ecological balance), The Oasis Development Project (objective is to improve the living standards of the poor people in the oasis zones), Nouakchott (objectives are to improve water and electricity supply, upgrade educational facilities and make microcredit facilities available for the creation of small and medium sized businesses), Tourism (objective is to avoid mass tourism and its pitfalls and to target special interest groups and adventure tourists)