OPEC - GoN case studies

WHO

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an example of a grouping of nations. OPEC was created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960. The original countries were; Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They were then joined by nine other members; Qatar (1961); Indonesia (1962) – suspended its membership from January 2009; Libya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969); Nigeria (1971); Ecuador (1973) – suspended its membership from December 1992-October 2007; Angola (2007) and Gabon (1975–1994). OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland), in the first five years of its existence. This was moved to Vienna (Austria), on September 1, 1965.

OPEC's goal is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers. Which creates an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry.

WHEN

The 1960s

OPEC’s formation by five oil-producing developing countries in Baghdad in September 1960 occurred at a time when the worlds political and economic landscape were changing and many countries were beginning to become new independent states. The global oil market was dominated by the ‘seven sisters’ which were multinational companies. OPEC set up its objectives and established its purpose, first in Geneva and then, in 1965, in Vienna. It created a ‘Declaratory Statement of Petroleum Policy in Member Countries’ in 1968, which emphasised the right of all countries to exercise permanent sovereignty over their natural resources in the interest of their national development. Membership grew to ten by 1969.

The 1970s

In the 70’s OPEC became established across the globe as its member countries took control of their domestic petroleum industries, this gave them a major say in the pricing of crude oil on world markets. On two occasions, oil prices rose steeply in a volatile market, triggered by the Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the outbreak of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. In 1975 in the interests of world economic development and stability OPEC held the first Summit of Heads of State and Government in Algiers, which addressed the plight of the poorer nations and called for a new era of cooperation in international relations. This led to the establishment of the OPEC Fund for International Development in 1976. Member Countries created socio-economic development schemes. Membership grew to 13 by 1975.

The 1980s

In the early 80’s prices reached record levels before prices began to weaken and eventually crash in 1986, due to a big oil glut (surplus) and consumer shift away from this hydrocarbon. OPEC’s share of the smaller oil market fell heavily and its total petroleum revenue dropped below a third of earlier peaks, causing severe economic hardship for many Member Countries. In the final part of the decade prices rose again but only to half the levels of the early part. However OPEC’s share of newly growing world output began to recover. This is because OPEC introduced a group production celling divide among member countries and a Reference Basket for pricing, as well as significant progress with OPEC/non-OPEC dialogue and cooperation, seen as essential for market stability and reasonable prices. Environmental issues emerged on the international energy agenda.

 

 

The 1990s

Between 1900-1991 the market impact was reduced due to OPEC action. This meant that prices moved less dramatically than in the 1970’s and 1980’s. However excessive volatility and price weakness dominated

 But excessive volatility and general price weakness dominated the decade, and the South-East Asian economic downturn and mild Northern Hemisphere winter of 1998–99 saw prices back at 1986 levels. However, a solid recovery followed in a more integrated oil market, which was adjusting to the post-Soviet world, greater regionalism, globalisation, the communications revolution and other high-tech trends. Breakthroughs in producer-consumer dialogue matched continued advances in OPEC/non-OPEC relations. As the United Nations-sponsored climate change negotiations gathered momentum, after the Earth Summit of 1992, OPEC sought fairness, balance and realism in the treatment of oil supply. One country left OPEC, while another suspended its Membership.

The 2000s

An innovative OPEC oil price band mechanism helped strengthen and stabilise crude prices in the early years of the decade. But a combination of market forces, speculation and other factors transformed the situation in 2004, pushing up prices and increasing volatility in a well-supplied crude market. Oil was used increasingly as an asset class. Prices soared to record levels in mid-2008, before collapsing in the emerging global financial turmoil and economic recession. OPEC became prominent in supporting the oil sector, as part of global efforts to address the economic crisis. OPEC’s second and third summits in Caracas and Riyadh in 2000 and 2007 established stable energy markets, sustainable development and the environment as three guiding themes, and it adopted a comprehensive long-term strategy in 2005. One country joined OPEC, another reactivated its Membership and a third suspended it.

2010 until now

The global economy represented the main risk to the oil market early in the decade, as global macroeconomic uncertainties and heightened risks surrounding the international financial system weighed on economies. Escalating social unrest in many parts of the world affected both supply and demand throughout the first half of the decade, although the market remained relatively balanced. Prices were stable between 2011 and mid-2014, before a combination of speculation and oversupply caused them to fall in 2014. Trade patterns continued to shift, with demand growing further in Asian countries and generally shrinking in the OECD. The world’s focus on multilateral environmental matters began to sharpen, with expectations for a new UN-led climate change agreement. OPEC continued to seek stability in the market, and looked to

Globalisation outcomes - overview

Globalisation can be defined as a set of processes leading to the integration of economic, cultural, political and social systems across geographical boundaries. It refers to increasing economic integration of countries especially in terms of trade and the movement of capital. TNCs are the driving force behind globalisation, as they invest huge amounts of FDI into the countries they work in. For example, Nike manufactures loads of its products in China, the outcome of this is good for china. This China is payed money by Nike for allowing the business to operate there whilst also creating jobs and improving general wellbeing for people in the area.

The outcomes of globalisation are both positive and negative. For example, it leads to global development, when development occurs the demographic structure changes. Equal distribution of wealth, education, healthcare, and opportunity occurs. There is also a less corrupt government for example if you compare the UK’s stable democratic government to Somali with a highly corrupt system in place. This also means that there is a higher standard of living as education is improved, which also leads to greater levels of literacy and therefore in many cases equal rights for women. Again if you compare the UK to Somalia, In the UK women and men are equal whereas in Somalia women have no rights.

However, the main outcome of globalisation would be global economic growth. Positives of this would be the increase of trade between countries as more countries are creating more goods. Also outsourcing which has led to a high increase of jobs in LICs/NICs for example China has manufacturing factories and, India has call centres. The global economic growth has also drastically improved quality of life and standard of living for many people in poorer regions of the world particularly Asia as that is where most of the manufacturing has taken place. It has also made it possible for entrepreneurs to come out of poorer countries for example Infosys is from India. It has taken the knowledge and experience gained through outsourcing to create it’s on TNCs. Although there are many negatives to this global economic growth for example the environmental impacts of globalisation. This is because TNCs take huge advantage of the relaxed environmental laws and the fact that are not adhered to. Also there is a huge problem with labour exploitation for example Coca Cola employs 30,000 children in the sugar cane fields in El Salvador, where they miss school and put themselves in danger using machetes. It was found that the workers were victims to 139 human rights violations. Also the loss of cultural diversity as TNCs overtake smaller local companies that cannot compete with larger companies with much lower prices such as Wal-Mart who can offer everything you could find in 10 small local highstreet shops in one supermarket

In conclusion the outcomes of globalisation are both positive and negative, there are many factors that contribute to create one issue. The main negative issues seem to exploit either the environment or the poor and the positive issues are involved in economic gain

 

Globalised food in the USA (GCSE)

Globalisation changes how the world is run, food is produced, manufactured, and sold differently from just 100 years ago. For example, rice grown in Thailand may be packaged in India and sold in a supermarket in the UK. In this essay I will be discussing impacts on the food industry caused by globalisation, the role our government plays in this, and what individual consumers can do.

The source of food

A big problem in the food industry is that they don't want the consumer to know what they're eating or where it comes from because the consumer may not want to eat it after finding out. This is why many people have no idea where their food is coming from. Although the average supermarket has 47,000 products many of these come from the same companies and crops making it look as though there is a wide selection when in reality there is not. This is especially evident in the meat industry; only a handful of TNCs are controlling the entire food industry. Globalisation has fuelled this massively which is evident as in 1970 the 5 top beef packers controlled 25% of the market where as today the top 4 control 80% of the market!  

Globalised corn

Due to its cheap, easy to grow and store qualities corn is now the major food source for the world. In the USA 30% of the land base is used to grow corn and due to government policies farmers are paid to overproduce the crop. Farmers are producing so much corn that scientists had to make new uses for it. (see limited food options below*)  This excessive amount has led one food scientist to suggest that 90% of the processed food in supermarkets contain 'either a corn or soybean ingredient and most of the time they contain both'. This therefore allows companies like Monsanto to control the whole food industry as they patent corn seed. They produced a herbicide which kills weeds but not the crop and sold it to farmers. Now due to this patent, many small farmers have been sued for saving a replanting the seed the following year many losing their business and life savings in the process. This is because of mounting legal fee's which are always in vain as Monsanto has never lost a case. Due to corn being so cheap and available farmers are feeding corn to animals such as cows who should naturally be eating grass. However feeding cows corn evolves a certain mutation creating E. Coli which is extremely harmful. (More information in Human and animal health**)

Corn is so cheap and fattens chickens quickly, therefore it has driven the price of meat down. Over 200lbs of meat per person per year would not be possible without this cheap corn diet. But it is it worth risking our own health and ethics for economic gain.

Limited food options. (genetically modified food)

There is a problem with the limited options of our food as so much processed food is just a rearrangement of corn* e.g. cellulose which can be found in products like bottled milkshakes, white bread, and low-fat ice cream. Also high fructose corn syrup which can be found in products like soft drinks, cereal, yogurt, and chocolate. There is also a problem when manufacturers add chemicals into our food for example the tomatoes you find in supermarkets are picked when green and ripened with ethylene gas. Cows are often fed antibiotics to speed up growth then naturally due to the food chain when we eat beef we are ingesting antibiotics. This consumption has been linked to people becoming immune to antibiotics. WHO said 'emerging drug resistance in bacteria is one of the world’s greatest health threats.' Some companies have now stared to cleanse hamburger meat with ammonia to help kill E. coli which is becoming more common in beef. Food scientists are constantly reengineering our food so that it lasts longer on our shelves this reduces the amount of food waste however in the UK £12 billion of good food is still thrown away each year. This reengineering does allow mass production to feed our growing population as much more, food can be produced. In the article 'the future of the global food system' it says 'The supply and availability of food has been a crucial factor shaping the emergence, development and persistence of human civilizations throughout the ages'. Due to globalisation as the world population grows the demand for food increases. Chickens are being raised in half the time they were in the 1950s (49 days vs. 3 months) but are ending up twice as big due to antibiotics among other things. All because people like white meat so scientists redesigned the chicken to have bigger breasts.

Health humans and animals 

At the super market sweets, crisps and soft drinks are all cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables. This is because the corn, wheat, and soybeans in these snacks are cheap and heavily subsidised. This is a massive cause of worldwide obesity levels rising especially in poorer countries such as Mexico. Even in the UK we are directly impacted as type 2 diabetes only used to affect adults and now it is affecting children on a massive scale. Modern food production is all about doing things faster, bigger, and cheaper people working at 'Smithfield hog processing plant' said the company has 'the same mentality towards workers as they do the hogs'. They slaughter 32,000 hogs per day (2,000 hogs an hour) and employees get infections from handling the guts so much thus making meat packing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the US and it is done by a lot of illegal immigrants. Animals at factory farms stand ankle deep in their manure all day long so if one cow has E. Coli others can get it too, at a slaughter house the cows are covered in manure therefore if you are slaughtering 400 cows per hour it’s hard to keep it from spreading. So this harmful strain of E. Coli, that didn’t used to be in the world, is now a problem. In the USA there are only 13 slaughterhouses for the majority of beef. Ground beef from the supermarket has thousands of different cows mixed up in it so the chance of one of those cows in meat having a disease is increased. After eating a burger contaminated with E. Coli a woman’s 2-year-old son went from a perfectly healthy boy to being dead in 12 days. In the 90’s some industrial meat factories were tested for E. Coli and if they failed they were supposed to be shut down however there was not enough authority to close the contaminated plants. E. Coli is even in spinach and apple juice because of the run off from factory farms however regulatory agencies are being controlled by the very companies they are supposed to be scrutinizing. There has always been food poisoning, but food is not getting safer it is becoming more contaminated because with the bigger factories it spreads the problem far and wide. Chicken farms produce a lot of food, on a small amount of land, for a very affordable price. A Tyson Chicken farmer said 'the chickens never even see sunlight they are kept day and night in chicken houses with no windows'. When chickens grow from a baby chic to a 5.5 lb. chicken in 7 weeks the bones can’t keep up with growth which means some can’t handle weight that they are carrying so when they try to take a few steps they fall down.

The government’s role

The Government is controlled by the industries it is supposed to be regulating due to former industry executives that are now government regulators. In the USA 70% of processed foods contain some sort of GMO the food industry fought against having to label foods as GMO and won. It is also against the law to criticize the food industry’s foods thanks to the “Veggie Libel Laws” which saw Oprah getting sued after she said she wouldn't eat another burger. In the US state Colorado it is actually illegal and you can go to prison for criticizing their foods.

Change by consumer

The average consumer does not feel very powerful and it is the exact opposite because when we buy our food we are choosing local or not or organic or not. Individual consumers changed Wal-Marts milk options to now offer organic. The tobacco industry had huge control over public policy and it is the perfect model on how an industry’s irresponsible behavior was changed. The food industry will deliver to the marketplace what the marketplace demands so if good wholesome food is demanded it will be delivered. Choose foods that are in season, local, organic and read the labels when you go to the supermarket.

Over all the globalisation of the food industry is mainly fuelled by an increase in demand due to a growing population. The positive points of this seem to be the cheap and widely available sources of food. However it is a double edged sword because we could have these positive impacts without the majority of the extensive negative impacts such as death, disease and poor health, if it wasn't for the economic greed of large companies like Monsanto.

Famine

Famine is defined as a scarcity of food, often it is not a lack of food but a lack of resources to obtain the food. Famine is a non-communicable disease that effects LICS's. The FAO states we have enough food for everyone in the world approximately 2,700 calories a day. However 30 million people die every year from starvation and a further 800 million people suffer from chronic malnutrition.

 

Famine is caused by a mix of environmental and political factors. Environmental factors include drought often caused by a dry climate leaving extremely little or no rain. This means people can't access water to irrigate crops therefore masses of food crops die leaving people without food. For example in Ethiopia between 1984-85 rains failed affecting 43% of the population. The rains failed again in 2000. This meant livestock died as people and animals migrated to try and find water this put tons of pressure these areas causing the livestock to die. People's nutritional status began to decline as milk a main component in meals became scarce which caused food prices to rise many people could no longer afford food. Many people had to leave there homes to move to cities however they ended up in refugee camps with some such as a camp on the outskirts of Denan containing 13,000 people. Large amounts of foreign aid was needed and malnutrition rates were estimated to be over 50% many visitors say 'they are waiting to die'.

Another environmental factor would be natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, landslides, and earthquakes. For example in 2012 hurricane sandy hit Haiti leaving 1.5 million people without proper access to food and at risk of famine this is because the hurricane had destroyed 70% of yam, corn, and banana crops.

Political factors include the denial of food to locals often during times of famine food is still being deported to other countries however the people don't have the status, money, or bargaining power to access this food. Countries such as Somalia with no real government after the civil war are being controlled by terrorist groups such as al-shabab. These groups stop vital international aid in parts of famine stating the areas are fine. In the 1990's 300,000 people died because of warlords stopping food entering the area. Currently 4 million Somalians are at risk of famine, the UN doesn't know how many people have died saying it is most likely in the 10,000's mostly of which are children!

 

The consequences of famine are rife and devastating. Malnutrition is one of the most prevalent consequences of famine it is caused by a poor diet with almost no nutrition. It makes the sufferers immune system extremely weak meaning they often die from illnesses that could be prevented such as diarrhoea, anaemia, and the common cold. The life expectancy drastically decreases and quality of life is very poor as they spend the remainder of their lives in chronic pain caused by starvation. Millennium development goals aim to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger however according to the 2014 progress report areas such as sub-Saharan Africa are still suffering with 'high hunger'. Most people agree the best solution to end famine is educating farmers in areas affected cheap sustainable methods of irrigation, improved farming techniques and higher yielding value

 

Famine is an issue that affects LIC’s as they don’t have the money of government to control the spread of the disease.

‘Economic sustainability versus environmental sustainability’

Sustainability can be defined as the ability of something to be maintained. Its talking about how we live now without jeopardising the potential for people in the future to meet their needs. The question is whether economic sustainability can be compatible with environmental sustainability. China is an example of a country who chose economic benefits over environmental sustainability. Where-as Antarctica was protected for environmental purposes.

Chinas economic growth meant that environmental sustainability was compromised. This is because China had rapid urbanisation which saw the destruction of many natural areas. Like Brazil, China had to use its natural wealth in order to develop however, they did not do this sustainably. For example, it used bamboo as scaffolding which caused the loss of tons of bamboo. This has aided in the placing of the panda on the Appendix 1 conservation list. Pandas eat bamboo as their main source of food, so the rapid loss of bamboo meant they were dying. However, this rapid urbanisation has seen a huge economic growth of 8-10% per year. This growth has massively improved its populations livelihood, as now only 19% live below $1 per day. Although this does leave pockets of poverty in china particularly in the rural areas. This growth has been fuelled by TNC’s which has meant that 80% of its GDP has come from FDI making the economy strong. However, it is not sustainable as eventually the FDI will stop coming unless china produces its own TNCs. China has exploited its natural resource coal which has meant that China has become extremely polluted. WHO said China has 7 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world and China as well as being the second largest consumer of oil in the world.

 

Antarctica has put aside the economic benefits of exploiting the Antarctic oil has to offer. This is because Antarctica is the last pristine part of the earth left over. Antarctica is also used for scientific use. In order to protect the area tourism is limited by the Antarctic treaty. The environment is protected and managed as the whole world and future generations rely on the Antarctic for fresh clean water, minerals, scientific research among many other things. This is important for long term environmental sustainability as once we destroy the Antarctic we can never get it back and sustainability relies on the fact that it will last forever. The Antarctic also maintains ecological processes and life support systems which the whole planet relies on. The treaty ensures the utilisation of species and ecosystems without destroying them by placing strict rules on anyone who visits. The reason this is significant is that Antarctica is estimated to have up to 203 billion barrels of oil beneath the surface which is worth more that Kuwait or Abu Dhabi. Thus exploiting the area would see huge economic gains, however maintaining the pristine state is of the greatest global interest.

 

In conclusion the global economy depends upon the natural environment as a source of resources and as a sink for emissions. However, the development of countries strongly relies on the development of infrastructure. This development often means that countries often disregard the environment in order to develop economically. The issue is whether environmental sustainability can go hand in hand with economic growth. It seems at the moment that it can only be one or the other.

Ecology of a plagioclimax

Heathland

Heathland is a landscape known for its outstanding beauty. The area is full of heather and gorse, and is home to many rare species such as the nightjar, tiger beetles, adders, marsh genipian, sponge dew, heath orchid and heather. Heathland is extremely bio diverse. The heather and gorse provide habitats for lots of rare birds such as the stone chat and butterflies such as the silver studded blue butterfly. The area grows on poor and acidic soils.

100 years ago the land was used by farmers. It was used for grazing animals such as cattle it was also used for fuel wood. However now the land is no longer used productively the heathland is in danger of being lost. This is because woodland will grow; first turning into birch than to pine and finally into oak.

There are 58,000 hectares of heathland in Britain, about 20% of the total world resource. But over 80% of Britain's heathland has been lost since 1800 - 17% in the last 50 years. Today, heathland is found in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey, Suffolk, Norfolk, Staffordshire, Pembrokeshire, west Glamorgan and west Gwynedd. Some local examples would be Chailey and Ashdown Forest.

The reason heathland is in such decline is because of a lack of appropriate site management, habitat loss and fragmentation, recreational and urban disturbance, air pollution and water pollution and drainage. Also an invasive species (phytophthera) led to a lack of bilberry as it was introduced into the heathland where it didn’t belong.

The UK is already covered in woodland whereas heathland is massively declining without proper conservation the area will turn into woodland. Unlike woodland once heathland is gone it can never return. In order to keep the heathland we have to replicate what was done 100 years ago by removing invading birch, bracken and gorse to minimalize shade. There also needs to be controlled fires and animal grazing.

This area is a priority for nature conservation as it is a rare and threatened area. The area is home to many creature so if we allow the heathland to disappear we are also killing hundreds of species especially those that cannot travel or live anywhere else.

HAY MEDOWS

Introduction

The habitat compromises the single National Vegetation Classification community MG3, Anthoxanthum odoratum – Geranium sylvaticicum grassland and is characterised by a dense growth of grasses and herbaceous dicotyledons up to 60 – 80 cm high. They are normally found in isolated fields or groups of fields, where many are still managed as hay meadows. They are a product of traditional, low density farming. During the months of June and July, the area is visited often as people enjoy the bright and varied colours in these meadows. Hay meadows have very few species of plants but still manage to provide food for seed-eating birds and nesting habitats for ground nesting birds. However the silage is generally cut too early and too frequently to produce seed or allow birds to complete nesting there is also a high level of fertiliser used which severely reduces that variety of species and habitats 

Importance

This habitat is important mostly for its high plant diversity. There is currently very little information available on invertebrate communities in upland hay meadows. Few Nationally scarce invertebrate species have been recorded from this habitat; hay cutting in mid-summer produces such a sudden change of environment that only a limited insect fauna is adapted to thrive under this management.

Threats

Threats include fragmentation of habitats causing an increased risk of species extinctions in the small remnant areas. Agricultural improvement through ploughing, drainage, re-seeding, inorganic fertiliser treatment and slurry application. Changing farming practices as a general shift from hay making to silage production, with more frequent and often earlier annual cutting. Increased grazing intensity and duration, particular in spring. Nutrient enrichment as an increase of eutrophication as a result of too frequent application of farmyard manure. Supplementary feeding increased supplementary stock feeding associated with higher grazing levels leading to enhanced nutrient loadings and localised poaching. Neglect as agricultural and other management neglect leading to rank over-growth. Finally pesticides as the declining economy of upland farming threatens the community of traditional land management. Where hay cutting has to be abandoned, in principle there may be alternative management practices which would better assist invertebrate biodiversity

 Management

In order to manage the area, consistent management is important, hay cut followed by aftermath grazing is the best approach.  A nil-inputs regime should be followed to prevent destruction of the flora and any spraying of meadows, ploughing or drainage improvement will make the conservation of these sites less important. Any grazing carried out after the hay cut may be beneficial to dung-feeding invertebrates as long as the livestock has not been recently dosed with broad-spectrum avermectin wormers. Leaving uncut strips within a hay meadow will allow many invertebrate to complete their life cycle as many are killed in the summer as they have no shelter. Water courses and wet areas should also be maintained.

Rare species found in hay meadows

Beetles
Weevils
Click beetles
Flies
Blowflies, dung flies, flesh flies and allies

Hoverflies

Ashdown Forest

 

Ashdown Forest is a sub ancient area heathland, it is an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) it is found in East Sussex near Uckfield. Although Ashdown Forest is seen as a wild and natural place the way it looks has been directly influenced by human activities over the past millennia. The Forest has a strong manufacturing as well as agriculture element to its history. It was used extensively for grazing, fuel production for hearths, smelting, iron working, timber production, and hunting.

Diseases of poverty and affluence

 

Diseases of affluence

Type two diabetes, coronary heart disease, obesity, some cancers, alcoholism, depression, and other psychiatric illnesses.  Non-communicable, unlike diseases of poverty which are communicable through infection, poor public health, and poor hygiene. Policy makers are criticised as development may be self-defeating, why trade one disease for another? Expensive to treat people as they live longer in developed countries.

Diabesity

Obesity and type two diabetes is a major global health problem that costs the European Union 15 billion Euros a year. It is a problem caused by eating unhealthy fatty foods whilst doing little to no exercise. It is on the rise especially in developed countries where access to cheap unhealthy food is easy and leisure time is long meaning little exercise is done.

 

Factors causing these diseases;

>Increased car use

>Less strenuous physical activities

>Large amounts of low cost food easily accessible

>More high fat and high sugar foods in the diet

>Increased leisure time

>Prolonged periods of inactivity or sedentary work

>Greater use of alcohol and tobacco

>Longer lifespans

 

Type 2 diabetes in the UK and worldwide

Three million people in the UK are now estimated to have type 2 diabetes. The number of people diagnosed with diabetes shot up by 100,000. Now 2.3 million Britons are diagnosed and a further 750,000 are meant to have diabetes without knowing it. Overweight children in the UK are getting type two diabetes when it usually occurs in over 40's.

 

Diabetes is a problem because small blood vessels can be damaged, causing damage to the kidneys and eyes leading to kidney failure and blindness. It also leads to nerve damage, affecting the ability to feel sensations and pain. Larger blood vessels can be damaged leading to heart disease and strokes. Damage to the circulation can also increase the risk of leg or foot ulcers, which can lead to gangrene and even amputation. Type two diabetes can be treated by a healthy diet, keeping weight under control, regular physical activity, no smoking or drinking.

 

Diseases of poverty

There are many diseases of poverty but the main issue facing many LIC’s seems to be famine. Famines are not necessarily a lack of food but a lack of resources to get food. In 2005 serious famines affected Niger and Chad. People were unable to buy their own food, when their own livestock and crops failed. This is because people in Niger live on less than $1 a day. 20 per cent of the population owns half of the country’s wealth where-as the poorest 20 per cent only own 5 per cent of the wealth. Most of the poor live in rural areas and depend on farming. The main constraint of their farming is unreliable water. Where irrigation can be made available productivity is high however rainfall has been decreasing since the 1970's.

Breaking the cycle of poverty:

>Improvements in farming productivity

>Development of irrigation so its made affordable and manageable to rural communities

>Improved marketing so food can be distributed efficiently

>Incentives to encourage farmers to invest surpluses in improving agriculture

>Improved childcare to reduce infant mortality rate

>Inoculation and immunisation programmes

>Improved hygiene to reduce the risks of transmission of infections

>Simple rehydration medicines to reduce deaths from gastrointestinal infections

>Access to birth control advice and affordable condoms

>Education particularly of women so that they can read and understand instructions for health care

>Improved access to modern ways of cooking to reduce fuel wood collection which wastes time that could be spent on family care and causes respiratory problems caused by smoke