Challenges to the Achievement of Developed Status - Example

CHALLENGES TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF DEVELOPED STATUS Name Course name Student’s name Instructor’s name 20th April 2010 Introduction Developing nations are defined generally as the countries without a considerable degree of industrialization. The level of industrialization is measured relative to the rate of population growth which leads to a low or medium living standard. Numerous research studies conducted on the area of standard of living have proven that there is indeed a strong relationship between growth in population and the amount of income earned by the people. It is imperative to note that a country’s rate of development is also measured through different indexes. Such indexes include life expectancy, literacy levels and per capita income. In this regard, developing nations are those countries with low life expectancy levels, low per capita income, and widespread illiteracy levels which affect the rate of industrialization in the country. Developing nations are characterized by poor standards of healthcare afforded to the citizens and which affect the life expectancy levels. Developed nations are also characterized by high levels of unemployment across the economy with the largest segment of the unemployed population being the youths. This is because the rate of job creation is lower than the rate of population growth and subsequently many young people fail to secure jobs in the few firms that exist in the economy. The other characteristic of a developing nation is over reliance on agriculture as the primary source of income. This means that developing nations rely on exports as the primary source income which limits the countries access to the capital goods because such countries use the available resources to import the required capital goods for use in agriculture. The purpose of this paper is to explore the major challenges that hinder developing nations from achieving developed status. Challenges to the achievement of developed status One of the major challenges to the achievement of developed status in many developing countries is poor infrastructure which hinders the smooth flow of goods and services in different parts of the country (Browne 2000). A good example of a developing country whose developed status has been hindered by poor infrastructure is Kenya. Regarded as the economic hub of Eastern and Central Africa, Kenya has continued to record high rates of economic growth. The country is strategically located because of its coastline which has for a long time been used by many land locked countries as the entry point for imported goods.  It is also the outlet point for export goods which means that Kenya is strategically located and has wider opportunities for achieving the developed status. However, poor infrastructural facilities such as dilapidated roads, dilapidated facilities at the seaport and airports and poor railway facilities have all contributed to the slow development of the country towards achieving the developed status (Schuurman 2001). As a matter of fact, the country’s railway network was constructed during the colonial era and up to date the railway network has never been upgraded nor has there been construction of a new railway network to ease the congestion in the few roads in the country. This affects the transportation of large cargos from the seaports and airports in the country to the market within the East African region. In the same perspective, the road network in the country has also been a great hindrance to the development of the country. Many roads were also constructed during the colonial era and the continued use of these roads without the necessary repairs has rendered them unusable and therefore uneconomical in the transportation of large cargos from the seaport and airports to the markets within and outside the country (Todaro and Smith 2009). The other major challenge that has hindered a country like Kenya and indeed many other countries from achieving the developed status is the increased amount of corruption in almost all public institutions (Korten 1995). In Kenya corruption is rampant and according to surveys in the recent years the country was ranked third in the world with the highest level of corruption. The money that could be used for development projects such as education, provision of better health facilities, maintainace of infrastructure and purchasing of military equipment is channeled to private bank accounts by those holding offices in influential positions (Allen and Thomas 2000). It is also a major drawback to economic growth Kenya as it increases the cost of doing business chasing away the would be-investors because there is less gross domestic product going into investment. This is another reason why Kenya has not yet achieved the developed status not developing because investors shift to the neighboring countries like Uganda and Tanzania where corruption cases are low. Corruption has pushed major financial institutions such as World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stop International aid to Kenya in the past because most of the funds were never channeled to development projects and were never accounted for (Korten 1995). In the same regard, delays in execution of projects that would be important in driving the economy forward have also been major challenges affecting the nation from achieving developed status. The other major challenge that has hindered developing nations from achieving developed status has been poor health sector. The poor provision of health facilities has been a major drawback in achieving the required development capacity. This has been attributed to the weak health systems which include few trained personnel, health infrastructure and lack of efficient operating sytems.The cause of weak health system in developing economies is due to inadequate allocation of funds to the health sector (Escobar 1995). Such low levels of investment in the health sector cannot even prevent or reduce the rate of maternal death. 75 percent of maternal deaths in developing economies are caused by poor reproductive health systems and inadequate access to skilled care by pregnant women and their infants. This is partly contributed by lack of enough health care professionals as well as lack of adequate healthcare facilities in the country. The other major challenge that has hindered developing economies from achieving the developed status is over-reliance on external aid. This has gone along way into hindering creativity and innovation (Catholic Relief Services 2009). With the advent of technology, economies are more than ever driven by technological innovation and creativity which is not emphasized in developing economies. In this perspective, developing economies have relied on developed economies for financial support and other types of support resulting into idleness of resources and significant rise in poverty levels in the country. Without innovation and creativity in such economies the developing economies have significantly lagged behind in terms of development because the external aid received by such economies is directed towards purchasing or importing capital goods from external markets. In Indonesia, child labor has hindered the country from achieving developed status. Children are employed in both organized and unorganized sectors where they work for long hours with little payment. Some of these firms include mines, polishing of gemstones, agriculture sector, plantations, carpet industry and fire works industry. Some of the factors that contribute to child labour in Indonesia include poverty, migration, population growth, weak enforcement of laws, broken families among others. (Skelton and Allen 1999). Child labor result in injuries, diseases like TB due to unhygienic conditions, malnutrition and overcrowding also reducing their moral, mental and social development which acts as a hindrance to development in Indonesia. The over-reliance on child labor in Indonesia has adversely affected the growth in qualified people who can work in formal sectors of the economy. The economy of the country has been rendered repugnant due to shortage of qualified professionals’ who can be engaged in technical innovations thus limiting the production capacity of the country. Production of the goods and services below the required capacity has also resulted into inadequate exports limiting the country’s potential to earn sufficient foreign exchange to be used for purchasing capital goods (Parfitt 2002). The other major challenge that has hindered developing economies such as Indonesia from achieving developed status is the rapid growth in population. Indonesia has a population of around 245,452,739. This large population hinders development because resources are channeled to the provision of food, education, health and medical care to the young population, providing better health care for young mothers and settlement for young families (Sachs 2002). This means that more resources are diverted to meet the basic needs of the people which leave little funds for development purposes. Although, the population is able to meet the basic needs, the expansion of the economy is curtailed and thus the standards of living remain low in the country. The per capita income in Indonesia is one among the lowest in the world because the rapid growth in population consumes the large part of the country’s production limiting the country’s balance of payment (Thomas 2000). Natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods have been major challenges that have hindered major developing economies such as Indonesia from attaining the developed status. This is because such disasters result into numerous losses of lives and immeasurable destruction of infrastructural facilities (Sphere Project 2003). Funds meant for development purposes are later channeled to the re-construction of such facilities and providing health care facilities and other forms of assistance to the affected populations thus delaying the development of the country further. Indonesia has particularly been affected by natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes due to its location in earthquake prone areas. Diversion of the country’s resources from development projects to other projects results into stalled government projects meant for development purposes thus limiting the country’s production capacity and hence lowering the country’s GDP. Political instability has also been a major challenge that affects the efforts of the developing economies from achieving the developed status. Pakistan is one of the developing nations which has for along time been affected by political instability. Despite the country’s enormous economic potential the country has lagged backwards in terms of development due to political instability (David 2001). The increased attacks of tourists by the rebel groups have contributed largely to the reduction in the number of tourists the country has received in the past 10 years. Since tourists are a source of foreign exchange needed by developing economies to purchase capital goods for production purposes, it means that reduction in the number of tourists arriving in Pakistan has largely affected the production capacity of the country. Continued political unrest in the country has also scared away both domestic and foreign investors. Low levels of investment in the country means that the country does not attain the required Gross Domestic Product and thus Pakistan has continued to experience imbalance of payment as important exceed exports. Hence, political unrest and elements of terrorism have been a major challenge that has hindered the developing nations from attaining developed status because such economies concentrate on quelling internal conflicts that scare away investors rather than concentrating on the development of the country (Moss, Roodman and Standley 2005). Huge amounts of public debts are other major challenge that hindered developing economies from attaining the developed status. While major financial institutions such as World Bank and IMF have increased aid and loans grants to developing economies, poor public policies employed in different developing economies have resulted into loss of funds, misappropriation of funds and thus delay in execution of intended projects. In this regard, developing economies have ended up carrying huge burdens of public debts due to poor public policies. This means that a huge share of developing nation’s National Income is diverted towards the repayment of interests that accrue over the years from the loans advanced to such economies for development purposes. Hence, huge amounts of public debts have also been a major challenge to the developing economies towards achieving developed status. In conclusion, it is evident that the challenges that hinder the developing economies from attaining the developed status cut across a wide spectrum of issues ranging from political, poor public policies, corruption, poor infrastructure, natural disasters (to mention a few). Basing the arguments on three case study countries such as Kenya, Indonesia and Pakistan, it is also evident that such economies must address significant internal problems such as high rates of corruption and internal conflicts as well as rising population in order to achieve the desired levels of development. Reference Allen, T. and Thomas, A, Poverty and development into the 21st century (New York: New York Publishers, 2000). Browne, S, Foreign aid in practice (New York: New York University Press, 2000). Catholic Relief Services, Water and Conflict: Incorporating Peacebuilding into Water Development, 2009. 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