A F R I C AA continent’s struggle

by Heather Braucher

www.pacda.org

Africa’s Struggles

1. Illiteracy2. Famine3. Disease4. Natural Resource Depletion5. Government Instability6. Natural Disasters7. Unemployment8. Genocide

Root Causes of Problems

• Political Corruption

• Human Rights Violations

• Colonialism

• Artificial Boundaries

• Tribal Traditions

• Ignorance

• Corporate Interests

Illiteracy

• Literacy- the ability to read and write

• Illiteracy- inability to read or write

• Literacy rate- percentage of people who can read and write above the age of 15

• Literacy RatesUnited States-99%Niger-28.7%

Ethiopia-42.7%Kenya-85%

F a m I n eA drastic widespread shortage of food;

lack of food over a long period of time

Causes

Drought-lack of rain over a long period of time

Overgrazing- allowing too much grazing by large herds of

cattle

Desertification- change of fertile land into land that is too dry or damaged to support life caused by overgrazing cattle

http://sandmc.pwv.gov.za/comp/Drought.htm

What about using bio-fuels?

DiseaseA condition of an organism (including people) that

makes it unable to function in a normal way

Causes

unsafe water

pollution

lack of nutrition

no access to immunizations (shots)

inadequate waste disposal

• Malaria

• Sleeping Sickness

• bites from tsetse fly

• Sickle Cell Anemia

• Tuberculosis

• Parasites• AIDS

http://www.hobotraveler.com

Natural Resource Depletion

Natural Resource- any thing found naturally in the earth that can be used

Depletion- the use or consumption of a resource, especially a natural resource, faster than it is replenished

Causes-

strip mining

not rotating crops

slash and burn

forests

http://www.daylife.com

Government Instability

Nations ruled by colonial powers were suddenly given autonomy (self-rule).

Causes-

Political divisions were drawn by colonial powers and not indigenous people.

Military dictators still fight for power in many regions leading to wide spread violence

Lack of Education

Death from Natural Disasters

• Floods

• Drought

Causes

No rain, too much rain

El Nino, La Nina

Lack of warning systems by government

Unemployment

When people are seeking work and cannot find it.

Causes-

Africans were forced to change tribal ways of living under colonialism.

After gaining self rule, many Africans were left with no education or job training.

Unemployment World Wide 2006

GenocideThe systematic and planned extermination

of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group.

Causes-

hatred by rival tribal groups

ignorance(lack of education)

military coups trying to gain power

Nigeria

Conflict Open oil wells constantly spew out oil onto farm land making it unusable and cause pollution.

90% of country’s income comes from

oil profits

Rumuekpe, Rivers State, Nigeria

GhanaConflict Baboons are

eating subsistence farmers’ crops because people are cutting down the forest and planting crops. The people are cutting down more forests because fish are being depleted from the sea by commercial fisherman.

Uganda

Conflict Animal poachers are killing gorillas and other protected species. These animals are becoming endangered.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mountain-gorilla.html

ZimbabweConflict President Robert Mugabe, a military

dictator has led the country to massive inflation, human rights violation, and a general bad state of affairs for the citizens.

• http://www.pacda.org • http://www.globalissues.org • https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/

the-world-factbook/geos/ng.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate • www.dkimages.com • http://soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/

papers/desertification-africa.html