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