Case study of an AID PROJECT in a LEDC

‘Self-Help Africa’ in Adami Tulu, Ethiopia

Location and background:

  • Ethiopia is a very poor LEDC in East Africa - HDI = 0.363 (174/187 rank in the world)
  • Adami Tulu = remote region in the Ethiopian Highlands where living standards are very low most of the 100,000 people who live there suffer from extreme poverty.
  • High dependence on farming which is often affected by serious drought.
  • Farmers are nomadic – move herds to where grass is available during dry spells

Problems facing farmers in Adami Tulu

  • Rainfall low and erratic  crop failure  famine and malnutrition.
  • Farmers grow mainly maize  depletes soil of nutrients
  • Traditional crops mature slowly – but growing season only lasts 150 days
  • Population growth  farmers keeping more cattle  overgrazing and soil erosion
  • Deforestation for firewood few trees remaining dung used as fuel not fertilizer.
  • Soil is sandy and shallow  in dry weather soil is eroded by the wind
  • Government has been forcing farmers to become less nomadic  worse overgrazing
  • Wells/ponds used for water are often long distance away.

Self-Help Africa

  • Charity based in Ireland – work on DEVELOPMENT aid, not RELIEF/EMERGENCY aid
  • 1995-2005 10 Year Development Plan – 6 main features:

-Farmers given drought tolerant, high yielding maize seeds

-Nurseries were set up to grow trees, providing wood for fencing and fuel

-Boreholes dug - water was pumped up by wind turbines.

-Irrigation ditches were dug out to move water from the boreholes to the fields.

-Farmers given interest-free loans to buy chickens and to set up small craft shops

-Roads improved, making it possible to transport produce to sell at markets

What has been the impact? Has the aid project been successful?

  • Good example of a successful/sustainable project – local people had a significant say
  • Emphasis on self-help rather than creating dependency.
  • Partnership between expert advice from the Charity and free labour from the farmers.
  • Improved long-term skills of farmers  food supplies/diets improved – better health
  • Water supplies more reliable – wind turbines low maintenance and low cost
  • Soil erosion has been reduced by planning shelter belts and raising soil moisture
  • All members of the community benefited from improvements

BUT!

Long-term, population control and reducing birth rates needed to tackle problem at source

Case Study of a sustainable development project in a LEDC

WaterAid in Mali

Background on WaterAid and Mali

  • WaterAid = NGO (Non-Government Organisation) working in Africa for many years.
  • Mali in W. Africa = very poor LEDC (LE = 50 years, GDP per capita at $1200)
  • Harsh climate, low rainfall and growing problem of desertification.
  • 65% of the country is desert or semi-desert.
  • Only 50% of Mali’s population has access to sustainable water supplies.
  • Private companies who supply water fail to provide an adequate service to poorest urban and rural areas.

How the project works

  • WaterAid piloted a scheme in the capital ( Bamako) providing clean water and sanitation to people in the slums.
  • WaterAid paid for the water network but are also training local people to manage and maintain the system as well as raising money to keep it working.
  • A key aim of the project is to educate people and encourage them to empower themselves to continue their own development in the future.

Impacts of the scheme

  • This diagram shows how the benefits of clean water, sanitation and hygiene education can lead to economic development.

How is the scheme sustainable?

  • The project works with and consults the local community to provide a service that benefits all.
  • The technology is appropriate to the needs and capabilities of the people and can be maintained with little cost.
  • Most importantly local people are educated and trained in how to repair, maintain and finance the water network in the future.

Drought Case Study – MEDC – Drought in Australia (2003 - 2012)
Background /
  • 2015 HDI = 0.934 - most developed country in the world.
  • Wealthy MEDC with most people enjoying high living standards.
  • Huge country with massive environmental – Central Australia very arid – permanent state of drought.
  • Most densely populated areas are in the east – NSW, QLD, VIC, SA where climate is temperate (warm dry summers, mild moist winters)
  • 2005-6 was described by Australia’s PM as a ‘1 in 1000 year drought’

Physical factors /
  • Normally the ‘Trade Winds’ move moist, rising air across the Pacific from South America – brings rain to Australia’s east coast.
  • The El Nino effect causes this effect to go into reverse and Australia is affected by dry, sinking air – led to drought especially severe in Queensland in 2005-6.
  • This drought followed an already lengthy period of below-average rainfall.
  • Expert opinion suggests that Australia could be one of the world’s biggest ‘victims’ of climate change with a predicted 40% fall in precipitation by 2070, many believe that the country is entering an era of significant change.

Human factors /
  • The Murray-Darling Basin in NSW very badly affected because it receives only 4% of Australia’s rainfall yet supplies 54% of demand (3 out of the top 5 cities - Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra).
  • Most severe drought was in Western Australia which is also the most densely populated – concentration of people in an area of increasingly erratic rainfall
  • Water consumption is rising rapidly in Australia due to rapid population increase and rising living standards – domestic water consumption, leisure activities, car ownership, industrial production, irrigation for agriculture.

Impacts /
  • Crop failure  falling incomes for farmers (Wheat crop down 60%)
  • Mass starvation of livestock, with many shot to reduce suffering.
  • Loss of natural vegetation  soil erosion.
  • Heatwave  rising demand for water, storage reservoirs were quickly emptied
  • Bushfires and duststorms also occurred.
  • Decline in water quantity (severe restrictions/rationing introduced) and also water quality as water stores ran out and became contaminated by toxic algae.
  • Many farmers forced to take out expensive loans to buy animal feed  farmers going bust and forced to sell up.

Responses /
  • Response has been a combination of high-tech solutions and conservation schemes.
  • High-tech responses include e.g. drip irrigation systems fed by water pumped from deep underground, new storage reservoirs and proposals to build desalinisation plants for major cities like Sydney, Perth and Brisbane – all of these controversial and possibly unsustainable.
  • Big emphasis on water restrictions/conservation (hosepipe ban, no watering of lawns, no water on certain days, no washing of cars, ‘grey water’ recycling etc.)
  • Australia starting to accept that it is entering a new era of climate change where drought is much more commonplace, perhaps even a permanent hazard.

Nottingham Left Bank Flood Scheme

River flooding can bring rich fertile soil along the river banks which is ideal for farming once the waters have drained away again.

When a river floods it can cause a lot of damage to the land and nearby homes. Buildings and food crops can also be destroyed.

In November 2000 very heavy rain across Nottinghamshire led to serious flooding of the River Trent. On 9th November many people had to spend the night sleeping on

mattresses in leisure centres around the county. A number of roads were closed. Gas and electricity supplies to homes were cut off. The army was called in to help evacuate people from their houses or deliver sandbags to others. In the village of Bartin in Fabis, south of Nottingham, the emergency services sent boats to rescue families stranded in their homes.

Many precautions have been taken to try to prevent the River Trent from flooding nearby cities such as Derby and Nottingham/ The methods include

  1. Making the river banks, or dykes, higher for eg/ Colwick and Trent Bridge. This means that the river was able to hold more water and therefore reduce the risk of flooding.

Advantages include – it is cheap and quite long lasting, fits in with the landscape when the grass grows

  1. Wetland creation near Attenborough. This allows the river to naturally flood in areas where land is less valuable (usually used for grazing farm animals). The water can then infiltrate the soil and slowly makes its way to the river channel via throughflow.

Advantages include – it is cheap, and it is a natural solution. If you further plant the area with trees the impact of flooding is further reduced.

  1. Flood wall along the Nottingham left bank to reduce the risk of flooding for settlements. The wall holds the water back from reaching the settlements.

The advantage is, it is effective at holding water back and can be engineered (made) to work in very severe floods (1 in a hundred years).

However, it is expensive, can be unsightly and will eventually need replacing.

Today the River Trent is used in many different ways. West Burton power station uses an average of 200 million litres a day from the Trent. One of the main uses of the river water is to cool the turbines that generate electricity. Most of the water is then returned to the river.

Severn Trent Water operates the Stoke Bardolph treatment plant, which treats the sewage and waste water from people living in Nottingham. Once the water has been treated and cleaned it is pumped back into the river.

The River Trent continues to be used for carrying commercial loads such as sand and gravel. It is also used for transporting large heavy freight on special barges. In May 2004 a 2210 tonne barge carried a 270 tonne transformer from the Lincolnshire coast to Cottam power station in Nottinghamshire. Using the road system would have caused major traffic jams.

People also use the River Trent for leisure activities such as boating, angling, canoeing or simply walking along the banks where they can enjoy the wildlife.

The Nottingham floods of November 2000

Location and background:

  • Nottingham is a city of 300,000+ people, located in the East Midlands in the UK.
  • November 2000 - worst floods since 1947.

Physical factors

  • Sep-Nov 2000, Trent River Basin received 230% of average monthly rainfall.
  • Rain fell on already saturated ground  surface run off  rising river levels.
  • Rainfall was heavy across the entire basin so tributaries (e.g. Dove, Soar, Derwent) discharged storm water into already rising Trent.

Human factors

  • High level of urban development on River Trent flood plain  increased surface run off.
  • Lack of land use zoning  higher risk/vulnerability of people and economic activities.
  • Flood defences put in place after the 1947 floods (flood walls, channel widening and straightening) were incomplete and repairs/improvements had not been carried out.
  • Flood warnings issued daily on the local media were heeded by most, but not all.
  • 2000 floods = unprecedented scale, earlier flood defences unlikely to be effective

What were the social, economic and environmental impacts?
Social / Economic / Environmental
  • Disruption to people’s daily lives and routines.
  • Public transport affected.
  • Vulnerable groups e.g. elderly required additional support.
  • Increased pressure on emergency services.
/
  • Delays to commuters and loss of working time.
  • Reduced production in businesses, problems in sourcing materials and distributing products.
  • Some businesses shut down for several weeks while repairs carried out.
  • Flooded fields – crops destroyed, animals moved higher ground.
  • High insurance premiums
/
  • Short term flooding of land in the flood plain.
  • Some contamination of land where sewers failed.

Overall, long term impact was limited – no deaths or serious injuries or environmental damage. Main impact economic – cost of repairs to domestic and commercial properties.

What actions have been taken since the floods?

  • £51 million Nottingham Left Bank Flood Alleviation Scheme to improve protection for over 16,000 homes and businesses between Sawley and Colwick
  • Repairs/raising of existing flood walls/embankments in Beeston Sawley, The Meadows.
  • New flood walls in unprotected areas like Attenborough, some roads raised in height.
  • Improvements to the Environment Agency website – postcode based flood warnings, advisory actions, home protection advice etc.