Closing the Gap

Narrowing the gap

The development gap is the difference in wealth and quality of life between richer and poorer countries. Many strategies try to close it. Some are large and top down, such as investment from rich countries and companies building factories and roads. Others are small and bottom up, such as intermediate technology, fair trade and microfinance loans that reach local people directly. Aid and debt relief also play a part. The key skill is not just to name these but to judge how sustainable each is and who really benefits. This module covers the strategies and how to compare them.

Development words

Learn these before you sort any strategy, and be ready to say who each one really helps.

Top down against bottom up

Strategies split into two broad kinds, and they reach people very differently.

How to compare strategies

Do not just list the strategies. For each one, ask two things. Is it sustainable, meaning can it keep helping for years without harm, or is it a short-term fix? And who really gains from it, the local people on the ground or outside investors and big firms? A hand pump a village can repair itself helps for years and benefits locals directly. A large foreign-owned factory may bring jobs but send profits abroad. Judge each strategy by these two tests, not by how big it sounds.

Match the strategy to what it is

What is intermediate technology?

Which statement best describes intermediate technology?

• Simple, affordable tools that local people can use and repair themselves.
• The most advanced high-tech machines money can buy.
• A small loan given to start a business.
• A guaranteed fair price for a farmer.

Reaching local people

Select the TWO strategies that tend to help local people most directly.

• Microfinance loans to individuals
• Intermediate technology villages can maintain
• A large foreign-owned factory sending profits abroad
• Doing nothing to close the gap

Work out the repayment

A microfinance loan of 50 pounds is repaid at 10 pounds a month. Divide the loan by the monthly repayment to find how many months it takes to repay. What is the answer?

Order how microfinance helps

Put the steps by which a microfinance loan helps a person in order, earliest first.

• A small loan is given to a person
• They use it to start a small business
• The business earns money
• They repay the loan and keep the income

Complete the facts

Money or resources given to help another country is _____. A fair, guaranteed price for farmers is _____. Simple tools local people can use and repair are intermediate _____. Very small loans to help individuals start a business are called _____.

Match the strategy to its main benefit

Spot the true development facts

Tap the TWO statements that are true about reducing the development gap.

• Microfinance gives small loans to individuals
• Intermediate technology can be maintained by local people
• Intermediate technology means the most advanced machines
• No strategy can ever reduce the gap

Judge the strategy

Read each case and choose the best answer.

• A charity installs simple hand pumps that villagers can repair themselves for clean water. Which strategy is this, and why is it strong?
• A large foreign company builds a factory but sends most of the profit back abroad. What is the concern with this strategy?
• A poor country spends much of its income repaying old loans. Which strategy would free money for development?

Explain reducing the development gap

Explain the strategies used to reduce the development gap and judge which best help local people in a sustainable way.

• Explain two strategies used to reduce the development gap
• Explain the difference between a top-down and a bottom-up strategy
• Explain why intermediate technology or microfinance can help local people directly
• Explain one drawback of a large top-down strategy
• Finish with a judgement on which strategy is most sustainable and why