Closing the Gap
How can the world help poorer countries catch up? Learn the strategies that try to close the development gap, from aid and fair trade to microfinance, and how top-down and bottom-up approaches differ.
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Closing the gap
There is a huge development gap between richer and poorer countries. Closing it means helping poorer countries improve health, education and income. Geographers study the strategies that try to do this.
Ways to help
Several strategies aim to reduce the development gap:
Top-down or bottom-up?
Strategies come in two broad kinds.
Name it
What is microfinance?
- Small loans for people who cannot use a normal bank
- Building a huge dam for electricity
- A tax on imported goods
- Emergency food sent after a disaster
Match the strategy
- Aid
- Fair trade
- Debt relief
- Microfinance
- Money or resources given to a poorer country
- A fair price paid to producers
- Cancelling debt so money can go to development
- Small loans to start a small business
Big companies moving in
Transnational corporations, or TNCs, build factories in poorer countries. This brings jobs, training and infrastructure, which can help development. But some profit is sent abroad rather than staying in the country, and workers may face low pay. The benefits must be weighed against the drawbacks.
Ways to close the gap
Which THREE strategies help close the development gap?
- Long-term development aid
- Fair trade for producers
- Microfinance loans
- Raising trade barriers against poorer countries
- Ignoring the poorest people
How microfinance works
Put the steps of a microfinance scheme in the right order.
- A charity offers a small loan
- A person starts or grows a small business
- They earn an income from it
- They repay the loan over time
- The money is lent to the next person
Complete the idea
The _____ gap is the difference between richer and poorer countries. _____ strategies, like a big dam, are large and run by governments, while _____ strategies, like a village well, are led by the local community. _____ gives small loans to the poorest, and _____ trade pays producers a fair price.
True or not?
Tap the TWO statements that are true about closing the development gap.
- Microfinance gives small loans to people who cannot use a normal bank.
- Bottom-up strategies are small and led by the local community.
- Top-down strategies are always cheap and small.
- Fair trade pays producers as little as possible.
- Aid can only ever be sent as emergency food.
The main benefit
- Fair trade
- Debt relief
- Intermediate technology
- Tourism
- Guarantees producers a fair price
- Frees money to spend on schools and hospitals
- Uses simple tools suited to local skills
- Brings in foreign income and jobs
Top-down or bottom-up?
Decide whether each strategy is top-down or bottom-up.
- A government borrows money to build a huge dam for electricity. This is...
- A charity helps village families dig their own wells. This is...
- Small loans are given to local women to start market stalls. This is...
How aid helps
Put this example of how long-term aid can help a country develop in the right order.
- A richer country or charity gives aid
- It funds schools and clean water
- People become healthier and better educated
- They can work and earn more
- The country develops over time
Compare the strategies
Compare top-down and bottom-up strategies for closing the development gap.
- Describe one top-down strategy
- Describe one bottom-up strategy
- Give one advantage of each
- Explain which you think helps local people more