A) A country that lost its access to the means of production was Zimbabwe. The means of production that was lost in this country was land and eventually raw materials that were being produced. Zimbabwe once exported food, but now requires massive food aid due to what happened under the presidents rule. Zimbabwe was once seen as Africa’s breadbasket. It was rich in raw materials as well as industrious farmland. Zimbabwe would grow all the food needed for its own people and had left over that they would then export. Agriculture was the mainstay of its economy. The farm sector employed thousands of workers. In addition to having a strong farm sector, Zimbabwe also had a refined manufacturing base and a strong banking division. The court system was very trusted by the people and there was low crime rate. The country had a secure rule of law which allowed owners to use their land to develop and build new businesses or even expand old ones. Because of all the security and trust in the country, all that led to a strong GDP growth. Even though it was successful it would not be protected from law and rules that would then be established.
President Robert Mugabe started to seize farms due to the notion of land reform. The best farms in turn were taken away and given to people who were not really willing to take care of them. There were huge differences in the farming regions after he started to distribute the land within the individuals in the country. In some areas of the country there were well kept commercial farms that made thousands of acres of cash crops whereas the others farms were crowded together and really small. Most of the commercial farms were owned by 4,500 white families and in contrast about 840,000 black farmers barely m...
... middle of paper ...
...e imports from South Africa, but that country is also producing lower than normal.
Works Cited
Clemens, Michael, and Todd Moss. "Costs and Causes of Zimbabwe’s Crisis."Center for Global Devleopment. N.p., July 2005. Web. 09 May 2014. .
"Fighting Famine in Southern Africa: Steps Out of the Crisis." International Food Policy Research Institute, 2002. Web. 09 May 2014. .
Richardson, Craig J. "How the Loss of Property Rights Caused Zimbabwe’s Collapse." Cato.org. N.p., 14 Nov. 2005. Web. 09 May 2014.
Richardson, Craig J. "The Loss of Property Rights and the Collapse of Zimbabwe." Cato Journal 25.3 (2005): n. pg. Cato Institute. Web. 9 May 2014. .
According to T.O. Ranger in “Revolt in Southern Rhodeisa”, the first Chimurenga, which occurred from 1896-1897, was an uprising in response to the imposition of colonial rule in Southern Rhodesia, present-day Zimbabwe (ix). The Nbele and Shona people resisted the colonial rule and in return endured a complex set of struggles over land and cattle and taxes. The inability and unwillingness of the Euroopeans to understand the Nbele and Shona people’s culture and religion misguides perceptions of events and views of their behavoior and actions (2). Terrance mentions during the colonial rule, many Europeans thought the people of Africa were content with the new administration and misunderstood the reaction of the “African pople of Southern Rhodesia to colonial rule…, this misunderstanding arose…partly out of white ignorance of the history of the Shona and the Ndebele…Edwards [confessed ],we knew nothing of their past history, who they were or where they came from, and although many of the Native commissioners had…knowledge of their language, none of us really understood the people or could follow their line of thought, we… looked down on them as a downtrodden race who were grateful to the white man for protection” (2). The Europeans did not treat them as equals because they saw them as dependent and thought of their lives as meaningless. They believed the Shona and Ndebele people had no roots or culture and therefore had no history. Terrance Ranger mentions “the whites believed that the Shona people would not rebel because they believed that the Shona had no roots, no sense of history; no sense of religion,…no way of life worth fighting and dying for” (2). The African people of these cultures were seen as inferior by the Europeans...
With Europe in control, “the policies of the governing powers redirected all African trade to the international export market. Thus today, there is little in the way of inter-African trade, and the pattern of economic dependence continues.” Europeans exported most of the resources in Africa cheaply and sold them costly, which benefited them, but many Africans worked overtime and were not treated with care.
Zimbabwe is located in the south of Africa. The climate, the people, the lifestyle, and their government; these are all so different than what we see and experience everyday. Zimbabwe is a whole other walk of life. They eat different foods, wear different clothes, and they also have different structures of homes. Zimbabwe isn't too big but also not that small. It is slightly larger than the state of Colorado and it has no coast. The climate is beautiful. It is a mediterranean climate with a very rainy summer season. Even though Zimbabwe has warm weather and plenty of rain, the agricultural output is very low. Lately, they have been experiencing unemployment and high inflation. Zimbabwe has some of the most beautiful waterfalls and landscapes. Zimbabwe is home to one of Africa’s richest supply of natural resources, and most of this abundance has yet to have been properly found use to maximize economic growth and stability.
Sywester, Kevin. Decolonization and economic growth: the case of Africa. Journal of economic development. December 2005. 30(2); p.89-91.
Renowned for its “of the people” foundation, democracy has become the regime type to which we compare all other regime types- a gold standard of government structure. Because of this ideal, it is of comparative interest that we understand how to classify regimes as either democratic or dictatorial. The Polity IV Measure is a standard for democracy that scores a country (from -10 to +10) on how democratic or dictatorial their election processes and governmental procedures are. Post-independence Zimbabwe is a country that classifies itself as a parliamentary democracy, however due to a history of election scandals and Zimbabwe African National Union’s (ZANU, the current ruling party) maintenance of power for over thirty years, Polity IV granted them a “mixed regime type” score of -4. (Clark, Golder, and Golder 160) It is the purpose of this paper to argue that Zimbabwe does not have a mixed regime, but rather that it employs an authoritarian regime type. After outlining the controversial events resulting from the 2000 general election and surrounding the 2002 presidential election, I...
Just like the government, the farming in Africa is affected by colonization. Africa has many different forms of farming, one of them is Subsistence farming. Subsistence farming is when one farms for just for his family or village. Another type of farming is Commercial farming, or organized farming as a business. There is also Shift farming, which is when a farmer moves every one to three years to find better soil. Only two-fifths of Africa has arable land. Many farmers go hungry or bankrupt because they become dependent on one cash crop.
Overall Central Africa’s dependence on agriculture could improve the wellbeing of the people but a long history of corruption, violence, and prevalent transportation issues have hindered an improvement in the economy resulting in poverty among the region. Poverty will not subside unless these issues are dealt with and improved.
A dictator is defined as simply as “a ruler who wields absolute authority.” Absolute authority over a countries’ actions, people, and rules essentially feels harmless, but over time, this authority becomes continuously aggressive. In two completely different countries, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Vladimir Putin of Russia both establish, maintain, and secure their power quite strategically. Dictatorships can essentially begin with a leader who holds good intentions, but with the call to complete power, the idea of doing “good” ultimately transforms into the abuse of power, leading into the extreme measures certain leaders take in order to maintain their moment in the spotlight.
Farmers are essentially the back-bone of the entire food system. Large-scale family farms account for 10% of all farms, but 75% of overall food production, (CSS statistics). Without farmers, there would be no food for us to consume. Big business picked up on this right away and began to control the farmers profits and products. When farmers buy their land, they take out a loan in order to pay for their land and farm house and for the livestock, crops, and machinery that are involved in the farming process. Today, the loans are paid off through contracts with big business corporations. Since big business has such a hold over the farmers, they take advantage of this and capitalize on their crops, commodities, and profits. Farmers are life-long slaves to these b...
Haiti is a Caribbean country with a population of about 10.32 million people. This low- income country is the poorest in the western hemisphere. This country is handicapped by problems such as deforestation and only bearing 3% of its land forested. In the midst of natural disasters many portions of the environment and population become compromised. In Haiti almost 97% of the “working class” make up the agricultural and informal sector. In August of 2008 Haiti was impacted by four hurricanes, greatly damaging the countries heath, well-being, infrastructure and economic production. The hurricanes took the gross domestic product from a 3.7% to 1.3%.
This article which I have chosen to read, is about a ruined city of southeast Zimbabwe south of Harare. Great Zimbabwe is an ancient city on the plateau in sub-Saharan Africa. Great Zimbabwe was supposedly a city that controlled much trade and culture of southern Africa during the 12th and 17th centuries because it was stationed on the shortest route between the northern gold fields, and the Indian Ocean. Archaeologists believed that this masterful stonework was built somewhere around 1100 and 1600 A.D.
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.
Artadi, Elsa V., and Xavier Sala-i-Martin. The Economic Tragedy of the XXth Century: Growth in Africa. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2003. Print.
The majority of the continent of Africa has not been as economically progressive as the other continents in today’s world. However, over the past few years, it has been rapidly growing. Although there have been multiple countries in Africa that have reflected a strong growing economy, such as South Africa and Botswana, there are many other countries that are still corrupt and are still struggling to grow as a nation. There are many challenges that are facing Africa currently. Some of these major challenges being, corrupt governments, vicious cycles of aid, and poverty traps. However, among these challenges, there still lies to be great opportunities for Africa within their technology and business sectors.
According to Collier & Dollar, (2001) economic growth is normally dependent on the nature and quality of economic policies that a country implements. In South Africa, soon after apartheid the government have tried to wrestle with the multiple objectives which are namely to reduce poverty, increase employment, increase international trade as well as increasing the rate of economic growth. According to Mohr et al, (2015) the macroeconomic objectives are used to assess the performance of the economy. The five macroeconomic objectives that will be discussed in this assignment are firstly the economic growth, full employment, price stability, balance of payments and equitable distribution of income. The assignment will then evaluate each of the objectives of macroeconomic growth and asses where South Africa as a country is performing on each of these respective points.