Challenges Faced By Developing Countries

Common Challenges Facing Developing Countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America

This paper is a compilation of critical overviews of major challenges characterizing developing countries within the realms of Africa, Asia and Latin America continents. The United Nation’s definition of developing countries as relatively poorer nations characterized by lower incomes; is applicable in this context (Griggs et al., 2013). Over six billion people living on earth, the wealthy regions only constitute 20% of the entire population. The rest 80% are leading low living standards, languishing in poverty and striving to survive on this world (Altbach, 2011). These countries are always striving to ascend up the ladder of economic prosperity but yet are faced with dire impediments that hamper the efforts. Below is a presentation of the challenges shared by most developing countries in the area of study;

Most developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America are poorly endowed with natural resources, which hinders them the capacity to indulge in the production of fundamental goods and services. A country which is well capacitated with natural resources is susceptible to faster growth and development Frankel, 2010 notes with intense concern that resource management is also a crucial factor that determines the country’s potential to prosper. Most developing nations have not mastered how to tap their resource for the essence of economic growth.

Land being a factor production has not been utilized effectively in Mexico, due to policies that were inducted into the country following the Mexican Revolution of the early twentieth century (Naudé, 2010). The policy under question, for instance, allowed redistribution of land from large owners to common peasants, which consequently led to small fragmentations of land that cannot support extensive agriculture (Hardoy, Mitlin, and Satterthwaite).

Most African states such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Botswana are well endowed with essential raw materials but are yet faced with management challenges. The economic structures in such countries encourage wastage of such resources that could instead be harnessed for economic progressiveness and development. The diverse resources availablility in the Democratic Republic of Congo has turned out to be a “curse” instead of a blessing; as Frankel, 2010 reminisces. The concept of resource mismanagement is eloquent in presence not only in Africa, but also parts of Asia, and Latin America.

Climate change and climate constraints variability is another challenge undermining prosperity and development of many world’s developing nations (Wheeler, and Braun, 2013). Climate change is caused by natural factors and anthropogenic factors such as deforestation, overutilization of resources and poor farming methods. The impacts of climate change are numerous which agglomerate to the backwardness of a nation. Such impacts include eruption of diseases such as skin cancers, and eye cataracts; flooding of coastal towns, destruction of property, and loss of productive life (Hanushek, 2013).

The felony of climate variability has induced unpredictability on rainfall patterns, which in turn affect primary sectors such as agriculture, consequently causing food shortages (Popkin et al., 2012). Though the concept of climate change is global, the effects are more felt by the developing nations who have to divert limited financial resources to curb the atrocities caused (World Bank, 2016) in Africa Latin America and Asia.

The countries have not fully accommodated the production and utilization of green sources of energy, because of poor finance backgrounds and unsupportive government policies which deters the efforts (Sen, and Grown, 2013). Deforestation is a major challenge especially in Brazil, an increase in temperature along the Andes Mountains which is leading to the disappearance of glaciers. The induced impacts of climate change in such areas demonstrate a huge discrepancy with other regions that are less prone to the impacts of climate change. Notably, the poorest countries in Central America and the Horn of Africa are thus webbed with environmental challenges (Castles, De Haas, and Miller, 2013).

Population growth is amidst the central challenge for economic development in developing countries. Most African states such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo have population growth rates that supersede their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates (Stephenson, Newman, and Mayhew, 2010). This proposition is applicable to countries such as Chile, Brazil and most Asians. As a consequence, such countries have remained economically stagnant over the past many years. The impact of rapid population growth rate was studied by Thomas Malthus in the nineteenth century, who demonstrated its relationship with resource utilization of a nation (Robertson, 2012).

Malthus demonstrated that amidst the looming increment in population, food production tends to increase in an arithmetic progression sequence whereas the population increment is on a basis of geometric progression. Additionally, Malthus observed that in the context of normal population growth rates, the population will always tend to outdo the supply of food. The rapid population growth rate in developing nations is a key driver of resource overutilization and degradation. The increasing numbers of people within the realms of developing nations become a problem to feed (Robertson, 2012).

The supply of basic installations and facilities (Infrastructure) in developing nations has not been fully implemented which consequently make them lag behind economically. The development in transport and communication network system is pivotal is pivotal for effective commerce. Roads, bridges, railways and harbors are essential because they encourage trade. The supplies of social amenities, such as water, hospitals, sanitation are good indicators of economic development. However, most African states, Asia and Latin America have not fully invested in the said domain (Gereffi, and Frederick, 2010).

The element of foreign depth is also an observable challenge amongst Africa, Latin America, and Asian’s developing countries. In Africa, countries such as Kenya and Zambia are heavy laden with foreign debts and apparently seem overwhelmed to pay them in the current economic structures. The advent of increased debt began in the year 1973 when OPEC quadrupled the world oil prices (Gibbons, and Chakraborti, 2011). Many nations opted to borrow to afford the access to oil. However, the borrowed money was again squandered and wasted through embezzlement and other unintended, lavish consumptions.

In many developing states, the borrowed financial resources are not well utilized in development agendas. A larger portion of the money ends up unutilized and through corruption; it ends up advantaging the few elites in the political class. Corruption is thus deadly cancer consuming the efforts of economic progressiveness in developing nations and has mainly permitted by present selfish regimes that almost cultivates the continuity of the vice (Marshall, and Farahbakhsh, 2013).

Many developing nations are characterized by population with inadequate training and experience in the relevant sectors of production. In such countries, the levels of illiteracy are astounding, therefore lacking enough entrepreneurial class, trained and motivated class of people who can assemble resources for the pursuit of production (Mahul, and Stutley, 2010). In many cases, the managerial positions are awarded based on ethnic extractions, rather than merit. In the contemporary world, the ability to produce and compete with developed nations is built on the premise of a well-educated workforce, and motivated economy towards production, which apparently is not evident in developing nations.

Moreover, overreliance in agriculture as the only means of production is a deterrent force of economic development in the area of this study. The diversion of efforts into agriculture alone will suppress the establishment of service industries, or even the capacity to industrialize at a faster rate. Agricultural sector tends to be limited to rural areas and when urbanization attracts people from the rural domain, there become imbalances in feeding the urban populations, which leads to poor standards of living in urbanized areas (Lee, Gereffi, and Beauvais, 2012).

Additionally, the traditions and habitual ways of doing business in developing states is a factor behind their retrogression in economics. The current religious, social and legal frameworks are impermeable to positive economic changes which thus demote economic growth, especially in Africa’s sub-Saharan and Asian countries. A country that is immersed into religious dogmas which inhibit growth and development is condemned to remain backward for too long in the future. Many scholars have argued and concurred with the proposition that even amidst favorable development plans in developing nations; the actual implementation becomes a problem due to unsupportive political will. For development to occur there is a need for a political, and social atmosphere that has a high affinity for such plans (Lundvall et al., 2011).

Lastly, scholarly literature and empirical studies have demonstrated the discrepancies existing between developed and developing nations, concerning the above-discussed propositions. For instance, developing nations such as Canada, Britain, German and Japan have developed mastery of understanding on how to effectively not only manage their resources but also how to use them for sustainable development agendas.

The education system, cultural affiliations and political wills are supportive of development, which has placed them ahead of their time in the realm of economic power. Notably, such countries have diversified economies, thus not overlying in one sector for survival. There is a need to for the developing nations, to revise their education systems and identify whether is need-specific and relevant to meet the competitive standards of the globe, and built on a culture that embraces economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development (Valente, and Crane, 2010).

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