History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

History - Essay Example The sudden and drastic increase in the number of industries provided women with another opportunity to demonstrate their independence (Women and Family History in America - The 19th Century). The result of this industrialization was an increase in the number of women employees in factories and industrial production units Women assumed new responsibilities in the teaching profession as well as in the industry. They were no longer confined to their homes and eagerly sought outside work. These factors encouraged women to be independent and to improve their self – esteem. Several new trade unions were formed, in order to address women’s difficulties at the work place, and many women became active members of these trade unions (Women and Family History in America - The 19th Century). However, many of these women were compelled to relinquish their jobs after marriage and to take care of their family and children. Nevertheless, some of them, continued in outside employment even after marriage. Moreover, many women with a heightened sense of morality had established women’s associations to help women whose condition was miserable. These associations assisted distressed women in several ways, promoted religious ideals, attempted to eradicate prostitution and poverty, and sought to enhance self – esteem (Women and Family History in America - The 19th Century). These associations conducted rallies to pressurize the government to improve conditions in prisons, asylums and hospitals. These movements culminated in the subsequent movement to procure women’s suffrage under the leadership of Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott. The nineteenth century witnessed two major movements, namely female suffrage and labor (Women and Family History in America - The 19th Century). The 19th Century Industrial Revolution drastically changed the economy and life of the people.

North Korea Essay Example for Free

North Korea Essay Institutions and businesses require legal documents to describe the securities they offer to both the participants and buyers. This legal document is referred to as a prospectus which normally contains promotional and informational materials. This means that the prospectus is a formal legal document that gives the details of cooperation and may also include the facts about a company which are vital to the perceived investors. In this paper we will focus on the development of a prospect us in North Korea. We will first focus on the promotional and informational materials relevant to the investors, traders, foreign government’s tourists and the general public. We will then highlight the country’s (North Korea) assets, attractions, and economy trends. Investors North Korea encourages international foreign direct investment. This is done through the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The DPRK encourages export and manufacturing which is controlled by state organized companies. These state organized trading companies are actually responsible for the distribution of goods onto the local market. Food and fuel are most vital need the country requires. At present, the country is still suffering due to food shortages. This implies that one can bring in back up generators and fuel since all imports of fuel, food or materials should be kept operational and they are also duty free(Flake Snyder 36). Investors should also note that there are no minimum levels of investment required. This means that negotiation, agreement of a feasibility report and provision with a committee which is a branch of the Ministry of Foreign. Trade is what one requires to accomplish. It has also been discovered that most of the foreign investors tend to process operations, handle imported materials and even add value then re-export the goods with some domestic sales through the trading companies. This is because they are capitalizing on the lower labour costs, proper dedication to the work as well as the low tax situation. Traders The trading pattern of North Korea reflects the nature of its local economy. The country is well known for the availability of raw materials namely iron ore, non ferrous metals as well as minerals. However, North Korea suffers from inadequate capital stock, crude oil and sophisticated technology. Most businesses in DPRK are controlled by the government. This is done through state trading companies and businesses of by Armed Forces since they are usually having a marked business interest hence involved in almost everything. The outside companies do develop project which can bring revenue (Cornell 64). These projects may include running hotels, restaurants and even bars. When people travel to big cities, they will stay in these foreign hotels or restaurants and pay very high prices. Therefore, foreign companies can bring luxury goods for instance liquor, cosmetics and other items such as American goods for use in the stores. Although we have put a stress on the goods having an impact on the visitors, they are also utilized by the local population and the number may increase in future. Traders should also realize that a private business such as fruit seller and other intra village trade is usually overlooked. If these small businesses are properly tapped and nurtured, they are likely to develop to the real businesses. As traders, we need at this point to ask ourselves what the North Koreans need? Clearly, on a large scale, everything is needed but only lots of micro opportunities are needed on small scale. For instance, second hand Japanese and America automobiles form China have been imported. Again, we note that consumer goods in small packs such as chocolates, cookies peanuts and even almonds are needed. This demand may increase in future due to the expected political change. Industries North Korea’s priories the development of agricultural and light industries. This policy is made possible by the fact that the preferential allocation of the investment funds by the state to the heavy industry. A substancial economy entirely depends on the quantity of the extraction of its main mineral resources. These mineral resources are mainly used as fuels, raw materials in the industry, metal processing and export (Hughes 74). North Korea wholly depends on coal as its main energy source since it lacks reserves of oil or gas. However, the production of coal has not been able to adequately rising demands and hence the persistent shortage of energy in the country. Tourist Attraction North Korea has much to offer tourists. These include the beautiful nature of the Miohang Mountains; Museums of Pyongyang, parks and monuments; the socialist society that preserves its own way of living the old heritage as well as the traditional of Korean culture. It is therefore important to realize the excellent tourist opportunities available in this rapidly developing country. The beautiful monuments such as palace of culture, national ark (which encloses the Diamond Mountains) and the ancient buildings form good scenery that attracts tourists. However, it is worth nothing that the main demerit in the tourist industry is the difficult in gaining entry to North Korea which is a closed country. Turning on the climate, it is established that North Korea has a moderate climate with four distinct seasons. These include the hotter summer season which also comprises of the monsoon season which runs form July to August; although quite sever in the northern parts of the country, the winter is generally chilly. The autumn and spring are usually considered as the best time to visit since the weather is dry and mild. The outstanding site of the country lies on the border with China which displays an enormous extinct volcano. This unique beautiful natural landmark is taken to be a sacred site to both North Koreans and South Koreans. This is because they believe that this site was where the son of the Lord of Heaven descended and established the first Korean Kingdom. Local traveling (inside North Korea) is strictly controlled by the government. Although some domestic flights are scheduled, they are only provided to foreigners. Again, trains do serve the major tourist destination but tickets are usually arranged through a tour operator since the timetables are not usually published. Buses are rare in the county and therefore the only way a tourist will get around to see the various sceneries is by oar. This implies that the tourist(s) will have to be in the accompaniment of an official driver and a guide. It is only unfortunate that one may not choose his or her accommodation while in North Korea. This means that the foreigner must stay in the specified tourist hotel since this is a strict rule of the country. The hotels are of reasonable standards although they come in four types; deluxe, first class, second and third classes. The tour operators usually organize accommodation for the tourists and therefore the visitors are not given a choice. In North Korea (even in Pyongyang) the healthcare standards are markedly lower than West Europe. This implies that all invasive procedures need to be prevented and especially ones travel insurance should be sufficient to cover any costs. For instance cholera is a risk in the country and therefore vaccination prior to travel is a must. Polio and Typhoid vaccinations should be considered. Again, it is vital to consider all water as a possible health risk and this means only bottled water is recommended for both washing and consumption. Tap water should only be used if it is boiled or properly sterilized. All dirty products should be avoided and if one has to eat meat then it should be thoroughly cooked. This will ensure that as a tourist, one stay healthy in North Korea. Infrastructure The domestic network of rail roads in North Korea operates on the axes of the Kaesung – Sariwon – Pyongyang – Shinuiju line along the West coast, the wonisan – Haungnam – Chongi in –Rajin line along the east coast, and the Pyongyang – Wonsan line linking the east and west. North Korea has also six lines linking with China and a line with Russia and this forms the international network of railroads. Currently, only four lines are in operation. These include the Shinuifu – Tandong (China) line, the Tumen River – Hassan (Russia) line, the Namyang – Tumen (China) line and the Manpo – jian (china). In North Korea, roads do play a secondary role in joining major harbors and railroads stations or even by places. However, roads also serve as major means of transportation where there marine and railroad transport is unavailable. Transportation of bulk cargo between regions faces a lot of difficult due to the mountainous terrain as well as the country’s industrial structure. This has been made more difficult due to the government’s transportation. This is because the government wants to control the people’s free movements as well as the use of oil. Also, trunk roads have been well constructed along the railroads. Economy Korea had once has timber resources. In the North conservation and reforestation programs assisted in the curbing of the impact of excessive cutting that was evident during the Japanese occupation. As mentioned earlier, North Korea has a great mineral wealth, which includes gold, iron ore, coal tungsten and graphite modern mining methods has therefore been instituted in the country. The minerals and metals therefore account for a substancial portion of the country’s export revenue. North Korea is specifically rich in iron and coal and other minerals such as copper, lead, zinc uranium, manganese, Gold and Silver which are of high economic value. The country comprises of the mountainous and rocky terrain which makes the Koreans land arable. This means that rice is the chief crop. We note that before dividing Korea, the colder and less fertile north primarily depended upon the South for food. This meant that Agricultural self – sufficient became the key focus of North Korean government and mechanized methods has to be introduced. However, North Korea has still suffered severe good shortages. In North Korea, livestock plays a minor role in agriculture because of the unsuitable for large-scale grazing. North Korea has drastically changed from a mainly agricultural society to an industrial one due to the availability of mineral resources as well as hydropower. This implies that majority of the national products is currently derived form mining and manufacturing. However, development in the North Korea has been impeded by the rigid economic system as well as the loss of trading partners after the collapse of the communist world. The government has again instituted a chain of economic reforms which are aimed at reviving the economy. As stated earlier, the major North Korea products include iron, steel, machinery, military products; textiles (synthetics, wool, cotton silk); and even chemicals. Industrialization of North Korea has been accompanied by improved infrastructure. We note that by the end of the Korean War, the railroad and paved highways were almost non-existent. The railroads have therefore been extensively reconstructed to pave way for industrialization. The Military economy in North Korea gives an unusually large share of national output. This means that the planners or designers have primarily focused on the heavy industry. North Korea is therefore a substantially urban economy therefore a giant portion of its total output comes form the cities. The urban assets in North Korea are therefore accepted to form the key component of DPRK national wealth. When importing raw materials and then processing them to produce products such as shoes or even soap, one should be aware of the process through which the products will be supplied to North Korea. This implies that a proper supply process should be known. If for instance, North Korea wishes to provide with less processed raw and intermediate materials, then such provisions should be available. This means that technical cooperation is very vital and this should be known by investors, traders, foreign governments, tourists, and even the general public. Again, to utilize the supplied materials adequately, production abilities plus technical levels need to be enhanced. The economic collapse in North Korea has led to the biggest crisis ever since the country was founded. However, North Korea authorities have held strong claims that natural disasters are responsible for the deteriorated economy. The rapid decline in foreign aid might have even worsened the economic development (An 95). This means that all of the sectors no longer function properly. Shortages of foreign exchange food, energy, daily necessities and raw materials seem to be a permanent problem in North Korea. A detailed analysis of the economic and living conditions in North Korea points out that most of citizens currently depend on the farmers’ markets and any other market transactions for basic needs. This may be one of the reasons as to why the authorities in North Korea have been unable to execute a detailed economic planning and hence weakening the country’s socialist planning system (Scalapino Lee 20). This economic difficulty in the country automatically limits its policy options. This point out that North Korea needs foreign assistance to remedy its current economic difficulties. The North Korea government has therefore recognized that it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain its policy of self-reliance and thus changed towards foreign investment. However, prospect for the North Korean economy seem to remain clouded by much uncertainty. The future prospects of the North Korean economy may be shaped through South Korean policy towards North Korea, the North’s intention to open and reform its ailing economy and the response of the United State and Japan. North Korea is currently showing an increasing tendency to embrace diplomatic relations with non –socialist countries a move some consider to be due to its need for foreign assistance. Promotion of foreign investment into its domestic market and an increase in North Korea’s exports could also boost the falling level of the foreign reserves. This implies that North Korea continues to become dependent on foreign assistance and trade (Lee Yoo 73). North Korea’s economic activities have remained under state control. This means collective agriculture and state –owned companied account for the majority of all economic activities. Apart from the political changes in China and Russia which adversely affected much of the financial support form these countries, floods and famine also led to serious disruption of the industrial structure (Suh Lee 33). North Korea’s coastline has a mixture of warm and cold ocean currents. It also has many rivers, lakes and streams hence the development of fisheries. Therefore, the major fishing grounds are in the coastal areas. Most large-scale storage and canning facilities are also located on the east coast. Smaller fishery cooperatives are also located along both coasts in traditional fishing centers besides the fisheries station. These aquaculture and fresh water fishing entirely takes place on regular cooperative farms. Modernization of fishing industry is necessary for North Korea to expand marine products. The government has therefore called for introduction of modern fishing implements and rationalizing the fishery labor system. This will also involve the expansion and modernization of the cold – storage and processing facilities in order to facilitate faster processing of catches. However, the slow progress in state investment and shortage of oil are the limiting factors in the marine output.

The State Of Food Security In Botswana

The State Of Food Security In Botswana About 25,000 people die every day according to the United Nations report (www.unicef.org ) due to hunger, this happens because of increase in food prices resulting in at least one billion people around the world suffering. The UN and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) are working very hard to come up with the solutions to the global food scarcity and high food prices, which started the beginning of mid- 2008. The under investment in the agriculture sector has caused a silent crisis, which was worsened by the creation of a booming bio-fuel industry in which food crops are used for fuel instead of as food for eating (FAO 2008). In addition, the recent global financial crisis affecting the economies of the countries, led to loss of job to millions of people around the world thus deepening poverty. The World Food Summit 2009 (WFS) estimated that the number of hungry people could increase by a further 100 million in 2009 and pass the one billion mark. The FAO director Diouf showed a concern on the issue by saying the following words: The silent hunger crisis affecting one sixth of all of humanity poses a serious risk for world peace and security. We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger in the world.(www.fao.org) The world is faced with all the challenges which reduce the level of access to food by all leaving many people with hunger. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, one third of the population is well fed, and one third is starving while the remaining one third of the population is under-fed. With these statistics it shows that there is not enough food for everyone in the world. The global food insecurity situation has worsened and continues to pose a threat for humanity. With the increase in food prices and transportation costs remaining high in developing countries, the number of people suffering from hunger has been increasing rapidly in recent years (FAO 2009). This increase in food insecurity has negative effects on gender equality and education, and it undermines the efforts of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Objectives and scope of the study Poverty estimates indicate that 30.3 percent of the population in Botswana is below the poverty line (CSO HIES Report 2002), that is, nearly one-third of the population. Though Botswanas poverty rate declined from 59 percent to 47 percent in 1985 and 1994 respectively, there is still evidence of high poverty as indicated by the report. In 2002/3, the national income poverty was estimated to be 33 percent and subsequently stood at 30.2 percent in 2005/06. The recent FAO (2009) statistics indicates that about 500,000 people in Botswana are food insecure mainly because they do not have access to quality food. For an import dependent country like Botswana, increase in prices due to high transportation costs and use of food crops for bio-fuels results in a decline of the countrys import capacity (Steven 2000). With macroeconomic policies that have proven to be efficient, competitive and sustainable in past years (BOB Annual Report 2008), the results from the FAO report and statistics of poverty rates in Botswana informs this discussion on what could be reasons leading to high rates of food insecurity in Botswana. The paper will discuss how policies and strategies on food security can be implemented to assist Botswana to achieve her intended goals of reducing poverty and the level of food insecurity, the effectiveness of the policies that have been put in place; the impact of the climate conditions on the food production and the effects of trade liberations. Management of natural resources and good implantation of agricultural policies are the most important determinants of food supply. Furthermore, the efficient support of markets, from the government have the capacity to improve the performance of appropriate roles each sector either the private sector or government in order to assist in curbing failing policies is important (Robinson 1997). These issues will be discussed in detail to analyse the situation in Botswana. Chapter 2: FOOD SECURITY Introduction There are various conceptual development of thinking on how to define food security, different writers have differing definitions. Whenever the title is introduced in the study, it is important to look closely to find an explicit definition because of its intensity. Food security is a widely debated topic, given that it affects people across the globe. Diseases, famine, wars are the major contributors to food insecurity especially in the sub Saharan African continent (Lado 2001) The World Bank (1986) defined food security as permanent access to sufficient food by all people at all times for an active, productive and healthy life, and this definition together with the FAO definition are widely accepted by institutions and organisations (Stevens 2000). The FAO (1998) defines food security as the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. Looking closely into the definitions, they seem to capture the most important components of food security which is the guarantee (availability) of having access (accessibility) to enough food (utilization) at any given time (Stevens 2000). These three components will be discussed further in the next section. Furthermore, a situation whereby people have the right to enough food leads to a healthy and productive life, and this is determined by access to and availability of food. Accessibility to food has a close relationship to economic growth and poverty. The poor usually do not have enough means to gain access to food in the required quantities (Alversen 1997). Habbard (1995) and Lado (2001) also provide a similar definition, these definitions indicates that people should be confident that food will always be accessible easily by having the economic right in order to maintain a healthy status. There are no satisfactory definitions of food security, hence there are some other alternative ways of describing it. Some researchers use terms such as food crisis, famine, and food insecurity to come up with suitable definition (Sen 1981). FAO defines food insecurity as a situation whereby people do not have adequate physical, social or economic access to food. In order to be able to define food security, it is prudent to differentiate between the household level and the national level of food security. Kotze (2000) explains household level as having enough food to ensure a minimum intake for all members of the household, while at the national level food insecurity exist because the countrys food production and trade entitlements becomes problematic. If the countrys production level becomes insufficient, it jeopardizes access to food by all, and also leads to inadequate supplies. In conclusion, food security can be defined as access to physical and economic means by all groups of people at all times in order to meet their dietary demand and food preferences for an active and healthy life. History of food security Food security has been in the public eye for many decades. The example provided by Tannehill (1988) of Julius Caesar struggle with the spiraling cost of food subsidies in ancient Rome shows the historic trend of interests in the evolution thinking of food security. The FAO report indicates that the food security concept started in the 1970s at a global food crisis meeting that was discussing the international food problems. The reduction in the food supply and instability of prices on basic foods led to the World food conference that was held in 1974 (ODI 1997). Maxwell (2001) characterized the history of thinking about the food security since the 1970s as a progressive conceptual development. Since the mid-1990s, more approaches based on the livelihoods approaches have dominated the discussions of poverty and food insecurity analysis. Since then, there have been more programs initiated to embark on fighting the food insecurity level in the world. Different approaches have been adopted to assess, monitor and map the way forward of food insecurity and vulnerability. A number of models have been developed and adopted by development countries in order to curb the problem of food insecurity. In the case of FAO for example, they came up with a program of refining the social economic analysis by expanding national food availability to include household and individuals (Devereux 2004). Components of food security Food security can be determined by different components which are related to the definitions provided earlier. Stevens (2000) explains these components of food security as the determining sets of factors. These components are availability, accessibility, utilization and vulnerability. All the form components conforms to the definition of the World Bank (1998) which is the guarantee (availability) of having access (accessibility) to enough food (utilization) at any given time by all people (vulnerability) (Stevens 2000). Causes of food insecurity Different studies show that there are many causes of food insecurity in the world. In the Sub Sahara continent, the increase in food insecurity is a result of poor economic and social conditions such as the population growth, natural disasters, and also political disturbances plays a major role. The southern Africa countries most have a bad climatic condition as reported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP 2005) and SADC monitoring unit. Furthermore, these poor weather conditions results in low production of Agricultural goods thus affecting food availability and utilization. Other contributors to food security will be discussed in depth, and these are as follows: Natural disasters, Low production of agricultural commodities, falling process of agricultural commodities, Scarcity of land, Unequal distribution of food and resources, Lack of purchasing power, Political instability and Population growth. CHAPTER 3: FOOD SECURITY IN BOTSWANA Brief description of Botswana Economic policies Botswana gained independence in 1966, during that time, the economy was dominated by the agriculture sector which comprised of mainly cattle farming, and it contributed about 40 per cent to the countrys GDP. Since then, the country enjoyed rapid economic transformation which placed Botswana on top of the list of countries in the African continent (CSO statistical bulletin 2006). In 1968 the economy of Botswana was mainly dependent on minerals such as diamonds. The mining sector now contributes about 51 per cent to the countrys GDP dominated by the diamonds, while the agricultural sector showed a decline in share of the GDP thus contributing about 4 per cent (CSO 2006). The most drastic changes in the economy were seen in the 1990s due to the decrease in diamond prices globally, (BOB 2008). These challenges resulted in the country to come up with other alternatives, hence decided to diversify the economy by looking into other sectors such as tourism, agriculture and textile manufactu ring (BIDPA). The IMF 2008 report indicates that economic growth has picked up especially in the non mining sector. Inflation has decreased stabilizing the targeted range by the central bank, though inflation risks remain (BOB 2008). Despite these structural economic changes, however the country is faced with high incidence of poverty, unemployment, and HIV/AIDS (IMF 2008). The country depends heavily on imports mainly from the neighboring country South Africa. Minerals and beef exports accounted for 85 and 4.4 per cent, respectively, of total exports in 2009 (CSO monthly trade report 2009). On the other, 22.0 percent and 13.3 percent of machinery equipment and food respectively shows the highest number of imports. Therefore, food remains the most important component of the import bill in order to meet the shortfall in most basic food commodities that the country cannot produce. Due to its land lock position, Botswanas economic development is vulnerable to external influences. The country is easily affected by the unstable political regional situation in southern Africa. Population trend The population of Botswana is approximately 1, 7 million. , leaving it in the 144th position amongst 193 nations in the world (UN). The population growth rate is estimated to be 2, 4 per cent per annum (CSO, 2009). The population in Botswana is unevenly distributed, with 54 per cent of the population living in the urban areas and 46 percent living in the rural areas (CSO stats update 2009). The main problem leading to the slow growth of population is mainly due to the high prevalence rate of HIV aids which stood at 17.1 percent in 2002. Agricultural polices Botswana started to adopt food security policies since the 1970s, and the policies were mainly to promote self sufficiency. In 1991, a shift in the policy from self sufficiency to food security was seen whereby the government, banks and donors, farmers worked together in order to fulfill the intentions of the policy (BOB 1990). In 1972, the Botswana Rural strategy was launched aimed to increase the level of production and improving the market facilities in the rural areas and creating rural employment opportunities. As part of its National Development Plan (NDP), a policy known as Accelerated Rural Development Program (ARDP) was formulated in 1973. Later in 1975, another program called The Tribal Grazing Land Policy (TGLP) aimed at maintaining optimal balance between the people, land and livestock (GOB 1972). As a way of showing commitment to availability of food to the people, the government in 1985 approved a National Food Strategy Policy for formulation and implementation of whole range of food security related programs (www.moa.gov.bw). Furthermore, the government introduced other programmes in line with the NDPs such as The Arable Land Development Programme (ALDEP) which was aimed at assisting small-scale farmers in increasing cereal production to promote self-sufficiency. The small farmers were provided with subsidies by the government to buy capital inputs such as farm implements, draft power and fencing. Another program called The Accelerated Rainfed Arable Program (ARAP) was launched. It provided farmers with short term assistance to help them recover from the drought season. During the NDP 6, the government allocated more funds to the agricultural sector, subsectors such as arable farming was targeted. The Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) programme was introduced to provide capital and labor grants to dairy farming, irrigated agriculture, poultry and small stock farming (Sigwele, 1991). Recently, the government reviewed all these policies to come up with new schemes that will increase the level of food production in the country. Certain constraints were identified such as non committal by farmers after receiving funds from the government (MOA 2006). The government also provided farmers with training skills and increased the budget on research and development to increase knowledge on achievements of self-sufficiency. However, with all the good initiatives by the government, the unfavorable climate conditions in Botswana made it difficult for the government to achieve the priorities of attaining self sufficiency programs due to periodic droughts (MOA 2006). Health Botswana has achieved remarkable advances in terms of achieving good health status. In order to achieve the goals of reducing poor families economically and socially, providing access to good health facilities will help to maintain good health status among people. The government should provide health programs , medication which everyone can access for free in order to enhance productivity and self reliance. The government of Botswana has shown commitment to improve its health status by increasing the allocation of resources to the health sector. In the past decades, we have seen the health sector given between 5 and 8 percent share. More hospitals have been constructed in various villages and proper training of personnel has been a major investment of the government. (www.gov.bw). Though Botswana is faced with challenges of high HIV prevalence rates and Malnutrition which has severely affected the economic and agricultural situation of the country, there is has been a substantial change in the health system, this is proven by the improvement of survival indicators (CSO stats update 2009). The government is trying to allocate resources evenly across the country through its implementation of the NDPs, but sometimes it fails to achieve this goal. Hence they may be some instances in which other regions get more developments than the others. This leads to most rural areas being disadvantaged and resulting in more health facilities it urban areas. People in the urban areas are better off as they can easily access the hospital due to good transportation systems. These differences may contribute more to the inequality and household poverty in Botswana. When people are ill or malnutrition, they cannot contribute positively to the production of food hence affecting the agriculture sector. Education Education is very important to the development of humanity creates better opportunities an choices for individuals. It empowers people to improve their welfare through increasing productivity and offer potential chances to improve standards of living. If more people are not educated, they cannot adapt easily to new innovation skills and technologies for agriculture, hence hampering government programmes to support food- self sufficiency, economic achievement and social prosperity. Climate and Environmental impacts Research has indicated that Botswanas climate change projections are vulnerable to climate change, posing a negative impact on the water resources and crop production. As currently there is no policy which deals with the problems caused by climate change, instead there are some recommendations that the government is trying to implement from the various studies that were conducted, a number of national policies are already in place responding to climate change. The government has demonstrated a high level of concern for environmental issues in the country. The climate of Botswana is distinguished by both high temperatures and low rainfall. There is disparity in rainfall in various districts. The northern part of the country usually gets more rain than the other parts of the country. The CSO report further indicates that the total land area of Botswana is 581,730 square kilometers where most of the land is infertile due to the predominant sandy soils and the unreliable and low rainfall. The land is differentiated into two types which are, The Kalahari Sandveld covering 77.2 percent of the land area and Eastern Hardveld covering 22.8 percent of the total land area (CSO 2008). The soils around the country are comparatively all poor. With its given conditions of weather, Botswana does not have suitable area of producing more food because the physical and climatic characteristics are not suitable for food production. This variability is of critical importance to food security and the populations use of the environment. Water and Sanitation Botswana is a water scarce country in southern Africa region due to its unfavorable weather conditions. Statistics shows that Botswana records high evaporation rates and low rainfall rates. There is concern about the low levels of water which are not able to meet the demand of the growing population and the economic expansion activities. The consumption of water has increased over the years and yet on the other hand water levels are declining manly due to drought seasons, especially in urban areas. The government of Botswana has adopted some imitative policies to provide and accelerate sanitation services with the aim of improving health conditions of the public. This was seen by an adoption of the Waste Management Bill of 1998, which resulted in the establishment of the Sanitation and Waste management Department (www.gov.bw). Sanitation promotes dignity, safety and privacy especially for women and girls. Clean, safe toilets and hand-washing facilities at home and school help increasing the childrens ability to learn. Improving health status helps individuals to earn a better living. With effective sanitation in place, it means that the environment will be safer and cleaner for all activities thus allowing children to play activities in clean environments. Families will also be able to prepare safe food and keep cleaner homes. Having access to clean water and good sanitation infrastructure leads to reduction in poverty and food insecurity (CSO Stats Update 2009). According to CSO report, about 84 per cent of urban residents have access to safe water. Government approach to food security The government of Botswana demonstrates the commitment to poverty alleviation through various programs. Botswana signed the United Nations global declarations for the improvement of human conditions and the Millennium Declaration of 2000. Botswana is also a signatory to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990); the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979); the SADC Gender and Development Declaration; the International Conference on Population and Development (1994); and the World Food Summit (Rome 1996). The government of Botswana has managed to adapt and implement good strategies towards poverty reduction and food security through its polices to alleviate poverty such as the Vision 2016, The National Policy on Rural Development, NDPs , the National Poverty Reduction Strategy and other policies, As part of its commitment to poverty reduction and food security, Botswana has adopted a United Nations Millennium Declaration from which the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) integrates the eradication of poverty and hunger. In order for the government of Botswana to mainstream poverty eradication and hunger, the government came up with the Vision 2016 strategy which its main aim is to propel the socio economic and development into a competitive, winning and prosperous nation. This strategy is aligned to the countries National Development Plan 9 which is currently active and also it is aligned to the MDGs. Furthermore they provide guidance on how the agriculture sector will be productive and sustainable, and how they will make positive changes to the economic development, poverty alleviation programs and food security by the year 2016 (Vision 2016 document, 2003). CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS In this chapter, I will look into the trends of data on Households methods of obtaining food, field and harvest size, Number of meals per day consumed by each member of the household, Level of trade statistics and other elements that are contributors to food insecurity. And also some case studies that have been done in the past about the situation of Botswana on food security. 4.1 Food Production Deficiency Botswana has a semi- arid climate, only five percent of the land is suitable for arable farming (FAO 2008 Statistics). This makes it difficult for the country to have support for food production in order to meet the demands of the consumers. In developing countries, the arable land use is deviating from its use of farming to industrial base thus resulting in number of farmers reducing (Brown 1995). In Botswana, a similar case is shown by a decline in the level of food production as indicated by figures 1, 2 and 3. Since 1995, the production level of food is insufficient, maize, millet and other crops are manly affected until 2005. This poses to be a threat to the level of food security in Botswana because if food production reduces, many people will not be able to have access to food. As compared to other countries, for example China, as a developing country is undergoing through some process of industrialization, their agricultural land has seen some land use changes to industries, housing and infrastructure leading to a decline in the arable land base. Similarly, a decline in the farming base has been experienced in developed countries, such as Japan. Japan produces about 47% of its calories and relies on imports from other countries. Before in 1960, Japan had about 11.75 million farms which declined to 3.13 million in 1992. Furthermore estimates shows that the economically active population in agriculture will be older hence a less number of people will be left in the agriculture sector (Mikishi Okada Association, personal communication, 1996). From this research, we can see that the global world is becoming more food insecure with shortage of land for farming playing a major role. For the world to run away from poverty, they should take land as a very important resource. If developed countries and developing countries increases the levels of urban agriculture, may be countries will begin to bear fruits by creating conducive environment for food stability (UNDP 1996). In order to achieve this, countries should come up with good policies in land tenure and maximise the local food production as a strategy to stabilise world food resources. Water is becoming increasingly scarce in Botswana. A number of countries throughout the world experience water shortages (Nicholas 1994). To enhance proper implementation of policies on food security, governments has to increase their expenditure on agriculture sector in order to promote agricultural production. But this has important implications for water availability. Water scarcity is not currently a major issue in Botswana only, even in the entire world, hence it more attention is needed by policy makers and should not be neglected. Not only the irrigation agriculture will be affected, all other sectors are affected by lack of water. It should be recognised that a land-use decision is also a water-use decision. A plan based on improving rain-fed agriculture through adoption of measures to make better use of rainfall brings trade-offs in that there may be less runoff to satisfy the water needs of downstream users and environmental functions. Planning for future food security req uires integrated analysis of land-use and water resources issues (Gowing 2003). The agriculture sector in Botswana is composed of the livestock sub sector and farming sub- sector. The sectors include a traditional system and a commercialized system. The livestock contributes about eighty percent to the agriculture sector (Agriculture Census Report 2004). The above figure 4, shows a decline in the livestock population. Botswana is deficient overall in food production under the current state of technology due to drought. The decline in population of the cattle is mainly due to higher recorded numbers of animal mortality cases. Botswana is mostly affected by the Foot and Mouth Disease which affects the growth of livestock population (CSO Stats brief 2008). 4.2 Employment and Inequality in urban and rural areas The agriculture sector share on Botswanas GDP has shown a decline, it stood at 3.7 percent and 1.8 percent in 1994 and 2008 respectively (CSO stats brief 2008). The cause in the decline is mainly due to the fact that from the previous analysis, we have seen that the food production reduced, and the population of the livestock reduced. The 2002/03 HIES report shows that 21.20 percent of the population in Botswana is employed by the agriculture sector and this was the highest sector at national level. The agriculture sector further employs 50.3 percent of people in the rural areas leaving a problem of rural inequality due to economys primary reliance on cattle sub sector. Moreover, even in the livestock sector, there is a substantial inequality. The data shows a skewed distribution of ownership of resources. The report further shows that even though agriculture sector employs a large proportion of the population, the income earned is lower in general as compared to other sectors. Only a minority of the population owns cattle and farming land while the rest depend on agriculture by working, they do not have cattle of their own. About 80 percent of rural households produced insufficient food to feed themselves, and the average household produce less than half of its daily caloric requirement (HIES 2002/03). In rural areas, there are more single households headed by females than in urban areas. They are mostly affected by food insecurity as they are unable to feed and provide substantial care for their families (FAO 2000). This resulted in Botswana adopting strategies that can help the country in its diversification programs in order to alleviate poverty. 4.3 Food Consumption According to the FAO, the food  [1]  consumption refers to the amount of food available for human consumption as estimated by the FAO Food Balance Sheets. The data used was extracted from the FAO statistical database, however the actual food consumption recorded may be lower than the quantity shown as food availability depending on the magnitude of wastage and losses of food in the household, e.g. during storage, in preparation and cooking, as plate-waste or quantities fed to domestic animals and pets, thrown or given away. Food consumption per person is the amount of food, in terms of quantity, for each individual in the total population. Figure 5 shows food groups and the quantities consumed. From the figure, it can be seen that cereals excluding beer and milk excluding butter are the mostly consumed food category, even though showing a decline over the period. From a food security point of view, this is not a good sign of progress for the countrys state of food security. The starchy roots and alcoholic beverages follows as the most consumed food category in Botswana. The 2002/03 HIES report also indicates a shift in consumption patterns of households. Alcohol and Tobacco category remains the highest consumed food after the food category (HIES 2002/03). Research has shown that alcohol has a negative relationship towards food security because households members spend more of their disposable income on alcohol rather than buying food, thus resulting in lack of access to food by other members of the household. In Botswana research has shown that high intake of alcohol has a positive relationship in contribution to high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS (BIAS II 2005). CHAPTER 5: CONCULSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions will be made on the basis of the data analysis, and also after discussing the policies aimed at improving the level of food security by the government, how effective are they implemented by policy makers, and then will discuss what the government should learn from other countries who fairing well in maintaining low values of food insecure people.

Are you pro or against medical science? :: Science Medicine Essays

Are you pro or against medical science? There is a fragile line between obsessiveness and curiosity, when it comes to medical science. As we can see in Mary Shelley's " Frankenstein" Victor is completely obsessed with his idea of creating a monster even though at the end he abandons it. This article is clearly a description of what science should not be. On the contrary Emily Martin's "The body at war " is an obvious example of true science " Martin's analysis reveals that the most powerful metaphor associated with the immune system are those of war and battle and she reflects on the ways in which these war scenes are populated by identities that are gendered, raced and classed"(286). These are two extremes that drive humans to scientific knowledge. The people searching for scientific knowledge to eliminate disease, improving public health, and extending or saving lives VS. the people who, deliberately introduce disease for destruction. For instance recent bio-terrorism events invite speculation on the nature and extent of human capacity for destructive as well as constructive behavior. The question is where do we draw the line between those who create suffering to further their cause and those who strive to alleviate suffering regardless of the cause? In recent history of medical technology or medical science, there have been innumerable advances that have created an extraordinary technological jump in global society. Many aspects of life have improved dramatically, for example Laser surgery for the eyes; a process called Lazik has given those of us with eye problems a different way of "seeing" the world. Another example is the new Gadget called VeriChip; a vitamin size computer chip bearing vital personal information. This chip is surgically implanted under the skin and is used to tell doctors about patients who are allergic to antibiotics. Once injected into the arm, the inch long chip can neither be seen nor felt. Another advancement in Medical technology is G.E( General Electric)company introduce the world's first 4Dimensional ultrasound technology where you can clearly see your future baby. Or what about open heart surgery, cat scans, re-attachment of body parts and pill cocktail that keep HIV infected people alive? Scientifi c and medical breakthroughs we never thought possible. Medical science has provided many solutions to our unanswered questions and has removed our fears, says Michael Bishops article "Enemies of Promise" "Science is the art of the possible, of the soluble" (239).

Knowledge and Heritage Essay

Abstract Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† and Amy Tan’s â€Å"A Pair of Tickets† investigate the relationships between mothers and daughters. Both writers show a struggle, by the children, to understand the true meaning of heritage. Each story has a specific type of mother-daughter relationship. Mother and Daughter Conflict: The Struggle to Understand Heritage in First-generation Americans A key factor in Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use,† and Amy Tan’s â€Å"A Pair of Tickets,† is heritage. Throughout both stories the use of heritage can be seen easily. Walker shows Dee misunderstands her heritage while Tan shows Jing-Mei comes to an understanding. Understanding both sides of the two stories gives readers a chance to explore their own heritage and reflect on how they accept their past. By contrasting the family characters in â€Å"Everyday Use,† Walker illustrates Dee’s misunderstanding of her heritage by placing the significance of heritage solely on material objects. Walker presents Mama and Maggie, the younger daughter, as an example that heritage in both knowledge and form passing from one generation to another through a learning experience connection. Dee, the older daughter, represents a misconception of heritage as a material thing. Dee portrays a rags to riches daughter who does not understand what heritage is all about. Her definition of heritage hangs on a wall to show off, not to be used. Dee’s avoidance of heritage becomes clear when she is talking to Mama about changing her name, she says, â€Å"I couldn’t bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me† (Walker 746). Dee just takes another name without even understanding the true meaning behind it. She tries to explain to Mama that her name now has meaning, quality, and heritage; never realizing that the new name means nothing. Dee fails to realize that her name goes back multiple generations. Dee digs around the house for objects she can display in her own home as examples of African-American folk art. Her argument with Mama about taking quilts that were hand stitched as opposed to sewn by machine gives readers a chance to see Dee’s outlook of heritage is short lived. Dee says to Mama, â€Å"But they’re priceless. . . Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that! † (Walker 748). Mama will not allow her daughter to take the quilts because she has been saving them for Dee’s sister, Maggie, and she wants the quilts to be put into everyday use. By helping and living with Mama, Maggie uses the hand-made items in her life, experiences the life of her ancestors, and learns the history of both, exemplified by Maggie’s knowledge of the hand-made items and the people who made them—a knowledge in which Dee does not possess. Dee attempts to connect with her heritage by taking â€Å"picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house. . . She never takes a shot without making sure the house is included† (Walker 746). Therefore showing Dee’s quest for heritage is external, wishing to have these various items in order to display them in her home. She allowed Dee to run over her enough, and now she would not allow her foolish behavior to carry on, because heritage needs to be put to everyday use and not just be hung up on a wall for people to see. Dee views her heritage as an artifact which she can possess and appreciate from a distance instead of as a process in which she is always intimately involved. She knows the items are hand-made, but she does not know the knowledge and history behind the items. Yet, Mama does know the knowledge and history and she also knows that Maggie does too. Ironically, Dee criticizes Mama for not understanding heritage when, in fact, Dee fails to understand heritage herself. Throughout the story, the true meaning of heritage is understood by two characters and avoided by one character. Dee mistakenly places heritage wholly in what she owns, not what she knows. In Amy Tan’s â€Å"A Pair of Tickets† the theme of Chinese-American life, focuses mainly on mother-daughter relationships, where the mother is an immigrant from China and the daughter is thoroughly Americanized. Tan begins her story by describing a feeling that Jing-mei, the narrator, speaks of. She says, â€Å"The minute our train leaves the Hong Kong border and enters Shenzen, China, I feel different. I can feel the skin on my forehead tingling, my blood rushing through a new course, my bones aching with a familiar old pain. And I think, my mother was right. I am becoming Chinese† (Tan 120). Tan tells a story within itself giving readers a chance to get to know the character right off the bat and also allowing an understanding of heritage to be brought out. Jing-mei has come to China to trace her Chinese roots which her mother told her she possessed, and to meet her two twin half-sisters whom her mother had to abandon on her attempt to flee from the Japanese. Readers can see that Jing-mei has waited her whole life to connect with her heritage when she says, â€Å". . . I saw myself transforming like a werewolf, a mutant tag of DNA suddenly triggered, replicating into a syndrome, a cluster of telltale Chinese behaviors, all those things my mother did to embarrass me. . . . But today I realize I’ve never really known what it means to be Chinese. I am thirty-six years old. My mother is dead and I am on a train, carrying with me her dreams of coming home. I am going to China† (Tan 120). Although Jing-mei was not born in China like her mother, she now has a grasp on her life and on her mothers. By having the story take place on a train in China, helps the tracing of heritage become real for readers. Strong feelings of happiness and sorrow are felt when Jing-mei traces her Chinese roots and becomes in touch with her heritage and her past; allowing readers to place themselves in the same situation and experience the feelings are being portrayed by the characters. Learning about family heritage is something people do not always understand, like Jing-mei, people do not always want to believe their past and heritage. When coming to an understanding of their past, people can lay to rest their urging thoughts and can come closer in contact with their present life. Now that Jing-mei has met her sisters, she can now make peace in her life knowing that she has fulfilled her dreams and the dreams of her mother. Amy Tan reveals Jing-mei’s epiphany well by writing, â€Å"I look at their faces again and I see no trace of my mother in them. Yet they still look familiar. And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood. After all these years, it can finally be let go† (Tan 134). Jing-mei finally realizes that she is Chinese and that her mother was right. Jing-mei also says, â€Å"Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long cherished wish† (Tan 134), thus adding on to her realization of her heritage and past. Jing-mei can now lay to rest the thought of her mother never seeing her twin daughters again and continue on with her existing life, but now with a different perspective, a Chinese perspective. Throughout both of the stories, heritage becomes a major factor. The characters coming to an understanding of heritage helps readers to become more fascinated with the stories. Bringing out the points in Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† and Tan’s â€Å"A Pair of Tickets† gives readers a chance to see the heritage â€Å"shining through†. References Tan, A. (1999) A Pair of Tickets. In E. Kennedy and D. Gioia (7th Ed. ). Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. (p. 120-134) New York City, NY: Longman. Walker, A. (2008). Everyday Use. In R. DiYanni (6th Ed. ). Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. (p. 743-749). United States of America: McGraw Hill.

Social facilitation theory Essay Example

Social facilitation theory Essay Example Social facilitation theory Paper Social facilitation theory Paper Essay Topic: Sociology Social facilitation describes the process in which performance is affected by the presence of others and is studied due to the importance of performance improvement in workplaces, education etc. Within social facilitation are coaction and audience effects. The term audience effect is used to explain the effect of a passive presence on performance and was first observed by Dashiell (1930). He looked at the effect of observation on college students completing multiplication problems, and discovered that whilst more problems were finished, the students tended to make more errors, when problem-solving before an audience. The experimenter observed his participant even in the alone condition and this might have impaired results. Studies then focused on the audience size and status. Porter (1939) asked people who stuttered to read aloud to an audience, finding that participants presented with a larger audience were much more affected, and stuttered more than those with a smaller audience. Cottrell et al. (1968) used a blindfolded audience as his experimental condition so that participants could not be observed and found that the audience effects practically disappeared. The experimenter observed his participant even in the alone condition and this might have impaired results. Paulus and Murdock (1971) compared the audience effects shown by student research participants either being observed by an audience of psychology students, or by an audience which contained an expert. The expert was likely to be able to evaluate the performance/capability of the student and in this condition, results showed stronger audience effects. The experiment did use an unrepresentative sample. Latanend Harkins (1976) asked participants about their own nervousness as they recited poems before audiences, which varied in size and status. Whilst the participants rated themselves on different experiences, the experimenters found that participants rated themselves more nervous when before a larger or higher status audience. These experiments implied that the ability of the audience to evaluate the participants performance was important, that both the status and size of the aud ience made a great difference to the results. Others studied audience effect variance with task complexity. Cottrell, Rittle and Wack (1967) found that an audience facilitates the memorisation of simple word lists but more complex ones are learnt more slowly. Zajonc, Heingarter and Herman (1969) studied cockroaches and their behaviour when presented with a four-cockroach audience in two situations. In the first, cockroaches ran down a straight runway into a darkened goal area in order to avoid bright light. Here, the audience improved performance. In the second situation, the cockroach escape response was made more complex by requiring a 90O turn to achieve the goal. In this situation, audience impaired cockroaches performance. Hunt and Hillerys (1973) human experiment yielded comparable results in complex and simple mazes, both experiments lacked ecological validity. From his experiment, Zajonc summarised that social facilitation depends on task complexity and familiarity, saying that, An audience impairs the acquisition of new responses and facilitates the emission of well-learned responses. Simple, familiar things are done better when observed, but more complex, unfamiliar tasks are done less well when observed due to an instinctive response to anothers presence and increase in arousal. Cottrell (1972) rejected this, suggesting the evaluation apprehension model instead. He said that early in life we through anothers evaluation we receive social rewards and punishments (approval, disapproval etc. ), so the audience triggers arousal based on evaluation apprehension.