Course material

1. Ongoing Poverty in LEDCs and Transport Systems
Ongoing Poverty in LEDCs and Transport Systemsa) Social CrimeCriminal activities have
been on the rise in LEDCs, and this has been facilitated by the need to survive in this hard
economic times. In Kenya, for instance, the rate of crime is devastating especially in the
urban centers. There is no equality in the region when distributing resources and national
income. With the high crime rate, extra-judicial killings have risen to an extent where
human rights activists are against the trend. Investors will direct their investments to
regions where criminal acts are not rampant, and Kenya faces a threat of investors avoiding
investing in these regions.In Malawi, the rate of crime is also high and most of young people
are involved in drug abuse like cocaine. With such an effect, the life expectancy in this
region is quite low (Chen and Sapsford, 2005). Government systems are not playing their
role and have forced communities to adjust by channeling investment in new forms of social
capital. The latest statistics denote that China is one of the leading countries that executed
its citizens following criminal acts (Amnesty, 2013). There is concern that China’ s
government has not educated its citizens on the adversity of the situation. With its
population growing rapidly, taking into consideration the limited resources in the region, it
is perceived that the situation is going to worsen. On the hand, Sudan and India are
experiencing the same problems. Increase in India’ s criminal acts is attributed to lack of
proper housing for its citizens (Jain and Ohri, 2010). Social crime has been facilitated by
corruption. The corrupt nature of political leaders has meant that the scarce resources
available are scrambled by the huge population and this leads to social crime.b)
CorruptionLEDCs have corrupt governments and corrupt leaders. Aid in terms of money
and resources, given to the country by richer nations, is often squandered. Where there is
unequal distribution of resources, the marginalized communities will continue to live in
poverty. Though new policies and transparency have been implemented in these LEDCs, it
has been difficult to achieve equity due to limited resources. In addition, the increase in
population in relation to the limitation in resource base is the reason for the increase in
corruption in these economies.The population of LEDCs is expected to increase in the near
future and this will place a huge strain on the region’ s natural resource base and on
government’ s ability to provide even minimal social services. The increase in the labor
force and the high proportion of young people has put considerable pressure on the labor
market unless employment opportunities increase substantially. With such an increase in
the population growth rate, it is difficult for the government to plan on the future
generation, as the available resources are continuously being depleted. As such, the few

2. individuals who are in power can use the available limited resources to benefit themselves
and their close friends and relatives. This will increase the crime rate as the poor
communities would have been marginalized. The foreign aid received from foreign financial
institutions, such as World Bank and IMF, can be used by the few individuals for their own
benefit, and this will plunge the economy into debts as the money has not been used
effectively.c) International debtWith the excessive reliance on foreign aid, international
debt has increased. Most of the LEDCs finance there operations using foreign aid, and, in the
recent past, it has been difficult to offset the huge international debt. This has led to growth
of income in LEDCs to be dismal. Where the economy would have used the amount to grow
the economy rather than financing recurrent expenditure, it would have easily offset its
international debt. At the root of the low economic growth are the ill-conceived foreign and
international aid policies that impact negatively on employment opportunities and social
development (United Nations, 2008).Neo-colonialism has played a key role in the escalating
international debt in African countries. For instance, instead of having industries in their
own countries, they export large quantities of raw materials to China. The finished products
are sold to Africans and, in the process, China makes a considerable high profits. In addition,
China offers to provide them with financial aid that they can use to produce and supply
more raw materials. Borrowings from China and global financial institutions cannot only be
used in financing agricultural products, but can be utilized in building infrastructure,
providing job opportunities for the youth. This will minimize criminal acts, and fostering a
transparent leadership.d) Infrastructure DevelopmentChina has demonstrated its efficacy
in infrastructural developments through its diverse transport network. It has the best
companies that other economies rely, especially in the development of roads. Development
of infrastructure is crucial in demarcating poverty in regions that are adversely affected.
China and India are industrialized economy. Therefore, there is need for a reliable transport
network. Unlike realization of economic endowment, China and India needs to attract
tourism and investors in order to provide employment to their citizens.India and Sudan
mostly depend on their manufacturing prowess in order to sustain the economy. Lack of
planning in these economies; have meant that investors cannot invest in these regions as
they have unreliable transport system. Economic growth and development depends
extensively on the net worth of the economy’ s infrastructure. Though a substantial budget
allocation is normally directed to infrastructural activities, corrupt nature of the
government officials has mitigated the achievement of the road worthiness in LEDCs. As
such, the poor people may have little to offer to the economy, but lack of reliable transport
system renders them ineffective.Significance of Transport Systems on Economic and Social
DevelopmentEconomic development depends on the availability and utilization of various
natural, human, and derived resources. Apart from the problems confronting the growth
process in every developing economy, it has to address the pressing problems of regional
imbalances, unemployment, capital formation, surplus generation and export compatibility
among others. Such a scenario calls for strengthening of the economy’ s infrastructural
base. This would mean an unflattered and unfettered availability of road, rail, sea, and air
transport system. Healthy and adequately dispersed infrastructural facilities act as a
catalytic agent in promoting growth and minimizing other ills of the economy.

3. Infrastructure is necessary for all kinds of production, like agriculture, manufacturing or
service industries, consumer goods, capital goods or export goods.Road and rail transport,
for instance, has great influence on the economic activity of a nation. In the developing
countries it is essential in that it facilitates the marketing of agricultural products and
provides access to health and education. Rwanda, immediately after the genocide,
experienced significant challenges in accessing efficient factor mobility. Commodities and
resources were not easily transported from one region to the other. This hindered economic
development and growth in the region and it was denoted by the low living standards in the
society (Ocampo and Khan, 2007).Transportation is an essential ingredient of almost
everything man does to supply himself with the necessities of life. In the United States, for
instance, road transport cost accounts for more than 15% of the Gross National Product and
84% of total expenditure on transportation. With an effective road and rail system in United
States, the region enjoys competitive advantage as compared to other economics. However,
other regions such as Zimbabwe have poorly developed roads and this inhibits accessibility;
thus mitigating economic and social development. Nevertheless, the contributions of
transport to national development may be difficult to quantify in economic terms.There is
more than one way in which transport and communication affect the economy of a country.
Rail, road, air, or sea help in expanding the size of the market, hence the availability of these
facilities are very important for sustainable development. According to Williams and
Brathen (2010) a dependable transport network, for instance the Panama canal, has
enhanced tourism and tourists feel confident when they understand that they can travel
with ease in the countries they are destined. Apart from Panama Canal, the airport in
Maldives and the seaport in Singapore have also played key roles in the development of
tourism. Singapore has developed economically because of the efficiency in their tourism
sector.Besides widening the market, the development of English Channel and Panama Canal
helped in breaking the barriers that prevent interaction. Lack of transportation and
communication brings about regional imbalances and makes other areas to be in perpetual
poverty and deficiency. There are so many benefits associated with improvement and
extension of transport facilities, among them is the reduction in the transport cost per unit
of freight haulage. This is attributed to the improvement in the quality of sea ports along the
coastline which include faster, safer, smoother, and more reliable. Quality transport services
promote the efficient use of resources through facilitating productive activities and
increasing the output of resources used.In South Africa, the availability of transport
network and dependable airport has opened the doors for economic and technological
advancement. The new initiatives have been realized through the endowed transport and
economic situation of the region. The development of a country is depended on the
communication facilities and therefore, developmental activities, particularly in agriculture
and rural development, education, among others, are more important in defining the course
and pace of development of any nation.The availability of efficient transport and
communication network facilitates the movement of labour force and other factors of
production. Jetli and Sethi (2007) argue that in so far as there is imperfect mobility, a
recommendation for partial remedy is the improvement of transportation, communication,
and information. Efficient systems of transport and communication facilities are sine qua

4. non for prosperity of an economy. If agriculture and industrial sectors are regarded as the
body and bones of the economy, transport and communications constitute its nerves.The
growth of air transport has been particularly striking and the Soviet Union, with its great
difficulties and vast distances, has become an unusually air-minded country. Not only is air
travel over such great distances immensely quicker than land travel, especially in territories
not served by railways, but it is also cheaper than even first class rail travel. With this
reduction in cost outlay, Aircraft are ideally suited to journeys across immense Siberian
lands lacking roads and railways. Air transport has been recognized as a key to the
economic development of these remoter areas, where the helicopter has begun to play a
major role. In the Soviet Union, the share of the different means of transport in the total
traffic is conditioned not only by their economic and technological suitability to handle
particular traffics but also by allocations of resources determined by central planning
policy.Special attention has been given to the eradication of wasteful cross-flows of the
same or interchangeable goods. Regional planning has aimed at minimizing the demand on
the limited transport capacity available by reducing as far as possible the contrasts in levels
of development between planning regions. Wide differences still remain, however, and will
continue to remain because of the widely variant potential of the different regions. Density
of the transport network in China is, for instance, a crude index of the degree of current
development.In the Chinese economy, infrastructure has contributed to a sustainable
economic growth as it has reduced transaction costs and facilitated the flow of goods and
service in and outside the country. China is one of the economies that enjoys dense network
of transport systems, as it understands that effective transport system is the key to
economic and social growth. They have diversified their operations and trends to the rural
parts of Chinese economy. In addition, with efficient infrastructure, individuals,
organizations, as well as governments respond to new demands that come from different
regions. Employment has also been created in the road construction industry and this has
made the Chinese government to increase their tax revenue collected, which has enhanced
their GDP.According to Fitzgerald (2013), the absence of unanimity in the opinions of
development economists about the precise linkages between infrastructure and economic
development notwithstanding, the aggregate economic growth definitely benefits from
adequate infrastructure facilities of high quality at reasonable cost. In recognition of this
fact the Center as well as State governments have consciously been promoting the growth of
infrastructure facilities in India (Jain and Ohri, 2010). Apart from the objective of attaining a
higher rate of economic development, it was felt that judicious growth of infrastructure
shall help in minimizing inter-regional and intra-regional disparities. As such, due to the
peculiar geo-climatic conditions of the state characterizing vast differences across different
regions, the provision of adequate and effective infrastructure network assumes an added
importance in India.In conclusion, the ongoing poverty in LEDCs can be mitigated where the
government and the public fosters transparency in their operations, which will lead to equal
distribution of resources. Employment rate would increase lowering the rate of crimes
associated with unemployment. With transparency in practice, international debt will be
offset and infrastructural development would be imminent. Infrastructural development
has enhanced economic and social development. LEDCs can enhance their economic

5. development through building infrastructure, including development of roads, railways,
seaports and airports.ReferencesAmnesty. 2013. New death penalty figures: despite
setbacks in 2012, trend is toward global abolition. Available at
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20725>Barber, N., 2012. “ Fighting
Poverty” , Raintree, LaSalle.Carlsen, J. & Butler, R. 2011. “ Island Tourism: Towards a
sustainable perspective” , CABI, Wallingford.Chen, J. & Sapsford, D., 2005. “ Global
development and poverty reduction: the challenge for international institutions” , Edward
Elgar Publishing, London.Fitzgerald, R., 2013. “ The state and economic development:
lessons from the Far East” , Routledge, London.Jain, T. & Ohri, V., 2010. “ Indian Economic
Development” , FK Publications, New Delhi.Jetli, N. & Sethi, V., 2007. “ Infrastructure
development in India: Post-liberalization initiatives and challenges” , New Century
Publications, Indianapolis.Ocampo, J. & Khan, S., 2007. “ Policy matters: economic and social
policies to sustain equitable development” , Zed Books, London.United Nations., 2008.
“ Least developed countries report 2008: The growth, poverty and the terms of
development partnership” , United Nations Publications, New York.Whitehead, M. 2007.
“ Spaces of sustainability: geographical perspectives on the sustainable society” , Routledge,
London.Williams, G. & Brathen, S., 2010. “ Air transport provision in remoter regions” ,
Ashgate Publishing, London.