Aid

What are the needs of poor people in Africa?

• Good diet
• Good farm land
• Health
• Education
• Controlled population growth
• Stable economy

How can these needs be met?

• Diet - in extreme cases of famine, emergency food aid needs to be supplied. Long term aid includes training in improved farming methods so that local people are able to meet their own food needs
• Good farm land - training and resources that help look after the soil by preventing erosion and increasing yields
• Health - disasters such as war, flooding and earthquakes require emergency relief aid with medicine, clothing and health workers. Long term aid includes improving the health services in a country by building hospitals and local medicine centres and also by providing training for local workers
• Education - by providing children with full time education and reduce illiteracy. This is especially true for girls who are often less likely to receive a full education
• Controlled population growth - countries that have the high infant mortality (young children dieing) and large numbers relying on subsistence farming (growing food to feed yourself and your family) have the highest birth rates and therefore the fastest growing populations. Aid programmes that address these issues have a long term affect on controlling population growth. Also important are family planning and education programmes
• Stable economies - this comes with good government and fair trading.

What types of aid are given to Africa?

• Emergency relief aid (including food aid) which is given after a natural disaster or in an emergeny.
• Financial Aid, either as loans which have to be paid back, or as grants.
• Expert workers, for example agricultural specialists who can help farmers produce more food.
• Military aid, with guns, tanks and other equipment; this is only given to friendly countries that the donor country wants to influence.
• Equipment for engineering projects such as dams and agricultural machinery

How do United Nation (UN) agencies try to meet the needs of African Countries?

• The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) aims to provide help in training, research and development to local people so that more food can be produced. This should improve nutrition and health
• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) aims to promote education and culture by advising governments, colleges and schools
• The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) aims to help children and their mothers. It does this by organising emergency aid, and helping with medical and educational needs
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) aims to help governments look after by the health needs of their populations. It does this by training health workers, organising immunisation campaigns, and helping set up local health centres
• The International Labour Organisation (ILO) aims to improve working conditions by improving health and safety. It also concerns itself with child labour.

How do European Countries benefit by providing aid to African countries?

• They give aid for humanitarian reasons, which improves their image with the rest of the world
• A more developed and richer Africa wil be able to buy more goods and services from Europe
• When the aid is tied aid the donor (giving) country gets benefits in return e.g. aid to build a dam from Britain may require British workers and equipment to be used
• European countries want to maintain good links with African countries and continue to have influence on their politics
• Europe depends on many raw materials from Africa so it is in Europe's interest to have stable and reliable supplies
• Food surpluses caused by the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union have been sent to Africa. It is more expensive to the EU to store this extra food than to give it away.

What social factors do developed countries take into account when deciding which African countries should receive aid?

• Birth rates, death rates and rates of population increase
• Infant mortality (how many young children die) and life expectancy (the average age that people live to)
• Other health indicators, including the nutrition levels e.g. the average number of calories per person
• Education levels including literacy rates (the percentage of people who can read and write)

What economic factors do developed countries take into account when deciding which African countries should receive aid?

• The level of poverty in the country. This is usually measured by the country's Gross National Product (GNP)
• How many goods will be receiving country be able to buy from the donor country
• The amount of raw materials that the African country is able to produce, and therefore sell to the developed country

What political factors do developed countries take into account when deciding which African countries should receive aid?

• What is the African country's record on human rights
• Is the country a political ally (friend) to the donor country
• Does the country have the same political system as the donor i.e. dictatorships and communist countries get little or no help from the USA

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