[0 DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION The Economic Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa Question: Are physical or cultural factors more responsible for the lack of economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa? Physical and Cultural Geographic Background Africa is a plateau continent without a mountain backbone, with a set of great lakes, with variable rainfall, generally low-fertility soils, and mainly savanna and steppe vegetation. Africa's boundary framework is a legacy of the colonial period; many boundaries were drawn without adequate knowledge of or regard for the human and physical geography they divided, The region Is rich in raw materials vital to industrialized countries, but much of Sub-Saharan Africa's population has little access to the goods and services of the world economy. The rate of natural increase in Sub-Saharan Africa's populations remains the highest in the world despite difficult environments and poor health conditions. This region has the largest refugee population in the world today. Government mismanagement and the failure of leadership afflict the economies of many Sub-Saharan African countries. DOCUMENT 1 “A coffee farmer is just a slave. If | received even one-third of what coffee goes for at the local auction, | would not be living in a mud house. Almost all the coffee goes to other countries and | wish we could grow something for the locals.” Source: Tanzanian Farmer, 1999 , DOCUMENT 2 “Future wars and civil violence will often arise from scarcities of resources such | as water, cropland, forests, and fish. Just as there will be environmentally driven wars and refugee flows.” Source: The Coming Anarchy. Robert Kaplan, 1994DOCUMENT 3 GLOBAL CASES OF AIDS Regions: Cases: North America 890,000 Latin America 330,000 Western Europe 500,000 Middle East 210,000 Eastern Europe & Central Asia 270,000 Sub-Saharan Africa 22,500,000 East Asia ‘560,000 South & Southeast Asia 6,700,000 Australia & Oceania 12, 000 Source: Dallas Moming News, 1999 _ DOCUMENT 4 The period of imperialism has witnessed many wars. Most of these wars have been caused by attacks of white races upon so-called “lower races.” In the typical colony, the most fertile lands and the mineral resources are owned by white foreigners who take wealth out of the country, and all the hard work is done by the natives. Source: J.A. Hobson, a British scholar DOCUMENT 5 Population Pyramids for Kenya 2s 20S LO OS OD OO Peputation cin sitions) aurce: U.S. Census Bureaus Interratianal tata Base.DOCUMENT 6 Samar Physical Map of AfricaDOCUMENT 7 Fio. 1g. Longitudinal sections of the Nile, Niger, end Congo. The profiles of the big African rivers are very irregular, with rapide stretching up-stream oad down-stream of log reaches between 1,000 and 1,500 feet above seaclevel. The steep course of the Congo below Stanley Pools particulary noteworthy. The above document shows the elevation of three African rivers from their source on the left to their mouth on the right.DOCUMENT 8 ‘Source: Johns Hopkins University: Map of African Ethnic GroupsDOCUMENT 9 Cartoon by John Trever.