Some People now believe that small projects are better for development. Why do you think that is? What groups of people may agree/disagree with this?
Some people now believe that small projects are better for development. This kind of small scale development benefits particular places and could eventually lead to helping a whole village. Benefiting villagers may give them a higher quality of life eg; hygienically, socially and professionally. Most small projects are backed by charities (eg Water Aid) from more developed parts of the world. They focus more on benefiting the locals rather than the whole country. Small projects are much more likely to help people in desperate need. For example a large project is likely to be located at a place where it is going to be an advantage to industries as well as the locals. If locals are living near industries then there is probably a higher quality of life than in remote villages where people have a lower quality of life. Small projects benefit the people who need it. They are much more reliable and are easy to be sustained. People who perhaps agree with this theory could be amongst:
- The locals of the village where the small scale project has been situated. Something as small as a hand-dug water pipe can benefit the village in many aspects. The villagers feel it is more personal to them.
- The workers of a charity (Water Aid) in a MEDC have probably researched into how a small project can help. It is more financially achievable and can benefit a smaller amount of people but in a better way.
People who may disagree with this could be:
- The government of the country. They may want to do something that benefits more people than that which is of more benefit to a targeted amount of people.
- Large companies that may want to make money out of bigger projects.
- Some Charity organisations who prefer to work on a larger scale with a view to the greater good, rather than benefiting a smaller number of people.
Some People now believe that large projects are better for development. Why do you think that is? What groups of people may agree/disagree with this?
Some people now believe that large projects are better for development. This kind of development on a larger scale could eventually lead to benefiting a whole country. It could bring the country wealth, industry, tourism, economic and political power and alliance with other countries. Money made out of the project could be given to the government for improving the country and making it more developed. It could build schools, roads and buildings. The countries who normally carry out these projects cannot usually afford to pursue them themselves. They make deals with MEDCs to construct the projects for them, but there are usually strings attached. The country that is paying for the project gets a lot of say in how the project is run. They may want to bring the builders in themselves or get a share in the profit. The Akosombo Damn in Ghana was built to help Ghana’s development and supply energy. Ghana got loans from UK, The World Bank and a large loan from the USA. As part of the deal, an American Company called Valco got rights to produce metal using electricity from the Damn. In reality Valco used half of the produced energy. 80 000 people were moved to make way for the Damn and 4% of Ghana was flooded. Some large projects have been successful though and people still support them such as:
- Transnation Co-operations (eg; Valco) who make money out of the projects.
- The country’s Government. They may see this kind of project as benefiting the whole country rather than a small amount of people.
- Other countries’ governments- they may be pleased at lending the country in need money as they could use this ‘favour’ to help their country with trade and other needs that the LEDC may be able to provide.
People who disagree with large projects and think they are a waste of time and money may be:
- The locals who got moved away from their home to make way for the project.
- The people who had a connection with the area that was used for the project (eg; The Akosombo Damn flooded 4% of Ghana and many people must have had their work places there)
- Environmentalists- they may feel that the amount of money spent on the large project could be spent a lot better with small-scale projects. They are also probably worried about the area surrounding the Akosombo Damn and how it got flooded.
What do you think? Are small or large development projects better?
I think that small-scale projects are more beneficial. Large projects could be more effective in the long term but what people need is something that will instantly begin to change their lives. When investing in a large project such as the Akosombo Damn there is no guarantee how things will work out; for the better or the worse. Small projects are much more reliable. They are there for one purpose and that one purpose will normally bring other good things with it. Small projects are tightly focused and targeted to what’s required. They are designed to benefit a small group of people and they are very cost effective.