Source: https://www.cia.gov/
From Table 1, it can clearly be seen that Malawi compares poorly to the United Kingdom on all indicators. This shows that Malawi is a developing country that is struggling to develop. The serious issues for Malawi’s development will be made clearer when statistics from four of the six indicators are graphed and analysed.
Graphs of Selected Development Indicators
Figure 3: Graph of Gross Domestic Product per capita for Malawi and the United Kingdom
Source: https://www.cia.gov/
Figure 4: Graph of Infant Mortality for Malawi and the United Kingdom
Source: https://www.cia.gov/
Figure 5: Graph of Life Expectancy for Malawi and the United Kingdom
Source: https://www.cia.gov/
Figure 6: Graph of Literacy Rate for Malawi and the United Kingdom
Source: https://www.cia.gov/
3.2 Statistical Analysis
It can be inferred from the statistics in Table 1 and Figures 3 to 6 that Malawi is struggling from chronic development and growth issues. These will be analysed further using the four development indicators that were graphed.
Gross Domestic Product per capita reflects the wealth of a country and its people, and the status of the country within the world. Malawi has a substandard GDP per capita of a meagre US$600 a year (refer Table 1 and Figure 2). The United Kingdom has a GDP per capita of US$30,100, one of the highest in the world. In other terms, people in the UK generate 50 times more wealth than people in Malawi. A low GDP per capita indicates that people of Malawi cannot afford to educate themselves and their families, buy safe food or access essential health services. A low GDP per capita also indicates that the government will be ineffective, as it cannot tax its citizens, who are mostly unable to afford taxes. A lack of financial resources, caused by minimal taxes, means the government is not able to undertake necessary development like educational institutions, medical facilities, water infrastructure etc. To obtain finances, the government may commit to schemes promoted by multi-national companies that propose great outcomes for the country, but end up not benefiting the people at all. The cycle of poverty occurs when people who earn a low income will continue earning a low income until something interrupts the cycle. This is because the financial and educational resources necessary to interrupt the cycle are unavailable to those who earn a low income. People do not benefit from having a low GDP per capita, but it does not express the quality of life experienced by the people.
A GDP per capita correlates with Literacy Rates because people can only afford education if they have sufficient wealth, and the government can only provide education resources with sufficient wealth. Only 62.7% of people in Malawi are able to read and write (refer Table 1 and Figure 5). This means that some eight million Malawians can read and write out of thirteen million people. While this is not a devastating statistic it is considerably less than most developed countries, such as the UK, which has an average literacy rate of 99%. Moreover, in Malawi, less than half the women, or 49.8%, are able to read and write. This leaves a considerable amount of women who are unable to provide their children with necessary knowledge on health and education that is provided through literature. In comparison, 76.1% of men in Malawi are able to read and write, which is considerably more than the women. This suggests there are concerns with the status of women in Malawi, most likely leading to family planning issues. Men and women alike are unable to break out of the cycle of poverty as they are denied basic education opportunities.
A low literacy rate in Malawi has an adverse effect on health, including Infant Mortality. Infant Mortality in Malawi is a shocking 94.37 babies under one year of age dying per 1000 live births (refer Table 1 and Figure 3). This is one of the highest in the world and means almost ten percent of babies will die in their first year. The United Kingdom has a low infant mortality of 5.08 deaths, eighteen times less than Malawi. Infant Mortality Rate is high in periphery countries for a number of reasons. Families have little understanding of health practises and how to look after infants. This is because they are unable to understand literature that explains proper care, hygiene and nutrition for infants due to their low level of literacy. The literacy rates indicate that women have a lower status than men. As women are the child bearers, this lowered education is even more likely to affect infant health and mortality. With a lack of family planning causing a high fertility rate, families are not able to look after all their children properly, which causes high infant mortality and ultimately insurance births.
With the lack of health and education available for much of the population, basic family care is inadequate and the people are unable to live long lives. This is because people do not understand the importance of health and sanitation, or how to look after themselves. The average life expectancy for people in Malawi is 41.7 years, almost half that of the United Kingdom which is 78.54 years (refer Table 1 and Figure 4). A common occurrence in countries is that women have a higher life expectancy than men. This occurs in the United Kingdom, 81.13 years for females and 76.09 for males. However, Malawi is an exception with males reaching on average 41.93 years whereas females reach only 41.45 years. While this is not a large difference it reflects on the status of women in the country. It can be assumed that women are not a high priority for health and education and are less looked after, which leads to a shorter life. Also, women may suffer complications during childbirth more readily than in the United Kingdom because of poorly resourced health services. A lower life expectancy also leads to lower productivity, which also influences a lower GDP per capita.
From this analysis, it is clear that Malawi is seriously struggling with development when compared to the United Kingdom, in particular in the key area of health.
3.3 Summary
The data collected has been analysed in several different ways and has proven that Malawi is a periphery country struggling with serious developmental issues in comparison to the United Kingdom. This section has provided evidence that Malawi is in serious need of help. It has also suggested that health is a major determinant of development. The following section, Section Two, will now focus on health as a developmental issue in need of attention.
4.0 Section Two
4.1 Criteria Identification
It has been clearly identified in Section One that Malawi is seriously struggling with development issues. Malawi can be seen as having drastic health problems, which is one of the major causes for the low level of development. Some current strategies that have been put in place by the government to improve health will be investigated. These strategies will then be evaluated and recommendations suggested.
4.1.1 Health
The current state of the health problems suffered by Malawi can be highlighted by the statistics in Table 1. Malawi has an alarming Infant Mortality rate of a total 94.37 deaths per 1000 live births. This figure is extremely high when compared to developed countries. The Life Expectancy of Malawian people is a shockingly low 41.7 years. These two figures highlight the quality of life and reflect the efficiency of the health services provided. The fertility rate is 5.92 children per woman. This can be attributed to ‘insurance births’ as the high infant mortality rate means that some infants will die. From these statistics it is evident that Malawi is struggling from a lack of health and health resources and desperately needs better government funding and more appropriate planning. The Government of Malawi and non-government organisations have taken this into account and have put in place strategies to improve health in Malawi.
4.2 Government Strategies, Evaluation and Recommendations
The following table will summarise current government and non-government organisations’ strategies in place to address the increasing health problems in Malawi. These strategies will be evaluated and recommendations suggested.
Table 2: Summary of Government Health Strategies, Evaluation and Recommendations
5.0 Conclusion
Overall, Malawi is gravely suffering from a chronically low level of development. This has been proven by the statistical analysis in Section One, which highlighted six critical development indicators of Malawi. Health was identified as a particular developmental issue. Malawi suffers from a range of health problems such as a high infant mortality rate and low life expectancy. The government strategies in place to help improve Malawi’s level of development in relation to health are fairly appropriate, but do not target some much-needed areas, such as rural communities. Non-government organisations have stepped in to help the government tackle the health problem and are implementing appropriate activities compared to the government. It is imperative that further investment is placed in Malawi’s struggling health system and also into education, water and other services. Few other African countries have emerged from such a serious lack of development, though there is still hope for Malawi to evolve with the help of the humanity. For Malawi’s next generation, hope can only come with action.
6.0 List of References
Textual References
Parker, B. (ed.), 2003, Macmillan Global Atlas, Macmillan, Melbourne.
On-Line
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World Health Organization. Malawi. [Online] Available http://www.who.int/countries/mwi/en/
World Health Organization. United Kingdom. [Online] Available
7.0 Appendix