Description

This exam covers material from Kristof’s Half the Sky, the CRS Integrated Human Development Model, the Human Development Index used by the United Nations, Hans Rosling and Jeffrey Sachs. It is divided into four sections. Please answer the question in Section 1 and please select one question from Sections 2, 3 and 4. The exam is due Thursday, March 25.

Section 1.

  1. Amadou and Aminata Diallo live in a village near Segou, in Mali. They work as laborers on a cotton farm since they do not own any land of their own. When the rains are good and cotton prices high, there is plenty of work for them. Lately, however, a glut of cotton on the international market (due to increased US subsidies to American farmers) has caused low prices.

The national government recently abolished primary school fees, but even the cost of uniforms and shoes is beyond the family’s reach for all their children. The Diallos decided to pull their eldest daughter out of school, because at any rate, she will be married soon. The eldest son, Moussa, completed primary school but could not find employment. To make money, he sold phone cards on the streets of a nearby large city, but then disappeared. Unbeknownst to his parent, he was lured to Cote d’Ivoire with the promise of work with good pay. Once there, he was sold to cocoa farmers in need of cheap labor and is working day and night under inhumane conditions to harvest cocoa beans.

Cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire sell beans to a government parastatal (a government company that has a monopoly on the purchases). Farmers often wait months to be paid and have to pay bribes to intermediaries. The parastatal sells the beans through an international commodity market where they are purchased by multi-national companies and processed into chocolate products, bought by consumers around the world who enjoy sweet chocolate.

In 2002, conflict broke out between the north and the south in Cote d’Ivoire. Many foreigners from Sahelian countries who had worked on cocoa farms or migrated to the cities to work in the informal sector were forced to flee when they became targets of mob violence. Corrupt politicians exploited the fears of being overwhelmed by foreigners, many of whom happened to be Muslim.

Adapted from TED Case Studies #664.

Write an essay describing how CRS would analyze this situation using the Integrated Human Development Model. What concepts would they emphasize? What would they say about the role of governments, markets, household decision-making, opportunity, capability and oppression? Very importantly, what solutions would they advocate?

Section 2. Please answer 1 question from this section.

2.1 Provide examples of the oppression women face, according to Kristof. What solutions does he advocate?

2.2 Explain the concept of a skewed sex ratio. What is meant by the concept of 100 million missing women, and how did they go missing? What steps could be taken to reduce the likelihood of another 100 million missing women?

2.3 Explain why the number of children in the average family in the wealth world is smaller than in the developing world. Reducing population growth has been an important goal in many developing countries. Why? Describe voluntary and coercive ways of promoting this goal.

Section 3. Please answer 1 question from this section.

3.1 Describe and explain several of Hans Rosling’s findings regarding the relationship between income per capita and life expectancy.

3.2 Explain the Human Development Index. Why was it designed this way? What does it find?

Section 4. Please answer 1 question from this section.

4.1 What does Jeffrey Sachs mean by the anthropocene? Give two important reasons why stresses on the planet will be much greater over the next four decades and provide examples of those stresses.

4.2 Explain mitigation and provide examples.