A F R I C A A continent’s struggle by Heather Braucher

1. A F R I C AA continent’s struggleby Heather Braucher www.pacda.org

2. Africa’s Struggles • Illiteracy • Famine • Disease • Natural Resource Depletion • Government Instability • Natural Disasters • Unemployment • Genocide

3. Root Causes of Problems • Political Corruption • Human Rights Violations • Colonialism • Artificial Boundaries • Tribal Traditions • Ignorance • Corporate Interests

4. Literacy- the ability to read and write Illiteracy- inability to read or write Literacy rate- percentage of people who can read and write above the age of 15 Literacy Rates United States-99% Niger-28.7% Ethiopia-42.7% Kenya-85% Illiteracy

6. F a m I n e A drastic widespread shortage of food; lack of food over a long period of time Causes Drought-lack of rain over a long period of time Overgrazing- allowing too much grazing by large herds of cattle Desertification- change of fertile land into land that is too dry or damaged to support life caused by overgrazing cattle

7. http://sandmc.pwv.gov.za/comp/Drought.htm

8. What about using bio-fuels?

9. Disease A condition of an organism (including people) that makes it unable to function in a normal way Causes unsafe water pollution lack ofnutrition no access toimmunizations (shots) inadequate waste disposal

10. Malaria • Sleeping Sickness • bites from tsetse fly • Sickle Cell Anemia • Tuberculosis • Parasites • AIDS http://www.hobotraveler.com

11. Natural Resource Depletion Natural Resource- any thing found naturally in the earth that can be used Depletion- the use or consumption of a resource, especially a natural resource, faster than it is replenished Causes- strip mining not rotating crops slash and burn forests http://www.daylife.com

12. Government Instability Nations ruled by colonial powers were suddenly given autonomy (self-rule). Causes- Political divisions were drawn by colonial powers and not indigenous people. Military dictators still fight for power in many regions leading to wide spread violence Lack of Education

13. Death from Natural Disasters • Floods • Drought Causes No rain, too much rain El Nino, La Nina Lack of warning systems by government

14. Unemployment When people are seeking work and cannot find it. Causes- Africans were forced to change tribal ways of living under colonialism. After gaining self rule, many Africans were left with no education or job training.

15. Unemployment World Wide 2006

16. Genocide The systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group. Causes- hatred by rival tribal groups ignorance(lack of education) military coups trying to gain power

17. Nigeria Conflict Open oil wells constantly spew out oil onto farm land making it unusable and cause pollution. 90% of country’s income comes from oil profits Rumuekpe, Rivers State, Nigeria

18. Ghana Conflict Baboons are eating subsistence farmers’ crops because people are cutting down the forest and planting crops. The people are cutting down more forests because fish are being depleted from the sea by commercial fisherman.

19. Uganda Conflict Animal poachers are killing gorillas and other protected species. These animals are becoming endangered. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mountain-gorilla.html

20. Zimbabwe Conflict President Robert Mugabe, a military dictator has led the country to massive inflation, human rights violation, and a general bad state of affairs for the citizens.

21. http://www.pacda.org • http://www.globalissues.org • https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ng.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate • www.dkimages.com • http://soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/papers/desertification-africa.html