Question

comparing staple food production, trade, and consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.

Answer 1

Sub Sharan economies are generally called underdeveloped or better still developing nations whose primary and secondary sectors contribute more towards the GDP than the tertiary sector. Whether be it Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, Cameroon, or Zimbabwe, Namibia and so on, they are all affected by poverty, high rates of malnutrition , low standards of living , not only due to the economic factors but also due to the social and political factors which have a larger impact than the economic factors upon the growth of these nations.

The staple food consists of food grains like rice and certain other inferior grains like corn, millets and so on.

These economies are stark examples and reflect the lop sided development across the globe—what with the advent of globalisation , yet while the prosperous nations are enjoying the benefits of globalization, these economies are still afflicted with disease, back ward techniques of production , low levels of productivity and so on.

These economies are stark examples and reflect the lop sided development across the globe—what with the advent of globalisation, yet while the prosperous nations are enjoying the benefits of globalization, these economies are still afflicted with disease, back ward techniques of production , low levels of productivity and so on.

Though, thanks to the efforts to organizations like United Nations, World Bank and so on who have highlighted the inherent structural problems in such economies and have sought to reduce their negative impact upon the economic development of these nations.

Its trade lies in the import of food grains and other primary sector related products. They also import oil related products, technology and machines aimed to boost their growth related prospects. It is notable that these economies have registered an encouraging growth rate in the past few decades , thanks to the persistent efforts of UN and countries like US which have actively participated in their development process by indulging in active trade with these nations as well as investing – FDI—Foreign direct investment—in these economies.

This has generated the much needed foreign exchange for these economies and has contributed , largely to their encouraging growth trends, though it has to be emphasised that they still have a long way to go to at least reach a minimum and decent level of economic prosperity.

The South Asian region consists of economies like India, Nepal , Sri lanka, Maldives, Pakistan and so on. The food grain consumption mostly consists of rice, wheat, millets, corn, cereals locally known as ragi, jowar, bajra and son on. Though rice is the common food grain consumed across all these nations. Theses nations also specialize in the production of spices, tea, coffee and so on and are exporters of such products to various other countries across the world. Though in case of large and , rapidly growing economies like India, consumer durables are also exported and India and other countries are fast proving to be likely competitors to the Chinese economy in matters of attracting world trade and investment.

They are all aiming at maintaining higher standards of living and seeking to improve their HDI or Human Development Index—which is a measure of variables like literacy levels, birth rates , death rates and so on. Thanks to the spread of globalisation and the impact of the US economic prosperity these countries have actively sought to ape or imitate their western and more affluent counter parts in matters of consumption patterns and investment.

They import technology , oil related products and so on  from other nations, Hence while their imports are more and costlier , their exports are , in comparision, less to their imports and also bring in lesser foreign exchange, Thus their balance of payments statement almost always registers a huge trade deficit. This leads to a dearth of the much needed foreign exchange.

Though , thanks to the efforts of UN nations and developed nations, theses countries receive unilateral--one sided--aid which effectively brings about the much needed relief and fosters economic growth in such nations.

On a comparitive note, the South Asian nations have registered and are fast emerging as developing nations than their Sub Saran counterparts. The emphasis  on improving the living standards and consistently seeking to increase the growth rates could be the secret to such a trend.