Essay Sample on The Gambia

International entrepreneurs classify countries in the world based on their level of economic advancement. A developing country like the Gambia has a relatively poor economic and agricultural status; these countries are trying to advance in various sectors of the economy in order to become more advanced. Various classifications have been used to explain the level of development of a country based on several social and economic criteria about per capita income, literacy rates, and life expectancy. Less economically developed countries (LEDCs) are those countries with less economic development; these countries exhibit the lowest features of socioeconomic advancement as a result of low-income rates, economic vulnerabilities, and weakness in human resources and population distribution.

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On the other hand, countries that have a higher level of development are referred to as developed states or more economically developed countries (MEDCs). These countries are relatively wealthy; the level of industrial development has greatly advanced, and their economic status is higher as compared to LDCs. This paper explores some of the challenges facing a less economically developed country, solutions, measures indicating development, and population prevalence in Gambia.

Factors affecting development in a developing country and their solutions

Developing countries face many challenges affecting the growth of the economy and social life. Many of these problems are related to the level of poverty; life expectancies tend to be low since most of the people cannot afford proper medical care (Nabyonga-Orem, & Mijumbi, 2015). Education is also a challenge; the government and citizens cannot afford to establish advanced education centers in all regions of the country; the level of unemployment is high, and housing facilities are poor. The economic status of developing countries is as a result of the following problems:

Resources

The supply of natural resources in a country is essential for economic and social development. A country with an inadequate supply of these resources and infertility the land can experience a low level of income as well as low growth rate. This also makes it difficult to achieve economic objectives. Developing countries face many problems associated with the supply of natural resources and infertile land fields. Besides, the way of managing these resources is also a challenge, most of the developing states have high populations leading to the division of land into smaller potions making it hard to establish modern agricultural practices as compared to a situation where large tracks of fertile land are available for large-scale farming. Fragmented land ownership in most of developing countries hinders the development of agriculture; a developing country is cable of producing enough supply of agricultural produce to compete with international markets. In order to solve this problem, a country must develop a strategic measure to help in managing the available resources. Also, developing countries should adopt modern methods of agriculture and land use in order to enjoy rapid rates of economic growth based on entrepreneurial abilities and human capital.

Inefficiency

Economic inefficiency is evident in most of the microeconomics sectors in developing countries; productive inefficiencies are faced in the Gambia in various ways. For instance, when a resource is utilized in an inefficient combination based on the capital and labor, in the economy some of the production processes consume too much capital as compared to labor, and on the other hand, other sectors use little, this leads to misuse of resources. The best solution to this problem is to develop the proper allocation of funds to avoid wastage and unprofitable practices.

Human capital

The number of people in a country matters as well as their level of experience, training, and education. The number of highly educated and trained people in the Gambia is low, and as a result, adopting modern economic strategies may be cumbersome. Today, economical production is based on knowledge extensive and therefore, a well-educated and trained workforce, which most of the developing countries luck (Barrow, 2016). Modern labor requires complex instructions and advanced electronic operations, failure to establish such requirements in the sector of labor has become a major problem in developing countries. In order to solve this problem, Gambia should engage in providing advanced educational services as well as establishing better tertiary education centers across the country in order to reach many citizens. This can help in providing opportunities for a self-sustainable population.

Collapsing infrastructure

Most of the cities in the Gambia do not have a well-developed infrastructure that can support massive production in a country and increasing population. Also, the government does not have adequate resources to maintain the available facilities as well as to develop more. Most of the problems arise as a result of insufficiency or road network and sewerage facilities. The government, together with collaboratively developed states, can help in providing funds for the development of infrastructure in order to solve this problem. The Gambia should engage in economic activities with developed countries to helping in their growth rather than focusing the local resources alone.

Foreign debts

Huge amounts of foreign debts are a major problem in most of a developing country; most of the countries are struggling to pay loans resulting in difficulties in economic growth. Delays in paying this debt have been experienced, leading to sabotage. The Gambia should discontinue from borrowing huge funds from foreign sectors not unless they have a well-established plan on the usage of the borrowed funds. Also, embezzlement of funds by political leaders should be put an end through the establishment of strict laws

Measuring a country's development

Institutions can measure a country's development using various ways, which include gross national income (GNI), this technique takes into consideration per capita income, which serves one of the indicators of the development of a country. An increase in per capita income indicates an increase in the economic development of a country. International Monetary funds are also one of the strategies used to define the economic growth of a country. This method also accounts for the per capita income and other factors such as export diversification and the increase of global integration in the financial system. Gross domestic product (GNP) is one of the comprehensive methods used to indicate the development of a country. This accounts for the sum of the individual producer in the economy, any subsidies exclusive of the value of the product and product taxes. Another key aspect used to indicate that the development of a country is the population growth rate and death rate. High death rates indicate poor healthcare services.

The birth rate in the Gambia ranges from 28-30 births per 1000 population at midyear; this is referred to as crude birth rate and it one of the factors that used to determine the growth rate of the population. The poverty level is relatively high, with a low per capita income, an estimate of $510 per capita income. This indicates that the country's wealth is low.

References

Barrow, C. J. (2016). Water resources and agricultural development in the Nabyonga-Orem, J., & Mijumbi, R. (2015). Evidence for informing health policy development in low-income countries (LICs): perspectives of policy actors in Uganda. International journal of health policy and management, 4(5), 285.