1. Chart showing poverty in Honduras
2. Poverty in Honduras
3. Chart showing the natural increase in Honduras in the year 2000.
4. It experiences earthquakes and hurricanes
4.1. costs money to pay the damage (people demand homes)
4.1.1. wastes money (there may be an earthquake and another one immediately after.
4.1.2. Honduras is in debt so doesn't have this money
4.2. Because Honduras is an LEDC (less economically developed country), it doesn't have very many prediction methods. This means that in the event of a disaster there would be more damage and more deaths.
4.2.1. it also cannot spend money to help limit the damage of an earthquake/hurricane. MEDCS (more economically developed countries) can start to make earthquake proof buildings or make sure bridges are sturdy. Also, Honduras would not have very good building techniques/supplies so their buildings would be more fragile anyway.
4.2.1.1. Another LEDC, Haiti, suffered very badly from an earthquake. there was approximately 200 000 deaths, 3 million people were effected by the disaster, 30 000 commercial buildings collapsed, major damage was caused in areas such as 'Port-au-Prince' and Jacmel.
4.2.2. MEDCs can spend money posting earthquake/hurricane precuations to people houses. They could also air these on the TV, however, as Honduras is an LEDC it has other things which it needs to spend its money on.
4.2.2.1. Honduras needs to worry about bare survival, clean water, food and a shelter.
4.3. Because Honduras is an overpopulated area, there are likely to be more deaths. This would leave a family grieving and their work would suffer.
4.3.1. evacuation and other emergency plans are difficult to put into action due to little funds.
5. There is a high rate of natural increase
5.1. The rate of natural increase is the difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths during that year. When the number of deaths exceeds the number of births, the natural increase is negative or you could call it 'natural decrease'
5.1.1. In the year 2000 the natural increase rate of Honduras was 31 per 1000 population. This means that instead of there being 1000 new babies, there were 1028.2 new babies. (There were not only 1028 babies born, it just shows how the birth rate is increasing).
5.1.1.1. In the UK the natural increase rate is less than 1 per thousand people. It is important to have a population that is reproducing because you need more and more generations, however, you aim to have the death rate be equivalent to the birth rate. This way, more young people would be added to the world and old people removed. This means that the population doesn't suffer from lack of jobs etc.
5.1.1.2. the death rate in the same year in Honduras was 5.37 deaths per thousand people. This meant that the population increased by 25.63 per 1000 people.
5.2. the fertility rate in Honduras is high- 3 births per woman. This shows that there are also lots of people dying as in the year 2015 the natural increase rate was 16.72, a great decrease from what it was previously.
5.2.1. the rate of natural increase is high because there is limited access to family planning services and education about contraception.
5.2.1.1. by adding more to the population, it means that the next generations will suffer.
5.2.1.1.1. people will be fighting for the same jobs.
5.2.1.1.2. more people will have to share resources.
5.2.1.1.3. increase of waste that must be disposed of
5.2.2. this means that many women have to stay at home nursing their children.
5.2.2.1. this puts extra stress on families because there is one less provider (mother) and yet the mother and another (baby) to provide for. This means that many children have to work at an unreasonable age.
5.3. there is also a high infant mortality rate. (the death of children under the age of one year)
5.3.1. Because there is also a high infant mortality rate, many women experience many more pregnancies in the hope that some of their children will live through adulthood.
5.3.2. In 2015 the infant mortality rate was 17.7 deaths per 1000 live births.
6. Chart showing Honduras' debt compared with it's GDP.
7. Hurricane Mitch
8. Foreign companies produce a large proportion of the primary products like bananas and coffee.
8.1. Most bananas and coffee in Honduras are grown by large companies from the USA.
8.1.1. the local workers are paid low wages- the money that they would earn if they had produced the goods privately must be split up and divided amongst several people.
8.1.1.1. the Dole (American company) managers earn a much higher wage than the locals, unfair because they are already wealthy.
8.1.2. They grow the bananas on large plantation located on the best low land near the coast.
8.1.2.1. the residents cannot use this land to grow their products privately- it is used by an American country who is much more wealthy than them and can afford not to grow bananas in Honduras where so many people are in poverty.
8.1.2.1.1. small farmers have less than 5 hectares of land. They live on £1 per day and live in extreme poverty. They are forced to sell their land and work for these companies.
8.1.3. Banana wars
8.1.3.1. European people eat more that 2.5 billion tonnes of bananas each year. Their love of bananas has turned into trade war.The people of Europe peel back more than The "banana wars" is the culmination of a six-year trade quarrel between the US and the EU. The US complained that an EU scheme giving banana producers from former colonies in the Caribbean special access to European markets broke free trade rules. Only seven per cent of Europe's bananas come from the Caribbean, US multinationals which control the Latin American banana crop hold three-quarters of the EU market and the US itself does not export bananas to Europe. Despite this, the US filed a complaint against the EU with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and, in 1997, won. The EU was instructed to alter its rules.
8.1.3.1.1. Since 1975, each Caribbean country has had a quota of bananas, enabling them to sell to Europe as many as they wanted... This, the EU hoped, would enable the economies of such developing countries to grow independently, without depending on overseas aid. The effect of this deal has been to protect banana farmers in the Caribbean from competition from Latin America, whose bananas are cheaper because they are grown on large-scale, mechanised plantations run by giant US-based corporations.
9. It is mountainous
9.1. Mountains in Honduras
9.2. prone to climate change
9.2.1. effects forests because lots of animals could become extinct. Forests are vital because they soak up carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.
9.2.1.1. when forests are destroyed it is bad for all life on earth. Dying trees emit their store of carbon dioxide into the air.
9.2.2. results in more flooding and droughts. Warmer air tends to hold a higher water content, meaning that rainfall patterns are more extreme.
9.2.2.1. rivers and lakes are a vital resource for industry and farming. If they are drained to to the temperature increase, we may see the farming industry fail.
9.2.2.2. climate change will ensure that droughts and floods are more common.
9.2.3. climate change melts glaciers. Himalayan glaciers feed great Asian rivers, some of which are the: Ganges, Mekong and Yangtze.
9.2.3.1. over a BILLION people rely on these glaciers for drinking water, agriculture, hydroelectric power and sanitation.
9.3. population suffers
9.3.1. lack of healthcare
9.3.1.1. Many people die. There would be a lower life expectancy so people who may be making break through discoveries may die in the process.
9.3.1.1.1. the life expectancy of the average man is 69.5 years and 73.5 years for the average woman. In Japan the life expectancy is 83 years.
9.3.2. lack of education
9.3.2.1. less people to come up with ideas that might benefit the country greatly. If people were taught in school to a higher level they would understand more about the importance of trade relationships and money.
9.3.3. poverty
9.3.3.1. the government of Honduras has more people to look after. Nobody wants to be in poverty so when people are, they want help
9.4. less room to build land on (deforestation)
9.4.1. results in more poverty as people are fighting over the same land. Mountains are not safe to live on due to potential land slides etc.
9.4.2. The mountains are very tall, the highest point in El Salvador is over 2,700 m (8,858 ft). In the UK, the tallest mountain is located in Scotland and is named 'Ben Nevis'. It is 1344 m tall.
9.4.2.1. It is not safe to live in mountains because the temperature decreases as the height of the mountain increases, low temperatures are hazardous, the soil is bad for growing food, food would lack, the air is thinner so it is harder to breathe, you are isolated from the world so you cannot earn money or have any luxuries, dangerous animals live in mountains, the land is too steep to build sturdy homes on and a violent hurricane could blow the roof of your house off.
9.4.2.1.1. however, mountains are still important: They provide human beings with medicinal products, food, biodiversity, energy and freshwater. Mountains provide homes for 720 million people, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
9.5. prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes, droughts, eruptions, hurricanes, avalanches, floods and landslides.
10. Honduras has a large debt
10.1. In 2014, Honduras' debt was 46.81% of their GDP (a debt of 9751 million dollars, 536 million dollars more than 2014!), however in accordance with their GDP, there has only been a slight percentage increase in debt.
10.1.1. to receive money to pay off their debt the government needs to sell bananas. To be able to sell bananas. To be able to sell bananas they need workers who can grow the bananas. To be able to have workers, they need to be able to give them wages.
10.1.1.1. the longer they are in debt, the larger their debt becomes. Also, the longer they are in debt, the worse a reputation they will get.
10.2. Honduras is stuck in a debt trap- it tries to save money to pay off their debt but then something more important comes up, eg. an earthquake, that they have to spend money on.
10.2.1. The government of Honduras does not look at what will benefit them in the long run, only what will benefit them immediately.
10.2.2. instead of using their savings in emergencies, Honduras should create an emergency account which is only to be used in a real emergency. (eg. natural disaster).
10.2.3. Honduras does not see savings as a priority- it is too busy focusing on the clean water/food crisis.
10.3. Honduras is not a very educated country (the average years of schooling is 9.5 years) and 13.5% of children do not even receive primary school education.
10.3.1. The government do not know how to manage their finances.
10.4. Honduras tends to never stick to their plan, they panic and digest into an account which they are not meant to, disadvantaging them later on.
11. Honduras relies on exports of primary products such as bananas to earn money.
11.1. People in Honduras do not have control over the money they receive from their products. This means that their wage may dramatically decrease and they cannot do anything about it.
11.1.1. over time, the price of bananas has increased dramatically. Before 2002 you could buy a kilo of bananas for £1. Since 2002 the price of bananas has been reduced to 65p. Although, this may sound great to customers, the growers of the product are suffering. They are living on below minimum wage.
11.1.2. Honduras also produces coffee. However, the growers are not paid very much. Here is the breakdown of a $2 cup of coffee: $0.20- grower, $0.20-exporter, $1.10- roaster and shipper, $0.50-retailer
11.2. Because the products are exported (transported to a foreign country), another cut must be taken from the overall price of a banana or coffee, for example.
11.3. their trade deals may collapse, many countries have the conditions and resources to grow bananas and coffee and if the country they're dealing with find another deal that benefits them more, they will drop out of their one with Honduras. Honduras doesn't have the conditions and resources to grow/produce anything else so they would suffer greatly.
11.3.1. MEDCs impose Quotas on imports (goods arriving in their country). Quotas are limits on the amount of goods imported and usually work in the MEDC's favour.
11.3.1.1. this means that they never import a large enough amount of goods to keep growers stable for a few months, instead they are always suffering.