HEAVY INDUSTRIES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Do the advantages of heavy industries in developing countries outweigh the disadvantages?

         Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This morning I shall be speaking to you about industrialization. It being a very wide topic, we shall base our focus on the heavy industries in developing countries and whether their advantages outweigh their disadvantages. There is a recent growing trend of global industrial companies moving their production industries from their countries of origin to developing countries in Asia and Africa. This has seen the development of heavy industries in places that they never existed before. Although there are several advantages to this trend, the disadvantages outweigh them; as I am going to show in the cause of this interaction.

          First, we can define developing countries as those that are struggling to be at par with other countries in terms of social and economic development and still focus on agriculture as their main economic activity. The development of industries in the developing countries can be attributed to several factors. We shall refer to these factors as the 'advantages'.

   Advantages.

          Creation of job opportunities. Developing countries have a large rate of unemployment with most families having only one bread winner. With the development of factories in such areas, job opportunities are created for the citizens. The once 'sleeping country' is now awaken by the roar of factories with the new workers waking up to reach their new posts at the start of each morning. There is a new hope for everyone since they are assured of a new stream of stable income. Most of these workers are unskilled with very few having the necessary skills to work in the factories.

             Reduced cost of production. The organizations that run these heavy industries are at an advantage of producing their products cheaply. These comes about as a result of cheap labor and relatively cheaper raw materials. Take an example of Congo, a developing country in the central of Africa. This is a country that is well endowed with mineral resources that are used in the making of parts in mobile phones. Setting up of a phone making factory in this country by the major players e.g Apple will reduce the cost at which they acquire these raw materials. Moreover, the large population of uneducated Congolese citizens provides the much sort out cheap unskilled labor. In the long run, more money flows into the pockets of these organizations. 

             More space for the industries. Due to the availability of large tracts of undeveloped land in the developing countries, heavy industries have the advantage of getting huge spaces to set up their factories. These spaces will ensure that there is maximum production of their products and enough storage for the produced goods before they are transported to the market.

           Economic growth in the new areas. The stable income for the new workers at the factories not only increases their individual economic muscles but also that of their country. This is because there will be more funny flowing within the country thus boosting and stabilizing the national economy. The most important facilities such as hospitals, schools, roads and other social amenities can now be easily developed, which contributes to the improvement of the lives of the citizens.

          Reduced overcrowding in developed countries. There is usually a tendency of overpopulation in areas with heavy industries. This is as a result of the large pool of human resources that is required by the industries. Developed countries have witnessed not only rural-urban migration of their citizens but also immigration of people from developing countries with an aim of seeking employment as casual laborers in industries. There has been a resultant overpopulation in this industrialized areas within the developed countries. Moving of these industries to developing countries comes as the best solution for the looming disaster of overpopulation in the developed countries.

Disadvantages.

            On the other hand, heavy industries bring with them a wave of disadvantages to the developing countries. The major by-product from the heavy industries is pollution. In comparison to the agrarian age, the industrial revolution brought about environmental pollution in scales that had never been witnessed. The pollution to the environment includes air, water, soil and noise pollution.

          Air pollution. The gaseous waste from the heavy industries often contain chemicals that are harmful to biodiversity and humans. Industries contribute to a very large percentage of carbon footprint. The heavy industries contribute to 14.7% of the global carbon footprint; according to a study conducted by The Guardian. This might inevitably increase with the development of new industries in developing countries. 'Carbon footprint' is a term used to refer to the level of harmful gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides and F-gases. These are produced by industrial processes and other fields like transportation and agriculture. The formation of acid rain which is mostly witnessed in industrial areas is a result of complex chemical reactions that happen in the atmosphere in the presence of some of these gases. The rain ends up leaching the soil, destroying plants, and corroding buildings.

          Water pollution. Industries release untreated wastes into water bodies; especially rivers that are close to them. The negative effect this has on aquatic life is unfathomable. There is often destruction and possible extinction of plant and animal life that reside in these water bodies. Most of the population in developing countries lack elaborate water supply systems to their home. This means that they depend on the rivers and other natural water sources for their water needs. Polluting these water bodies exposes these people to unsafe water which translates to various illnesses.

               Noise Pollution. The processes in heavy industries are not noiseless. The noise they produce are loud and uncomfortable and might lead to noise-related infections. The areas that are close to these industries might therefore witness an increase in these infections and even deafness in the extremes. 

             Development of diseases- Currently, exposure to environmental pollution has been reported to be a major source of health risk worldwide. These risks are higher in developing countries as compared to their developed counterparts. The high risk is due to factors which lead to high pollution levels which are; poverty, relatively higher ignorance, little investment in modern technology and weak environmental legislation. The various forms of pollution which I have mentioned earlier, all have the potential to cause ill health, death and disabilities of millions of people annually. There has been reported cases worldwide on the existence of more terminal respiratory and gastronomical infections in industrialized areas in comparison to unindustrialized areas.

            Destruction of nature. Most of the developing countries have the most beautiful landscapes and sceneries in the world. There are also plant and animal species that are found in these places that are nowhere else in the world. Development of heavy industries in developing countries has the potential of destroying all of these irreplaceable diversity. There shall be digging up of land in such of minerals to be used as raw materials in these industries. Deforestation is also a practice that will be undertaken in the search of these resources. Once the mineral resources are depleted in an area, the land is left bare and little can be done to restore it to its previous state.

              Climate change. The pollution, destruction of land and deforestation result in the development of weather patterns that are not characteristic of the areas where they occur. This weather patterns might lead to the occurrence of uncertain periods heavy rains and dry spells. There is also the probability of formation of deserts where there once were none. This has been witnessed in the Sahara Desert in the north of Africa where it has been seen to expand towards its south where it did not exist.

            As can be deduced from the above facts, heavy industries have a positive economic and social impact while imposing a negative environmental impact. While economic progress is important; it should not be given priority over environmental protection and awareness. In the long run, a sound and safe environment outweighs any economic gain that a country might seek in the developing heavy industries.