The 10 disadvantages of rural African life
On the 10 disadvantages of rural African life, the most painful of them all is that Rural Africa is one among the poorest regions of the world. The African continent has 54 countries of which most of their rural areas have remained underdeveloped thus making most rural people live a life not worth living. Here are some of the disadvantages found in rural Africa.
Economic Disparities
Rural African life is characterized by traditional life of most individuals are engaged in traditional agriculture. The local population is involved on rain dependent agriculture whose certainty is not assured as it depends on rainfalls. In the past all was well as rains were reliable and so the people were sure of the harvest. However, with the change of global climatic conditions things are becoming hard to most people in rural Africa.
The unpredictability of rains makes the rise of economic disparities among rural dwellers. There are those who have some cash that use it lend to farmers during rain season so that the farmers repay the leaders during harvest time. The lenders make money at the expense of the farmers need to money to run the family activities in rain season, thus leading to economic disparities in the rural areas.
Limited Access to Education
When it comes to education, the rural areas have a disadvantage on the quality of schools. Most rural schools have low quality when compared to the urban settings. The rural schools have low quality compared to urban areas because of several reasons. One of the reasons for poor quality of education in the rural areas is the small population.
The small population in the rural areas does not help in competition. The urban areas are known for having access to quality education because of the large number of people in the urban areas. In the principles of economics, when you have high population means you have high demand, the higher the demand the higher the costs. There better schools with high prices in the urban areas that which most rural dwellers wouldn’t afford.
Lack of infrastructure
The rural areas lack competitive infrastructure as compared to the urban areas. The infrastructure we are talking about here includes poor roads, water accessibility and availability, unreliable electricity, unreliable telecommunication systems, unreliable internet and such related systems.
The weak infrastructure leads to lots of other problems which in turn cause economic stagnation in the rural areas. Lack of reliable roads make it difficult for produce from the farms to be transported in time and thus may go bad. Lack of reliable water could dangerous as it could lead to concerns in the public health systems. Lack reliable electricity cause stored goods go bad and thus leading losses to farmers. Lack of reliable internet and telecommunication leads to missing out lots of opportunities to rural people.
Limited Access to Technology and Information
The rural areas have limited access to information, technology and communication. The rural people have this disadvantage due to a minimal population in the rural areas. The small the population in the rural areas, the less demand of technology and its application.
Limited technology hinders the large size of goods processing. Most raw materials needed for industrial processing in the factories are produced in the rural areas. However, since the rural areas have limited technology, the rural people do not bother to process the produce from their farms. The rural areas remain underdeveloped because of limited accessibility of technology and information.
Gender Inequality
In most traditional rural Africa most rural activities are done by both man and woman, however, a woman has a bigger burden than a man. In some traditions men practice polygamy; they build a house for the woman get her a farm and let her do every activity in the farm.
In this case, there is a lot of gender inequality as the woman does all the farm work so as to feed her children. The husband visits her from time to time just to make sure that everything goes well. This is possible only in the rural areas in the urban areas this is difficult as more women are conscious of their rights.
Dependence on Agriculture
Most rural areas in Africa depend on agriculture as the major economic activities. Agriculture is the major source of income, and since it is seasonal in most rural Africa, it makes most rural people poor. The rural people fall in the category of income poverty as they have food to feed their families but lack money to buy other goods.
The dependence on agriculture in the rural Africa can be an advantage if the farmers will be trained to add value in their produce. When they add value in their products then they can be able to have enough food and have money for the services they need and money to buy other staff a part from the food they produce in their farms.
Migration
The limitedness of economic opportunities in rural Africa leads to rural urban migration. The youth who are the major working force leave the rural areas in search of greener pastures in the urban areas. The rural urban migration makes rural Africa appear like the dwelling place of only senior citizens.
The migration could cause problems to the economic activities in the rural areas. To curb the problem African governments should address the matter by introducing vocational training centers. The vocational training centers will train youth with some specific skills. When they acquire their skills then they will participate in agriculture and during dry season they make use of their newly acquired skills for earning an income. When you become capable of earning some money, some of them will decide to remain in the rural areas thus reducing migration.
Conflict and instability
The rural areas in Africa are best known for agriculture which includes livestock keeping too. Thus, the rural people are involved either in agricultural activities or in livestock keeping. These two economic activities cause conflict among the rural dwellers. Most livestock keepers in rural Africa leave their animals roam around freely, consequently feeding on farmers crops which lead to fierce conflicts.
While farmers fight livestock keepers for letting their animals feed on the farmers crops, at times farmers themselves fight. Most rural farms are traditional; they have been inherited from parents and grand parents. The Farms do not have clear cut boundaries which put them in conflict fighting even on small piece of land that is thought to have been taken by their neighbors.
Social Isolation
Social isolation is that state of an individual lacking contacts with fellow human beings. In the rural areas as we said before, there are few people living there. The lack of contacts can make one feel isolated, alone and even lonely. Feeling isolated is not a good thing as it could make one feel useless and fail to see their importance in life.
The Africa rural areas could avoid this problem of social isolation by introducing some economic activities to bring people together. Economic activities bring together a large number of people which facilitate socialization and even establish relationships that last.
Conclusion on10 disadvantages of rural African life
I hope the article on 10 disadvantages of rural African life has given you important information about life in rural Africa. The article has shown us that in the rural there economic disparities, limited quality of education, lack of infrastructure, gender inequality, dependence on agriculture, social isolation and limited accessibility to technology and information.
These disadvantages in the rural African life can be reversed to be opportunities that will make youth stay in the rural areas and lead to economic growth. Moreover, the disadvantages could be turned into profits to African economies. When both rural and urban areas are economically well developed then African economies will be strong and will help address poverty issues.
Frequently Asked Questions 10 disadvantages of rural African life
The subject of 10 disadvantages of rural African life is an interesting subject that interest many individuals. It is a subject that touches many lives and economies. Many lives are touched with this subject because originally many urban people came from the rural areas. Economies are concerned about rural life because most raw materials for their industries come from the rural areas.
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