Industrial developments projects in the developing world

Industrialisation is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one. It is a part of a wider modernisation process, where social change and economic development are closely related with technological innovation, particularly with the development of large-scale energy and metallurgy production (O'Sullivan and Sheffrin, 2002). Industrialisation began with the industrial revolution in the 18^th century in the UK, then spread throughout Europe, North America and eventually the rest of the world. The introduction of steam power, wider utilisation of water

Chapter 1 – Introduction

wheels and powered machinery led to a dramatic increase in production capacity and led to the creation of factories (Meier and Rauch, 2000). The factory system was largely responsible for the rise of the modern cities, as large numbers of workers migrated into the cities in search of employment in the factories. Overall, the industrial revolution led to a population increase, but the chances of surviving childhood did not improve throughout the industrial revolution (Buer, 1926; Bar and Leukhina, 2010). As there was still limited opportunity for education, children were expected to work. Many children and adolescents were physically handicapped, or even died due to injury, intoxication, respiratory diseases and other causes (Humphries, 2010). Living conditions varied from the splendour of the homes of the factory owners to the very small houses in cramped streets with shared toilet facilities and open sewing systems, favouring the spread of cholera, typhoid and other water- and waste related diseases (Engels, 1892). Until about 1750, life expectancy in France was approximately 35 years, and only slightly higher in the UK (Fogel, 2004).

Two and a half centuries later we know that the prosperity of the developed world is built on the age of industrialisation, including the rather dark chapter of industrial revolution. Still today, industrial revolution continues, at a smaller scale though. The following is a recent extract of the Queenstown Daily, the national newspaper of Zambawi, a fictive republic in sub-Saharan Africa (Neate, 2000):

“Two years after the fall of President Adini and his corrupt regime, things are developing very fast in our country as exemplified by the construction of a new goldmine in the region of Mutengwazi village. Only 20 months after the joint-venture agreement between the government and ‘GoldRush International’ was signed, live in the future mining area has changed completely. As an initial step, all the people from Mutengwazi were resettled to a new area down the road to Queenstown. This was widely accepted due to fair compensations and because the project was seen as great opportunity. Soon after, an elected amount of people was employed by the project and paid exorbitant wages compared to the average income level in the region. The money helped villagers to improve the living standard of their families, and at the same time they invested money in the creation of various small-scale business activities, including shops, small bars and nightclubs. In addition, with the presence of the project the road infrastructure was significantly improved, which led to a strong increase in traffic. The

Chapter 1 – Introduction

project is using the roads for its all-terrain vehicles, mobile machinery and heavy trucks that transport construction material and the local people enjoy the gained mobility with motorbikes, cars and pick-ups. The message of jobs and many other opportunities spread quickly across the country and new people, including mechanics, graduate students, businessmen and prostitutes, arrive every day via the new access roads, hoping for accommodation and a job to earn a living. The multilayered developments in the former region of Mutengwazi village are truly fascinating and it will be interesting to see how the mining company and the local authorities manage the various challenges that have arisen with this new venture; or shall we say adventure?”

Figure 1.4: The change from an agrarian society in rural Africa into an industrial one – a worst case scenario (Source: Winkler, 2009).

The industrial revolution in the 18^th century and today’s small-scale industrial revolutions in low-and middle-income countries have many commonalities. Both have proven enormous potential to promote social-wellbeing and economic development at a small- and large-scale (Sachs, 2005; Moyo, 2009). Furthermore, both trigger similar mechanisms such as exploitation of natural resources, involuntary resettlement of communities, migration of populations, and altered socio-economic structures. Consequently they also share the risk to cause: (i) social inequalities and conflicts, (ii) environmental degradation, and (iii) an increase in the burden of disease. The latter is of particular concern in tropical and sub-tropical countries as these are most afflicted by the HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis pandemic (Corbett et al., 2003; Asamoah-Odei et al., 2004; Oster, 2005). Moreover, the climate favours the transmission of vector-borne diseases (Guerra et al., 2006; Hay et al., 2009) and water-borne

Chapter 1 – Introduction

multilayered socio-economic and eco-epidemiological contexts are vulnerable to a host of negative health effects that can be caused or exacerbated by large infrastructure developments, such as projects in the extractive industry (Jobin, 2003; Birley, 2005; Utzinger et al., 2005) and water-resource development and management (Lerer and Scudder, 1999;

Fearnside, 2005; Krieger et al., 2008; Fewtrell and Kay, 2008b; Kittinger et al., 2009;

Yewhalaw et al., 2009). Expressed differently, in words of Mindell et al. (2010): “the comparatively high rates of morbidity and mortality experienced in middle- and low-income countries can only partly be addressed by improving health-care provision, so the need for HIA is even greater in these countries than in the developed world.”