Blog #9: US: Send Development Aid to the Sahel Region of Africa

Summary:
The Sahel region has become a center of international attention with the UN calling its security situation, "alarming." 12,600 peacekeepers were sent to stabilize the region. The aid is needed desperately holds a high amount of terrorist activity. Mali is one of these territories which holds high numbers of terrorists. Of the 25 countries ranked most likely to become failed by the UN, 13 are within Sahel. Projects helping through means of relieving conflict are the key way in preventing terrorist activity. Development assistance is also helping to stabilize the region. Farmers lose 50 percent of their crops getting them to the market, developing/paving the roads will help this problem. Less poverty will mean higher standards of living for the growing population. It will also improve poor governance and weak democratic institutions. Most importantly, development aid will solve the problem of overpopulation which poses a threat to the stability and economic prosperity of countries within the Sahel region. By 2050, population in Sahel will increase between 20-30 percent. This threatens over 100 million with starvation, destabilizing the Sahel and results in civil war. The African Institute for Development Policy reported, "by increasing the drastically low usage of contraceptives through development aid, population will go down, starvation, abuse of women and overall conflicts will decrease." Family planning programs are thought to reduce total population by 18 percent and this increases the contraceptive rate by 2 percent.Overpopulation attributes to drought and limited resources, so the Sahel desperately need stability and assistance.

Analysis:
It is clear the Sahel need assistance, as do many other countries. This country in particular has trouble maintaining peace due to the increase numbers of terrorism and even drug cartel traffic. This region is subject to completely deteriorate in the near future due to its economic, political, and population crises. Assistance is the only way this area will not fall apart. What is interesting is the amount of factors which will help the Sahel flourish. Developing assistance is extremely important, because farmers are losing crop due to the lack of paved roads. With limited resources this poses major threats against the Sahel's success. All developing nations need development assistance in some shape or form, because it is as equally important to their society as are other factors. They are estimating by 2050 the population will increase exponentially, and this is only going to hurt them. They are already on the brink of losing everything, so increasing the population is detrimental. In the article, the AIDP say the use of contraception will also help lower the population. In the past articles, contraception is a major tool in decreasing the population. It has become a necessity among most overpopulated regions of the world. Every developing region needs family planning and education to help them realize health and their impact on their country.

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-cahn/us-send-development-aid-t_b_4698602.html
Posted April 8th, 2014