+ In this section you'll learn about differences between top-down and bottom-up development.

The 'Green Revolution' The Green Revolution of the 1970s changed rice

growing forever. lt offered HYV (High Yielding

Variety) seeds, instead of the traditional lower­

yielding varieties - which had sometimes not

produced enough food and led to hunger. The

HYVs were developed by scientists working for

trans-national corporations (TNCs). Now the rice

plants are shorter, grow quicker, and produce

more grain than traditional rice (see right) .

0·9 tonnes per hectare

100 cm

NEW (HYV)

1·6 tonnes per hectare

Thanks to the new HYVs (or 'miracle seeds' as

they are sometimes called), India now exports

rice. However, the overall effects have been

mixed: .A The differences between HYVs and traditional varieties of rice.

• Farmers now have to buy new seeds every

year, instead of saving some from last year's

harvest.

• The seeds are high yielding, but they also need

irrigation water, fertiliser and pesticides. Only

larger, wealthier farmers can afford these.

• Crop yields are higher than traditional varieties,

so incomes have risen - for the wealthy.

• The over-use of chemicals to control pests, has

reduced the resistance to pesticides.

Working from the bottom up ASTRA (Application of Science and Technology

in Rural Areas) is a recent development project

in rural India. Local researchers found out what

people's lives were like. They talked to families,

recorded how they spent their time, and listened

to their problems and needs. This is an example

of how a bottom-up development project works.

Top-down development The Green Revolution is an example of 'top­down development' - where decisions

about development are made by governments

or large private companies. These decisions

are then imposed on people, because -

supposedly- there will be benefits for them.

Top down development involves:

• Decision-makers looking at the 'big

picture' to identify needs or opportunities,

e.g. to establish national energy sources,

food security, or better transport networks.

• Experts helping to plan the changes.

• Local people being told about them, but

with no say in whether they will happen or

not.

The argument goes that all people will benefit

by a process called 'trickle down' - where jobs

and therefore wealth, 'trickle down' to the poor.

The problem of time ASTRA found that, for most rural families, the

daily routine takes time - especially for women

and girls. Cleaning, collecting fuel, preparing and

cooking food, fetching water, tending sacred

cows, looking after the vegetable patch - all

before any paid work is done in the fields! Rural

girls have little education and few complete

primary school. Most time is spent collecting

fuelwood. Every family needs 25-30kg of it every

week, and it takes hours to collect. As population

increases, it's in increasingly short supply.

Solution -think cow dung! However, the answer could be right under their

noses- cow dung! Cow dung is a highly valued

resource, because it produces gas- called

biogas -which is used for cooking by day, and

powering an electricity generator at night. lt is fed

into a brick, clay or concrete-lined pit that forms

part of a biogas plant (see diagram). The pit is

sealed with a metal dome and the dung inside

ferments to produce methane. As pressure builds

up, the methane is piped into homes. it's a simple

technique using local materials- and is another

example of intermediate technology (see

Section 4.8).

Families gain because:

• less time is spent collecting fuelwood

• there's no ash, so less time is spent cleaning

• heat is instant, so cooking is quicker

• there 's less smoke and fewer cases of lung

disease.

+ Bottom-up development means

• experts work with communities to identify their real needs

• giving local people control in improving their lives • experts assisting with progress

Biogas collection

Inlet

.A A biogas plant

your questions

1 Explain the difference between 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' development projects.

2 a Copy and complete the table below to compare these 'top-down' (HYV) and 'bottom-up' {biogas) development projects.

0 I Top-down I Bottom-up project project

Size and scale

Aims of the project

Who pays for it

Who makes the decisions about what's needed

Raw materials and technology required

Who benefits

b Use your completed table to decide which type of project is best for (i) national interests, (ii) local communities.

3 Exam-style question Using examples, describe the differences between top-down and bottom-up development. (6 marks)

.·

+ In this section you'll assess the benefits and problems of a top-down

development project.

Top-down - the government decides! Over much of India, rainfall is seasonal

and unevenly spread (see right). Parts of

north-west India are so dry that semi-desert

exists, which prevents people from making

a decent living. Across the rest of India,

between:

• May and September, the Indian monsoon

brings huge falls of rain that are difficult

to imagine- think of the heaviest rain

you have ever seen, and then double it.

• November and March, almost no rain

falls across large areas of India.

As India's population increases, and its

economy booms, demand for water is

rising. As a result, the Government decided

that western India needed super dams to:

• encourage economic development, by

providing drinking water and electricity

for cities and industries

• open up dry lands for farming using

irrigation to feed a growing population.

Building large dams makes it possible to

store monsoon rains to use during the dry

season. By 2008, the Indian Government

had built over 4500 dams - 14 of which are

super dams. Now the Narmada - one of

Western India's major rivers (see right)- is

being tackled with a series of 3000 dams

(big and small). The scheme will take a 100

years to complete! But how well will it work

for people and the environment?

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

• N

0 400 Km

• Rainfall patterns in India

T The Narmada River in western India, and the

site of the largest dam - the Sardar Sarovar.

0 60 ...__..____. Km

CHINA

Key Rainfall in mm

0<200

0 200-400

0 400-500

- 600-1000

- 1000-1500

- 1500-2500

- >2500

+ Irrigation is taking water from areas that have it, to those that

don't, in order to allow farming .

The Sardar Sarovar Dam The Sardar Sarovar Dam, along the Narmada River

(see photo), is already one of the world's largest

dams. When completed, it will provide water all

year round to areas of India that suffer drought.

Groups benefiting from the dam

Originally designed to be 80 metres high, the

government now plans to raise the dam to 136.5

metres - to increase its capacity.

• People in India's cities. The dam is multi­

purpose - it provides 3.5 billion litres of

drinking water a day, and 1450 megawatts of

hydroelectric power (HEP), which is more than

750 wind turbines!

• Farmers in other parts of western India.

A series of canals distribute water to other

states in India. When complete, they w ill

irrigate 1.8 million hectares of farmland in

the driest parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra,

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (see maps

opposite). Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh suffer

from drought and lose £20 billion in farm

production each year.

your questions

WAc...ftfo yo&A fAi"'k?

+ Do you th ink governments have the right to develop

'top-down' schemes like this if they affect so many

people?

1 a Copy and complete the following table about the

economic, social and environmental benefits and problems of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

I Benefits I Problems

Economic

Social

Environmental

b Highlight in one colour those benefits or problems

Groups losing out from the dam

• Local residents. 234 villages have been drowned

so far, forcing 320 000 people out. Few villages can

afford the electricity generated by the dam - only the

cities benefit.

• Local farmers. Good quality farmland has been

submerged. Those gaining from irrigation will lose

out from increased soil salinity, making the soil

less usable. Damming the river means that fertile

sediment, normally deposited on flood plains each

year, will be lost.

• Western India. Religious and historic sites have been

flooded by the dam. The silt brought down by feeder

rivers will collect behind the dam and reduce the

reservoir's capacity.

• People downstream. This area has a history of

earthquake activity. Seismologists believe that the

weight of large dams can trigger earthquakes, which

could destroy the dam and cause massive loss of life.

which are local, and in another those which are further away.

c Which are the greatest benefits- economic, social or environmental? Are they local or further away?

d Which are the greatest problems?

e Explain whether you think top-down schemes like this should be built if they cause such problems.

2 Exam-style question For a top-down development project that you have studied, explain its benefits and problems. (8 marks)