8/18/2019 Outline the Contemporary Challenges Facing Development in Brazil

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Outline the Contemporary challenges facing development inBrazil  [6 marks]

One of the main challenges that Brazil faces when trying to develop is notdisrupting the environment. Brazil has a lack of fossil fuels and their way around

this was to develop hydroelectric power (HEP which now provides roughly !"#of Brazil$s electricity. %s ethanol& manufactured from sugar'cane is used fortransport fuel& nearly )# of Brazil$s total energy therefore comes fromrenewa*les. +his is a very good solution for the a*sence of fossil fuels& howeverit faces much opposition& especially from wildlife and environmental groups. +hisis *ecause in ,at *asins& large dams can cause ,ooding of copious amounts ofland& destroying local animals and ha*itats. %s Brazil contains -"# of the%mazon rainforest& the largest rainforest in the world and home to "# of allknown species& people are especially sensitive to the destruction of it. /ot only*eing *ad for animals& the ,oods are also damaging to the environment. %nyplant life that is su*merged in them drown in the a*sence of O0ygen and

therefore create greenhouse gases like 1ethane which are 2) times moreinto0icating in glo*al warming than Car*on 3io0ide. 4n addition to this& peoplealso get displaced *y hydroelectric dam *uilding which can result in change intheir life style and customs. 4n some cases this can also cause emotionalscarring. %round "'!" million people are displaced *y the construction ofhydroelectric dams each year.

%nother pro*lem faced *y Brazil is the prominent divide *etween the rich andpoor. +he richest "# of people have access to over "# of the country$s incomewhereas the poorest "# receive only a*out # of the revenue. +his inevita*lyleads to high crime rates& the most common of which *eing mugging& ro**ing&and kidnapping. %s well as o5ence in the community there is also a large amount

of corruption within the police themselves& meaning that people have little fearor respect of them. +hese two notions com*ined would end up with a veryunlawful country which was why the 1inistry of 6ustice created the /ationalPu*lic 7ecurity 8orce to handle ma9or emergencies and crises instead of the localpolice force. %lthough this tackled ma9or crime issues it didn$t solve the pro*lemof the e0treme di5erence *etween the rich and poor. %lthough Brazilian childrenhave access to free pu*lic education at all levels& the schools are maintained *ythe local government meaning that wealthier cities or states have access to*etter education than poorer counterparts. +he result of this is of poorer childrenhaving a worse education than richer ones. %nother reason for lack of change ofsocial class is child la*our. %lthough it is illegal& poorer families generally prefertheir children to start working as soon as possi*le. Children as young as " yearsold are missing school as a desperate attempt to earn money. /on'attendance atschool is one of the main reasons for the high rates of e0amination failure inBrazil.