Opinion piece by James Anaya in Aljazeera: Is natural resource development a blessing, a 'quick-fix,' or a curse?

Source: Aljazeera

The "resource curse" is alive and well in the global south, as natural resource development deepens poverty.

Geneva, Switzerland - Economic development is widely assumed to bring the blessings of higher standards of living and to be a quick fix for cash poor countries. However, there are many who look at economic development and instead consider it to be a curse in the "global south" - South America, Africa, and Asia - and also in parts of the more industrialised world where indigenous peoples live.

All too often, development projects consist of a private, multinational enterprise working with a national or local government to obtain access to a natural resource, extract it, and then transport it elsewhere for processing. Residents of the country have access to the extraction jobs but processing, manufacturing and other higher-paying jobs that require technical skills are cultivated elsewhere. At the same time, profits from the project largely do not reach the people who bear the brunt of its environmental and health impacts.

Read the full article on the Aljazeera website