WJEC Geography case studies

Fairtrade

• in world trade, primary industries in LEDCs lose out
• they receive low wages, have poor standard of living, can't afford education and children are often required to work
• Fairtrade is when the producer receives guaranteed fair prices for their product regardless of the world market
• Fairtrade products cost more than regular products in supermarkets in MEDCs - people willing to pay more for the benefits to the workers
• 5 million people benefit from Fairtrade in over 58 countries
• Fairtrade sets minimum standards for pay and conditions for workers - organisation supports producers in improving living conditions
• products: tea, coffee, sugar, chocolate, cotton

Mali and Niger

• 2004 farmers of Mali and Niger in Africa hit by severe drought and plague of locusts
• crops destroyed and 3.3 million people at risk from serious food shortage
• UNICEF gave emergency aid
• $270,000 to treat 14,000 malnourished children, cereal banks opened to provide staple grains, supported over 300 women's group to promote breastfeeding and monitor children's growth, women receive loans of goats to feed their malnourished children, vitamin A supplements given to children under 5 twice a year
• aid helps prevent death from starvation and illness through malnutrition, food allows a nutritious diet so people stay strong and healthy to survive and remain well enough to farm the land and grow food

Toyota

• Toyota, Burnaston, Derby, the Midlands, England, UK
• why locate there: large flat land, room to expand, Greenfield site, 8km from Derby, lots of unemployed people, next to A38, close to M1, access to West Midlands car components companies, Derbyshire county council invested £20 million in the site
• benefits; 3000 jobs created once built, 2730 jobs created in the construction phase, Toyota jobs are secure - a successful company making a good product
• consequences: Greenfield site - countryside destroyed, increase in noise and traffic in the area, Toyota is a Japanese company so the profits go back to the country

Quarrying

• located on the outskirts of Castleton, Peak District, village of Hope, 1929, quarrying limestone - 2 million tonnes produced a year
• produces 1 million tonnes of CO2 a year, 70% quarried limestone transported by rail, reserves of limestone for 30-35 years in the quarry, employed 300 local people - many from the village of Hope
• problems: quarries are dirty/dangerous, noise from blasting and heavy lorries, wildlife frightened away, lorries cause traffic congestion, looks ugly, spoils landscape
• benefits: quarries provide income/work for local people, source of money for local council, roads improved for lorries, provide raw materials for the nation, slate and limestone used locally

Tata Steel

• location: coastal plain in south Wales, east of town Port Talbot, adjacent to M4, 25 miles west of Cardiff, 10 miles east of Swansea
• why located there: large area of flat land to develop and expand, accessible - close to M4 and A48, large skilled workforce available to employ, harbour along coast to unload raw materials/reload with steel, raw materials needed to produce steel (coal, iron ore, limestone) now imported from overseas
• positive impacts: created jobs, huge 'multiplier effect' in town, local infrastructure improved, put Port Talbot on map
• negative impacts: dangerous environment to live/work in, very noisy and polluted, constant smell of sulphur in the air, visual eyesore

McArthur Glen retail park

• between Cardiff and Swansea, junction 36 of the M4, brownfield site, near villages of Sarn and Litchard, 2 miles north of Bridgend town centre
• reasons why located there: large areas of flat land, very accessible - close to M4, space for car parking, close to urban centres of Cardiff and Swansea, large supply of customers and labour in Bridgend - 50,000, not close to out-of-town retail parks so there's less competition, brownfield site = services available already (gas, eater, electricity)
• positive for: local residents, school leavers, unemployed, day trippers from outside area
• negative for: local residents, town centre traders, town centre economy, commuters hitting congestion in the area