Intereconomics

, Volume 19, Issue 3, pp 137–142 | Cite as

The ecological handicap of the tropics

  • Peter P. Waller
Articles Tropical Regions

Abstract

The long-forgotten subject of the ecological disadvantages of the tropics has been brought to the fore once again by the catastrophic droughts in the Sahel and in southern Africa. The naive belief that economic development is simply a matter of finding the right technology and of spreading scientific knowledge must give way to the acknowledgement that the “development threshold” of the tropical countries is very substantial and complex, and that surpassing it will be a long and wearisome business.

Keywords

Fallow Period Humid Tropic Development Threshold Peasant Work Scientific Circle 
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Copyright information

© HWWA and Springer-Verlag 1984

Authors and Affiliations

  • Peter P. Waller
    • 1
  1. 1.German Development InstituteBerlin

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