History

Interdependence

Acitivity 12.1

Work in pairs.Using the Internet and textbooks;

1. Define interdependence.

2. Discuss the importance of interdependence.

3. Write down your points in a notebook.

4. Present your findings in class

Interdependence refers to mutual reliance between two or more parties. It could be between people, groups, organizations or nations. It is characterized by sharing, interaction agreement and desire for togetherness.

Interdependence involves co-operation. It is worth noting that the world is becoming increasingly interdependent.

Some areas of interdependence include

• Trade activities: Different regions produce different items. Even if they produce same items they do not usually do it at the same time. This makes it necessary for exchange of such items from one region with different items from another region. This kind of activity is called trade.

• Investment: This is dedicating money to an activity or buying an asset to generate profit in future. Different places or regions do not have the equal opportunities for investment. Where there is interdependence, people move to places with opportunities for investment that favour them. For example, people who are interested in agricultural investments will look for places with favourable conditions for agriculture such as fertile land, water supply and market for their produce among other factors. The same case housing investors will move to places where demand for housing is high such as cities and urban centers where human population is high.

• Transport and communication network: These infrastructure are very necessary to enable interdependence of different regions. With reliable transport and communication network, people are able to easily move from one place to another and interrelate with others, and this helps to boost interdependence. Transport and communication networks makes it easy to connect people even if they are continents apart

• Science and Technology: Some regions/countries are specialized in one area or another. Interdependence will be necessary to share these skills.

• Tourism: Tourist attraction features are varied in different regions or countries. Some countries are endowed with attractive physical features such as beaches, mountains, lakes; plateaus etc, while others have various kinds of wildlife. Interdependence among countries creates chances for tourists to move from one country to another. This also avails foreign currency which is used in trade.

• Political affairs this involves defense, security, international relations and diplomacy are facilitated by presence of interdependence among countries. An example is International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), which is an international police organization to fight crime among nations.

• Roles played by United Nations and some international organisations are as a result of interdependence.

Different forms of interdependence

Activity 12.2

Work in groups of three. Using textbooks and the Internet;

1. Research on the forms of interdependence.

2. Compare ancient forms of interdependence.

3. Write down your findings and present them in a class.

1. Interdependence at the family level

It ensures that there is responsibility by every member in the family and each member participates to the contribution of the family welfare. Division of responsibilities in the family distributes the burden of providing for the family among all members. Even children have their role to play in the family. Family interdependence is captured in the following Kinyarwanda proverbs: Abantu ni magirirane (men are interdependent) and Inkingi imwe ntigera inzu (one pillar cannot sustain the roof alone).

• It allows people to be responsible. Individuals know the roles they must play and obligations to fulfil.

• People learn new skills from each other as they work closely together.

• Interdependence at the family level can encourage laziness. Some people can just relax while waiting for other family members to work and provide for them.

2. Interdependence at the village level

Through this, community members are able to help each other. Interdependence creates environment for peaceful coexistence among community members. Intermarriages are also possible where there is interdependence at this level. People from one community intermarry with those from communities in other villages. People trade and exchange commodities from different places. Items that are not locally produced are obtained from other villages and exchanged with locally available ones. The Kinyarwanda proverbs that support village interdependence are: Agasozi kamanutse inka kamuzuka umugeni (a cow descending a hill is a dowry worth a fiancée in return) and Wanga guhinga kure ukahaha (you refuse farming far from your home but you end up supplying food from there.

3. Interdependence at national and international level

It brings cooperation in matters such as trade; defence and security; education and job opportunities for people in the involved nations. It also promotes peaceful coexistence among nations. It promotes joint partnership in developing and sharing infrastructure and working together to lower the costs of doing business in the countries involved.

Causes and effects of interdependence

Activity 12.3

Work in pairs.Use the Internet and textbooks to;

1. Find out the causes and effects of interdependence.

2. Do you think the different forms of interdependence are important?

3. Write down your findings and present them in a class discussion

Causes of interdependence

• Need for goods and products that are not found locally. Some countries for example, import oil while the export other minerals such as gold, diamond copper etc. What does our country import and export in trade with other countries?

• Need to supplement what is locally produced. One country may be producing maize in plenty but needs beans or rice, for instance, to supplement their staple food. If they are not able to supplement these supplements; they turn to other countries which produce them to buy or to exchange with what they have.

• Security makes it necessary for interdependence among countries. A country ges into a situation where it gets into serious security challenges and feels the need for help from other countries. An example here in Africa is Nigeria which is struggling to fight terrorist militants Boko Haram. It needs military assistance from the neighbours to be able to deal with the terrorists thoroughly.

• Humanitarian needs. This kind of needs is required to save human lives who are under threat from various factors for example a disease outbreak or a natural disaster caused by floods or earthquakes. Such countries need help from others, therefore the need for interdependence. An example is when there was outbreak of Ebola, a deadly infectious viral disease in West African countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Countries with high medical abilities like France and the United States of America (USA) came in to help.

• Transport and communication. Countries need to interact with each other for them to grow. This interconnection raises the need for good means of transport and communication. Our country which is landlocked for instance, needs port services from countries such as Tanzania and Kenya to ship in equipments such as farming machinery.

Effects of interdependence

1. Interdependence nurtures peace among people and countries. It brings people together and they are able to interact and cooperate in understanding with each other. People with disabilities and those living with HIV and AIDS are embraced also. Interdependence creates a conflict-free environment.

2. It brings about economic advancement. This is characterized by factors such as; infrastructural development. This is building of roads, railways, hospitals schools etc. Secondly, there is economic growth as a result of increased trade. Goods and services are easily exchanged. Another aspect of economy that is boosted by interdependence is exchange of skills in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), improved healthcare etc.

3. Interdependence has resulted to formation of regional and international organizations. These organizations are formed to advocate for the welfare of member states in trade, military cooperation, peace building, education etc. Our country, for instance is a member to regional trade organizations such as Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC). Other regional organizations are such as South African Development Community (SADC) and African Union (AU). International organizations are such as the United Nations Organisation (UN) and Commonwealth.

4. It has led to improved control and response to calamities such as draughts, disease outbreaks, floods, earthquakes etc. With interdependence, countries have come together and managed to help each other in times of need when calamities strike.

5. Interdependence has helped boost industrialization around the globe. Inventions and innovations in science and technology have been shared and this has led to development in many sectors among them industrialization. This has resulted to creation of more employment opportunities especially for the youth.

6. It has resulted to formation of organizations that press for the welfare of human beings. Examples in our country are National Union of Disabilities Association of Rwanda (NUDOR), which promotes and strengthens the voice and welfare of disabled people. Another one is the Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS which has the purpose of social support and encouraging positive living among members.

Acitivty 12.4

Form groups of five each to discuss and analyse the effects of interdependence at national and international level. Evaluate the importance of interdependence citing examples in our country. List the national, regional and international organizations stating what they do.

Unit summary

This unit defines the concept of interdependence, explains how it works and discusses types, areas and the necessity of interdependence at international, regional and local levels. This is for promoting the well-being of the people around the world since no man is an island. Interdependence has more advantages than disadvantages. Interdependence refers to mutual reliance between two or more parties.

According to the level of interdependence, it can take different forms such as; at the family, village and national as well as international level.Interdependence at national and international level brings cooperation in matters such as trade; defence and security; education and job opportunities for people in the involved nations.Interdependence has resulted to the formation of regional and international organisations which advocate for the welfare of member states in areas such as trade, military cooperation, peace building and education. Regional trade organisations that have been formed as a result of interdependence among countries include; Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC).

Unit assessment

At the end of this unit, a learner is able to explain the concept of interdependence, analyse causes and effects of various forms of interdependence, develop the spirit of cooperation in himself/ herself and understand why nations, organizations and individuals have to be interdependent.

Revision questions

1. What do you understand by interdependence?

2. List at least six areas of interdependence.

3. Discuss the various forms of interdependence.

4. Explain the causes interdependence at family, national and international level.

5. Analyse the effects of interdependence at national and international level.

Glossary