Entrepreneurship

Sub-topic area: Work in socio-economic development

Key unit competence: To be able to evaluate the role of work in socio-economic development

Review activity 

Do you recall learning about work in Senior 1? Discuss the following: 

1. What is work? 

2. Describe the type of work that people do in your community. 

3. Discuss myth and beliefs about work that exist in your community. 

4. How does work ensure human dignity?

Introductory activity 

Let us investigate your lunch. Discuss the following:

 1. What work did it take to produce your lunch? 

2. How many different jobs are involved in making baked cake or amandazi? 

3. How are these jobs related to each other?

Case study 3.1 

Read the case study and answer the questions that follow. 

Farming coffee in Rwanda 

The first cup of coffee was brewed in the Arabian peninsula as early as the 10th century. This popular bean found its way to Europe in the 16th century and since then its popularity has risen all around the world. Today, people around the world drink more than 2 billion cups of coffee per day! Rwanda has an ideal climate for growing excellent coffee beans. Farmers grow and harvest beans for export. Many beans are rated ‘speciality’ and some even win international awards. Cooperatives have recently set up washing stations where farmers can wash and dry the beans. These washing stations have created many new jobs.

Cross-cutting issue

 Environment and sustainability: We are responsible for ensuring that our economic activities are sustainable and environmentally friendly.

3.1.2 Manufacture 

To manufacture means to make something on a large scale using machinery. When we manufacture, we therefore transform raw materials into goods. For example, we use steel to make cars, timber to make furniture or textiles to make clothes. Workers in this sector include for example, carpenters, builders and dressmakers.

Rwanda’s manufacturing sector 

Manufacture in Rwanda includes making agricultural products, beer, furniture, textiles and farming tools. Many small businesses make crafts from metals, wood and fabric.

3.1.3 Trading 

Trading means buying and selling goods and services. Shopkeepers and sales assistants work in this sector. Trading can be wholesale (selling in large quantities from a manufacturer to a shop). It can be retail (selling products from shops to customers). It can also be online (selling products through websites on the Internet).

3.1.4 Service provision 

We can import products from other countries and sell these in Rwanda. We can also sell products made in Rwanda to other countries. This is called export. Service provision means selling services such as transport, banking, teaching, repairs and health care to customers or other businesses. Accountants, mechanics, computer service technicians and tour guides work in this sector.

Exercise 3.1 

Look at the pictures in Figure 3.5. What type of work do these pictures represent?

Learning activity 

Give an example of the relationship between different types of work.

3.1.5 The relationship between the different types of work 

In many cases, the types of work we do is interdependent. This means that they depend on each other. The raw materials that are produced in agriculture are used in the manufacturing to make goods. Traders sells the goods and service providers support all sectors.

Exercise 3.2 

Classify the different activities shown in Figure 3.6 that it takes to make a loaf of bread according to the type of work.

Activity 3.1 

Research and identify the different types of work done in your community. Prepare a presentation where you classify the work as agriculture, manufacture, trading or service businesses.

3.2 How work contributes to socio-economic development 

Work in the different sectors contributes to socio-economic development in many different ways. The following activity and case studies illustrate examples of how different types of work creates jobs and develops society.

Activity 3.2 

A farmer that harvests coffee beans provides many different employment opportunities. The coffee beans are transported from the farm. Next they are roasted, dried and packaged. Ground beans are sold in shops and served in restaurants.

 1. Identify the different jobs involved in getting a coffee bean from the farm to the end consumer.

 2. Explain how coffee farms improve the standard of living for many different people in Rwanda.

 3. How does coffee farming contribute to the socio-economic development of Rwanda?

Case study 3.2 

Read the case study and answer the questions that follow. 

A thousand grey hills of granite 

The discovery of natural granite changed the life of a little village in Nyagatare district in the Eastern Province. Today, East African Granite Industries operates a modern granite-processing factory in the region. This provides work for many local people. The products include granite tops for kitchen tables, tiles for walls and floors, and cobble stones for road production. The granite mined, called ‘a thousand grey hills’, is very hardy. It is polished to make it into a very desirable stone for both the local and the export market. It is sold through the company’s sales department in a showroom in Kigali.

Questions 

1. Explain how East African Granite Industries changed the life of the village. 

2. What type of work does the company do in Nyagatare district? 

3. What type of work does the company do in Kigali? 

4. East African Granite Industries also invest in a power line, road network and water treatment plant. Explain the benefits of this investment to the company and to the community in the Nyagatare district.

Case study 3.3

 Read the case study and answer the questions that follow. 

A passion for entertainment in Rubavu

 Gisenyi Acrobats is a professional acrobat group from Rubavu district. The young people involved in the group all have a love for the performing arts. The artists perform in Rwanda and abroad. They also run youth programmes for children who are vulnerable (at risk of abuse or neglect). Acrobatics is used as a tool to teach trust and how to overcome fears. 

Questions

 1. Describe the work that Gisenyi Acrobats do. 

2. Do you think that Gisenyi Acrobats is in the service industry?

 3. How could teaching vulnerable children performing arts create trust and overcome fear? 

4. The artists perform abroad. Does this mean that Gisenyi Acrobats export their services? Explain your answer.

Activity 3.3 

Take part in work that contributes to socio-economic development. Then prepare a presentation to show how the work that you took part in contributes to the life of the person doing it and also to those around him or her. 

Activity 3.4 

Discuss the following questions: 

• Does work contribute to an increased standard of living for all Rwandans? 

• Does socio-economic development always create employment opportunities?

3.3 Activities that hinder socio-economic development

 Not all activities benefit socio-economic development. Some activities harm or prevent development. 

3.3.1 Poor construction of infrastructure 

Infrastructure are structures and facilities such as schools, hospitals, internet facilities and airports. We need infrastructure to transport goods, to communicate with each other and for our society to function properly. When infrastructure is constructed poorly, socio-economic development is therefore prevented. For example, we can only drive slowly on poorly constructed roads. Schools that do not have the correct facilities are not useful for learning and if we do not have telephone lines of Internet access then it is hard to communicate with others.

3.3.2 Over-exploitation of natural sources

 Natural resources are things in nature that we use, such as wood, land and water. We use many natural resources every day. There are two types of natural resources, namely renewable and nonrenewable. A non-renewable resource, for example coal, does not grow or come back. Renewable resources, such as trees, grow and come back. However, if we cut down too many trees, we can also use up (deplete) a renewable resource. When we overexploit our natural resources, they may run out in the future. An example of exploiting resources is overfishing. If fishermen catch too many fish in Lake Kivu, then there are not enough adult fish left to breed. The next generation of fish will be smaller. If we continue to fish, then we will soon deplete all the fish. When you want to assess if you are using a resource responsibly, ask yourself ‘can I do this forever?’

Exercise 3.3 

Identify and describe activities that hinder socio-economic development in your community.

Unit summary 

Types of work

Work is classified into four types: 

• Agriculture: farmers grow and sell cash crops and products for export 

• Manufacture: making products on a large scale using machines 

• Trading: buying and selling goods and services. It can be wholesale, retail and online 

• Service provision: selling services such as transport, banking, health care, teaching and repairs

Work and socio-economic development 

• Work can contribute to socio-economic development by providing work and increasing the standard of living in a community. 

• Some activities prevent socio-economic development, e.g. depleting natural resources, poor farming methods, deforestation, overgrazing.

Topic area: Summative assessment (Units 1–3) 

Section A

 Read the article. Then answer the questions that follow.

New fashion talent in Rwanda Rwanda’s fashion scene has an increasing number of new talent. Two new designers, determined to put Rwanda on the fashion map, are Matthew Rugamba and Sonia Mugabo. Rugamba came up with his brand, House of Tayo, while he was travelling abroad. He felt that he often had to explain what life was like growing up in Africa. He decided that he wanted to share his appreciation of Rwandan culture and history through his clothing. Mugabo has a similar story. She returned to Rwanda in 2013 and saw that Rwanda’s rich culture meant an opportunity for the Rwandan fashion scene to grow. Her brand ‘Sonia Mugabo’, or SM, offers a mix of African trends and contemporary fashion. She hopes that her brand will inspire others to share their stories with the world. Source: 

https://theculturetrip.com/africa/ rwanda/articles/the-6-rwandan-fashiondesigners-you-should-know/

Section B

 Read the text. Then answer the questions that follow. 

The story of a T-shirt

This is the journey from a cotton plant to a T-shirt. First, the farmer plants and waters his cotton plants. The plants also need fertilisers and pesticides (poison for pests) that can pollute our soil and water sources. Next, the farmer harvests and transports the cotton to a factory where machines spin and weave the cotton into cloth. The machines use electricity. We use dyes to make different colours. Dyeing uses many chemicals that pollute our water. The cloth is sewn into T-shirts with machines that use electricity. Lastly, the T-shirts are transported to shops with trucks that use fuel. They pollute the air with car