Are natural resources sometimes a curse

Some of the countries that have experienced the resource curse include Nigeria and Venezuela. In essence, the presence of the oil and mineral deposits in the country should provide an opportunity for the country to drive economic growth and development in the nation (Rossi 11). It is expected that the government should use the proceeds to improve service delivery in the health care sectors, the education sector, improve the status of infrastructure in the country and make the lives of people better. However, this is not the case for the countries having natural resource deposits (Elwerfelli and Benhin n. p). Along the way the wealth from the resources corrupted their minds, they became greedy and began to put their interest first before serving the people who elected them.

Besides, the mortality rate for infants that was registered was lower than other sub-Saharan countries that have no natural resources. The presence of natural resource in the nation increases the risk of occurrence of violent conflicts. Among the many civil wars fought in Nigeria and Venezuela, the main aim is usually to protect or take control of the natural resources. The main resources that attract the interest of many include oil, gas, diamonds, and gold. These countries have an abundance of oil mines in the country. However, the policies set by each of the governments have resulted in different situations and events. Some of the events have divided the people, have made people feel left out of the national cake share and hence feel the need to take control of the resources (Hammond 350).

Also, these countries depend a lot on the revenue from these resources tr9o drive economic growth and development; however, the overdependence has led to the failure in other sectors of the economy. The failure has attracted all the investors, political leaders, and even the foreign countries to focus on natural resources as a source of income. Notably, the oil industry replaced the agriculture sector because of the high revenue prospects, production reduced, technological development also lagged, and the country began having biased development. The institutions in the country became weak, structural development became worse, and the administrative positions were taken over by the corrupt leaders (Sach and Andrews 827). The new breed of leaders only cared for their interest and grew wealthy while the economic conditions of the country worsened.

In essence, the boom in the oil sector destroyed many other sectors, change the country’s leadership structures and institution and made the country dependent on input from other nations. The production sector failed. Norway's was among the poorest countries in Europe, but the oil sector generated enough resources that the government invested in socio-economic development and economic growth. Unlike in Nigeria, the agricultural sectors was not neglected as Nigeria did and more resources got channelled into the manufacturing sector. Human development index in the country in 1980was 0. 811 and as of 2014, it had risen to 0. 944 representing an annual increase of 45%. Essentially, the oil revenues can sustain any form of government leadership, whether democratic or dictatorial. For instance, in Africa Libya survived well with dictatorship as the political leaders were able to harness the revenues and used them to develop the nation before the p[resident was killed (Hammond 360).

However, in Venezuela the drop in oil prices internationally has polarized politics; the rich and the poor in the country have been left with fewer proceeds to share. The country further relies primarily on natural resources for revenue; hence other sectors of the economy are underdeveloped; this implies that the drop in the prices of oil hurts the country significantly. Is the resource curse inevitable in resource-rich countries? The mining and exporting of natural resources in a nation in resource-rich nations often cause export boom hence increased revenue for the country. On the hand, the fight between the government and the civilians for the control of the natural resources creates rebels groups who use the revenue realized to finance their activities.

For example, in Nigeria, the occurrence of the Boko Haram is as a result of proceeds from the oil and gas exports. The rebel militants later loose cause of their goals and turn against the citizens and the government. Therefore the resource curse is high in developing countries that have an abundance of oil and high-value minerals like gold and diamonds. Methodology The choice over which research design highly depends on the research questions that the researcher aims to answer. One of them being education and thus heavily darkens the future of that country. Second, the dependence of natural resource for revenue in the country decreases the rates of investment and openness in governance. Essentially, the high dependence means that the country has abandoned other sectors of the economy; hence this only attracting the investors who can invest in the resources.

It scares away investment in other sectors. Also, corruption makes a few individuals in power to benefit from the resources hence crippling transparency at the leadership level. However, the understanding of the factors that lead to the resource curse, and identification of possible signs earlier help mitigate the problem at its early stages. Solving this problem requires the combined efforts of the government, private sector investors and the international community. Therefore, if the countries that have deposits of natural resources can deal with the signs at an early stage, they will turn the resources into a blessing with minimal side effects. Bibliography Papyrakis, Elissaios. "The resource curse-what have we learned from two decades of intensive research: Introduction to the special issue.