In a recent post I first wrote “third-world countries”, considered changing it to developing countries, then edited to “Global South”.
There is a lot of baggage in language that imperfectly labels entire groups of countries, while also carrying with it many negative connotations.
Then I came across Dayo Olopad’s op-ed talking instead about a shift in thinking to “fat” and “lean” countries. While perhaps I would have preferred the use of “bloated” rather than “fat”, Olopad’s insights are worth sharing:
« “Lean” societies approach consumption and production with scarcity in mind. In the so-called least developed nations of sub-Saharan Africa, where the gross national income averages just $2,232 per capita, populations are young and hungry — at times for food, but mostly for opportunity. Nothing can be taken for granted or wasted. But resource constraints have provoked an astonishing bounty of homegrown solutions to the problems philanthropists like Mr. Gates address with charity. If necessity is the mother of invention, lean economies have a distinct advantage. »
It should be obvious by now that “fat” economies need to learn to be more like the “lean” countries.
« As the old adjectives about Africa — “hopeless,” “war torn,” “impoverished”— fade, fat economies must stop assuming that poor countries should mimic them and instead embrace their models for social innovation and efficiency. The post-crash ethos of doing more with less is essential in modern Africa. And for philanthropists like Mr. Gates and world leaders who have committed to solving big problems, lean thinking is imperative. »