Climate Related Diseases - Many people in the Tropics are debilitated by malaria and other diseases. Tropical Africa, South America and Asia tend to be the poorest world regions and these areas suffer from more climate related diseases than richer parts of the world. People cannot improve their standard of living when they are so ill, and many children are orphaned.
Climatic Hazards - Drought regularly strikes Africa, especially Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia in the east. These limit future development and destroy what may already have been achieved.
Being Landlocked - makes trade less easy (no ports, have to rely on other countries to let goods through them). Africa has more landlocked countries than any other continent.
Economic Factors
Poverty - Low life expectancy and low standard of living make an almost impossible base from which to develop and expand. Poorest countries are those like Burundi, Somalia and Sierra Leone which are just emerging from civil war.
Competition - Poorer countries often find themselves competing against each other for business and have lowered their prices to attract buyers. There is often more supply than demand, which keeps prices low. Poor farmers do not recieve enough to support their families.
Trade Policies - These have not favoured the poorest countries. Richer countries pay as little as possible for raw materials from developing countries. Sometimes tariffs are placed on goods by the purchasing country. Africa is the least industrialised continent; it has very cheap labour, yet processing is usually done in the purchasing country, so it benefits from the jobs required for this. Most African exports are primary goods (raw materials). Companies do not invest there because:
Banks financing industry want financial stability.
Good infrastructure to move raw materials, finished goods and labour needs to be in place.
A reliable electricity supply must be avaliable.
An educated workforce is necessary.
Asia has supplied these and industry has been attracted, pushing forward its development.
In general, when income is low so is the level of welfare.
Environmental Factors
Abusing the Land - Starving farmers are unlikely to be concerned about the rainforest they are cutting down to feed their families. Throughout the Sahel region just south of the Sahara, deforestation and overgrazing have increased desertification. Wildlife has been sacrificed to poachers when they could have been the basis of a successful tourist industry. Poor governments have little spare to protect and develop environmental resources.
Social Factors
Water Quality - Poor water quality causes disease, which debilitates people and prevents economic development. Many tropical countries suffer from endemic malaria, yellow fever, bilharzia and river blindness. Diseases are carried in water, and water quality is unreliable.
Amount of Water - Inadequate water supplies limit crop yields and therefore food supply. There is not enough water for irrigation to allow crops to be increased. It it's in short supply then people have to spend time searching for in and waste valuable energy carrying it.
Education - A poor country finds it difficult to fund education for all children to a good level, and investors are put off by a lack of educated workforce.
Health - When Sierra Leone gained independence in 1963 it had a health system in place, but has not been able to maintain this as a poor country. It is difficult for sick people to work hard, so Sierra Leone's economy has spiraled downwards. It is one of the most distressed countries in the world, with an HDI of only 0.048.
Political Factors
Corruption - Corrupt politician enrich themselves illegally at the expense of their country's development. When this happens, money is not available for health services, education, roads, clean water and sanitation. People in the Solomon Islands and Zimbabwe suffer from corrupt governments that spend their resources by ensuring they stay in power. In Zimbabwe, highly productive land was previously owned by large-scale white farmers but was taken over by government officials and 'war veterans'. The country's economy has been almost completely destroyed and inflation has exceeded 1,000%. Corrupt governments are unstable - foreign investors and aid providers are discouraged from putting funds into such a country because they cannot rely on the money reaching the target. Economies that are already weak cannot afford to miss out on this income.