Name(s):
Underutilized raw materials
Underuse of material resources
Unused natural resources
Inefficient extraction and utilization of natural resources
Nature
The extraction and utilization of natural resources, and the making of decisions concerning their use, are inhibited because technology, systems and procedures for extracting and utilizing resources are not equitably distributed nor does their development respond to need. This absence of a global sharing in technology and in the transfer and coordination of skills results in inefficient production and consequent waste of natural resources.
Background
The constraints which impede sufficient utilization of local raw materials include: technological; markets and marketing (including commercial power and the response of industrialized economies); and external (such as infrastructure and long-term effects). The underdeveloped transport network has hampered the effective exploitation of the greater part of the natural resources in the least developed countries and thus set serious limitations to their use in the over-all development effort.