Module Twenty Six Glossary

Germination—to begin to grow.

Staple crop—a crop used to produce food that is regularly consumed in a community or society and from which people obtain most or a significant proportion of their calorie requirements.

Cash crop—a crop (such as cotton or tobacco) produced or gathered primarily for sale on the market.

Indigenous—originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native.

Homo habilis—an extinct species of early humans, known from fossils found in eastern Africa and often considered to be the first member of the genus Homo. Homo habilis existed between about 2.5 and 1.6 million years ago and overlapped with late australopithecines and other hominids whose relationship to each other and to the later Homo erectus are uncertain.

Caldera—a volcanic feature formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product)—a way of measuring the size of a country or region’s economy.  The GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time.

Sisal—a plant grown for its stiff fibers used to make ropes.

Lingua franca—any language that is widely used as a means of communication among speakers of different languages.

Well-being indicators—a series of measurable conditions used by the United Nations Development Programme to measure the well-being of one group of people relative to another group of people. These include measurements like average life expectancy, literacy rate, and infant mortality.

New World Syndrome—term for a number of non-infectious diseases particularly known to affect affluent individuals, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. As opposed to diseases caused by germs, viruses, or bacteria, new world syndromes are thought to be brought on by particular lifestyle conditions, such as diets high in fat, sugar, and sodium, high amounts of stress, and a lack of exercise and sleep.

Hypertension—medical term for high blood pressure.

Brain drain—the departure of educated or professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another usually for better pay or living conditions.

Consumption pattern—the combination of qualities, quantities, acts and tendencies characterizing a community or human group’s use of resources for survival, comfort, and enjoyment.

Disposable income—the personal income that is left after the deduction of personal taxes and that is available for consumption and savings.