Sources of Wealth
Senior 1 · English
Sources of Wealth
Lesson 1 of 5
25 min
Let's begin
If you had to fill one suitcase with everything that makes Rwanda rich, what would you pack? A handful of fertile soil? A bottle of lake water? A lump of grey rock from a mine? A photo of a mountain gorilla? The feature below, from a youth magazine, argues that you would also need to pack people, because a country's skills are worth as much as its soil.
Before you read: Write down three things that people in your district produce, sell or offer to visitors. Compare your list with a partner's.
FIVE KINDS OF WEALTH
A feature for young readersRwanda has no coastline and no oil wells, and it is one of the smallest countries in Africa. Yet it is far from poor in resources. A resource is anything that people can use to meet their needs or to earn money, and Rwanda has five important kinds.
1. Land. Most Rwandans earn a living from farming. The volcanic soils of the north and west are remarkably fertile, so farmers there grow excellent potatoes, beans and maize. On the steep hills of the west and south, tea bushes grow in neat green rows, and coffee grows well on the slopes around Lake Kivu and in the south. Tea and coffee are Rwanda's best-known export crops: they are sold abroad, and they bring money into the country.
2. Water. Rain falls generously in two rainy seasons, and rivers such as the Nyabarongo flow steadily all year. Some of this moving water turns the turbines of hydropower stations, which produce clean electricity. Under Lake Kivu lies a less obvious treasure: methane gas, which is carefully pumped from deep in the lake and used to generate electricity.
3. Minerals. Beneath the hills lie valuable minerals. The most important are often called the "three Ts": tin, which comes from a rock called cassiterite; tantalum, from coltan; and tungsten, from wolframite. Tantalum is used in the tiny parts of mobile phones, so a phone in Tokyo may contain a little piece of Rwanda. In 2019 Rwanda was among the world's largest producers of tungsten. Minerals, however, are non-renewable: once a mine is empty, it cannot be refilled.
4. Tourism. Every year, thousands of visitors walk slowly and quietly through the forests of Volcanoes National Park to see mountain gorillas. Others drive patiently across the plains of Akagera to see lions, elephants and rhinos, or walk high above the trees on the canopy walkway in Nyungwe. Conferences bring visitors too: the Kigali Convention Centre, opened in 2016, hosts international meetings, and delegates stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and buy crafts.
5. People and skills. Rwanda's most valuable resource may be its young, hard-working population. Skilled farmers, careful guides, creative weavers and confident software developers all add value to the country's other resources. A tea leaf is worth little on the bush; picked quickly, processed carefully and sold cleverly, it becomes a product that people pay good money for all over the world.
| Renewable resources | Non-renewable resources | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | can be replaced naturally or by careful use | are used up; they cannot be replaced in a human lifetime |
| Examples in Rwanda | rain, rivers, soil (if protected), forests, tea bushes, wildlife | tin, tantalum, tungsten, the methane under Lake Kivu |
| The risk | damaged by careless use: erosion, pollution, cutting trees | one day the mine or the gas field is empty |
| How to protect them | terraces, replanting, protecting parks | use them wisely and invest the money in skills |
| Word | Meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| resource | something people can use to meet needs or earn money | Water is a precious resource. |
| natural resource | a resource that comes from nature: land, water, minerals, forests | Coltan is a natural resource. |
| human resources | the people of a country, with their skills and knowledge | Skilled workers are human resources. |
| export | (verb) sell goods to another country; (noun) a product sold abroad | Rwanda exports tea. Coffee is a major export. |
| mineral | a valuable substance dug from the ground | Tin is a mineral. |
| ore | rock from which a metal can be taken | Cassiterite is the ore of tin. |
| mine | (noun) a deep hole where minerals are dug; (verb) dig for minerals | Tungsten is mined in the north. |
| fertile | able to grow good crops | Volcanic soil is fertile. |
| renewable | able to be replaced naturally | Hydropower is a renewable energy source. |
| hydropower | electricity made by moving water | Hydropower stations use river water. |
| add value | make something worth more, for example by processing it | Processing tea adds value to it. |
| delegate | a person sent to a conference to represent others | Delegates stayed in Kigali hotels. |
Definition
Adjective: a word that describes a noun: a fertile soil, valuable minerals. It goes before the noun, or after a linking verb such as be, look, seem, feel, become.
Adverb: a word that describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It tells us how, how much, when or where: flow steadily, remarkably fertile, very slowly.
| Rule | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|
| Most adjectives: add -ly | slow, quiet, careful | slowly, quietly, carefully |
| Consonant + y: change y to i, add -ly | easy, steady, happy | easily, steadily, happily |
| Ending in -le: drop the e, add -y | gentle, simple, possible | gently, simply, possibly |
| Ending in -ic: add -ally | automatic, dramatic | automatically, dramatically |
| Irregular | good | well |
| Same form as the adjective | fast, hard, late, early | fast, hard, late, early |
| Describing… | Use | Example from the feature |
|---|---|---|
| a noun | adjective | skilled farmers, careful guides |
| the subject, after be, look, seem, feel, become | adjective | The soils are fertile. |
| an action (a verb) | adverb | Rivers flow steadily. Visitors walk quietly. |
| an adjective | adverb | remarkably fertile, extremely valuable |
| another adverb | adverb | very slowly |
Worked example
Choose adjective or adverb: Tea is picked (quick, quickly) and processed (careful, carefully), so Rwandan tea tastes (good, well).
Warning
Tip
Ask the question. If the word answers "what kind of thing?", use an adjective (a fertile hill). If it answers "how did they do it?", use an adverb (they farmed it carefully).
Adjectives and adverbs: 6 Minute Grammar, BBC Learning English (6 minutes). Listen for the linking verbs that take an adjective, and for the adverbs that don't end in -ly.
In groups, take turns to add one item to Rwanda's suitcase of wealth. Each speaker repeats the list so far and adds a new item described with an adjective and an adverb: "I packed fertile soil that is farmed carefully…" The group checks each adjective and adverb.
A: I packed some fertile volcanic soil that is farmed carefully in Musanze.
B: I packed fertile volcanic soil, and some fresh green tea that is picked quickly by skilled workers.
C: I packed soil, tea, and a gorilla permit for tourists who walk quietly through the forest.
Write a paragraph of 70 to 100 words about one resource in your district: a crop, a river, a lake, a mine, a market, a tourist site or a skill. Say what it is, how it is used and why it is valuable. Use at least four adjectives and four adverbs, and underline them.
In Nyamasheke District, the most important resource is the green tea that grows on the steep hills near Lake Kivu. The bushes are picked regularly, almost every week, and the fresh leaves are carried quickly to the factory, because they lose quality if they wait. Inside, the leaves are dried and cut carefully. The tea is sold abroad, so it brings valuable money to the district. Many families depend completely on it for school fees.
Practice
Sources and credits
