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23.10.2017 Opinion

The Key Connections To Population And Human Development

By Nii Kojo Mensah
The Key Connections To Population And Human Development
23.10.2017 LISTEN

Concern over the world’s booming human population which has grown from three to seven billion in little more than 40 years has abated, somewhat as birth rates have fallen right across the world. But there is still a long way to go before numbers stabilise at somewhere between eight and eleven billion, and some countries, such as Pakistan or Nigeria, are on course to triple their numbers by the middle of the 21st century.

Globally, many experts are concerned that the earth’s carrying capacity is already overstrained and worry that the huge impending increases in consumtion in countries such as India and China will add enormously to the burden of greenhouse gases which threaten to heat the planet- not to mention all the other demands which increases in both population and consumption, are putting on the earth’s natural systems.

One of the complicating facts is that much of the world’s population, especially in the south, is very young, with plenty of potential to reproduce. Although the rate of population growth began to decline some 30 years, annual additions to the human population are still near to their highest level, with some 78 million being added every year, or over 200,000 people every day These people all need food, housing jobs and health care.

And once basic needs are met, the appetite for other consumer goods and services seems to be limited only by the ability to pay for them. Impacts on resources and on the environment vary, therefore, not only with changes in population growth and distribution but also with changes in levels of consumption and the technologies involved.

Making problems worse
For this reason, booming population is only one among causes of social and environmental problems. But such growth can make these problems much more difficult to solve. However, for a variety of reasons, attitude towards family planning, population has slipped down the international agenda. Indeed a report in 2010 said ‘a whole decade has been lost’ in dealing with the problem. It pointed especially to the rampant growth of human numbers in many poor Africa countries where the problem of land degradation and poverty are most severe.. In sub-Saharan Africa, as a whole, the numbers of poverty in extreme cases fell from nearly 48 per cent in 2,000 to 4.1 per cent by 2006 with most of the progress achieved in the previous seven years. However, the progress has been made , had stalled and that there was no immediate likelihood of further reductions in poverty rates for those living on less than one dollar a day .Some other key connections between population and the welfare of the planet are: Rapid or persistent population growth can force farmers and fishermen to exploit fragile ecosystems with damaging results. It can also increase pressures on local infrastructures and services. It speeds the rate of urbanization often leading to dangerous, overcrowded and unplanned settlements with poor sanitation, a lack of clean water and health threatening air pollution.

One billion new jobs must be created over the next decade just to maintain current employment levels. The availability of a young educated labour force can be a bonus in newly industrialising countries, but jobs are especially hard to create in countries with high levels of under employment, poor educational standards and limited infrastructure, and there are often the ones with rapid increases in population.

In some rural settings increased population growth appears to have stimulated new farming methods, but elsewhere it has resulted in the over-use of slash and burn techniques, an d unsustainable land clearance on fragile sloping and forested land and destructive coastal development. Where resources are already limited, rapid population growth can make it more difficult to eradicate poverty because the economy, infrastructure and the necessary pool of teachers, doctors and other professionals all need to grow faster than supply.

More than any other resource, water shortage is becoming critical issue both for agriculture( which makes up about 70 per cent of demand ) and industry. A safe water supply is also one of the most important factors in improving the health of poor families. Up to 7 billion people, in 60 countries will face water scarcity within the next half century according to the UN World Water Development Report.

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